happy here, Nurse?”
“I can’t think how we could be anything else in such a delightful spot.”
“You love the country, don’t you?”
“I’m a country girl,” Linnet admitted, with her attractive, gentle smile.
Diana surveyed her suddenly with interest. Linnet was wearing a simple cotton dress, and she looked younger even than Diana, and definitely more unawakened. There was something eager and ardent about her mouth and eyes, but there was also a faint shadow of uncertainty—of perplexity and groping in her expression, that was more noticeable this morning than it had ever been. Diana studied her deliberately.
“Have you got a boy friend, Nurse? And how’s he going to get on while you’re here with me?”
“I — ”
A delicate blush spread lightly under Linnet’s fair skin, and Diana smiled with amusement.
“Don’t tell me about him if you don’t want to,” she said. “But there’s something about you which tells me that you’re in the throes of some sort of an affair just now, and you’re not quite happy about it. Personally, I’d advise you to be most frightfully careful before you consider giving up your job in order to marry anyone. Marriage is for the few—at least, that’s the way I feel about it. And only marry when you’re quite, quite sure about the man.” She crushed out the end of her cigarette in an ash-tray, and then reached automatically for another, but Linnet checked her. She smiled ruefully. “Oh, all right—but it’s partly habit, you know!”
She nestled her head in her cushions and looked upwards at the blue sky across which little fleecy clouds were drifting lazily.
“I married when I was eighteen, but it was a silly thing to do. My husband was eighteen years older than I was, and he took me out to Rhodesia, and expected me to be content in a spot where there wasn’t even a club-house, and our nearest neighbour was miles away. After a time we fought like tigers, and I grew positively to loathe him.” The smile on her lips chilled Linnet’s blood. “It’s a ghastly thing when you have to live with a man as his wife and put up with his more-or-less undiluted society week in and week out ... Only I’m afraid I wasn’t cut out to put up with it for long, and I found a way out. At least, I found a way to make things more bearable.”
Linnet’s eyes looked large and shocked as she watched her, and the smile which grew on Diana’s scarlet lips gradually chilled her still more.
“Unfortunately, however, I had to put up with jealousy—the worst kind! And jealousy becomes boring, as well as infuriating, after a time. I often wonder what would have happened if things hadn’t ended the way they did—suddenly ... ! ”
Her hand started to shake suddenly as she once more groped for a cigarette.
“Just one more,” she pleaded. “I promise I’ll be good all the rest of the day if you’ll just let me have another one now! And I would like something to drink ... Let’s have a sherry apiece, shall we? Or could you mix a cocktail? I believe there’s everything in that cupboard in the dining-room, and all we lack is ice, but we can put up with that. Be a pet, Nurse Kintyre, and see what you can produce!”
But Linnet shook her head very firmly.
“Dr. Shane Willoughby left instructions that you were to have a sherry before your lunch if you wanted it—but only if you particularly wanted it.” She decided not to mention a sherry before dinner. “But I can get you a nice long cool drink if you’d care for one? And if it wasn’t so near to lunch time I’d suggest coffee—”
“Coffee?” Diana looked faintly revolted. “I don’t want coffee, and I don’t want a long drink. And if you won’t let me have what I do want to drink, or even another cigarette, I’ll just sit here in the sunshine and sulk—or snooze, anyway,” with a rather petulant laugh nevertheless. She shut her eyes tightly and determinedly, as if she no longer had any desire for
“I can’t think how we could be anything else in such a delightful spot.”
“You love the country, don’t you?”
“I’m a country girl,” Linnet admitted, with her attractive, gentle smile.
Diana surveyed her suddenly with interest. Linnet was wearing a simple cotton dress, and she looked younger even than Diana, and definitely more unawakened. There was something eager and ardent about her mouth and eyes, but there was also a faint shadow of uncertainty—of perplexity and groping in her expression, that was more noticeable this morning than it had ever been. Diana studied her deliberately.
“Have you got a boy friend, Nurse? And how’s he going to get on while you’re here with me?”
“I — ”
A delicate blush spread lightly under Linnet’s fair skin, and Diana smiled with amusement.
“Don’t tell me about him if you don’t want to,” she said. “But there’s something about you which tells me that you’re in the throes of some sort of an affair just now, and you’re not quite happy about it. Personally, I’d advise you to be most frightfully careful before you consider giving up your job in order to marry anyone. Marriage is for the few—at least, that’s the way I feel about it. And only marry when you’re quite, quite sure about the man.” She crushed out the end of her cigarette in an ash-tray, and then reached automatically for another, but Linnet checked her. She smiled ruefully. “Oh, all right—but it’s partly habit, you know!”
She nestled her head in her cushions and looked upwards at the blue sky across which little fleecy clouds were drifting lazily.
“I married when I was eighteen, but it was a silly thing to do. My husband was eighteen years older than I was, and he took me out to Rhodesia, and expected me to be content in a spot where there wasn’t even a club-house, and our nearest neighbour was miles away. After a time we fought like tigers, and I grew positively to loathe him.” The smile on her lips chilled Linnet’s blood. “It’s a ghastly thing when you have to live with a man as his wife and put up with his more-or-less undiluted society week in and week out ... Only I’m afraid I wasn’t cut out to put up with it for long, and I found a way out. At least, I found a way to make things more bearable.”
Linnet’s eyes looked large and shocked as she watched her, and the smile which grew on Diana’s scarlet lips gradually chilled her still more.
“Unfortunately, however, I had to put up with jealousy—the worst kind! And jealousy becomes boring, as well as infuriating, after a time. I often wonder what would have happened if things hadn’t ended the way they did—suddenly ... ! ”
Her hand started to shake suddenly as she once more groped for a cigarette.
“Just one more,” she pleaded. “I promise I’ll be good all the rest of the day if you’ll just let me have another one now! And I would like something to drink ... Let’s have a sherry apiece, shall we? Or could you mix a cocktail? I believe there’s everything in that cupboard in the dining-room, and all we lack is ice, but we can put up with that. Be a pet, Nurse Kintyre, and see what you can produce!”
But Linnet shook her head very firmly.
“Dr. Shane Willoughby left instructions that you were to have a sherry before your lunch if you wanted it—but only if you particularly wanted it.” She decided not to mention a sherry before dinner. “But I can get you a nice long cool drink if you’d care for one? And if it wasn’t so near to lunch time I’d suggest coffee—”
“Coffee?” Diana looked faintly revolted. “I don’t want coffee, and I don’t want a long drink. And if you won’t let me have what I do want to drink, or even another cigarette, I’ll just sit here in the sunshine and sulk—or snooze, anyway,” with a rather petulant laugh nevertheless. She shut her eyes tightly and determinedly, as if she no longer had any desire for
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