The evening dragged endlessly, even after the men joined them, with dull and banal conversation. Poppy longed to be shown the house but no one suggested it, and she was glad afterwards that she had not suggested it herself when she was told that the Duke showed paying visitors round himself at week-ends and was heartily sick of it by Sunday evening.
At half-past ten hot water with a slice of lemon in it was served to the ladies, and whisky to the men, and soon after this Lady Hanbridge got up as a signal for their departure.
They all heaved a sigh of relief as they drove off.
“To think you might have been like that,” Poppy couldn’t help exclaiming.
“Is that what you thought we were going to be like?” Lady Hanbridge asked. “My dear, how dreadful for you. I’m surprised you consented to come and stay with us ... What a shame it is that your stay has come to an end and has been so short. I must do my very best to come up to London to see you. I can’t bear to think that this is goodbye.”
“Nor can I. You have been so wonderful to me. I shall never forget it, never—everything about it—but particularly your kindness and sweetness.” Lady Hanbridge was to remember afterwards the earnestness with which she had said this. There had almost been tears in her voice.
When they got back, Romilly came up to her. “It is very sad, but I’m afraid we shall have to say good-bye this evening, Erika. I’m driving back with Dennis at crack of dawn tomorrow.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, then I shan’t see you again.” She had somehow expected that he would be driving her to the station next morning and she had been looking forward to it
“When do you go off to the Continent?” he asked.
“I—I’m not quite sure. Soon, I think.”
“Not too soon I hope? Perhaps I shall see you in London?”
“Perhaps,” she answered vaguely. “Good-bye, and thank you so very much for everything.”
“I’d rather say au revoir ... Au revoir, sweet cousin.”
“Au revoir—Romilly.” Her lips savored his name. II was the last time, she imagined, that she would ever speak it to him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
POPPY left next morning in a sheet of rain. It was a particularly gloomy day because the temperature had dropped sharply with the break in the weather, but it was not more cold nor dismal than in her own heart. She had never been more conscious of her abuse of hospitality than when saying good-bye to Lord and Lady Hanbridge. Even Florence would probably learn all too soon that she was nothing but an impostor.
Philippa and Nicole came to see her off at the station. Nicole was staying another fortnight. Lucky Nicole; she was truly a friend of the family. She would be seeing Romilly again at the week-end, whereas she herself ...? It did not bear thinking of and yet she could think of nothing else.
How differently this whole adventure had turned out from what she had expected. What years and years ago it now seemed since she had been in the train on the way there. How jubilant she had expected to feel on this Monday morning if her task had been satisfactorily carried through; but instead of jubilation she felt nothing but a sick disgust with herself and the odious part she had played. Thank goodness she was going to see Erika and Lew. That at least was something to look forward to.
When she got to Victoria, she left Erika’s luggage in the cloakroom as they had arranged and found that there would be time to take a bus to the Dover Buttery. However, as it was pouring with rain and she had no umbrella and did not want to ruin Erika’s clothes (she was wearing the emerald green suit again), she took a taxi. She had with her only a brown-paper parcel with the shoes and socks in it which she had bought in Chichester. She wanted to keep these for herself as a memento of her visit and had asked Florence to do them up for her in a separate parcel.
When she got to the Buttery, Erika and Lew were not there, but this was not surprising since she was early. She secured a table for three and then filled in the time by counting the money In Erika’s bag. Apart from what she had spent on the shoes, the money was almost intact because she had won a few shillings racing, and had had practically no expenses. She had had no idea what she ought to give as tips or whom she ought to tip, and had been obliged to ask Lady Hanbridge for guidance in this matter. After all, she had argued to herself, Erika would not have known what to do in a strange country, and when in doubt it was much wiser to ask. Lady Hanbridge had told her that it was only necessary to tip Florence, and had suggested that she should give her a pound. Women guests, she said, did not tip the butler, that was left to the men, and no one tipped the kitchen staff. Lady Hanbridge had added that she did not think the English system a fair one, but there it was. It was much fairer in Holland, for instance, where all the tips were pooled and then divided in proportion among the whole staff.
Poppy was just beginning to wonder what would happen if Erika did not turn up when she saw her come in followed by Lew carrying a small suitcase. They came in like rays of sunshine. Both were beaming, and Poppy could not help feeling a little pang at their obvious happiness. And yet she realized that their happiness was the only justification for what she had done. If they had not been happy her imposition would have been almost criminal.
Poppy noticed that Erika was not wearing her, Poppy’s, grey suit and she wondered how she was going to get it back. On this wet dismal day she particularly longed to be back again in her own clothes. Emerald green silk was all very well but it seemed singularly out of place today even though she was wearing Erika’s black and green tweed coat over the suit in order to keep her warm.
“Oh, we are so longing to hear everything,” Erika began as soon as she sat down beside her. “How did it go? Was it all right? Tell us every single detail. Did you have an awful time?”
“Tell me first about you,” Poppy said. “Has all gone well with you?”
Erika turned to Lew who was now sitting beside her and squeezed his hand and smiled at him. “How is it, darling?” she said. “You tell her.”
“We are happier than would have thought possible,” Lew said seriously, “and we owe it all to you, Poppy ... We hope you haven’t been through too bad a time. We thought of you so much and said so often that it was the bravest thing anyone could do ... How did it go?”
“Did anyone suspect?” Erika asked eagerly.
“I wasn’t found out by the Hanbridges, if that’s what you mean, but there was someone there—a man—a neighbor—who guessed, but he didn’t give me away.”
“That was nice of him.”
Poppy had meant to tell Erika all about Arthur Bingle and the price he had exacted from her for his silence, but now suddenly it became so distasteful to her that she could not bring herself to mention it. There was no need to tell it. It would have upset them both too much to realize what she had been through for their sakes. “My worst moment was when your father rang up,” she said.
“Dad!” Erika exclaimed in horror. “But I told him only to ring up in an emergency ... It doesn’t mean that Mother is worse, does it?” she asked in sudden panic.
“No, he said she was better.”
“Thank God. I’ve been so worried about her, but I knew if she was bad you could have got in touch with me ... What happened when he rang up? How did you manage?”
“I pretended to have lost my voice.”
“You spoke to him? You actually spoke to him? He must have guessed.”
“I don’t think so. The line was very bad for one thing and I sounded just as if I had a frog in my throat. It might have been anybody’s voice.”
“What an awful moment it must have been for you. Did anything else terrible happen?”
“Only last night when we had to dine with the Duke and Duchess of Hampshire who had been to South Africa last year on a visit.”
“My poor Poppy. How did you manage that one?”
“I never stopped plying them with questions, so they had no time to ask me any.”
“That was clever ... Tell us more; tell us every littl
e thing ... What are they like? The Hanbridges, I mean?”
“They couldn’t be nicer or kinder.”
“And Romilly?”
“He’s—he’s—well, he couldn’t be nicer or kinder either ... they’re not a bit grand. They lead quite a simple life. They are just like any other ordinary, happy, united family. The girl, Philippa, is awfully sweet. Very high-spirited and pretty. I didn’t see the rest of the family—the children. They are at school and don’t get back until some time this week.”
“But isn’t the house very grand?”
“It’s very beautiful, but they only live in one wing of it, and from the inside it seems just like an ordinary small country house—except that it’s not ordinary because everything in it is so beautiful—all the furniture and curtains and decoration. Lady Hanbridge has got the most perfect taste, and she’s so sweet. No one could help loving her. She’s so gentle and kind and considerate, and makes you feel so welcome and at home. She’s the kind of person that everyone would like to have for a mother, and they all seem to adore her.”
“I must say you make them sound very attractive,” Lew put in. “I hope Erika won’t regret not having gone there!”
Erika smiled at him and squeezed his hand again. “It must have been pretty awful for you,” she said to Poppy with real understanding, “having to deceive them when they were all so nice.”
“It was,” Poppy said. “I hated doing it ... They were all so kind. It made me feel so—so—cheap ... Please, there’s just one thing. When this gets found out, will you promise me never to let on who I really am?”
“Why should it get found out?”
“I don’t see how it can be avoided. It’s bound to come out sooner or later.”
“I don’t see why. We’re by way of going to Paris next week and shan’t be coming back here.”
“You will write a bread and butter letter, won’t you?” Poppy asked anxiously. “And I think you ought to write as soon as possible.”
“Sure. Would you like to write it for me and I’ll copy it.”
“Yes, I think I would. It would really be easier for me ... By the way, Romilly may be going to ring you up. He may ring up before you go to Paris.”
“Then I’ll be in bed with flu or something.”
“You may be right, it may not come out, but if it does, can I have your word not to tell who, I really am?”
“Of course, if that’s how you want it.”
“You promise?”
“I promise, and so does Lew, don’t you?”
“Sure I do.”
“Tell me,” Erika said. “How about Romilly? If I had gone there would there have been anything doing?”
“In what way?” Poppy asked.
“Would there have been any chance of Dad’s little scheme coming to anything?”
“About you and him marrying, you mean? No, I don’t think so. Unless, of course, he fell terribly in love with you. But not even then, I think. For one thing he told me that he would never marry a rich woman, and for another I believe he is already attached to someone else.”
“Oh, good-ee!” Erika exclaimed. “I can tell that to Dad. It will make it so much easier. I can truthfully tell him that there is nothing doing in that quarter. Hooray!”
“What are you going to do now?” Poppy wanted to know. “What are you going to tell your father?”
“We haven’t quite made up our minds yet, have we, Lew? But this makes it considerably easier. I’ll tell Dad that Romilly cares for someone else and that there’s absolutely nothing doing. Who is she, by the way?”
“Oh, I think I’d better not say.”
“All right. I’ll tell Dad that he told me in confidence...”
“He didn’t actually tell me,” Poppy put in quickly. “It’s only my intuition, but he did tell me definitely that he could never marry me—you, I mean—because of your money ... I’ll tell you how it happened. Your cigarette-case fell out of your bag while we were picnicking one day at the races. He picked it up and opened it and saw the snapshot of Lew inside. Afterwards he questioned me and I took the liberty of telling him that I, you rather, were in love with Lew but that your father wouldn’t allow you to marry him. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Of course not; I’m glad. It’s just what I would have done.”
“That’s what I thought. That’s why I told him, and it cleared the air wonderfully. He said how pleased he was because now we could be open with each other, now we could be real friends. It was then that he told me that he would never consider marrying a rich woman. When he married he wanted to do all the giving, he said. He was much more friendly after that, much more at his ease.”
“I understand how he feels,” Lew put in. “I’d feel just the same, but fortunately I happen to have a good deal more than Erika,” and he took Erika’s hand.
“Do you know, I think the best thing is for me to tell Dad all that,” Erika said musingly. “Tell him about Lew’s snapshot and all ... By the way, you must give me some more details about the visit. Dad is bound to want to know everything.”
“But before that don’t you think we had better eat?” Lew said. “I’m starving.”
“My poor sweet. I was too interested to think of food. The worst thing about men is that you have to feed them regularly, like lions or something at the Zoo!”
They all ordered something to eat, but Poppy’s appetite had deserted her. She found to her dismay that Erika’s and Lew’s presence had done nothing to shake her out of her depression and that she was feeling more and more homesick for Hanbridge. In spirit she was still there.
While they were eating, she gave Erika all the details of the visit which Erika needed to pass on to her parents, and while they were having coffee she wrote out a bread and butter letter on the back of an old envelope which Lew produced from his pocket. She managed to put into this letter all she really felt about the Handbridge’s kindness and to convey to them her appreciation of it.
“My!” Erika exclaimed when she read it. “I could never have written a letter like that.”
“No, you certainly couldn’t, my sweet,” Lew agreed. “Letter-writing isn’t your strong point, but a girl can’t have everything!”
“I have left your luggage at Victoria,” Poppy said, “as we arranged. Here’s the ticket ... And here’s your bag, but I have to keep some change to get home, if you don’t mind. I bought a pair of shoes in Chichester which I owe you for. I’ve got them here. Where can I send you the money? And how about giving you back these clothes of yours I’ve got on?”
“I am rather attached to that suit or I’d give it to you,” Erika said. “I shan’t be sorry to get my things back. It seemed a waste to buy too much and Lew’s getting sick of seeing me in the same old things day in day out.”
“I’d rather see you in the same thing every day of your life than not see you at all,” he replied. “How long have we got to be parted now?”
“It won’t be long, I swear. It’s just a question of breaking it to Dad as gently as possible. If he gives in and says I can become engaged to you we’ll go through it all again in the conventional way, but if he’s still adamant I’ll have to tell him the truth.”
“Then everything will come out,” Poppy said. “It’s bound to, because then your father will know that you have not been at Hanbridge.”
“I’ll have to see. Anyway, I have promised you that whatever happens your name won’t come into it ... By the way, we’ve got your things in that case there. Could I come back to your place and change there?”
“Certainly. Then I can give you the money I owe you as well.”
“Let’s go and get my luggage and take it back to your place, and then I can change into what you’ve got on and pack what I’m wearing. I’d better arrive back at the hotel in the clothes Dad saw me off in.”
Lew paid the bill and they left the Buttery and took a taxi to Victoria. They kept the taxi waiting while they got Erika’s luggage out of the cloa
kroom and then took it on to Poppy’s flat in Dorset Street.
No one had been in Poppy’s flat since she left but it was immaculately tidy. She always liked to come back to a tidy place, and before going on a holiday had enough imagination to leave the flat exactly as she would like to see it when she stepped into it after being away.
Lew waited in the sitting-room while the two girls went into Poppy’s bedroom to change. Poppy found that the blouse she had lent Erika had been carefully washed and ironed.
“I’m afraid I haven’t been able to wash your things,” Poppy said ruefully. “There just wasn’t any opportunity.”
“I should think not! Besides, Mother would have had a fit if I came back with everything clean. It would be so unlike me that she would know there was something wrong!”
“But you have washed my blouse?”
“The chamber-maid did that for me ... Oh, Poppy, I can’t tell you what a wonderful time we’ve had. I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
“I’m so glad. It makes it all worth while.”
“There can’t be another man in the world like Lew. He’s so considerate, so thoughtful ... Oh, Poppy, I’m lucky.”
“It’s going to be very hard for you both now,” Poppy said. “I do hope it comes right, and that you won’t have to be parted for too long ... I should like to know how things go.”
“You certainly shall. You’ll be the first to hear. Where can I get hold of you, by the way? Will you be here?”
“No, I’ve still got a bit of my holiday left.”
“You poor thing, we’ve taken up nearly all your holiday.”
“I’ve still got five days,” Poppy replied as cheerfully as she could. “I’m thinking of going to the sea—probably to Brighton, because it’s such a nice easy journey ... By the way, I must give you the money I owe you for the shoes I bought.”
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