Nurse Saxon's Patient (28 page)

‘
T
ans
y
,’
Roger was stooping low so that his voice would reach her ears without anyone else knowing what he said.
‘
I love you,
’
he said clearly and distinctly.
‘
I couldn
’
t tell you this while you still wore Garth
’
s ring. If you
’
ll marry me
there
’
s no limit to what we can do together. We can make the films from the books I write, we
’
ll live where the fancy takes us, just for as long as the work we
’
re doing is there, and then we
’
ll move on
to somewhere else, to something else, something we can do together
...’

‘
Living out of a suitcase.
’
Tansy wrinkled her nose at him, laughter bubbling from her lips.
‘
Sharing mad, moonlight nights, wonderful dawns ... all the things you
’
ve told me about
...
Oh, Roger,
’
she was in his arms, standing on her toes to reach up for his kiss,
‘
of course I
’
ll marry you,
’
she whispered quickly.
‘
Why ever didn
’
t we meet before?
’

CHAPTER XIV

Garth stood with his back to Tansy and Roger for what seemed to
him
to be an eternity. At last he could contain himself no longer.
‘
Roger,
’
he asked brusquely, wheeling round,
‘
what about Julie?
’

‘
Julie?
’
Tansy said the name in a tone of bewilderment as if
she
had never heard it before.
‘
What
’
s the matter with Julie? What has she to do with all this?
’

‘
She loves Garth,
’
Roger told her gently,
‘
just as he loves her, just as we love each other. And for some reason, maybe the strain of knowing how you and Garth were pretending, she couldn
’
t stand the strain any longer. She
’
s vanished. Oh, nothing serious,
’
he hastened to assure her as he saw her face whiten.
‘
I
’
m her brother, remember, and we
’
ve been closer
than
the average brother and sister ever since we were children. She
’
s simply gone somewhere to think things over quietly for a few days, to give Garth a chance to
l
et you know that his memory had returned and to get
things
sorted out, but Garth is naturally anxious to find her.
’

‘
And so am I.
’
Tansy
’
s sincerity was unmistakable.
‘
She
’
s been kind to me from the very beginning of this
...
nightmare. She was the only one who even tried to understand that night they took us into St
.
Luke
’
s. Everyone else tried to tell me to be quiet and wait. Nobody else seemed to care how I felt.
’

She turned suddenly to Garth, but not leaving Roger
’
s side.

‘
We must find her,
’
she said simply,
‘
and I must tell her why I did this, but it
’
s so difficult to explain.
’

‘
Explanations can come later, if they matter at all.
’
Garth managed a smile.
‘
The main thing is to let her know that I
’
m—we—I
’
m not engaged to you any more, and that you
’
re not broken-hearted about it either,
’
he
joked.
‘
I don
’
t think Julie would want me if she thought you were.
’

‘
Julie wants you
,’
Tansy said soberly.
‘
I
’
ve thought that for a long t
im
e, and I
’
ve thought how mean I was in holding on to you when you couldn
’
t say anything about the truth of the matter for yourself, but I couldn
’
t bring myself to let you go, I can
’
t explain
...’

‘
It doesn
’
t matter at the moment, darling
,’
Roger hushed her gently.
‘
Explanations can come later. Right now all Garth wants to do is to find Julie and tell her everything is all right, then they will be as happy as we are
!’

‘
Is there a telephone in this place?
’
Garth asked her.

‘Mrs.
Andy wants to know of any developments. We can tell her Julie isn
’
t at the hospital and that eve
r
ything is fine between Roger and yourself. She may have some other suggestions.
’

‘
There
’
s a telephone in the vestibule
,’
Tansy told him.
‘
The one in the office is for the staff use only. Anyone using the hall may use this one. I
’
ll show you.
’

It did not take them long to get through to
Mrs.
Andy. She had obviously been awaiting their call, and her relief when she knew that matters were satisfactorily settled between Roger and Tansy was apparent to her godson even over the telephone.

‘
I rang Miss Bloxham
,’
she told him then, referring to the Matron of St
.
Luke
’
s.
‘
We
’
re old friends, and I knew she would not betray a confidence. She told me Julie had not gone back to the hospital, but she had a suggestion to make. Ask Roger if they sub-let their flat when he flew off to Mexico, will you?
’

Garth covered the instrument with his hand and asked Roger his aunt
’
s question. For a moment Roger could not quite remember, then he snapped his fingers.

‘
We did,
’
he recollected,
‘
but Julie wrote to me some time after I
’
d left and told me the new tenants had moved
out ...
they had unexpectedly found the house they wanted, and Julie didn
’
t want the trouble of trying to relet it again, acting alone
...’

‘
No,
’
Garth told
Mrs.
Andy.
‘
It isn
’
t let. Why?
’

‘
Then surely that
’
s where she will be?
’
Mrs.
Andy said triumphantly.
‘
When things go wrong most people instinctively turn to wherever they call “home” to put things right. Ask Roger to drive you there now. I think you
’
ll find I
’
m not mistaken
...
and remember,
’
she said urgently as Garth began to say goodbye,
‘
I
’
m as anxious as you are, and I
’
m sitting here alone, waiting
for some news
!’

‘
I
’
ll let you know as soon as there is anything to tell, Garth promised.
‘
Thanks for helping. Bye.
’

‘
How far to your flat?
’
he asked Roger once he had replaced the telephone.
‘
How long will it take to get there?
’

‘
The other side of town,
’
Roger told him.
‘
Not far, but it depends on the traffic. Why?
’

‘
Aunt Lavinia thinks Julie may be there,
’
Garth said simply.
‘
I should imagine she will be too. Step on it,
’
he ordered as he took his place in the back seat leaving Tansy to sit beside Roger.
‘
She may move off before we get there
!’

‘
I don
’
t
think
so.
’
Roger spoke as he switched on the engine, but he lost no time in moving away, and in a short time they had traversed the town and were halted outside the block of old Georgian houses in one of which Julie and her brother had made their home.

‘
Second floor, door at the end of the corridor. Turn to your right at the top of the stairs. I know you would rather go up alone.
’

‘
I would,
’
Garth said crisply.
‘
Thanks.
’

He walked slowly up the wide, carpeted stairs, wondering what he should say to her, wondering if she would resent his following her
in
this fashion when she had so obviously run away from facing him as she had been compelled to do at Woodlands.

I
’
ve been foolish this past week, he told himself, what somebody called a quixotic fool. Maybe it was Aunt Lavinia, but I thought Julie understood
...

The door of the flat was white-painted with a brass knocker in the shape of a jolly little gnome. The little thing seemed to twinkle reassurance at Garth as he lifted it and knocked gently.

At first he thought
Mrs.
Andy must be mistaken and that she was not there, but when he had made up his mind to knock again he had just lifted his hand when the door opened and she stood there, looking at him. Her face was pale and her make-up gone, but to Garth she had never looked more lovely. He moved towards, her as she mutely held the door wide open, her glance searching his face.

‘
May I come in, Julie, please?
’
he asked quietly.

‘
If you wish.
’
She nodded and moved into the room, making no further move.

‘
I
’
m sorry you felt you had to ... run away,
’
he said, still using the same gentle tone.
‘
But you knew I should come to find you, didn
’
t you? You did the right thing, darling,
’
he went on.
‘
It brought me to my senses. Tansy
’
s outside, in Roger
’
s car. She knows now that I
’
ve recovered my memory and
tha
t
you
know too. She knows I love you, Julie. She knows that I
’
m going to ask you to marry me
...
just as soon as ever it can be arranged. You will, won
’
t you?
’
he asked, opening out his arms to her.

For a moment Julie hesitated, then with a little m
uffl
e
d
cry she ran to him, to be closely enfolded in his embrace, an embrace which now had the full use of his two arms, his two hands, and the whole of his heart.

From somewhere in the region of his chest she lifted her face to ask a question.

‘
And Tansy?
’
she asked.
‘
How does she feel? What is she going to do now?
’

‘
She
’
s going to be your sister-in-law,
’
Garth told her, ending any further questions with a kiss. After a moment, his arm about her shoulders, he walked her gently over to the comfortable settee which she had pushed before a fire of pine cones, lit even though the evening was warm.

‘
Let them wait a minute or two,’ he murmured against her hair.
‘We’ve
waited long enough for this...’ And as their lips met again time stood still as their hearts accepted in thankfulness the blessed gift of love.