Green Girl (12 page)

“
You came to a lot of improbable conclusions in Kitty
’
s sitting-room that day, didn
’
t you? It
’
s a dangerous habit weaving fantasies round people you
’
ve never met. It
’
s time you grew out of it, my dear.
”

“
Yes,
”
she said,
“
it was stupid of me. I—I wasn
’
t snooping on that occasion, Duff. I admit I looked at the books and the portrait, but I wasn
’
t to know there would be private things lying about, was I?
”

“
There was nothing private there—that wasn
’
t the point I was trying to make.
”

“
But you had the portrait taken away. As I
’
d imagined it was your wife, I naturally thought you were annoyed that I
’
d seen it, and—and didn
’
t want to be reminded any more.
”

“
Oh, Harriet, my poor deluded child, what romantic legends have you built up for me now!
”

“
Molly said—quoting Agnes, I think—that your heart was buried in the grave,
”
she said solemnly, then gave a nervous giggle as she recognised a familiar
cliché
from those sentimental stories of the past. But he misunderstood the giggle, evidently, for he said quite sharply:

“
That
’
s another habit you
’
ll have to get out of—discussing your affairs with the servants. Our marriage may not strike them as being the romantic union of popular fiction, but at least they realise the expediency. We are not, as you English suppose, a head-in-the-air people with no thought to the morrow. The Irish, under all the charm and blarney, are hard-headed sons of the soil who would consider a bargain in marriage no different from a bargain in cattle. You
’
d better remember that.
”

She fell silent at once, having nothing to reply to a rebuke she didn
’
t understand, though she did not much care for the comparison with a cow. They were travelling the south road now, so that conversation would have been difficult anyhow, and she felt relieved when the car turned at last through the castle gates into the courtyard and a small committee of welcome came out on to the porch to greet them.

Samantha Dwight was already there with a glass of champagne in each hand to do the honours, but she held them high above her head when Duff reached put a hand, saying
roguishly
:
“
Not before you
’
ve carried her over your threshold in traditional style.
”

“
But I
’
ve been over his threshold for days,
”
Harriet rashly protested, sensing Duff
’
s reluctance to conform to such a meaningless convention in the circumstances, and was jolted into alarmed silence by the roughness with which he suddenly picked her up and set her down in the hall.

The servants had retired quickly, having offered the correct congratulations, but Harriet caught Molly
’
s mesmerised gaze on the mink jacket and was sorry she would have to confess later that it had only been borrowed. They all made their way to the snug where champagne and a few hastily found assorted biscuits had been set out in readiness. The two dogs fawned upon Duff as if they hadn
’
t seen him for days, and although they merely afforded Harriet their customary aloof recognition, the delectable Mrs. Dwight, admiring and exclaiming in extravagant praise of their beauty, fared no better.

“
Oh, well!
”
Samantha laughed, shrugging and turning away to a more appreciative audience.
“
I evidently make no impact on the canine race, but affection can
’
t be bought, they say—or can it, Duff, darling?
”

The two male guests looked slightly uncomfortable, but Duff merely smiled politely and topped up her glass with champagne, and before Harriet had time to work out a meaning for that last remark, Samantha had swung round to toast her silently with an intimate little look of feminine conspiracy, and added with charming apology:
“
I hope you don
’
t mind me addressing your husband as darling, Harriet. We
’
ve known each other a long time, and are practically relations. Anyway, I call everybody darling. Here
’
s to your long life and happiness.
”

Luncheon was an unexpectedly gay affair, thanks to Samantha
’
s gift for putting everybody at ease. Harriet was amused to see how Mr. Lynch ceased to present such a dull, phlegmatic front to the occasion and blossomed forth into clumsy compliments and even slightly
risqué
stories. Mr. O
’
Rafferty, on the other hand, although he too responded politely to Samantha
’
s brave efforts to keep the party going, seemed, in his quiet fashion, to realise that the bride was being a little left out.

“
You must meet Judy, my wife,
”
he told her.
“
She, like you, was a little girl over from England when I married her. She could give you a few tips, I daresay, for this country
’
s strange to people from the other side. You remind me a little of Judy, you know.
”

“
Do I?
”
Harriet tried to remember what she had been told about their neighbours, for the name seemed vaguely familiar.
“
Oh! Are you Castle Slyne?
”
she asked, and felt like a child rewarded for intelligence when he answered;

“
That
’
s right. We
’
re a guest-house now which keeps the old place going. You must come and dine with us one evening; Judy will be delighted to have someone young to laugh with.
”

It would have been comforting, Harriet thought, if Duff could at least have made a pretence of acting like a happy bridegroom instead of sitting there far more silent than the others and watching Samantha with oddly ironical eyes. As if he had caught that small projection of thought, he suddenly smiled across at her and lifted his glass.
”

“
The appropriate toasts have been drunk, I know, but here
’
s my private one for you, Harriet. My grateful acknowledgements to Ogilvy Manor, and may the fruits thereof prosper,
”
he said, and she flushed with pleasure at the delightful sense of a secret shared with him.

The meal, tardy in starting, had lingered on into late afternoon. The two men took their departure with parting well-wishes and vague promises of hospitality in the near future, but Samantha stayed on, wandering through the rooms with the ease of long acquaintance and settling finally by the fire in the snug with the assurance of a well-established guest. She was, Harriet had to admit, far more at home at Clooney than she herself.

“
And what,
”
Samantha was enquiring of Duff,
“
has happened to Rory, that he, too, hasn
’
t been bidden to the nuptials? I would have thought you would certainly have required h
is
services as best man.
”

“
Would you, Samantha? As it happens, Rory went off on one of his unspecified theatrical engagements before I
’
d made my plans, so I doubt if he would have been available, even if I
’
d known where to find him,
”
Duff replied smoothly, avoiding Harriet
’
s suddenly anxious eye.

“
Doesn
’
t he know you
’
ve married again, then?
”

“
Not unless he
’
s a remote-controlled mind-reader, but when you meet, as you doubtless will, you can give him the glad tidings.
”

“
Hardly glad tidings, darling. Didn
’
t he hope to inherit?
”
she said softly, and his answering smile was a little cryptic as he stooped to caress the bitch, Delsa.

“
He was next in the male line, certainly, but I don
’
t know that his hopes will exactly be blighted by my marriage,
”
he said.
“
Rory has the actor
’
s flair for seeing himself against a good theatrical backcloth, but I doubt if he
’
d enjoy the less spectacular responsibilities. That
’
s what Clooney means to Rory—a good backcloth, and a nice line of approach when he wants to impress strangers. He
’
s never really grown up.
”

He gave Harriet a little smile as he spoke, and she, like Delsa, writhing contentedly under his fingers, felt pleasure in a small intimate moment of something shared. He was, she knew, reminding her obliquely of his young cousin
’
s inadvertent part in their subsequent meeting, but Samantha, too, was quick enough to catch a nuance of reserve.

“
You
’
ll have to watch out when our gay cavalier does meet up with your little bride, darling,
”
she said, her eyes resting on Harriet with more attention than she had shown before.
“
Rory
’
s always liked his conquests young and impressionable.
”

“
And rich—so you
’
d better watch out for yourself, Samantha,
”
Duff said with a twinkle that Harriet thought did not altogether please the decorative Mrs. Dwight.

“
I
’
m neither impressionable or so young that I
’
m still gullible,
”
she answered a trifle shortly.
“
Is the poor sweet still looking for his heiress
?
”

“
Not
v
ery seriously, I imagine, but Rory
’
s one of the misfits of our age, enough money to make a job of work advisable but not essential, and not enough to live on comfortably without work at all. Incidentally, he and
Harriet have already met. He
was,
if he but knew it, largely responsible for our introduction
!
”

This time Samantha
’
s attention was focused on Harriet with more than a passing interest.

“
Really?
”
she said, and there was a mixture of curiosity and surprise in her voice.
“
You seem to be suggesting some sort of mystery. Where did you meet, Harriet? I understood you
’
d only been over here a week.
”

“
They met in England when Rory was over there touring, but as he doesn
’
t, as far as I am aware, yet know I
’
m married, that accounts for the mystery, doesn
’
t it?
”
Duf
f
said smoothly before Harriet could think of a suitable answer, but she was becoming puzzled by the relationship between these two. It seemed at times as if there was an undercurrent of antagonism between them, but it was equally plain that they shared the privileges of long association.

“
I see,
”
said Samantha, losing interest.
“
You haven
’
t offered the usual condolences, I notice, darling, but perhaps this isn
’
t a suitable occasion on which to commiserate with the newly bereaved.
”

Harriet felt both awkward and sorry, but Duff replied with what she thought was rather heartless unconcern:
“
Well, I didn
’
t think commiseration was what you would expect in the circumstances!
”

“
Didn
’
t you? No, I suppose one can hardly shout one
’
s small triumphs from the rooftops. I should never have sent that cable, should I? Bad timing again.
”

Harriet, who was beginning to feel that her own presence was passing unnoticed by either of them, had no idea what significance Samantha
’
s odd remark could possibly have, but Duff, seemingly, was not at all confused.

“
On the contrary, it was most opportune,
”
he replied smoothly, and Samantha, looking suddenly angry, seemed on the verge of some impetuous retort, but catching Harriet
’
s perplexed and slightly embarrassed expression, turned to her, smiling, made charming apologies for tactlessly outstaying her welcome on such a very private occasion and begged the feminine solace of a cup of tea before setting out for home.

“
And where is home for the moment?
”
Duff enquired.

“
Anywhere—nowhere,
”
Samantha answered with a graceful shrug.
“
At the moment, with Aunt Alice, of course. She was always our port of call for country holidays, Kitty and I—remember?
”

“
I remember. And how is Miss Docherty? Is she still draining her small income on that unlucrative stable of hers?
”

“
If you
’
re hinting that my nice American dollars might well be employed easing Aunt Alice
’
s little lot you can save your breath. They
’
re no more to her liking than to yours, since you
’
re both as proud as the devil,
”
Samantha replied with lazy unconcern, and Duff, turning to Harriet, said, with a faint trace of impatience:

“
Would you see about that tea, Harriet? You
’
re mistress here now, you know.
”

Harriet jumped up quickly, made aware that not only was she failing in her first duties as hostess, but had been sitting on like an inquisitive child, listening to the half
-
understood talk of its elders. It was going to be difficult, she thought, to remember that she was no longer a guest at the Castle.