The Youngest Bridesmaid (20 page)

III

But Melissa, of course, did not go. All that evening she behaved beautifully, having apparently accepted gracefully Piers
’
ultimatum of an early departure. She was, Lou thought, rather overdressed for a quiet evening at home, but the effect was highly satisfactory. She struck delightful poses, made amusing comments, charmed an unwilling host back into ease, and deferred politely to Lou as became a guest. This time she was the first to retire gracefully to bed, embracing her cousin affectionately and blowing a discreet kiss to Piers.

“
Thank goodness for that,
”
Lou said, drawing a deep breath.
“
I thought there might have been a scene.
”

“
You don
’
t know your cousin very well, do you?
”‘
Piers retorted.
“
Melissa only makes scenes as a last resort.
”

“
Does she? Well, there was hardly anything to make a scene about, was there?
”
Lou said, feeling a shade uneasy. Piers
’
eyes at times resting on Melissa
’
s lovely, discontented face had, if cynical, still been admiring, she thought, with the same unconscious look of appraisement she had seen him give to any pretty woman. He would, however, be scarcely human, she supposed, if he did not remember that only a very short while ago he and Melissa had made love together and planned marriage.

“
I mean,
”
Lou blundered on a little helplessly,
“
It wasn
’
t reasonable to come in the first place, was it? She could hardly expect—
”

“
She would probably argue that my change of brides wasn
’
t reasonable either, so what?
”
Piers retorted dryly, and she lowered her lashes, not wishing to meet that suggestion of mockery in his eyes.

“
Then,
”
she said, because despite the knowledge that it was unwise to argue with him on such a delicate subject she liked logical conclusions,
“
she shouldn
’
t have quarrelled with you and run off with someone else in a pet.
”

He laughed in spite of himself and pulled her out of her chair.

“
Very true, Miss Prim. Now run off to bed while I deal with some letters I want to post on the mainland tomorrow. We
’
ll make an early start if the weather will let us,
”
he said.

But it was not the weather which delayed Melissa
’
s departure. The wind and the sudden
squalls of rain had lessened considerably by morning, and Lou, waking to find Tibby standing by her bed with the customary early tea-tray, felt a great relief as the curtains were
d
rawn and a watery sun gave promise of a better day.

“
She
’
ll not be leaving yet,
”
Tibby said, immediately quenching the relief.
“
Been sick all night, she says, poor maid.
”

Lou
’
s hand shook as she poured the tea. Her unease of the night before returned in force as she remembered Melissa
’
s exemplary behaviour, the suspicious lack of argument or pleas for extended hospitality.

“
It
’
s a trick!
”
she cried, uncaring that the old servant
’
s smile was sly and pitying at the same time.
“
I heard nothing in the night
.
”

“
Maybe you sleep too sound. Mr. Piers was up.
”

“
Piers? But surely he would have called me?
”

“
Maybe yes, maybe not. Who
’
s to say that they mightn
’
t have wanted to be alone?
”

“
If you
’
re trying to make mischief, Tibby, you
’
re going the wrong way about, it,
”
Lou said coldly, and Tibby shrugged and shuffled to the door.

“
The mischief was made when Mr. Piers brought you here instead of that other one. Go see for yourself if you don
’
t believe me,
”
she said, and left the room.

Lou jumped out of bed and seizing a dressing gown, hurried across the passage to Melissa
’
s room. Whether Piers had been disturbed or not seemed of little consequence then; it was easy enough, she thought, to fool
a man with imaginary illness; she had not, herself, been above providing vague symptoms to satisfy an obliging doctor in her school days.

Melissa greeted her wanly from a bed which bore evidence of frequent tossing and unrest. Lou, prepared for an act she had every intention of exposing, had to admit that her cousin looked ill. Her face had a waxen tinge which was not induced by any cunning use of make-up and her forehead was damp with little beads of sweat.

“
Sorry, darling,
”
she murmured.
“
It doesn
’
t look as if I
’
ll be a starter for the homeward trip today.
”

“
What
’
s the matter with you?
”

“
Don
’
t know—must be something I ate. That old woman brought me some foul potion to settle my stomach, but it only made me sick.
”

“
Tibby? Had you gone to her?
”

“
No, she came to me—said she guessed I wasn
’
t feeling well. I felt a darn sight worse after she
’
d dosed me. She woke Piers, too.
”

Lou gave a little shiver. It was, of course, ridiculous to imagine that Tibby could have had any part in Melissa
’
s indisposition, but on the other hand she was plainly gratified that the departure must be postponed, and surely it
was
odd to rouse the master of the house in the case of il
ln
ess and not the mistress?

“
How do you feel now?
”
she as
k
ed, trying .to put some concern into her voice, and Melissa gave her a faint, mocking grin.

“
Lousy,
”
she replied.
“
Apologies and all that, darling, but with the best will in the world I couldn
’
t face a heaving ocean today.
”

It was very clear that she could not, and when she closed her eyes and rolled over on to her side with the weary lack of interest of someone who only wanted to be left alone, Lou went away. She met Piers in the passage, fully dressed, carrying a tray bearing a small array of medicine bottles and a glass.

“
Oughtn
’
t we to get a doctor?
”
she said, and his smile was amused.

“
Hardly worth sending over to the mainland for a bilious attack,
”
he replied.
“
This little lot should settle a queasy stomach rather better than Tibby
’
s home brewed muck.
”

“
Why didn
’
t you call me in the night?
”
she asked, and his eyebrows lifted.

“
Why disturb you when there was nothing you could do? Tibby was there.
”

“
Tibby seemed to know without being told that Melissa wasn
’
t feeling well, and her patent remedy
appeared to be the finishing touch,
”
Lou said with point, and saw Piers frown.

“
I don
’
t know what you
’
re trying to imply by that, but I
’
d advise you not to let your imagination run away with you,
”
he replied with distinct coldness and, brushing past her, knocked on Melissa
’
s door and, once inside the room, closed the door firmly in his wife
’
s face.

The day passed uneasily for Lou. Although Melissa remained in bed and
m
ade few demands on anyone
’
s time, she could not rid herself of a feeling of foreboding. Piers, it would seem, did not appear to share in her disappointment over their interrupted honeymoon and was silent and slightly irritable, while Tibby went about with a secret smile and made a great to-do over preparation of the invalid
’
s food. By tea
time, however, Melissa was sufficiently recovered to have made up her face and chosen a becoming bedjacket in which to receive visitors. Lou, who had been keeping an anxious eye on the weather all day, suggested that her cousin should make the effort
, if
possible, to travel tomorrow before the threatened storm could break, and was discomfited when Melissa turned with a grin to Piers and said: You should be f
l
attered, darling, by your come-by-chance bride
’
s anxiety to be alone with you. How do you still work the old charm on this godforsaken isla
n
d with no tempting distraction to offer?
”

Piers, quite unembarrassed, replied with a flippant rejoinder, but later, when they were alone, Lou said with unfamiliar bitterness:

“
Come-by-chance
...
that
’
s what I am, aren
’
t
I?”

“
Your grammar is questionable and your supposition faulty,
”
he replied, but his regard was kindly.
“
You should know your cousin well enough not to take her seriously.
”

“
But she only spoke the truth. It
’
s what everyone must be saying.
”

“
Then we must prove everyone wrong, Cinderella. After tomorrow we
’
ll begin again.
”

“
Do you think she
’
ll be well enough to travel?
”

“
I don
’
t see why not. A slight tummy upset is hardly a lingering complaint.
”

Lou, reassured, was grateful to him for a brief return of the Piers she had been beginning to know, and even Tibby, appearing with her familiar unexpected suddenness to observe in passing that such matters were decided for us by those above, failed to dampen her hopes. But it was Tibby, who, an hour or so later, came downstairs to inform them that Melissa had been very sick again and would certainly not be fit to leave in the morning.

“
She was all right at tea time,
”
Piers said sharply.
“
Have you been dosing, her with your unspeakable j concoctions again?
”

He did not wait for a reply, but went upstairs to see for himself how bad Melissa might be, but Lou, watching the old servant
’
s retreating back as she went to the kitchen, was certain in her own mind
n
ow that Tibby
’
s potions were the main cause of the trouble. For her own reasons she wanted Melissa to stay, and, thought Lou
,
it was by no means beyond the bounds of possibility that her home-brewed remedies could contain some harmless irritant that would cause vomiting.

She said as much to Piers when he came downstairs again, but he was no longer receptive.

“
Nonsense!
”
he exclaimed irritably.
“
You
’
ll be suggesting next that the poor old girl cooks up poison in her spare time.
”

“
Not poison—just something harmless to cause sickness,
”
Lou said, and a small note of distraction came into her voice.
“
Can
’
t you
see,
Piers? Tibby
’
s done her best to drive a wedge between us ever since you brought me here. She must know perfectly well that our marriage isn
’
t—isn
’
t normal, and she
’
s taken a fancy to Melissa. She wants to get me out and Melissa in.
”