Julia could not understand it at all, something unforeseen must have happened; but Morland did not like to be kept waiting, so she popped upstairs as quickly as she could.
She opened the door. ‘Morland——’ she began breathlessly . . . and then stopped. Her visitor was Stephen Brett.
‘Hallo, Julia!’ said Stephen, throwing Miss Martineau’s Daily Telegraph onto the floor and rising to meet her.
‘Goodness, it’s you!’ she exclaimed. ‘I thought you had gone home to Devonshire.’
‘I went home and then I came back. That’s the explanation.’
‘But why?’
‘Business and pleasure,’ he told her. ‘I did my business this morning so I thought I’d call in and see you this afternoon.’
‘How did you find me?’
Stephen laughed. ‘You’re rather an elusive person, aren’t you? This time it was quite easy, I just phoned up your house in Manor Gardens and asked for your address. I thought we might go out together and have dinner. What about it?’
‘Oh no, I don’t think so——’
‘Why not? Do come, Julia. It would be fun.’
Julia hesitated. It would be fun . . . but what about Morland?
‘Do come,’ repeated Stephen. ‘I’ve been busy all day so I’ve earned a little pleasure. Please come, Julia.’
Why not? thought Julia. Morland was at Gleneagles amusing himself by playing golf, so why shouldn’t she amuse herself by going out with Stephen? She smiled suddenly and the enchanting dimples came and went.
‘You will!’ cried Stephen in delight. ‘How lovely! Where shall we go? Would you like to go somewhere posh, like the Savoy, or——’
‘Have you come into a fortune?’ asked Julia, laughing.
‘No, but I’m going to make one.’
‘You’re going to make a fortune?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, but it’s a secret. Perhaps I’ll tell you some time.’
In spite of this mysterious boast Julia decided against ‘somewhere posh’ and, as Stephen happened to know of a quiet place where you could eat well and talk comfortably, they agreed to go there.
‘Do you mind waiting? I’d like to change,’ said Julia.
‘I’ll change too—but not a dinner-jacket of course—I’ll nip back to the club and fetch you in about half an hour. Can do?’
‘Can do,’ nodded Julia.
He went off like a rocket, clattering down the stairs, and Julia sped up to her room.
*
2
Julia was in the middle of changing when there was a timid knock on the door and Miss Martineau’s head appeared round the corner.
‘Not a little tiff, dulling?’ she asked anxiously.
‘Goodness, no! I’m changing; we’re going out to dinner.’
‘Oh, lovely!’ said Miss Martineau with a sigh of relief. ‘I just wondered. He went off in such a hurry and banged the door. I hope you don’t mind me asking.’
‘I think it’s sweet of you,’ declared Julia as she sat down and began to draw on a pair of sheer nylon stockings. ‘It was sweet of you to come up all those stairs . . . but that isn’t Morland Beverley.’
‘Not?’
‘No, just a friend. He lives in Devonshire and he happened to be in Town for a few days on business, so he called to ask me to go out to dinner with him.’
‘Very nice,’ said Miss Martineau, nodding. ‘Are you going to a smart place?’
‘No, just a quiet place where we can talk.’
‘Very nice,’ repeated Miss Martineau emphatically. ‘Can I help you, dulling? What are you going to wear?’
Julia was searching in her drawer for a suitable slip. She said, ‘I think my little blue frock will do; it’s hanging in Peta’s cupboard.’
Miss Martineau fetched it. ‘You have got nice things, haven’t you?’ she said admiringly. ‘Let me pop it over your head. You don’t wear eye-shadow do you? Well, perhaps you’re right. Gentlemen don’t like girls to look made-up.’
She continued to chat, but that did not interfere with her efficiency (she had not lost her skill in quick-change technique), so Julia was changed and ready in record time.
‘You do look sweet,’ declared Miss Martineau. ‘I do hope you’ll have a nice time, dulling. I always say it’s quite a good thing for a girl to have two strings to her bow.’
Julia laughed and kissed her lightly on her soft pink cheek and ran downstairs before she could say another word.
*
3
The little restaurant was in a quiet street not far from Piccadilly and had two flourishing bay trees in wooden barrels outside the door. The dining-room was L-shaped with padded seats along the walls and there were small tables with shaded lamps.
Stephen and Julia were unfashionably early, so not many people were dining, and they were able to find a table in a quiet corner. Stephen insisted on ordering ‘champers’ to celebrate, and when Julia asked what they were celebrating he said, ‘Business and pleasure.’
They drank the toast solemnly.
After that Stephen became very gay (Julia thought he was excited about something and wondered what it was); his high spirits were infectious, so they teased each other and laughed and chatted in a very amusing manner.
Presently Stephen leant forward and said, ‘I see you’re still engaged to the Indian Rajah. I hope he won’t come here to-night or I shall have to nip out by the service-door, shan’t I?’
‘He’s at Gleneagles, playing golf.’
‘Hurrah, we’re safe!’
Julia’s hand was lying on the table so he took it and looked at her ring. ‘Diamonds, but not good water and badly cut. He should have given you a sapphire to match your eyes.’
She drew her hand away quickly.
‘You’re cross with me,’ said Stephen sadly. ‘But it’s perfectly true. I know quite a lot about stones. Would you like to see a really fine stone, Julia?’
Without waiting for her reply he took a little chamois bag out of his pocket and shook it gently onto the white cloth. A sapphire about the size of a large pea rolled out and lay between them on the table.
‘Oh, Stephen, how beautiful!’ exclaimed Julia.
It certainly was beautiful. It was cornflower-blue and glowed as if it possessed an inward fire.
‘Yes, it’s a good one,’ agreed Stephen. ‘Not large, but absolutely flawless . . . which is very unusual. You don’t often find a sapphire without tiny feathers or clouds.’
‘Feathers or clouds?’
‘Little rents or fissures or cloudy spots, sometimes so slight as to be almost invisible, but all the same they take away from the lovely velvety appearance. This one is quite perfect.’ He rolled it over with his finger. ‘I’ve just had it cut,’ he added.
‘It almost looks as if it might burn a hole in the cloth!’
‘Do you like it, Julia?’
‘Of course I like it! I think it’s perfectly lovely.’
‘That’s the stone I would give you if you were engaged to me.’
‘But I’m not!’ exclaimed Julia in alarm.
‘No. It’s a pity, isn’t it?’
‘Don’t be silly!’ she cried. ‘And do put it away quickly. I’m sure it must be very valuable.’
He took it up, but instead of putting it away he dropped it into her hand. ‘Why not have it—and me?’
‘That isn’t a very funny joke, Stephen.’
‘It isn’t a joke at all,’ he told her gravely. ‘The moment I saw you sitting on that seat in the park I knew you were the girl I wanted to marry.’
‘Stephen, please! If I’d known you were going to be silly I wouldn’t have come out with you. You know I’m engaged to be married.’
‘It isn’t irrevocable—being engaged.’
‘It is, to me,’ declared Julia breathlessly. ‘I’m that sort of person. Besides, Morland and I love each other—we’ve known each other for years. I’ve seen you three times. I think you must be mad!’
‘Mad about you,’ he said in a low voice. He added, ‘Of course I’m mad to speak to you like this. Forgive me, Julia.’
‘Forgive you?’
‘Yes, please! We’ll say no more about it. We’ll go back to where we were. We’ll just be friends. Is that right?’
‘Yes—if you promise to be sensible.’
‘I promise. Cross my heart,’ said Stephen earnestly.
For a few moments there was silence. The sapphire still lay upon the table; Julia had dropped it as if it were burning her hand.
‘You had better put it away, hadn’t you?’ said Julia at last.
‘Yes, of course,’ he agreed. He took up the little chamois bag and showed it to Julia. ‘It’s neat, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Mother made it for me.’
Certainly it was very neat indeed; made of soft chamois leather, stitched in the tiniest of stitches with a soft little cord to draw it together at the neck.
‘Beautifully made,’ agreed Julia.
‘Mother is very clever at that sort of thing,’ said her son proudly. ‘She made a tapestry picture—designed it herself—and it really is a work of art. It won a prize in a big exhibition of needlework. Do you know what she was going to do with it? She was going to put it on a stool for people to sit on! Did you ever hear such nonsense? But I soon put a stop to that. I made her give it to me and I’m having it framed so that we can hang it on the wall. I’d like to show it to you some time.’
Julia said she would like to see it, which was perfectly true; she was very much interested in needlework and it was evident from the appearance of the delightful little bag that Mrs. Brett must be an adept.
This little interlude had changed the subject and eased the embarrassment which Stephen’s sudden madness had produced. He put away the sapphire in the little bag and asked Julia if she would like a peach.
‘Oh yes—if they aren’t too expensive,’ she replied.
Stephen ordered them and a dish of fresh ripe peaches was placed upon the table, together with fruit-plates and finger-bowls.
They ate the peaches, which were ripe and luscious, and talked about various matters. Stephen said he wanted to buy a car but must wait until he had made his fortune. Julia laughed and asked how he proposed to do that.
‘Are you interested in money?’ asked Stephen seriously.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Would you like to make a lot of money?’
‘Who wouldn’t!’ said Julia. ‘But it would depend how, of course,’ she added quickly.
‘Quite honestly,’ said Stephen, smiling. ‘It’s just a business matter. I’ll tell you about it if you like, but it’s a dead secret. It really is a dead secret, Julia. You must promise not to breathe a word about it to a single creature.’
Julia hesitated. It sounded very mysterious. But why not? Money was useful. It would be extremely pleasant to have a lot of money. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I promise faithfully; but if I don’t like the idea——’
‘Oh, you needn’t do it if you’d rather not!’
At this moment the waiter came with the coffee. He removed the fruit-plates and finger-bowls and went away.
When he had gone Stephen leant forward and said, ‘Listen carefully, Julia. That sapphire came from a place in Africa. I’ve been there and I’ve seen the place where it was found. For some reason the workings have been abandoned, nobody has been there for years, but there’s still a company in existence which owns the property. You can buy shares in it for half nothing.’
‘You mean there are lots of sapphires there and nobody knows?’
He smiled. ‘You’re pretty quick at the uptake, aren’t you? Yes, that’s the position more or less. I’ve scraped together every penny I can lay hands on and I’m buying shares on Monday morning; Father is doing the same. When people begin to hear about it the shares are bound to go up—see?’
Julia saw. She said slowly, ‘I haven’t much money to come and go on. I suppose it’s quite safe?’
‘Well, I’m putting my shirt on it,’ he told her. ‘Of course you needn’t do it if you don’t want to. I just thought I’d tip you the wink.’
‘I wonder . . .’ said Julia thoughtfully. She still saw, in her mind’s eye, the sapphire lying on the table glowing with its soft blue light . . . and there were lots of others where that came from, hidden in the bowels of the earth. ‘It would be silly not to, wouldn’t it?’ she added as if she were thinking aloud.
‘It’s for you to decide,’ said Stephen. ‘Supposing you think it over, Julia. We could meet to-morrow. There really isn’t time to tell you all about it to-night. It would be much better for you to know the whole story before you decide.’
Julia agreed. To-morrow was Saturday, a half-holiday at Madame Claire’s; they arranged to meet and have lunch together at Stephen’s club so that he could tell her the whole story. Certainly there was no time now; for the restaurant was filled to overflowing and the waiter was hovering with the bill.
Stephen beckoned to him and paid it with a lordly air. Julia was horrified to see a sheaf of notes disappearing on the plate.
‘Stephen, what a lot!’ she whispered.
‘Don’t worry. It’s been worth every penny; we’ll do it again when I’ve made my pile.’ He helped her to put on her coat and they went out into the street.
*
4
The air was so fresh and lovely after the stuffy atmosphere of the crowded restaurant that Stephen suggested they should walk for a little and Julia agreed. Stephen drew her hand through his arm and they strolled along together.
‘This is fun,’ said Stephen. ‘There’s something exciting about London at night especially to a fellow who has just come back from an isolated spot in darkest Africa . . . and especially if he has a girl to share the fun.’
‘It’s fun for the girl too,’ said Julia lightly. ‘Especially if she isn’t used to walking in London at night. Tell me about darkest Africa, Stephen.’
‘Not now,’ he said. ‘Darkest Africa belongs to the story I’m going to tell you to-morrow; I want to forget about it to-night and enjoy myself. Shall we walk round Piccadilly Circus?’
They walked round Piccadilly Circus, looking at the lights, jostled by the crowds. It would not have been very pleasant if Julia had not had an arm to hold onto, but the arm was safe and strong, so she found it very pleasant indeed. Although she had lived in London all her life she had never before strolled round the busy streets at night; perhaps she would never do it again, for she could not imagine Morland strolling amongst the crowd. Morland would be amazed that anyone should do such a thing for pleasure.
There were all sorts of funny little incidents to see and to point out to each other, and there were pathetic little incidents too. There was an old man trying to cross the crowded street; Stephen took him by the arm and piloted him to safety. There was a woman with a whining child; she was dragging him along and shaking him impatiently.
‘Horrible little brat!’ said Stephen.
‘He’s tired,’ said Julia. ‘He ought to have been in bed long ago. It’s the woman who is horrible.’
‘Are you tired, Julia?’ he asked. ‘If you aren’t tired we might walk a bit farther, but say if you’re tired and we’ll take a taxi.’
Julia was not tired (fortunately she was wearing comfortable shoes), so they walked to Trafalgar Square and looked at the lions.
‘Not like real lions,’ said Stephen critically. ‘I suppose they’re heraldic beasts. Landseer designed them, didn’t he? I wonder if he’d ever seen a real live lion in his life.’
‘In the Zoo, perhaps,’ said Julia, giggling. She added, ‘But I like them.’
‘Oh, so do I. They’re very dignified and impressive. Do you think they’d like me to give their love to the next real live lion I happen to meet?’
‘Not their love!’ exclaimed Julia. ‘They might like you to convey their greetings.’
They were both laughing as they walked on.
‘This i
s grand,’ declared Stephen. ‘When I go back to my little bungalow in the wilds I shall think of this and remember every moment. It is good of you, Julia.’
‘But I’m enjoying myself!’
‘I know. That makes it all the better; if you weren’t enjoying yourself it wouldn’t be any fun at all. Shall we walk down to the river?’
Julia was beginning to feel tired, so it seemed a long way to the river, but presently they came to the bridge and stood there looking at the Palace of Westminster and the Abbey. Big Ben began to strike so they were silent, listening to the solemn sound. It struck eleven.
‘The eleventh hour,’ said Stephen.
Julia asked him what he meant, but he could not explain.
Chapter Nine
Saturday morning was very busy at Madame Claire’s establishment, so Julia was late in getting away and late for her appointment with Stephen. She had said half past one, but it was ten minutes to two when she arrived at the club, breathless with haste. However, she need not have worried, for Stephen was quite unperturbed and assured her cheerfully that it did not matter in the least. He had booked a table in the small dining-room where members were allowed to entertain their female friends, so they went in and sat down and ordered their meal.
‘Not a very enlivening sort of place, I’m afraid,’ said Stephen, looking round. ‘But it’s quiet, so we can talk as much as we like.’
‘I was dreaming of sapphires all night,’ declared Julia. ‘I’ve been thinking about sapphires, whenever I had a moment to think, all the morning. Go on, Stephen, I want to hear about the place where the sapphire was found and how you found it.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Stephen. ‘But let me eat my steak first. It looks rather good and I’m hungry.’
Julia could hardly object to this request (she had kept him waiting for twenty minutes), so she ate her own steak, which was excellent, and possessed her soul in patience. Stephen had chosen biscuits and cheese to follow but when he had stayed the pangs of hunger he began his story.
‘Now then,’ he said. ‘You remember I told you I was the assistant manager of a diamond mine? What happened was I got ten days’ leave, so a friend of mine, James Rafferty, suggested we should go on safari—that’s a camping expedition—and take some boys and ponies to carry the tents and stores. Jim had heard about the workings at Coribunda from one of his boys (one of his servants, you know), so we decided to go and have a look at the place. It’s a wild spot, miles from anywhere, and there’s very little water to be had, so we made our camp near a stream, about fifteen miles short of Coribunda. We spent the night there and the next morning very early Jim and I rode over to the place alone. There were several reasons for going alone; one was that it was better to leave the boys where we knew there was water, and another was that there was something mysterious about the Coribunda workings and we didn’t want the boys poking about and getting in our way.’
The Blue Sapphire Page 6