was content to roam the grounds, and she found a leafy bower where she could sit and look over the bay. Most of the time she would be thinking of her future, and what she would do when she left the Cridells.
It was true that she would have no financial worries and would be able to find herself a nice flat wherever she decided to settle, and it certainly wouldn't be anywhere near her Aunt Alice, that much was certain. No, she would go somewhere near the coast, she thought, maybe have a dog for company, that she could take out for exercise. This was always as far as Melanie would get in her imaginings, and where she always stopped, for she didn't want to go any further into what looked like an extremely dull and very lonely future.
Like everything else that had happened to her since she had applied for that advertisement, it simply wasn't real ; nothing was real, and the sooner she came down to earth the better.
The thing that really troubled her was the large amount that she would receive for services rendered, for the way things had turned out, she couldn't truly claim a successful outcome, although her mission had been accomplished through _methods totally outside her contrivance—a fact that Julian Cridell had not accepted.
Melanie's brows creased as she watched a yacht with a bright orange sail sweep into view across the bay. Under the circumstances, she didn't feel that she had any right to claim such a large recompense as had been agreed upon at the start of her employment.
All she could do, she thought, was to agree to accept a much smaller amount, enough to keep her going until she found other employment, and then, she told
herself with a feeling of relief, she would pay back what she could consider as a loan on account, providing she didn't borrow too much.
She wouldn't tell Julian Cridell of her decision to pay back what she was given. He was too proud a man to accept this condition, but she had her pride too, and that was something he hadn't bargained for. She had tried to play her part in the agreement, but she owed him far more than he owed her by settling what had been for her a very unpalatable problem concerning her immediate future, when she had been without a home and without a job, and, in spite of her vehement determination to keep her distance from her aunt and her obnoxious husband, would in the end have had to accept her aunt's offer of a home.
CHAPTER SIX
ON the third morning after their arrival at the villa, Julian announced at breakfast that he had some business back at the hotel, and a disappointed Celia accused him of not keeping his promise to take a real holiday with them. 'You promised!' she said crossly.
Julian's brows lifted at her vehemence. 'And I shall keep my promise,' he said. 'I'm only going for a morning. You've usually got your head in those books of yours, haven't you?' he added adroitly. 'I'll be back for lunch, and we'll have a picnic by the bay. How's that?' he finished.
Celia, slightly mollified, nodded her head, but she wasn't entirely convinced. 'I know you, once you get embroiled in those meetings,' she said. 'It'll be "something's come up" and off you go!'
`It will not!' Julian replied with a gleam of amusement in his grey eyes. 'I have to go because my signature is wanted on some documents; that's all I'm letting myself in for.'
Celia looked across at Melanie, who, as usual, took no part in these discussions. 'You heard him, Melanie,' she said. 'What shall we give him as a forfeit if he lets us down?'
Embarrassed, Melanie didn't know what to reply to this, but murmured something on the lines that she wouldn't be going to the picnic anyway. 'You know I can't take the sun,' she said.
Celia stared at her. 'What's the sun got to do with it?' she demanded. 'It was that crab sandwich that
made you sick.' She turned to her father. 'It was off, you know, and I'm jolly glad Melanie warned me not to take one. I wouldn't have wanted to be as sick as she
It was true that she would have no financial worries and would be able to find herself a nice flat wherever she decided to settle, and it certainly wouldn't be anywhere near her Aunt Alice, that much was certain. No, she would go somewhere near the coast, she thought, maybe have a dog for company, that she could take out for exercise. This was always as far as Melanie would get in her imaginings, and where she always stopped, for she didn't want to go any further into what looked like an extremely dull and very lonely future.
Like everything else that had happened to her since she had applied for that advertisement, it simply wasn't real ; nothing was real, and the sooner she came down to earth the better.
The thing that really troubled her was the large amount that she would receive for services rendered, for the way things had turned out, she couldn't truly claim a successful outcome, although her mission had been accomplished through _methods totally outside her contrivance—a fact that Julian Cridell had not accepted.
Melanie's brows creased as she watched a yacht with a bright orange sail sweep into view across the bay. Under the circumstances, she didn't feel that she had any right to claim such a large recompense as had been agreed upon at the start of her employment.
All she could do, she thought, was to agree to accept a much smaller amount, enough to keep her going until she found other employment, and then, she told
herself with a feeling of relief, she would pay back what she could consider as a loan on account, providing she didn't borrow too much.
She wouldn't tell Julian Cridell of her decision to pay back what she was given. He was too proud a man to accept this condition, but she had her pride too, and that was something he hadn't bargained for. She had tried to play her part in the agreement, but she owed him far more than he owed her by settling what had been for her a very unpalatable problem concerning her immediate future, when she had been without a home and without a job, and, in spite of her vehement determination to keep her distance from her aunt and her obnoxious husband, would in the end have had to accept her aunt's offer of a home.
CHAPTER SIX
ON the third morning after their arrival at the villa, Julian announced at breakfast that he had some business back at the hotel, and a disappointed Celia accused him of not keeping his promise to take a real holiday with them. 'You promised!' she said crossly.
Julian's brows lifted at her vehemence. 'And I shall keep my promise,' he said. 'I'm only going for a morning. You've usually got your head in those books of yours, haven't you?' he added adroitly. 'I'll be back for lunch, and we'll have a picnic by the bay. How's that?' he finished.
Celia, slightly mollified, nodded her head, but she wasn't entirely convinced. 'I know you, once you get embroiled in those meetings,' she said. 'It'll be "something's come up" and off you go!'
`It will not!' Julian replied with a gleam of amusement in his grey eyes. 'I have to go because my signature is wanted on some documents; that's all I'm letting myself in for.'
Celia looked across at Melanie, who, as usual, took no part in these discussions. 'You heard him, Melanie,' she said. 'What shall we give him as a forfeit if he lets us down?'
Embarrassed, Melanie didn't know what to reply to this, but murmured something on the lines that she wouldn't be going to the picnic anyway. 'You know I can't take the sun,' she said.
Celia stared at her. 'What's the sun got to do with it?' she demanded. 'It was that crab sandwich that
made you sick.' She turned to her father. 'It was off, you know, and I'm jolly glad Melanie warned me not to take one. I wouldn't have wanted to be as sick as she
Similar Books
