The Marriage Wheel (18 page)

Lady Dillinger and Sir Adrian were delighted to see them, and after the coffee interlude Sir Adrian bore Frederica off to the rose-garden while Lestrode closeted himself in the library with Lady Dillinger and the particular problem she had to cope with at the moment.

It really was an exceptionally pleasant day for Frederica, and if only there had been no unhappiness
grinding her spirits into the dust she would have enjoyed herself. The Dillingers put themselves out to treat her as if she was a very close friend of her employer
’
s instead of being merely his employee; and if they occasionally remembered that that was what she was it had no effect on their attitude towards her.

Lunch was served in a charming, low-ceilinged dining-room, where the Georgian silver blazed on the sideboard and the elderly butler cut a very dignified note as he waited on them. After lunch Frederica was requested to pour out the coffee in the drawing
room, and she sat close to Lady Dillinger
’
s knee as if she was a favoured daughter, or even a very particular guest, and she listened to the lazy badinage that passed between her hosts and her employer and wondered, although she did not
attem
pt to join in, why life was not always as exceptionally peaceful and pleasant as it was today
...
and she felt inclined to shiver when the thought fell across her like a shadow that, once her sister was married, there would be no more occasions like this for herself and Humphrey, for she couldn
’
t possibly go on driving him once he was married; and in any case Rosaleen would almost certainly object, for already she showed a little jealousy when Frederica went off with the host for the day—that morning she had raised quite a lot of protests, in fact—and Rosaleen would see to it that she gave up the job that had made it possible for her to acquire a husband.

But as yet Lestrode was not Rosaleen
’
s husband
...
and as they were remaining for tea there were still a few hours during which she could pretend that the situation was otherwise, and that instead of being simply Lestrode
’
s chauffeuse she was something very much closer—something that entitled her to the warm regard of his friends.

She lifted her eyes and regarded him secretly as he sat comfortably in a deep chair with an attractive flowery cover concealing
i
ts worn upholstery, and the fact that he was smoking a pipe seemed to separate him from Rosaleen, somehow. Rosaleen disliked pipes, and even cigars, intensely
...
and if she were Lady Dillinger she would almost certainly object to anyone smoking them in her drawing-room.

But Lady Dillinger had no objections to raise whatsoever, any more than she objected to her guest bringing his paid employee to lunch in her house. While the two men were surrounding themselves and talking—for Sir Adrian was a great cigarette
-
smoker—she put a hand beneath Frederica
’
s arm and guided her upstairs to her own room, where she talked to her for a time very much as woman to woman—an affectionate older woman and a younger woman—and it did occur to Frederica that there was something rather effusive in the other
’
s attitude, and every time she looked at her she was smiling. She was smiling when she showed her her jewellery and talked to her about her own life and her marriage
...
the long and happy years she had spent with Sir Adrian, whom she obviously still adored. Marriage seemed to be a favourite subject of hers, and she seemed very anxious to find out whether Frederica hoped to be married in a church when the day came—preferably the tiny Norman local church. Frederica was quite certain she would be miles away when, and if, she ever married, and she was unable to give Lady Dillinger quite the amount of satisfaction and assurance she obviously required and expected, and when the two women went downstairs, again to join the men the hostess was looking just a little bit puzzled.

Humphrey greeted Frederica with an amazingly appreciative smile, as if he was really quite pleased to see her again, and suggested he take her for a stroll in the woods. They were wonderful beech woods that enclosed the Appleby Manor estate, and if he recollected rightly she had a fondness for woods.

Sir Adrian went to have a nap, and Lady Dillinger retired to write letters, and the two of them wandered off, Frederica feeling a little awkward because she couldn
’
t help feeling it was not exactly a conventional thing for an employer to do to wander in the woods with the young woman who drove his cars.

However, he was obviously in high spirits, and no sooner had they reached the welcome shade of the first sylvan outcrop of trees than he told her the reason why he was feeling temporarily exhilarated.

“
I
’
ve been turning Lady Dillinger into a Mother Confessor, and she knows all about my marriage plans! She
’
s delighted
...
and I might say so am I!
”

He picked up a clump of moss and tossed it exuberantly skywards. Then he turned to Frederica and smiled.

“
Won
’
t you congratulate me, too, Frederica?
”

Frederica stammered.

“
You must realise I haven
’
t the least idea whom you
’
re planning to marry
...”

“
Haven
’
t you?
”
There was a wicked expression on his face—wickedly amused.
“
But I did say that, for quite a little pitcher, you have exceptionally long ears, didn
’
t I?
”

She turned pale—perhaps because it was very hot in the wood.

“
You mean—you mean—?
”

“
Last night?
”
His expression was debonair, and his eyes sparkled.
“
Tell me exactly what you overheard last night,
”
he commanded.
“
And tell me precisely what you deduced from it.
”

Frederica sent him an agonised look.

“
You
’
re going to marry Rosaleen?
”

The sparkling eyes confronting her confused her.
“
And you wish me happy?
”
he said.
“
You wish me madly happy, I
’
m sure!
”
He moved closer to her, playing with her, she felt, as a cat plays with a mouse.
“
If I
’
m to be your brother-in-law, Frederica, hadn
’
t you better congratulate me? And if we
’
re to be linked by the ties of marriage, what about accompanying your congratulations with a kiss? I
’
m quite sure your mother will kiss me when she hears the news!
”

Frederica half turned as if to run away from him, but he caught her hands and, laughing rather cruelly, drew her up against him. He tilted back her head so that he could see into her eyes, and the desperate expression in them seemed to give him greater cause for satisfaction. He actually uttered something that sounded like a throaty exclamation of approval, accompanied with a lighthearted laugh, and then she felt his arms imprisoning her and his hard masculine mouth pressed firmly upon hers.

The distant tops of the trees and the far away glimpses of blue sky performed an eccentric dance while he refused to let her go, and the kiss went on and on. And when, abruptly, he drew back and looked down at her in an extraordinary fashion, while he even looked pale in the gloom of the trees, she would have staggered and fallen if his arms hadn
’
t still held her.

“
Well,
”
he said,
“
for a future sister-in-law, and my own personal chauffeur, you have quite a lot to offer! Your lips are eminently kissable, and if you asked me I
’
d say that you didn
’
t object too strongly to having them taken advantage of in the depths of a silent wood—!
”

But the wood was no longer silent. The old butler was crushing the undergrowth as he sought hurriedly to find them, and it was necessary only to glance at his face to realise that something was wrong.

“
Sir Adrian, sir
...”
he stammered.
“
He
’
s been taken ill, and we
’
ve sent for the doctor! Lady Dillinger
...
Lady Dillinger would like to see you, sir!
”

“
Of course.
”
Lestrode straightened and put aside Frederica, and from that moment he obviously forgot her entirely as he strode through the wood and back to the house. He had paused only long enough to receive the information that it was a heart attack, and the information seemed to galvanise him into action.

After all, Sir Adrian was a very old friend, and a friend of his father before him.

Frederica and the butler followed through the wood. Frederica stumbled slightly as she trod close in the tracks of the extremely agitated manservant.

It was no moment for remembering that she had just received a serious affront, and normally she would be boiling with indignation.

Lady Dillinger was in a state bordering on collapse herself when they reached the house, and Frederica was provided with all the distraction she needed when she found that on her devolved the task of not only comforting but supporting her until the doctor arrived. The butler
’
s wife was with Sir Adrian in his study, and as she was a very capable woman there was no need of much assistance in that quarter. What little assistance the housekeeper needed—and it was mostly moral support—was supplied by Humphrey Lestrode as soon as he entered the study.

Sir Adrian had suffered these attacks before, but this one was particularly serious. Between Lestrode and the doctor he was successfully manoeuvred upstairs to his room, and once in bed the latter was able to give him his full attention, and pronounced that, following upon rest and treatment, he would recover.

He had been overdoing things lately, testing his fragile strength to the utmost, and rest was all
-
important if he was to recover. .

Lady Dillinger was so relieved by the verdict that she quickly recovered from her near-prostration, but she appealed to Frederica to stay with her until the following day, when she would have had more opportunity to recover herself, and the news of her husband might be even better than it was at the moment.

Frederica, who had carefully avoided meeting her employer
’
s eyes from the moment they returned
to the house, and they found out precisely what awaited them, had to turn to him and request permission to stay with Lady Dillinger, at any rate for one night. She was genuinely concerned for Lady Dillinger, and quite shocked about Sir Adrian, but the memory of what had happened in the wood was pressing like a sharp thorn at the back of her mind, and she knew she would never forgive Lestrode for his insufferable conduct. The fact that he had actually
thought
she might enjoy being kissed by him made her feel physically sick whenever she recalled the cool insolence of his assumption. It was apparently not enough for him that one sister should be willing to marry him. He had to boost his morale by ascertaining whether or not the other sister might have succumbed to his charms if he had chosen to select her for his attentions rather than Rosaleen, who was so much more suitable in every way to become the wife of such a successful man.

Frederica wished she had seized the opportunity to smack his face with vigour in return for the sheer impertinence of his behaviour; and but for the timely appearance of the butler on the scene she might very well have done so. In fact, she was quite certain that she would have done that very thing
...
and that was the only comfort she had—that she
might
have left her imprint on his arrogantly good-looking face if the badly alarmed manservant hadn
’
t preserved him in time.

There was not a single moment once they returned to the house when she found herself alone with him, and Lady Dillinger was sitting in her chair in the drawing-room and looking extraordinarily pathetic when Frederica turned to him and put her question about staying the night.

“
I
’
m sure you can do without me,
”
she said stiffly,
“
and Lady Dillinger, as you can see, is still very upset.
”

“
Of course.
”
But Lestrode was pacing up and down in front of the flower-filled fireplace and looking very thoughtful, and somehow not at all as if he was concentrating entirely on the troubles of his host and hostess.
“
Of course,
”
he repeated.

But he turned and frowned at Frederica.

“
You will, however, be collected in the morning. Lady Dillinger, I
’
m sure, will be much more like herself after she
’
s had a good night
’
s rest.
”

The old lady beamed at him gratefully through the watery tears that kept trickling down her cheeks. She wiped one of them away with a wisp of fine cambric as she thanked him in so many words.

“
It is good of you, Humphrey
...
and you do realise I
’
m still feeling rather shaken.
”

“
Don
’
t mention it.
”
He bent over her with a smile and lightly touched the waves of her silky white hair with one of his strong, brown, and very shapely hands.
“
You know perfectly well I wouldn
’
t leave you without anyone to keep you company, and as a matter of fact Frederica can stay with you for a few days if you
’
d like her to do so.
”
He glanced upwards at Frederica with rather a questioning look in his eyes, and then patted his old friend
’
s hands.
“
I can do without her
...
that is to say I can do without her services for as long as you want her, but I must insist that you allow me to visit her—and you and Adrian, of course—at any time I feel like it!
”

“
Dear boy!
”
The wan and watery eyes smiled still more gratefully into his.
“
That is exceptionally kind of you, but no more than I would have expected knowing how you a
l
ways react in difficult circumstances. Of course you can visit us whenever you please
...
and I shall look forward to seeing you whenever you can make it convenient to drive all this way to Appleby Manor. Thank goodness you don
’
t
really
need anyone to drive you about
...”

“
Don
’
t I?
”
He smiled at her more whimsically.
“
But it
’
s good for my ego having someone like Frederica at the wheel of my car.
”

For the first time Lady Dillinger looked slightly doubtful.

“
She
’
s such a little thing to drive such a big car as yours,
”
she protested.
“
I know young women nowadays do all sorts of things that I wouldn
’
t have thought of doing when I was young, but it does seem a little risky ... I mean, she can
’
t have much strength in those slim wrists of hers when it comes to changing a tyre, and that sort of thing. But perhaps you have an arrangement about that?
”
looking up at him hopefully.

Lestrode looked towards his chauffeuse and smiled with a strong tinge of the old mockery.

“
Oh, yes, we have an arrangement about that,
”
he assured the old lady.
“
I do it myself!
”

A minute later he invited Frederica to walk to the front door with him and see him off the premises.

“
I
’
ll have some of your things sent over,
”
he promised her.
“
Perhaps Rosaleen can pack you a case, and fortunately the gardener can drive. I don
’
t suppose I
’
ll be able to tear myself away from the members of your family who happen to be my guests at the moment, to say nothing of Bob Rawlinson—who likes to be looked after properly when he condescends to pay me a visit.
”

Frederica refused to meet his eyes.

“
I
’
m sure Rosaleen would hate it if you had to come all the way over here to Appleby Manor again tonight,
”
she observed in a voice like the drip of ice.

He studied her intently for a moment, and she wondered whether it was yet too late to smack his face for what had happened in the wood.

All at once their eyes met—her resentful green ones, and his slightly worried dark ones—and in addition to the worry there was a slightly rueful expression as well.

“
What a little bundle of bad temper you are, aren
’
t you,
”
he remarked suddenly, with a strong note of irritation in his voice.
“
And worse than that, I find you stupid!
”

“
Thank you, Mr. Lestrode,
”
she returned icily.

“
Don
’
t mention it.
”
He swung away from her on his heel.
“
Of course, if there is any further trouble here you must let me know. I don
’
t wish you to feel I
’
ve abandoned you, and you
’
ve got to cope with all sorts of eventualities. I
’
m sure Sir Adrian will recover very quickly, but he
’
s elderly, and one can never be certain. If you
’
re bothered at all just ring Farthing Hall. If I
’
m out Lucille will pass on your message.
”