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Weston snapped. ' I'm only just thirty.' j ' But you're Mr Lambert's age group, aren't you?' | Megan said seriously, trying to repair .the damage | she had done. ' I mean, I'm just twenty, and that | is much nearer seventeen, isn't it?' , | ' I suppose so . . .' Miss Weston said reluctantly. " | ' But I would have thought she'd feel more at ease | with us when she's known us for so long.' I 'Perhaps too long?' Megan suggested. 'I'm! someone new and someone new usually gets the interest to start with. I expect she'll soon get tired of me, too.' ' Indeed? Well, don't keep me waiting, at three o'clock, sharp,' Miss Weston said. ' I have to go to the dentist. Frightful nuisance.' ' Poor you,' Megan said sympathetically. ' Well, I'll go and see Anarita.' She had quite a search for the girl and finally found her in the library, talking to several other girls. There was a sudden silence as Megan came through the wide swinging glass doors, so she knew they had been talking about her! ^' Anarita,' Megan said as she walked up to them, ,; ' I'm going to town this afternoon. Like to come?' ' Who's driving us?' Anarita, her long black hair : swinging back, asked. 'Miss Weston.' 'Whew, that's a change, isn't it?' Anarita laughed. ' I think this is the first time my Lady 84 * ^ Weston has condescended to take me in. What's happened?' ' Anarita, there's no need to be rude,' Megan said' quickly. ' It's very good of Miss Weston. If you'd rather not come, then just say so.' 'Of course I want to come with you,' said Anarita. ' Good then two-forty-five this afternoon. Right?' ' Right,' Anarita said with a smile. Megan walked to the dining-room. She was the first to sit down at the staff table. The quietness vanished as the girls came tumbling in, all talking at the top of their voices. Gradually the staff table filled up, Frank by her side. ' You're looking very thoughtful,' he teased. ' What's wrong this time?' ' Nothing,' Megan told him. ' Just something that puzzles me.' ' Be my guest I'm good at solving problems.' ' I don't think you could solve this one,' she said. Later as she changed into a clean dress in her flat, Megan thought again how odd it was that Miss Weston had suddenly offered her a lift. Why when for all these past weeks. Miss Weston had barely spoken to her, and certainly not at all unless she was so obliged. Why now? Could Mr Lambert have asked her to check up on Megan's behaviour? To watch what happened when Megan and Anarita went to town? Megan had an uncomfortable feeling that she was constantly under supervision, but perhaps it was absurd. After all, why should Craig Lambert want a report of all she did? Unless he still distrusted her and believed she was working for her brother? Working for him? Just how stupid can you be? she asked herself. In what way could she work for him. ' 85 As she hurried downstairs, glancing anxiously |S|| her watch, for she had deliberately told Anarita earlier time because the Italian-English girl to delight in keeping people waiting; Megan herse^ wanted to be there first, as it was in some small setting an example. She had just reached the curve in the wide case when she saw Craig Lambert coming up stairs, two at a time. As he saw her, he stopped. '||| ' Ah, just the person I wanted to see,' he curtly. ' I've had a letter from your Mrs Arbuthnot.l| How come you've never written to her?' 'H Megan's hand flew to her mouth. ' I meant to, butj I forgot. I'm . . . I'm not a very good letter writer.'|§ ' That's no excuse at all. She's anxious aboutjl you, eager to know how you've adapted yourself.1! How have you?' | ' I'm very happy here,' Megan told him. | 'You get on all right with everyone? The,| children, pianists, staff?' | Megan moistened her lips. ' In a way, very well.' 1 He smiled, his face relaxing. ' I get the message. | And in a way, not. By the way, Mrs Arbuthnot said | an old friend had phoned up asking for your address. " A ... a Leontine Harrap.' ' Leo?' Megan exclaimed. ' I haven't heard from her for ages. Her parents went to Australia.' ' That must have been when you were at Ever- glades, I suppose.' ' Yes, it was.' Megan paused, staring at him, puzzled. ' But how do you know that ? I never told Mrs Arbuthnot about it, as she and Mrs Harding who ran Everglades Dancing School were rivals. I was only there one term and I hated it that's why I left and went to Mrs Arbuthnot, but how could she know?' A smile crossed his face a smile that annoyed her, for it was not only amused but sarcastic. 'Mrs Arbuthnot didn't have to tell me. I know all about 86 you. Miss Crane, right back to the day and place you were born. Excuse me.' He walked by her and then turned. ' Would you please write to Mrs Arbuthnot and give her my best wishes, but I'm rather busy. I've got to go over to the Mainland to- morrow for a few days.' And then he was gone, almost flying up the stairs. Megan stayed where she was for a moment, her hand clutching the banister. He knew. everything about her, he had said? Everything right back to the time and place she was bom? But why? He had no right. .. She went down the stairs slowly. In other words, he had collected what she believed was called a dossier. But this was no cloak-and-dagger business, no F.B.I, or whatever it was in detective stories. Why why had he to know everything about her? She was still trembling with anger as she went out- side. Anarita was there first, a triumphant smile on her lovely face. ' Beat you to it. Miss Meg!' she said happily, * Yes, you did.' 'Something wrong?' Anarita asked. Megan managed a smile. 'No not really.* She looked round her at the colourful garden and the distant blue water. ' It's very beautiful here, isn't it, Anarita?' * I suppose so,' Anarita shrugged. ' I'm getting awfully tired of it. I often have to- spend my holidays here, too, you know.' * You don't?' Megan was shocked. Anarita laughed. * It's not as bad as it sounds. Miss Tucker goes off and Mr Lambert takes over. He takes us for super schooner trips to the other islands, and twice we went by air to Mombasa, which was great fun.' ' Mr Lambert does that? Himself?* Anarita laughed. ' Yes. He doesn't half yell at us if we don't obey, but the rest of the time he's 87 really rather sweet. He's a lonely man, you know. ' Lonely?' Megan echoed. ' How do you lonely?' , ,||| Turning to stare at Megan, Anarita ' You know what I mean all right. Any woman is^ lonely without a man and any man lonely without^ a woman. The staff all chase poor Mr Lambert, I don't blame him for keeping them at a distance;|§ Apart from you, they're a lot of real duddies.' H 'Indeed, how interesting!' Miss Weston's voice H was sharp as she joined them. ' The car is round the '|§ back.' :|§ It was a quiet journey into the small town. Megan || tried to think of something to say, yet she and Miss '|§ [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |