The Man in Possession (18 page)

She smiled, loving him with all her heart.
‘
You
’
re very—kind and understanding.
’

But at this he frowned. ‘Kind and understanding? Nonsense. It
’
s common sense. But we won
’
t advertise for a man, I
’
ll have a word with Frank Willis. He may know of someone.
’

He lowered his eyes to some papers on his desk and she felt herself dismissed. There was a great knot of pain in her heart, and she knew she was never going to be able to feel normal in his presence ever again. She would always know either joy or pain.

He looked up again suddenly. ‘Was there something else
?’

She tried to take herself in hand. ‘There—was one other thing. Do you think it would be a good idea to offer the hirers of the cruiser a rebate for inconvenience caused
?
It might make all the difference to their attitude, and consequently our reputation.
’

‘Thank you. It
’
s nice of you to be so concerned about
“
our reputation
”
. And I do think it
’
s a good idea. I had the same thing in mind.
’

‘Oh. Oh, I see. Perhaps you
’
ll let me know the amount before the week-end, then I can give it to them when they hand the cruiser in.
’

‘I will.
’
Again, there was that tone of dismissal. She went back to her own office worried and unhappy.

What was wrong with him this morning? Even allowing for her heightened sensitivity where he was concerned, there was something. When he had repeated the words ‘our reputation ‘he had almost been sarcastic. Was it that he still did not trust her, at heart, to be wholehearted about the interests of his boatyard, that he still thought she was hankering after ownership for herself The thought hurt her beyond belief.

The sound of a motor engine starting up brought her out of her thoughts and she went outside to see Tony Sheldrake in the driving seat of the van, obviously going to where they had left the cruiser moored last night.

‘
Just a moment,
Mr.
Sheldrake!
’
she called out. ‘I think Bob should go with you. You can better show him where the fault is. We don
’
t want a second breakdown.
’

‘Suit yourself,
’
was the man
’
s answer.

Bob Winters did not altogether like the idea of going with the engineer, but Julia made him see that it was both best and wisest.

‘And I don
’
t think you could hurt that man
’
s feelings—or pride. I don
’
t think he cares two hoots about anything,
’
she added.

As the two men drove away Celia emerged from the houseboat looking fresh and attractive in a sleeveless shift dress, making Julia feel very workaday in her jeans and shirt blouse. Nevertheless, she forced a smile.

‘
Morning, Celia. Have you had breakfast?
’

‘If you call a cup of tea breakfast, yes. Where
’
s Roger?
’

‘In his office. Would you like me to come and cook something for you
?’

‘No, thanks. I
’
ll go across to the house and make coffee for Roger and myself.
’

Julia crossed to the houseboat knowing she would have to straighten things up. Celia was not a very tidy person and Julia tried not to be too critical of her, but it wasn
’
t easy, especially when she was pointedly excluded as she had been just now. As she made Celia
’
s bed and cleared the table Julia had to fight down resentment very hard indeed.

She heard the telephone ringing loudly from the outside extension bell. After a few minutes it stopped, so she concluded that Roger was answering it. She glanced through the window of the houseboat and saw him come to the door. He called out and beckoned to her.

‘It
’
s for you,
’
he said as she hurried across to the office.

Celia appeared at his side, and together they walked across to the house. Julia was not sure how much longer she could stand this. She picked up the receiver from her desk to find it was Max at the other end of the line.

‘How
’
d you get on last night?
’
he enquired. ‘Sorry I couldn
’
t wait until you got back, but I didn
’
t know how long you were going to be.
’

She told him briefly how Roger and she had managed to ease the cruiser off the mud of Breydon Water and into the channel and how good Roger had been.

‘And I suppose the blame for the engine failure rests squarely on the shoulders of Tony Sheldrake?
’

‘Well, the engines
are
his responsibility,
’
she pointed out. Then she added: ‘Or
were
.
’

‘You don
’
t mean you
’
ve given the poor so-and-so the sack
?’

‘He leaves on Friday.
’

‘Good lord, that
’
s a bit much, isn
’
t it? You certainly don
’
t believe in giving second chances, do you?
’

Julia coloured, but she stuck her ground.
‘
That
’
s not true. And Tony Sheldrake has had plenty of second chances. We have our reputation to consider.
’

‘We? You talk as though you
’
re in partnership or something with Leighton.
’

He said it as if the possibility was too remote to take seriously.

‘One doesn
’
t have to be in partnership to feel responsible,
’
Julia told him. ‘And I must ring off now, Max.
I have things to do.
’

‘Okay. Well I
’
ll drop round and see you this evening
,’
he said lightly, and without waiting to hear whether she agreed or not, he said goodbye and rang off.

She sat down at her desk and tried to deal with the correspondence. She thought and half hoped that Roger would come and ask her to have coffee with him and Celia, but he didn
’
t. He waited until Bob Winters and Tony Sheldrake returned, heard their report on the engine trouble, then sought her out and told her he was taking Celia out to lunch.

With a heavy sigh Julia went to have a few words with Bob Winters herself.

‘What was the trouble, Bob?
’
she asked him.

‘Dirt in the injector,
’
he told her. ‘For some reason or other the filter wasn
’
t in. Tony swears he didn
’
t leave it out—and it
’
s not the sort of thing an engineer would
forget
to put in, still less
take
out. You see,
’
he enlarged,
‘once the filter is in place, it
’
s rarely necessary to look at the thing again—or maybe once during the season to clean it out.
’

Julia gave a puzzled frown. ‘I don
’
t quite understand. Surely it
’
s a part of the engine and the question of taking out or putting in—except to clean it—shouldn
’
t arise. And if what you say is correct—and I
’
m sure it is—either somebody took it out to clean and
did
forget to put it back, or else took it out deliberately.
’

‘Somebody who knows nothing about engines could have been—messing about and thought it wasn
’
t important,
’
Bob suggested tentatively.

‘
Who?
The hirers?
’
She shook her head.
‘
Mr.
Leighton asked them last night if they
’
d done anything to the engine, and they said they hadn
’
t, beyond taking a general look—and seeing nothing obviously wrong. In any case, they
’
re not given any tools, so they couldn
’
t.
’

‘I know.
’

‘Then who—
’

Bob Winters turned away.
‘
I
’
d
rather not say any more, Miss Barclay. Sheldrake tells me he
’
s leaving on Friday, anyway, so we might just as well forget the whole business.
’

‘
Not
entirely, Bob,
’
she said quietly.
‘
From now until Friday I
’
d like you to supervise him closely.
’
He nodded. ‘That
’
s what I
’
m here for anyway.
’
Julia puzzled all day, on and off, about what Bob had told her. He had been reluctant to let her believe that Tony Sheldrake would leave out or take out the filter deliberately. Yet he had said himself that it was not the sort of thing an engineer would forget. But why should Sheldrake do such a thing? In the end, rather than think the worst of him, she forced herself to the conclusion that he had taken it out to clear it and only
thought
he had put it back again. The man did not appear to be unduly upset about leaving, she told herself, and she would be glad to see him go.

She did not see very much of Roger for the rest of the day, although that wasn
’
t really surprising. By common consent Monday was regarded as his day off, and Wednesday hers, neither being very busy days. But so often he did not take it, and nor did she in the sense that they went out a great deal. But today he rang after lunch to say that he and Celia would not be back until late evening.

‘We
’
ve decided to make a day of it,
’
he said. ‘There
’
s so much more of Norfolk Celia hasn
’
t seen—and it
’
s such a lovely day.
’

It
was
a lovely day. It was warm, there was barely a cloud in the sky, thrushes were feeding their young, butterflies flitted to and fro among the tall grass in the meadow, and the air was filled with the sound of bird song and the perfume of roses from nearby gardens. A lovely, lovely day, except that for Julia there was no music in her heart, only desolation, and in her sky, dark clouds. She tried to thrust thoughts of Roger and Celia out of her mind, but the day dragged as she
answered the telephone, dealt with enquiries, let out day boats for hire, and did general odd jobs around the boatyard. Though she had not really been looking forward to Max coming, she found she was almost glad to see him when he arrived about seven.

‘Have you eaten
?’
she asked him.

‘
Well, I had tea about a couple of hours ago. I
’
ll peck a little more, if you
’
re inviting me. Or could we go out somewhere
?’

‘No, I
’
d rather not leave the place, in case something happens. I haven
’
t eaten much myself since lunch, so if fruit juice and a ham salad will suit, then cheese and biscuits—
’

‘
Sounds great. Lead me to it
!’

The meal did not take long to serve. Not wanting to eat alone again, Julia had hoped Max would join her, and had the salad all prepared in the little refrigerator of the houseboat, the fruit juice ready chilled. Max kept up a chatter of generalities for which she was grateful, even though she only half heard some of it. But when he said suddenly,
‘
The two lovebirds out for the evening?
’
her heart twisted painfully.

‘If you
’
re referring to Roger and Celia, I
’
d hardly call them that,
’
she answered after a pause.

He eyed her shrewdly. ‘My dear girl, why don
’
t you face it? She
’
s twisting him around her little finger. You don
’
t suppose she
’
s here just for the good of her health, do you? And if he wasn
’
t encouraging her, she wouldn
’
t still be here. Now would she, I ask you?
’

Julia held her breath, then let it out swiftly. ‘You
’
re only guessing, Max, aren
’
t you? In any case it
’
s none of our business.
’