Winter at Cray (6 page)

CHAPTER THREE

WAKING the next morning, Louise frowned at the time showing on the bedside clock, for it must surely be earlier than half-past eight, she thought. There was no glimmer of daylight showing through the curtains, but she could hear the quiet whisper of Davey McGregor
’
s soft-soled shoes over the carpet outside on the landing, and Davey was never more than a few minutes either side of half-past eight.

The expected light tap on the door followed and the girl came in, her small thin face smiling as usual when Louise blinked in the suddenness of light after dark.

‘
Guid mo
rn
in
’
, Miss Louise.
’
She glanced over at the top of Essie Nostrum
’
s blonde head just showing above the bedclothes in the other bed and made a grimace as she set down one of the cups of tea on the bedside table.
‘
There
’
s snow as thick as pudden all over this morning,
’
she announced, keeping her voice down so as not to wake the sleeper.

Louise pulled a face over the news, taking the welcome cup of tea gratefully.
‘
Oh dear, then it looks as if we shall have our extra guests longer than we expected. Is it still snowing, or has it stopped
?’

Davey nodded, apparently unworried by the prospect of being snowed in.
‘
Oooh aye, it
’
s still comi
n
’
down,
’
she told her,
‘
an
’
it looks as if it
’
ll no stop this side o
’
Hogmanay, miss.
’

Quiet as their voices were they must have disturbed the occupant of the other bed, for the tightly
-
rolled bundle stirred and a sleepy face peered over one shoulder at them, watching Davey depart with an understanding grin.

‘
Good morning.
’
Essie sat up hastily, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
‘
Sorry, but I sleep like a log wherever I am. Is it very late?
’

‘
It
’
s not late at all,
’
Louise assured her with a smile,
‘
but I
’
m afraid the news isn
’
t very encouraging as far as the weather is concerned.
’

‘
Oh? The cup of tea stopped half-way to her lips and Essie peered at her with curious eyes.

‘
It
’
s snowing,
’
Louise informed her, wondering what her reaction would be to the news,
‘
and according to Davey it
’
s unlikely to stop this side of Hogmanay.
’

‘
Oh, lord!
’
Louise eyed her questioningly, a little surprised at her dismay.

‘
I
’
m sorry,
’
she told her,
‘
but it looks as if you
’
ll have to stay a
bit
longer than you anticipated anyway.
’

‘
Oh, it
’
s not that I mind too much,
’
Essie hastened to assure her,
‘
but it
’
s a bit of a bind for you, isn
’
t it, having two extra when you
’
ve already got a houseful to contend with.
’

Louise smiled ruefully, not prepared to claim that she didn
’
t mind them staying on, although she had no objection to Essie in the least.
‘
It can
’
t be helped,
’
she said,
‘
and please don
’
t apologise. You can
’
t help it any more than I can, and I
’
m not as inhospitable as you may think.
’

‘
I never supposed you were,
’
Essie declared with a smile,
‘
and frankly I don
’
t mind staying here for a bit longer in the least, but I don
’
t imagine Jon will take it quite so blithely.
’

Louise frowned at the mention of
her
colleague.
‘
I
’
m quite aware of
what Mr.
Darrell
thinks of
Berren,
’
she said shortly,
‘
but I
’
m afraid he
’
ll just have to put up with it as long as the snow keeps up.
’

Essie laughed, her
eyes
showing
curiosity, and
Louise supposed her
own manner
had
probably
prompted it.
‘
Oh, it won
’
t have anything to do with his not liking the island,
’
Essie told her.
‘
It
’
s just that he won
’
t be working after today and he gets thoroughly bored as a rule.
’

‘
Well, I
’
m sorry about that.
’
Louise refused to show sympathy for his predicament; after all, her own would be worse with a disgruntled newsman in the house and in all probability looking for another story.

‘
Funny thing is,
’
Essie went on, ignoring the edge of sarcasm in her voice,
‘
I doubt very much if he
’
d be such a glutton for work if he really needed to be to get on.
’

‘
And doesn
’
t he?
’
She asked the question despite her complete lack of interest in the subject of Jonathan Darrell.

‘
Not on your sweet life,
’
Essie laughed, putting down her empty cup and hugging her knees to her.
‘
The Darrells are probably as wealthy as the Kincaids, if you
’
ll forgive the allusion, but Jon thinks of nothing else but his job.
’

‘
You surprise me,
’
Louise said, remembering the way his voice had deepened when he spoke to Diamond and the way he had so obviously enjoyed her admiration.

‘
It surprises a lot of people,
’
Essie claimed.
‘
But
then most people don
’
t realise that Jon
’
s great-grand
-
daddy started as a reporter on one of the papers in the group and ended as co-owner of the whole caboodle.
’

Louise stared for a moment, too surprised to answer.
‘
You mean,
’
she said slowly at last,
‘
that in a way he
’
s working for himself
?’

‘
In a way, I suppose,
’
Essie admitted,
‘
although when Jon
’
s grandfather retired he sold out to Sir Edward Meres, who
’
s Jon
’
s godfather, incidentally, so it
’
ll all come back to Jon eventually. Sir Edward
’
s a bachelor and he dotes on Jon.
’

‘
So he really started at the top of the ladder?
’
Louise suggested, unable to keep the disparagement out of her voice.
‘
He hasn
’
t worked his way up to where he is.
’

‘
That he has,
’
Essie stated defensively.
‘
He works harder than any other man on the staff
and
he always has.
’

Louise smiled wryly at her defence of her colleague.
‘
I
’
m sorry, I take it back, but in this particular case no amount of hard work is going to help if you can
’
t get your copy back to the magazine, is it?
’

‘
We
’
ll phone over what we have,
’
Essie informed her with a grin,
‘
and take the photographs
when
we can. We have a day or two
’
s grace in a case like this when we
’
re likely to get stuck somewhere.
’

‘
Well, you
’
re welcome to use the phone any time you like,
’
Louise assured her,
‘
always providing the line isn
’
t down, of course. It is sometimes in bad weather, the overland part of it goes out of action.
’

‘
Oh, lord, that would really upset poor old Amos.
’
She giggled delightedly over the dilemma of her editor.
‘
Never mind, we can but try.
’

Louise thought wryly that the line being out of order would probably be the last straw as far as Jonathan Darrell was concerned. She could not see him accepting the idea of being stranded on the island with very good grace anyway, and being unable to telephone his copy through would no doubt be the final insult.

At breakfast, some time later, Louise as usual acted as hostess, with both Aunt Charlotte and her mother still warmly in their beds, deterred from early rising by the snow still falling outside.

Colin and Diamond sat side by side and facing Essie and Jonathan Darrell, while at the opposite end of the table to Louise, Stephen eyed the two strangers with evident disfavour. Robert, next to his mother, chattered with unaccustomed garrulity to Jonathan Darrell and Louise gave them an occasional uneasy glance.

She had seldom seen her son take so easily to anyone and it gave her a strange feeling of being left out in the cold. Also there was the additional fear that probably the man
’
s inevitably short stay would prove upsetting to the boy. He would not want to see him go when he liked him so much, no matter how thankful she would be herself.

Her own relief, she admitted, would be because his association with Robert must, inevitably, involve herself too and she had no desire to become involved with anyone at present, especially anyone like Jonathan Darrell.

As if he sensed he was the subject of her heart
-
searching, the brown eyes sought and held hers until she hastily lowered her gaze. The slow smile crinkled them at their
corner
s in a way that was most disconcerting.

‘
I was wondering if it was safe to brave the blizzard, he told her.
‘
I
’
m not a countryman myself, but Robert seems to think it mi
g
ht be fun.
’

Louise saw Stephen
’
s head come up sharply at the suggestion and she felt him watching her, waiting to see if she would agree or not. She shook her head, making a grimace of discouragement at Robert.
‘
I wouldn
’
t advise it really, Mr. Darrell. If you
’
re not familiar with the island it could be dangerous under all that snow, and I don
’
t want anything to happen to Robert.
’

He took the answer with no more than a faint smile, bobbing his head in acknowledgment arid pulling a face at Robert.
‘
Sorry, old son,
’
he told the boy,
‘
but we
’
d better do as the boss says and stay in, I think, don
’
t you? You
’
re the expert,
’
he added, smiling at Louise.

She flushed with resentment at his tone and the choice of words. He was, it seemed, determined to be as offensive as possible.
‘
I don
’
t claim to be an expert on anything, Mr. Darrell,
’
she told him, with what she hoped was crushing dignity.
‘
It
’
s only common sense, I would have thought, with the weather the way it is when you don
’
t know your way around.
’

He arched his brows at her, a smile hovering round his mouth as he regarded her over the top of Robert
’
s head.
‘
I
’
ve yielded to superior wisdom and knowledge,
’
he pointed out.
‘I’m
not arguing the point.
’

He spoke the truth, she realised, but she bit on her lip not to retort as instinct prompted her to. It was ridiculous to allow him to shake her composure like this, she should merely treat him as she would any other visitor who was also a stranger—with formal politeness.