Unknown (5 page)

"I hope not," Elizabeth answered fervently, "It would spoil her trip."

The door bell rang.

"Answer it," said Biba. "I'll dear away the plates."

Elizabeth opened the door. Jason Abercrombie was standing outside in the hallway with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Hullo!" said he. "I wondered if you would be at home."

Elizabeth drew a deep breath, her surprise registering in her startled eyes.

"I didn't expect you," she told him for want of something better to say.

"You should have done." His infectious smile flashed out. "When one member of the family has been so rude the others try to make up for it." He thrust a large and expensive box of candy into her hands. "Please don't be upset by an office row," he begged. "We often have them when Charles is around."

"Will you come in?" Elizabeth invited, opening the door a little wider. "We've just finished our evening meal."

Biba was hovering in the kitchen doorway, doing her best to recognise their visitor by the sound of his voice. Jason Abercrombie stepped quickly into the hall, almost as if he expected Elizabeth to change her mind about letting him in.

"I hope I haven't rushed you," he said, "but I thought you would have your meal straight away. You had rather a hectic afternoon."

"Yes," Elizabeth agreed, leading the way into the sitting-room. "Can I give you some coffee? We were just about to have ours."

"That would be fine."

Elizabeth scooped her coat and handbag from the chair to let him sit down.

"I'll see about the coffee," she said.

"Charles Abercrombie?" Biba whispered when she reached the kitchen.

"Heavens, no!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You couldn't expect anyone like Charles to come here post-haste, apologising for his rudeness. It's Jason Abercrombie. Come and meet him."

Biba hung back.

"He can't want to see me," she pointed out. "That's quite evident. I'll make the coffee and bring it in later. Don't bite his head off in the meantime," she advised. "Take time to think."

"What about? As far as I can see he's only come to apologise." Elizabeth put Jason's peace-offering on the table between them. "Leave a few," she suggested. "I've never tasted such expensive candy before."

Biba regarded the box lovingly.

"It would be almost a shame to open it," she murmured.

"You'll manage!" Elizabeth was gaining her second wind. "Give me five minutes," she suggested. "Then you can come in with the coffee."

"Was the sitting-room very untidy?" Biba asked, really quite concerned.

"Not too bad, and I doubt if he's come to inspect my background."

When she returned to the sitting-room Jason Abercrombie was standing before the electric fire examining Biba's collection of glass animals.

"They're a bit frail, aren't they?" he commented. "Do you never break one? The odd leg or tail?"

"They're Biba's," Elizabeth explained. "She takes great care of them. They're almost the only thing she remembers to dust."

"Biba?" he queried.

"My flat-mate. She's making the coffee." Elizabeth paused, waiting for him to announce the real purpose of his visit "Do sit down, Mr. Abercrombie.''

"Jason," he suggested.

She smiled, pulling forward their one comfortable chair. There was a settee piled high with Biba's sewing materials and she sat on one end of it Jason Abercrombie leaned forward in the chair, his hands clasped loosely between his knees.

"I've come to ask you to accept the job," he said. "To go to Scotland with my grandmother."

"But your brother was quite sure of my unsuitability," Elizabeth protested. "How could he possibly have changed his mind so quickly ?"

"In the final analysis Grand'mere won." His eyes were suddenly twinkling, and they were so like the old lady's that Elizabeth found herself relaxing completely. "She always does," Jason declared. "I tried to assure you of that before you upped and told Charles what you thought of him. That was something 1" he grinned. "I guess he was more than surprised."

"At my effrontery? Perhaps I was rather rude," Elizabeth conceded, "but he did manage to rub me up the wrong way."

"It can happen," Jason agreed. "Charles expects perfection most of the time."

"Especially from his employees?"

"From everyone, really. He thinks I don't work hard enough out here, for example, but thank goodness he's too far away most of the time to do anything about it. We get on, more or less, because we are so far apart." He looked her straight in the eye. "Don't let me down," he begged. "I'm depending on you to take Grand'mere to Scotland. Otherwise I shall have to cope with her for another month, and I'm not very good at coping. She's been cramping my style a little," he admitted with a wicked grin. "You see, my grandfather, who founded the company, respected his French wife's business acumen so much that he made her an active director with quite a large say in the running of it, even, here in Sydney. My father came out here to start the Australian branch, but his heart was always in Scotland, at the hub of things. Charles is very like him, by the way. He was dedicated to the company and he knew that Grand'mere was, too. Mind you," he added with a kind of relish, "I don't blame Charles entirely for thinking her irresponsible at times. She's a gay old bird and she likes her own way, especially when she's seized by a sudden impulse. They're generally impulses to do good, to be generous or kind to people for varying reasons, but they can prove embarrassing at times. Charles knows all about them, of course, having lived most of his life at Kilchoan, and he's become wary of the consequences, especially when they affect the business side of his life."

Elizabeth cleared her throat.

"It makes it easier to see his point of view about an older companion," she allowed.

"Grand'mere would have none of her," Jason explained. "She was a forty-five-year-old spinster from Melbourne."

"Who also fancied a free trip to Europe," Elizabeth put in drily. "I don't deny that the idea was attractive to me," she added, "but I was quite prepared to do a good job, to be a useful companion to your grandmother without getting in anyone's way."

He reached over to take her hand.

"Elizabeth," he said, "do this for me. If you don't accept the job I shall have to take Grand'mere as far as San Francisco where Charles could pick her up."

"And you don't want to do that?"

"Not exactly. You see, I've some leave to take and I want to go up on to the Barrier Reef to do some fishing. Grand'mere won't go with just anybody," he added. "Please take her as far as San Francisco, at least."

"And after that?"

"Your air fare will be paid through to London, or Scotland, if you wished, whatever happens. Charles leaves for America tomorrow morning. He has business in San Francisco and New York which will keep him there for two weeks. After that he'll return to Scotland."

Elizabeth hesitated.

"When would your grandmother want to go?" she asked at last.

"Within the next few days, I gather. She wants to call in at Hawaii to visit an old friend on one of the smaller islands. Qantas will arrange everything for us," Jason assured her.

"I haven't quite made up my mind—"

"Please," he said, "make it up now, Elizabeth. You wanted to go. You wanted to, very much," he reminded her.

"I can't deny it…"

"Then don't try !" He glanced up as Biba appeared in the kitchen doorway, jumping up to relieve her of the tray. "Let me take that for you," he offered. "I'm gasping for a cup of coffee."

Elizabeth introduced them, aware that Biba was suitably impressed by their unexpected visitor.

"I've been asking Elizabeth to consider the job as my grandmother's secretary-companion," Jason explained as he found
room for the tray on the crowded side table.

Biba glanced at Elizabeth.

"What have you decided?" she asked in a voice which suggested that her friend would be very foolish to refuse anyone like Jason Abercrombie. "It's what you wanted."

They both recognised how eager she had been, Elizabeth thought, and they would consider her mad to refuse now merely because she had crossed swords with Charles Abercrombie. Remembering her interview with Adele, she smiled.

"If your grandmother really wants me to go," she said, "I will."

Jason heaved a sigh of relief.

"She'll be delighted," he declared. "She took a real shine to you, as they say in these parts." He glanced at Biba. "Have you always worked in Sydney?" he asked, apparently deciding that his mission was now fulfilled.

"Always," Biba told him as she poured the coffee. "I was born and bred in Sydney and I wouldn't want to work anywhere else. All the same," she hurried to assure him, "I can quite understand the opposite point of view. Travel broadens the mind, and all that. I do want to travel myself one day, but not just now."

"A heart entanglement, I suppose," Jason suggested. "I can imagine!"

"You're quite wrong," Biba laughed, "I'm an ambitious girl and I have a lot to do here in Sydney. My only involvement at present is with my work."

"How bad for you," he declared. "You should never let business interfere with the social scene."

"Which means you never do?" Biba handed him a cup of coffee. "I can't quite believe that."

"I mix things very well," Jason mused complacently "Business and pleasure. About fifty-fifty, I should think."

"Sugar?" Biba asked.

"Two spoonfuls. I'm a sweet-tooth," Jason admitted, settling back in the chair with a clear intent to stay. "I wonder we haven't met before, Miss Carrington," he added. "Do you sail?"

Biba shook her head, vastly amused by his interest.

"We must remedy that," he suggested, "now we've met" He looked across at Elizabeth, drawing her into the conversation. "We learned to sail at Kilchoan," he informed her. "On the loch, which isn't quite the same as sailing in Sydney Harbour, but it gave us a taste for boats which we've never been able to shake off. The house is on the lochside," he added. "You'll love it."

If I ever make Glen Dearg, Elizabeth thought I'm going off into the blue with the conceivable prospect of being jettisoned by the wayside at Charles Abercrombie's whim.

Jason noticed Biba's record-player and. the conversation quickly turned to music. They spoke about the Opera House and the colossal amount of money it had cost to build.

"I think it was worth every penny," Biba declared. "So does Liz. We've been twice since she came to live here."

"I go as often as I can," Jason told her, a confession which vaguely surprised Elizabeth till he added: "Grand'mere taught us to appreciate the arts, especially music."

"Does your brother patronise the opera?" Biba was obviously curious about Charles.

"Occasionally. He never has much time for relaxation when he visits Australia, though. He's always in a mad rush to return to Scotland."

"Where the heart lies," Biba murmured. "Liz, you should have lots in common when you finally get down to knowing each other."

Jason laughed.

"I hope so," he said. "Meanwhile, all you have to do is to keep Grand'mere on an even keel till she reaches San Francisco on the twenty-second. Don't let her rush off at a tangent. You've got plenty of time to do things leisurely on Hawaii and visit with Henri Duroc if that's what she wants to do, but get to 'Frisco by the twenty-second at all costs. Charles doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"I had no idea we would meet up with him in San Francisco." Elizabeth's voice was full of protest. "I thought we would be flying right through to Scotland."

"Don't pass up a chance to visit Hawaii," Jason laughed. 'You've never really lived till you've basked on the beach at Waikiki."

"I'm a working girl, like Biba," Elizabeth reminded him. "You won't be paying me to sunbathe while your brother is waiting in San Francisco."

"Grand'mere will be paying you," Jason corrected her. "She makes a salient point of her financial independence, but Charles will expect her to be there on time. If you're not, he'll blame you both, even though he knows full well the decision would be Grand'mere's. Play it by ear, Elizabeth," he advised. "You'll win through in the end!"

When he had gone, promising to let his grandmother know her decision as quickly as possible, Elizabeth turned to Biba.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

"He's quite dishy," Biba reflected, gazing into the mirror above the mantelpiece with a dreamy look in her eyes. "But what an odd name for a Scotsman, though. Jason!"

"It. was probably his grandmother's idea," Elizabeth suggested drily. "I've landed a most unusual job, Biba. I hope I don't live to regret taking it."

"You won't," Biba decided. "The whole Abercrombie family sounds delightful. Even the aggressive Charles."

"You've never met him," Elizabeth pointed out. "You couldn't possibly know."

"He's bound to be a personality with a brother like Jason and a grandmother like Mrs. Abercrombie," Biba decided. "What fun you're going to have!"

Elizabeth's heart was already warming to the idea.

"I can't quite believe I'm actually going," she confessed. "Supposing Mrs. Abercrombie changes her mind?"

"I don't think she will," said Biba. "She'll be as eager as you are to be on her way."

DURING the next two days they did a lot of shopping together, buying the things Elizabeth would need for the journey and some woollens for the colder climate of Scotland.

"Which I might never need," Elizabeth remarked as she surveyed them on their return to the flat.

"Why not?" Biba demanded.

"I've an odd feeling that I'm going to rub Charles Abercrombie up the wrong way long before we get there."

"Don't be silly!" said Biba. "Besides, he may not wait for his grandmother in San Francisco."

"I hope not!"

"You really don't like him very much, do you?" Biba considered her curiously. "Or is it just—"

"Just what?"

"A love-hate relationship."

Elizabeth gazed at her in astonishment.

"You get some funny ideas, Biba," she admonished.