Dear Tiberius; (aka Nurse Nolan) (15 page)

“
Except betray a little interest in her!
”

“
You could have done that,
”
she agreed quietly,
“
if you felt interest in her.
”

“
Come, come!
”
he exclaimed, with a cold curl of a smile on his lips.
“
You forget that
I
am, after all, her father!
”

“
Yes, but—
”

“
There are fathers and fathers, eh?
”

Lucy was acutely embarrassed, but at the same time it was no use pretending anything with him he was shrewd
enough to read her thoughts and she realized it. He also had an excellent memory.

“
You once more or less accused me of keeping Miranda like a prisoner in a tower—a lonely little prisoner who was unwanted by anyone save you and Fiske and, possibly, Abbott and Purvis, as well! Do you remember that?
”
he asked her.

“
Yes,
”
Lucy admitted, still very quietly,
“
I do remember perfectly.
”

“
Well, since you do,
I
will be perfectly truthfu
l with you-”
he leaned a little toward her
“
—and confess that my interest in Miranda was never great until these last few weeks! Perhaps that was because I hardly ever saw her, and imagined she was perfectly happy seeing little of me! You see—
”
a note creeping into his voice that suddenly almost hurt her, for it contained a kind of hollow echo of loneliness
“
—after my wife died, I found that the one thing that took my mind off everything was—complete absorption in my work! It became an obsession—that and the ease with which I accumulated more and more wealth. It was like an opiate that lulled me into a state of false contentment and made me believe that there was nothing else in life I wanted
. B
ut I
’
ve recently discovered that there are other things
....”

His voice was suddenly deep and quiet, and it vibrated slightly in a way that made an impression on Lucy similar to that that a sensitive hand passing a bow across a violin string would have on the violin string.
“
There is much more to life than the way
I
have been living it—
I
know that now!
”

Lucy felt a kind of swift, unbearable hurt, for of course he was referring in an oblique way to Lynette Harling—the woman he proposed to make his second wife! Marriage to her would open up all sorts of avenues that would lead to a new and enchanting kind of happiness for him! His association with Lynette had even, or so it seemed, made him
become aware of his child. Lucy crushed his handkerchief into a tighter ball in her hand, and he seemed to be regarding her with a good deal of earnestness.

“
I
think it was you, as a result of that accusation you hurled at my head, who made me suddenly realize that Miranda was, after all, my own daughter—
”

There came a quick tap at the door, and they both looked up in surprise. When Lucy called
“
Come in,
”
Lynette Harling flung open the door, and then stood there in the aperture regarding them, holding a gorgeous dressing gown of stiffened Chinese blue satin around her. She seemed amazed at the sight of Si
r J
ohn, sitting intimately on the other side of Lucy
’
s fire and sharing its genial warmth with her, and as for Sir John himself, he appeared only capable of gazing up at her as if the sight of her, with two brilliant braids of hair falling one on each side of her swanlike neck, had smitten him dumb and immobile with admiration.

It
was Lucy who recovered from her surprise first. 
“
You wanted me for something, Miss Harling?
”
she asked.

Lynette Harling
’
s long, green eyes smiled in a queer way.

“
Yes,
”
she admitted,
“
I
did! I wanted to borrow a couple of aspirins, because I
’
m not sleeping very well lately. But if I
’
m interrupting something
...?”

“
Of course not,
”
Lucy said quickly, and Sir John stood up. He looked toward Lynette with a mixture of surprise and concern in his eyes.

“
But I
’
d no idea you
’
d gone to bed yet, Lynette! When I came upstairs you were playing the phonograph, and you and Burke were dancing. I imagined you would go on dancing for quite a while.
”

She gave him a kind of gentle, half-pitying smile.

“
Instead of which I suddenly discovered how tired
I
was, and decided to go to bed! I
’
m like that, you know—exhaustion sweeps over me all in a moment, and I simply have to do something about it! And, in any case—you were not there!
”

“
I had something important to discuss with Nurse Nolan.
”

“
Ah, yes—the poor little Miranda, and this operation, I suppose?
”
She gave him the kind of smile this time that combined with the obvious effects of the housecoat, her unbound titian hair and the rest of her ravishing appearance, would have played havoc with almost any male who was not altogether insensible.
“
Have you decided yet that Nurse

Nolan is to go with her to Vienna? It seems to me an excellent plan!
”

“
We haven
’
t got as far as discussing Nurse Nolan
’
s going to Vienna.
”

“
No?
”
with delicate eyebrows raised.
“
But you will, of course, suggest to her that she accompanies Miranda?
”
She looked around the room, a sudden shrewdness in her eyes as they took in the well-thought-out comfort of it, and Lucy
’
s workbasket standing open, and her embroidery peeping out of it. She noticed the tea tray, too,
on the little table between the two deep armchairs, and the ashtray containing the stubs of two recently smoked cigarettes.

“
I think
,
Nurse Nolan, if you don
’
t mind,
”
she said in a very formal tone,
“
that if you can spare me the two aspirins I came for I
’
ll return to my own room and try and get some sleep. I really feel quite limp!
”

“
In that case,
”
suggested Lucy,
“
wouldn
’
t it be better if I brought them to you, and you took them with a glass of hot milk? I can easily slip down to the kitchen and heat some.
”

“
Oh, well—if it won
’
t be troubling you
....”

“
It would be no trouble at all.
”

“
I
’
m sure Nurse Nolan would be delighted to tuck you in for the night and make sure that you are comfortable, Lynette,
”
Sir John told her, smiling at her with the gentleness he always reserved for her, while he studied the pale mask of her face—no doubt for some evidence of the exhaustion she was experiencing, which, Lucy realized, probably caused him considerable concern.

“
Very well.
”
Lynette turned away. And then she turned back and looked at him under her amazing eyelashes.
“
Good night, John!
”

“
Good night, Lynette, my dear!
”

When she had gone he turned again to Lucy, but once more he was the purely impersonal and very formal employer of the early days of their acquaintance.

“
Good night to you, too, Nurse Nolan. We
’
ll go into this matter of Miranda, and Dr. Wern
’
s purely tentative arrangements, tomorrow, or at the first convenient opportunity.
”
And then he, too, had gone along the corridor, and Lucy was left feeling as if a good deal of the warmth and comfort had departed out of her room, and it was really a very bleak and unfriendly little room that she was no longer able to take any pleasure in.

When she carried t
he glass of milk to Miss Harling, the latter was already in bed, lying luxuriating in the comfort of silk sheets and fat, downy pillows piled beneath her red head. She wore a nightdress that suggested a cobweb dyed to the faint hue of a primrose stalk, and a white lace bedjacket was draped carelessly around her shoulders. She was lying examining a ring on the third finger of her left hand when Lucy entered, and she did not immediately raise her eyes from it when the latter stood beside the bed.

Lucy laid down the bottle of aspirin tablets on the bedside table, and was careful not to spill the milk as she set that down also.

“
It might be a good idea,
”
she suggested,
“
if you
’
re sleeping badly, if you see your doctor when you get back to town. He would probably be able to give you something that would be more helpful than aspirin tablets. You may even have been overworking and need a tonic.
”

Lynette gazed up at her with an amused expression.
“
You
’
re trying so hard to regard me with strict impartiality, aren
’
t you, Nurse Nolan?
”
she murmured. Her eyes grew even more amused at Lucy
’
s faintly abashed expression, and then she held up her hand for the other to see her ring.
“
How do you like that?
”
she asked.
“
It
’
s a beauty, isn
’
t it?
”

Lucy gazed at the ring and felt her heart turn over. It was more than a beauty—it was superb, and must have cost a small fortune. It was one magnificent diamond, set in a claw of platinum, and beneath the softened rays of the silk-shaded electric light the colors in it were breathtaking. She could feel that Lynette was almost gloating over it.

“
It
...
it
’
s lovely!
”
she exclaimed.

“
Far more than lovely,
”
the ballerina replied, looking at her with hard, glittering, taunting green eyes.
“
I would say that it is every girl
’
s idea of an engagement ring! But, unfortunately, not many girls are ever likely to receive such a ring, for not many men could afford to provide them with anything like it!
”

Lucy was silent, and Lynette mocked at her a little.

“
You did understand that I said—engagement ring?
”

“
Yes,
”
Lucy heard herself replying, with no emotion of any kind in her voice.
“
And that means that I am to congratulate you?
”

“
You can if you like, my dear—
”
the green eyes dancing with malicious humor
“
—but I don
’
t really expect you to do so! However, the point of this is that
I
think you should be aware of the position that now obtains in this house—or will very shortly obtain! We are making no announcements because I have certain commitments that make it undesirable at the present time, but I thought it only fair to let you know—just in case you have been harboring any cosy little schemes of your own! Any schemes to draw you and Miranda and Miranda
’
s very comfortably placed father a little closer together! And it wouldn
’
t be any use your trying to convince me that you have never had such a thought in mind!
”

“
In that case, I won
’
t attempt to do so,
”
Lucy told her, but her tone was rather flat—as if something inside her had received a shock, and she had not yet fully recovered from it.

“
How sensible you are!
”
Lynette murmured. And then she smiled more amiably.
“
However, you
’
ve got a trip to Vienna ahead of you, and you
’
ll be seeing something more of that nice Dr. Wern, won
’
t you?
I
though
t
he was quite extraordinarily attractive, and, of course, that sort of man has got something no ordinary man possesses! I suppose it
’
s the power of life and death—it makes them curiously irresistible.
”

Lucy said nothing, and turned to leave the room. Lynette called after her,
“
If you don
’
t agree with me now. Nurse Nolan, you may do so when you have been in Vienna a few weeks! I was there only a few months ago, and although it
’
s changed since the war, it still has the Danube flowing through it—and its own particular brand of magic! I
’
ll be surprised if you don
’
t manage to enjoy yourself somehow!
”