”
It might have been a warning, or it might have been a grudging tribute, for he spoke lightly enough, but Harriet remembered that casual taunt of Samantha ’ s and the implication that Duff ’ s hasty marriage had, in a sense, been complimentary to herself.
“ Has she long been a widow? ” she asked, more from idle curiosity than any wish to pry, but his answer was laconic.
“ Not long, ” he said, and afterwards she realised she should have been warned by his manner not to pursue the subject, but she was beginning to find the evening something of a strain, and the lovely Samantha was at least a mutual point of focus upon which to hang a polite exchange of small talk.
“ Was your wife like her? ” she asked, anxious to get things in perspective, since she had jumped to such false conclusions.
“ There was a family resemblance, I suppose, ” he answered, but did not elaborate, so she tried again.
“ Your wife painted the portrait, I suppose. They must have been very fond of one another—so many books and things signed ‘ Sam ’ —and the likeness was well caught, and— ” she broke off abruptly as he got suddenly to his feet with an angry exclamation.
“ For heaven ’ s sake stop chattering glibly about matters of which you know nothing, ” he said. “ Yes, my wife painted the portrait, no, the cousins were not particularly fond, and since you ’ d already dreamed up a lover for poor Kitty and been proved wrong, let that be a lesson to you not to jump to unwarrantable conclusions. Now, will you please desist in future from concerning yourself with affairs that happened when you were an inquisitive and doubtless tiresome child of ten, and curb that rather over-developed imagination. Well, eleven o ’ clock; time you were in bed. If you ’ ll go on up I ’ ll say goodnight here and let the dogs out. ”
She scrambled awkwardly to her feet, for her weak ankle had become cramped from her position on the floor, and stood there indecisively, appalled by the sudden realisation that she did not know where she was to sleep.
“ Well? ” Duff said a shade impatiently, then seeing her crestfallen face, added kindly: “ Sorry I barked at you. I ’ m a bit on edge, which is no fault of yours, so say goodnight with a nice forgiving smile, and run off to bed. ”
“ I—I don ’ t know where to go, ” she stammered, and saw him frown.
“ Good grief! Hasn ’ t someone shown you where the rooms are? ” he exclaimed. “ I should have thought with your inquisitive tendencies you would have ferreted that out for yourself. Well, come along and I ’ ll show you. The dogs will have to wait. ”
As she followed him up the elegant staircase and into a strange wing of the house, she felt he was not pleased at being obliged to come up with her, and wondered if he was embarrassed at having to share what was, presumably, the bridal suite with a stranger who meant nothing to him, and she inspected her new quarters with slight apprehension.
Duff turned up the lamps, replenished the turf in one room, firmly shut and locked the intervening door to the other and threw the key on to the dressing-table.
“ To allay any fears you may be harbouring, Miss Jones, ” he said with a slight edge to his voice, and when she answered a little timidly, but with the polite insistence on exactitude he had already come to associate with her: “ I ’ m not Miss Jones any mo r e, ” he turned to look at her, reflectively running a hand over his chin.
She stood in the middle of the big room looking lost and alien and very tired. Her thin shoulders drooped like a child who has just been scolded, and his face softened to a brief tenderness.
“ Neither you are, ” he said with gentle amusement. “ You are Mrs. Duff Lonnegan for better or for worse, but not at the moment looking very happy with her married quarters. Don ’ t you like your room, Harriet? You can always change it—there are plenty of rooms going a ’
It might have been a warning, or it might have been a grudging tribute, for he spoke lightly enough, but Harriet remembered that casual taunt of Samantha ’ s and the implication that Duff ’ s hasty marriage had, in a sense, been complimentary to herself.
“ Has she long been a widow? ” she asked, more from idle curiosity than any wish to pry, but his answer was laconic.
“ Not long, ” he said, and afterwards she realised she should have been warned by his manner not to pursue the subject, but she was beginning to find the evening something of a strain, and the lovely Samantha was at least a mutual point of focus upon which to hang a polite exchange of small talk.
“ Was your wife like her? ” she asked, anxious to get things in perspective, since she had jumped to such false conclusions.
“ There was a family resemblance, I suppose, ” he answered, but did not elaborate, so she tried again.
“ Your wife painted the portrait, I suppose. They must have been very fond of one another—so many books and things signed ‘ Sam ’ —and the likeness was well caught, and— ” she broke off abruptly as he got suddenly to his feet with an angry exclamation.
“ For heaven ’ s sake stop chattering glibly about matters of which you know nothing, ” he said. “ Yes, my wife painted the portrait, no, the cousins were not particularly fond, and since you ’ d already dreamed up a lover for poor Kitty and been proved wrong, let that be a lesson to you not to jump to unwarrantable conclusions. Now, will you please desist in future from concerning yourself with affairs that happened when you were an inquisitive and doubtless tiresome child of ten, and curb that rather over-developed imagination. Well, eleven o ’ clock; time you were in bed. If you ’ ll go on up I ’ ll say goodnight here and let the dogs out. ”
She scrambled awkwardly to her feet, for her weak ankle had become cramped from her position on the floor, and stood there indecisively, appalled by the sudden realisation that she did not know where she was to sleep.
“ Well? ” Duff said a shade impatiently, then seeing her crestfallen face, added kindly: “ Sorry I barked at you. I ’ m a bit on edge, which is no fault of yours, so say goodnight with a nice forgiving smile, and run off to bed. ”
“ I—I don ’ t know where to go, ” she stammered, and saw him frown.
“ Good grief! Hasn ’ t someone shown you where the rooms are? ” he exclaimed. “ I should have thought with your inquisitive tendencies you would have ferreted that out for yourself. Well, come along and I ’ ll show you. The dogs will have to wait. ”
As she followed him up the elegant staircase and into a strange wing of the house, she felt he was not pleased at being obliged to come up with her, and wondered if he was embarrassed at having to share what was, presumably, the bridal suite with a stranger who meant nothing to him, and she inspected her new quarters with slight apprehension.
Duff turned up the lamps, replenished the turf in one room, firmly shut and locked the intervening door to the other and threw the key on to the dressing-table.
“ To allay any fears you may be harbouring, Miss Jones, ” he said with a slight edge to his voice, and when she answered a little timidly, but with the polite insistence on exactitude he had already come to associate with her: “ I ’ m not Miss Jones any mo r e, ” he turned to look at her, reflectively running a hand over his chin.
She stood in the middle of the big room looking lost and alien and very tired. Her thin shoulders drooped like a child who has just been scolded, and his face softened to a brief tenderness.
“ Neither you are, ” he said with gentle amusement. “ You are Mrs. Duff Lonnegan for better or for worse, but not at the moment looking very happy with her married quarters. Don ’ t you like your room, Harriet? You can always change it—there are plenty of rooms going a ’
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