Above Rubies

by Mary Cummins

  “Then why bother?”

  Merry drew a deep breath, and wondered, herself, why she bothered.

  “Because I must,” she said quietly. “I don’t expect you to understand, Sylvia, but it’s just something I have to do.”

  Sylvia shrugged and yawned. “Rather you than me, darling,” she said.

  Merry had managed to write several short stories for children, however, after doing a bit of research into what modern children like, or what modern publishers think modern children ought to like. The results had pleased and excited her, and she ran quickly down the road to the Cot House to deliver them to Benjamin. He was busy, and treated her rather abstractedly, but she knew better than to worry about his offhand manner.

  “Put them down on the table, Merry,” he said, intent on his board. “I’ll look at them later. Leave me to think about them for a few days.”

  “O.K., Benjamin,” she told him. “Cheerio.” Now she wondered if she would see him tonight, as she had a quick word with Mrs. Cameron over how late they were likely to be, and followed Nigel and Sylvia out to the car.

  Sylvia exclaimed with pleasure when she saw Rossie House. Stephanie came forward to meet them, and offer them drinks, while one or two young men and girls were introduced, rather shyly.

  Merry found herself shaking hands with the young giant of a man with crisp dark curling hair and snapping black eyes whom she had seen at the first cocktail party. She learned that he was David Bruce, the Hillington shop manager, and was quite an authority on valuing precious stones. He was an F.G.A. and had also made a study of antique silver.

  Stephanie was looking very smart in a soft silvery blue dress, her lovely hair immaculately dressed. She hadn’t Sylvia’s breathtaking beauty, but she ran her a very close second. Merry saw the two girls eye each other warily, then shake hands as Nigel introduced them. She felt that they’d probably have weighed each other up to a ‘T’. They would take their time on deciding whether or not they’d be friends.

  Then Stephanie was coming forward for a word with her, and Merry again felt herself withdrawing inwardly. She respected Stephanie, knowing that the other girl undertook to do a responsible job for the firm, but deep down they would never really be comfortable with one another.

  “Hello, Merry,” the other girl greeted her. “So you’ve acquired an addition to the family.”

  “Sylvia is only staying temporarily,” Merry told her. “She’s used to a busier life than Kilbraggan.”

  “Seems like she’s getting it,” said Stephanie dryly, her eyes suddenly glittering as they turned to watch Sylvia flirt charmingly with David Bruce. There was an odd expression on Stephanie’s face, then she smiled slowly with amusement.

  “Benjamin’s late,” she remarked, then walked forward as his tall figure appeared in the doorway. “Oh, here he is now. Excuse me.”

  Merry watched while Stephanie hurried over to greet Benjamin, talking to him animatedly, then bringing him over to perform the introductions. Nigel was standing silently at Merry’s elbow, after seeing that she had everything she wanted, but she saw that his gaze was now all for Sylvia.

  “She’s very ... lovely,” he said. “Sylvia, I mean. Has ... has she had many boy-friends?”

  “Quite a few,” admitted Merry honestly. “Maybe the right one will settle her down.”

  “It’s difficult to settle a flame,” he remarked. “Much better to keep it burning than to quench it, when it throws such a bright light. Oh, Merry ... sorry, my dear, would you care for another drink? I hope you don’t think I’m neglecting you.”

  She laughed happily.

  “Don’t worry about me, Nigel. I’m used to looking after myself, and I quite like it. You can go after the flame, if you wish, only try not to get burned, my dear. I don’t like to see my friends hurt.”

  Nigel looked at her searchingly.

  “Then we are friends?” he asked softly. “I’m a fool, Merry. Your warmth is worth ninety flames, but...”

  “But it doesn’t blaze strongly enough for real love,” she said softly. “We’re good friends, and always will be, but we haven’t hurt each other.”

  “Bless you,” he said huskily. “Would you know what I mean if I said I still love you, Merry?”

  She nodded.

  “Of course. That goes for me, too.”

  He. slipped away and she jumped, startled, as Benjamin appeared behind her. How long had he been there? she wondered, then decided that it didn’t really matter.

  “You made me jump!” she accused him.

  “Sorry, my dear, but you ought to choose moonlight and scented gardens for making sentimental speeches, not small gatherings like this one.”

  She flushed. So he had heard, even if it was just a small part of it.

  “Surely that’s our business, Nigel’s and mine,” she told him, a touch of the old asperity in her tone.

  “Of course, of course. I suppose you’re in no mood to talk business.”

  “What business?”

  “The little Pink Caterpillar,” he said. “I liked it. How do you think he looks?”

  He drew a rough illustration out of his pocket, and Merry gasped when she saw one of the characters of her imagination smiling at her from the piece of paper. He had a funny, lopsided grin and huge innocent eyes with long eyelashes.

  “Oh, he’s sweet!” she exclaimed with delight. “He’s really adorable!”

  “I shall do one or two proper illustrations, and send them up to my agent, with a mock-up of the book. I like this one. In a funny way it reminds me of you.”

  “Why?” asked Merry, wrinkling her brows as she strove to recall her little pink caterpillar who carried on courageously through life in spite of a great many adversities.

  “Oh, I don’t know ... just somehow... until this evening, that is.”

  She regarded him for a moment, still puzzled.

  “The little pink caterpillar fought for what he wanted in his own quiet way,” said Benjamin quietly.

  “Don’t you think that was wise of him?”

  “Very wise. By the way, your cousin Sylvia looks very attractive tonight. I’ve never seen her look lovelier.”

  Merry’s heart sank. Surely not Benjamin, too! “Better not let Stephanie see you making eyes at her, then,” she said tartly, and Benjamin laughed with genuine amusement “Oh, I think I’m quite safe,” he assured her. “Maybe I’ve got the experience behind me not to be so susceptible to feminine charms which resemble the froth on the cream. Perhaps I like a little more substance. As for Stephanie, she’s got her own plans about what she wants.”

  “Well, perhaps you’ll get the substance,” said Merry, watching as Stephanie moved gracefully forward to a table in the centre of the room.

  “I wondered if you’d all like to give an opinion on this enamelled jewellery,” she was saying, unrolling a long velvet pad. “I’ve one or two pieces here, but I think their appeal will be a matter of taste. I should like to have your very honest opinion, though.”

  Eagerly the small party clustered round the table while Stephanie laid out a few lovely pieces. There was a brooch, shaped like a rose, in blue, a pansy with a checked design in green and black, a lovely bracelet of small interlocking squares in maroon and yellow, and one of oval-shaped pieces in green. The rich yellow gold, which formed the base, gave a glowing effect to the enamel.

  “There are some cocktail rings, too,” said Stephanie, laying out a large ring in very deep blue, with a strip of diamonds set in diagonally.

  “I think they’re fab!” cried Sylvia excitedly. “But if someone gave me a choice, I think I’d rather have something which looks real, if you know what I mean. These could look like Woolworth’s.”

  “Oh, I don’t agree,” said Merry quickly. “There’s something very special about all of them, a sort of richness and ... finish, perhaps ... which lifts them out of the ordinary. No, I like them.”

  “It’s the design, I think,” said Benjamin, picking up the rose bro
och. “It’s got beautiful balance and the workmanship is perfect. I like them, Stephanie.”

  “I wonder if they’ll sell, though,” said Nigel, frowning as he stared down at the table. “What’s your opinion, David?”

  The tall dark young man came forward to rest his hand on Stephanie’s shoulder, then he sat down at the table and leaned his chin on his elbow, staring at the pieces intently. Quietly he drew an eyeglass from his pocket and examined each piece in turn.

  “Beautifully made,” he commented, “and I expect Stephanie has chosen the best designs available, if I know her!”

  He smiled up at the girl, and she flushed a little under his gaze. Merry had noticed before that David called the Kilpatricks by their Christian names, though the rest of the staff referred to them as “Miss Stephanie” and “Mr. Nigel”. That suggested quite a close relationship to her, though later she found out that David and Nigel had studied gemology together, and David had been asked specially to run the Hillington shop. There was, nevertheless, a special relationship between them.

  “We’ll try a few, and give them good advertising. We have one or two very discriminating customers who might appreciate the unusual.”

  “Are you going to advertise them at your next cocktail party?” asked Sylvia.

  “That’s being held in the New Year,” Stephanie told her, “so you might not be here for it. We don’t want to disturb our stock until after Christmas and it does involve a lot of organising, and ensuring the safety of our stock.”

  “Oh, but I expect I will be here,” said Sylvia sweetly. “Merry says I must consider Beau Ness as much my home as hers, and we’re such good company for one another.”

  Merry felt her cheeks flush, and inwardly she tightened with anger against Sylvia for placing her in such an impossible position. She didn’t really want Sylvia all that long, yet how could she fail to accept the situation in front of everyone?

  Nigel, however, was looking delighted and making no secret of it, while Benjamin stood by quietly, an impassive look on his face.

  “I am staying, aren’t I, darling?” Sylvia was asking.

  “If you want to,” said Merry, and hoped her voice didn’t sound as grudging as she felt. Sylvia seemed to have a disrupting influence on her life, but she could hardly throw her out, selfishly.

  “Good, then I hope I can come to the party,” said Sylvia, looking appealingly at Nigel.

  “Of course you can,” he told her, and Merry caught Stephanie looking at her sardonically. She smiled a little sadly, feeling suddenly out of things and a little tired. She didn’t join in when Nigel began to make suggestions for having a small party at Christmas, and was glad when it was finally time to go home.

  CHAPTER 6

  A WEEK before Christmas, Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle George arrived to stay, and Merry welcomed them with mixed feelings. Christmas was a time for families to be together, but she’d never felt too much a part of their family.

  “Will it be too much for you, Mrs. Cameron?” she asked anxiously. “I don’t expect they’ll stay long, because Uncle George still takes an active part in his investment business. He’s only semi-retired, really.”

  “They’ll maybe not find things as luxurious as they’re used to, Miss Merry,” said Mrs. Cameron, “but you know I’ll do my best to make them comfortable. It’s the first time I ever remember them stopping more than an hour or two. I don’t think Miss Ellen ever found them bosom companions.”

  “They’re all the family I’ve got,” Merry said quietly.

  “I know, Miss Merry. As a matter of fact, this house needs a wee bit of warmin’ up noo and again. If they can take good plain service, then we might have a good Christmas.”

  “I’ll help all I can,” Merry assured her, and went to settle in her aunt and uncle. Sylvia had treated them casually at first, but was now eager to tell them all about Nigel and Rossie House.

  “They’ve got fabulous jewellery, Mummy,” she enthused. “In fact, I should just love one of their pieces for Christmas.”

  “No doubt,” said her father dryly, “but for once, young lady, you’ll have to set your sights a little lower. Neilson’s is going through a bad patch at the moment That’s why I thought I’d like to come here for a quiet Christmas, and take up Merry’s invitation.”

  In the end, it was one of the busiest Christmases Merry had ever known, as Mrs. Cameron took some time off to go and see her sister, and found both the Campbells feeling under the weather. Even the aspirin and cups of tea she made for them failed to make them feel better, and in the end they had to go to bed with ’flu. Mrs. Cameron ran home to Beau Ness.

  “Whatever will I do, Miss Merry?” she asked. “I just can’t leave you with all this on your hands, yet they’re both in bed. Fair bad, they are—helpless. Isa’s temperature was a hundred and three and the doctor said I’ll need to keep an eye on her. I really shouldna hae left them.”

  “Then you must go back, Mrs. Cameron,” said Merry firmly. “We’re all able-bodied here, and the others will just have to help.”

  “See that they do, Miss Merry. See that they do.”

  “I’ll pop down to see you on Christmas Day,” promised Merry. “There won’t be so much to do since you’ve got nearly everything ready, and in any case, it won’t be the first time I’ve cooked a Christmas dinner.”

  She bit her lip, remembering how she’d intended to ask Benjamin, then learned that he was already invited to Rossie House. She should have expected that, she thought unhappily, and maybe it was just as well if she was going to be in the kitchen most of the day.

  Aunt Elizabeth heartily approved of Nigel when he called to take Sylvia out. At first he had also asked Merry, but last time she’d been much too busy, and now he made no pretence of wanting anyone else but Sylvia. Merry introduced him to her aunt and uncle while they waited for her to get ready, and they were charming to him.

  “How nice they can be,” thought Merry. “If only they were like this all the time, they could stay here always.”

  Yet some time, long ago, the Neilsons had reduced everything to the level of L.S.D. and made no effort to be charming when they didn’t think it worth their while.

  “I might find business a trifle boring because I don’t understand it,” Aunt Elizabeth was saying, “but jewellery is rather different. It’s such an ancient craft, and one can so admire a beautiful piece of jewellery, because man has actually dug it out of the ground and applied his skill to making something of beauty which will last for ever.”

  “I suppose the same can be said for all forms of art, dear,” Uncle George boomed. “Pictures, sculpture ... that sort of thing...”

  “Yes, but there’s something very personal about jewellery,” Aunt Elizabeth pointed out. “I mean you can’t wear a picture. You can only admire it on the wall, but you can feel that a piece of jewellery is your very own. Isn’t that so, Mr. Kilpatrick?”

  Nigel was smiling, obviously charmed with both of them, then Sylvia ran lightly downstairs in the lovely new dress which Merry was struggling to pay for. She looked so beautiful that Nigel’s face went pale at the sight of her, then he flushed vividly. Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle George were full of pride, but it was to Nigel that Merry turned, wishing she could say what was in her heart. She was still fond of him, and admired him, though she knew she wasn’t in love with him.

  “Be careful, Nigel,” she wanted to say. “She looks so beautiful, and so grown-up, but underneath she’s immature and irresponsible. Her heart still hasn’t been touched ... yet. She goes out with young men, and accepts their love because she enjoys it. It makes her love herself all the more. So please be careful!”

  But Merry’s thoughts and emotions had to be kept to herself as they waved the young couple away. There was still a great deal to do, and she would have to do it herself. Aunt Elizabeth had politely informed her of this.

  “I’ve had to come here because George and I need a rest so,” she told Merry. “Surely you don’t think we’d e
njoy burying ourselves in a backwater like Kilbraggan if we felt able to organise a normal Christmas, and dear Sylvia seems quite happy to be here at this time. It’s all fitting in very well. The house is fairly comfortable, even if it is pitifully old-fashioned. Some of it is very shabby, Merry, and I’m sure you could do something with it without spoiling its character, if you like its old-world atmosphere. I mean, those velvet curtains are badly faded now. Why hang on to ancient things like that? New ones wouldn’t be out of place. In fact, they’d make it a lot better. And that carpet in the hall is very worn...”

  Merry sighed. She’d already tried to explain to Aunt Elizabeth that there wasn’t much money for extras, and she couldn’t afford to replace a lot of furnishings, but her aunt had merely looked bored and said it was all a matter of planning.

  So now Merry hurried back to the kitchen, and began to make rum butter. Uncle George liked everything that was traditional at Christmas. Ten minutes later, Aunt Elizabeth put her head round the door to tell her that “that young man” had called.

  She’d already met Benjamin, but had lost interest in him from the start when she learned he was the artist living in the Cot House.

  “Oh, dear,” sighed Merry, looking round the kitchen. She had several things to do, then she must tidy it all up in case it got out of hand. Mrs. Cameron would be upset if her lovely kitchen became cluttered and soiled for her coming back.

  “Benjamin can come in here,” she said decidedly. “We’re working together on a children’s book,” she added, as Aunt Elizabeth looked at her suspiciously and rather disapprovingly. She considered that Merry was inclined to be irresponsible in the friends she made. Some day she must explain all about Benjamin, thought Merry rather tiredly, but at the moment it didn’t matter.

  A moment later Benjamin walked through, a frown of displeasure on his face.