Thorn by Sarah Rayne Page B

her horror Quincy began to tremble, wrapping her arms about her thin body and rocking to and fro. She’s not aware of me any more, thought Imogen, or of this mean little room.
    But after a moment Quincy’s eyes focused on Imogen again. ‘Thornacre,’ she said. ‘I lived in Thornacre.’
    Freda Porter had not wanted to take Quincy into Briar House, but Dr Sterne had been persuasive, and Dr Sterne at his most persuasive was hard to resist.
    Quincy was one of his protégées; she was one of the poor souls he had found in Thornacre and brought out with him. He was still uncovering her story, he explained, although this was proving to be a long and difficult task. But it seemed clear that there had been abuse from childhood on, and they were afraid there might have been some ill-treatment in Thornacre as well. She had been there for two or three years, they thought.
    â€˜A very pitiful case indeed,’ said he, fixing Freda with his remarkable eyes, so that Freda felt really quite peculiar for a minute.
    â€˜And what exactly is the problem, Dr Sterne?’
    â€˜I’m not sure yet. She’s withdrawn from the world a good deal,’ said Leo. ‘But not quite in the usual way of clinical depression.’
    â€˜Ah. Indeed.’
    â€˜She seems to have entered some kind of strange twilight world of her own,’ said Leo. ‘I don’t know yet whether it’s any safer or kinder to her than the real world’s been, and I don’t know what nightmares she’s lived through either.’
    â€˜Well, I am sure you will find out if anyone can, Dr Sterne,’ said Freda comfortably. Quite stimulating it was to hear Dr Sterne talk like this. ‘A cup of coffee, Doctor?’ It was all set ready, with Freda’s best flowered cups and saucers.
    Leo took the cup of coffee absently. ‘I shall find out eventually, of course,’ he said, and Freda thought that any other man saying this would have sounded arrogant. Dr Sterne said it as one simply stating a fact. ‘But until I do find out, it would be very cruel indeed to keep her in Thornacre.’ Leo paused, and then said, ‘I wondered whether you might be able to find a place for her here, Matron. I should be very grateful if you could.’
    Freda maintained her smile but said it might be difficult. You did not run a nursing home on fresh air; books had to be balanced and bills paid. Briar House was not a charity.
    â€˜I didn’t expect there to be any charity in the arrangement,’ said Leo, expressionlessly. ‘I thought it might be possible for her to work here and earn her keep. I’m sure you find it as hard as the rest of us to get good staff.’
    This, of course, put a different complexion on the thing. The idea of gaining an unpaid helper was very appealing, and having one of Dr Sterne’s protégées here might mean regular visits from him. Her mind flew ahead, seeing herself and Dr Sterne discussing the case over dainty tea tables, or even cosy little suppers.
    And so she said cautiously that it might be possible to find a corner for Quincy. Should they say a trial period? Perhaps six weeks?
    â€˜Good idea,’ said Leo, standing up. ‘I’ll arrange for her to come right away. She’s an odd-looking little thing,’ he said. ‘And by the way, she has a really remarkable talent for drawing and painting. I’d like that to be encouraged as much as possible, if you would, Matron. I think it’s how we’ll eventually reach her mind.’
    â€˜We will hope so, of course, Doctor.’ It was impossible to resist Dr Sterne when his eyes glowed with enthusiasm like this.
    And really, so far it did not seem to be working too badly. Quincy was willing; she would do whatever was asked of her. She helped in the laundry and with the preparation of meals, even though her ideas of hygiene had made Freda throw up her hands in horror.
    But she was