Then She Fled Me (12 page)

CHAPTER
SIX

Despite Kathy
’
s
charm, Miss Dearlove finally decided to leave Dun Rury and spend the remainder of her visit with the Miss Kellys
’
. She paid Adrian a visit before she left, just, as she said, to say goodbye.

“
You
’
ve no doubt heard that I
’
m leaving Mr. Flint. Dear Kathy begged me to stay, but I couldn
’
t think of it, even for her sake. Between you and me, Mr. Flint, I think they are all a little
touched
.”

“
Oh, do you think so?
”

“
But definitely. Miss Emma, delightful in her
way
, but, well—buying all those electric things at sales for a house that has no electricity—that can
’
t bespeak the normal mind, can it?
”

“
It wouldn
’
t sound like it.
”

“
And the little boy—such a very
odd
child—not rude or
rough,
you know—not normal. And Sarah—well, I suppose one might make excuses for her—no education, you know—but she should not be given the
authority
she has. So
bad
for a girl of that age to do just as she pleases, don
’
t you think? Kathy, sweet creature, is the only normal one among them.
”

He raised his eyebrows politely.

“
Do you think so, Miss Dearlove? I should have said it was just the opposite. The girl lives in a dream-world of her own.
”

“
Only the world of poetry and music.
You
should understand that, Mr. Flint. Will you be stopping on here, because if you are, there are one or two
tiny
hints I could give you which I
’
m s
u
re you
’
d find helpful.
”

“
My plans are still undecided,
”
he said briefly.
“
Now, I think I hear one of them shouting for you, so I
’
ll say goodbye.
”

“
Oh—yes—perhaps I should be going. Well, goodbye, Mr. Flint. It
’
s been such a pleasure meeting so
eminent
a man as yourself. I shall certainly attend your next recital in London. Streatham is so handy for the great metropolis, you know. I will send
you one of my little books when I get home—
signed,
of course—just a little
souvenir
.”

“
I never,
”
said Adrian wearily,
“
read children
’
s, books. Goodbye, Miss Dearlove.
”

She went then, bridling a little. Disagreeable to the last! Insufferable man!

Adrian could hear the sounds of departure under his open window.
“
A man
’
s voice, cheerful and careless:
“
What did I tell you, Miss Sarah! Thim foreigners will never stay and they destroyed by that divil of a road. Will the lady be havin
’
much luggage?
”

“
Those three and parcels. Casey, would you be taking one of my greyhound pups as a gift?
”

“
Ah, I
’
ve dogs enough. What
’
s wrong with the pup that you wouldn
’
t be sel
li
n
’
him?
”

“
He has a touch of rickets, but it
’
s nothing. His two legs are bowed a bit, but you
’
ll never get finer breeding.
”

“
Was that the litter Mr. Blake was after destroying a while back? Och, have sense, Miss Sarah. An unsound greyhound is no good to man or beast. Drown the lot of them
...
Good mo
rn
in
’
, ma
’
am, so you
’
re going to the Miss Kellys
’
? Sure, you
’
ll be better off there, and you with your foreign ideas an
’
all. They tell me they have little tables there, now, and paper napkins to take the crumbs from your lips. Very genteel, the Miss Kellys. Will we be starting now, ma
’
am?
”

Aunt Em
’
s voice murmuring farewells, Kathy
’
s and Miss Dearlove
’
s mingled in final regrets, and Sarah
’
s clear tones asking for a lift as far as the bridge.

“
I have a taste for a day on the moors,
”
she said.
“
Mary will help Nolan milk, Aunt Em, and Kathy can take up the Flinty One
’
s tray.
”

Adrian
’
s mouth twitched. He had sometimes wondered if they realized how clearly their voices could be heard from the drive and the terrace. He glanced out of the window and watched the car depart, Miss Dearlove waving stiffly from the front seat, and Sarah and the luggage and a couple of greyhounds crammed in the back.

“
A day on the moors mean
’
s she
’
s upset,
”
said Kathy, turning to her aunt with a puzzled frown.
“
I would have thought she
’
d be celebrating. She couldn
’
t bear poor Daisy.
”

“
I think she
’
s worried,
”
her aunt replied absently.
“
We might not get any more answers to the fresh advertisement, and if Mr. Flint goes
...”
They went into the house and their voices were lost.

Sarah walked the moors and allowed her disturbed mind to wrestle again with
the old fears. It s
e
emed unlikely that Adrian would contemplate spending the winter with them in view of some of his
remarks. She supposed he did not get a great deal for his extra two guineas, for the additional work he caused would, in his eyes, be well compensated by the amount he paid. If he went they would not easily replace him, and having known a month
’
s comparative freedom from the threat of Dun Rury, Sarah had begun to appreciate just how important security could be. She turned over in her
m
ind whether she might manage to influence Adrian
’
s decision by offering to reduce her terms. If she knocked the extras off the bill, would he consider it a fairer proposition? She sighed and kicked a stone into a small stream. He did not strike her as a man who was ever embarrassed by the lack of money, but she thought he might place importance on its value, and the value of money as such had never particularly concerned her.

She fell.to scheming again. When Kathy married Joe, there would be one less to draw the sap from Dun Rury
’
s soil. She would fill the house with guests through the summer and by the autumn there would be a new roof for the stable, a lick of paint for the woodwork and perhaps the new kitchen range that Nonie always wanted so much. The year after that
...
She laughed aloud and turned in her tracks, calling to the dogs.

She thought she would go to St. Patrick
’
s Well, for the sound of the water running over the stones down the mountain-side to the lough had always solaced her, and she would make a wish at the well. It was a long way back to the far end of the lough, but she was not tired. Only her temples ached a little, and when she reached the well, she dipped her whole head in the water and let it run over her, stinging and icy sweet. She stayed there resting and watching the light fade from the hills, while her mind, half
hypnotized by the noisy stream, went back to small remembered moments of her childhood. Joe starting his law studies with a new suit which shrank the first time he wore it in the rain, Kathy returning from school with her pigtails cut off and a pair of high-heeled shoes that squeaked, her
mother lifting her up to the mirror and bidding her be good, for she would never be pretty, and Nonie hushing her grief after her father died and saying so strangely:
“
You
’
re alone now, my doty, you
’
ll always be alone for it
’
s the way you
’
re made.
”

The light had nearly gone and she began to scramble down the mountain-side. Her troubled spirit was released now, but there was sadness upon it, too. Nonie had been right. She loved them all, Kathy, Danny, Aunt Em, Joe, but
she needed none of them. She had only needed her fathe
r—
She stopped to visit old Paddy on the way home, and by the time she reached the hous
e
it was nearly nine o
’
clock. Supper was finished, but Nonie had left a piece of rabbit pie in the oven for her, and she carried it into the snug to eat by the fire. S
h
e thought her family seemed depressed, and enquired why they were sitting by the dim light of two
candles
.

“
No oil,” said Kathy absently. “We
h
ad to let Mr. Flint have our lamp. His gave out.”

“
Do you mean there’s
n
o oil in the house at all?” said Sarah, frowning. “But there must be. I ordered some at the beginning of the week. It should have come yesterday.
”

“Yes, dear, but Casey forgot to send it,” her aunt said. She could not see well enough to mend or da
rn
, so she was knitting.

“Aunt Em, why didn’t you tell me?
I
could have
fetched it this morning when I went to order the car, or Casey could have brought it.”

Her aunt looked apologetic.

“
I forgot, dear. What with the upset with Miss Dearlove and everything, I clean forgot.
”

Sarah sighed. It was useless to rely on Aunt Em for anything and Kathy would not notice what was missing as long as she had her books and her piano and her weekly letter from Joe.

“
I
’
ll have to go across for it in the morning,
”
she said.

“
You might fetch the coffee, too, and that lemon barley Mr. Flint wanted,
”
said Aunt Em.

“
But he asked for coffee days ago. Did
nothing
come
from Casey
’
s?
”

“
No, dear, I
’
m afraid not. And he
’
s rather annoyed about it and the lamp going out and Mary forgetting to do
his room altogether in the excitement of Miss Dearlove going off. He wants to see you after breakfast tomorrow.
”

Sarah pushed away the rabbit pie unfinished. She had lost her appetite.

“
Oh, dear!
”
she said.
“
His month
’
s up tomorrow and now he
’
s sure to have decided to go, and I was
trying
to placate him this last week. How did he seem when you took up his supper, Kathy—cross?
”

“
He didn
’
t say much except to ask if you were back yet.
”
Kathy giggled.
“
He seemed rather surprised that we weren
’
t worried about you when you weren
’
t home before dark.
”

“
Was he?
”
said Sarah with amazement.
“
Oh, well, the English are creatures of habit. They like everything cut and dried.
”

Presently, Kathy remarked that she couldn
’
t see to read and was going to bed, and Aunt Em rolled up her knitting and plucked Danny out of the shadows where he was hiding.

“
We
’
ll all go,
”
she said.
“
Sarah, dear, you look tired. Come along.
”

“
I must go through the accounts,
”
Sarah replied.