by Betty Neels
‘Be sensible, darling, of course I sacked you. I do not want a wife who sits behind a desk all day pounding a typewriter. I want her at home, ordering my household, looking after the babies, dressing up to come dining and dancing, wearing beautiful clothes because she’s a beautiful girl, loaded, if she wants to be, with diamonds, skimming down the mountains at Flam, learning to love my family.’ He smiled down at her and she studied every line of his face. ‘It will be wonderful to come home to you,’ he said.
‘Brenda…’ asked Charity and tried not to sound too eager to know.
‘Like your Sidney, something that became a habit without realising it.’
He glanced round at the crowded hall. ‘Is there somewhere quiet…?’ And, when she hesitated, ‘I’ll come round to your side.’
‘Jake, no, you simply can’t.’ She stopped there because he could and he would if he wanted to.
‘Perhaps Aunt Emily…’
That lady had been watching them avidly. Now, in answer to a look from the professor, she nipped down to Charity’s end, ignoring a stout lady waving a toddler’s playsuit at her.
‘Miss Graham, I want a few minutes with Charity—somewhere quiet. Could you possibly manage?’
She beamed at them both. ‘Of course. The pantry—second door on the left.’
She trotted back and allowed the stout lady to have her purchase cheap out of sheer happiness.
The pantry was a long narrow room with a sink down one wall and tea urns down the other. The professor closed the door behind them and looked around him.
‘Not perhaps the most romantic of surroundings.’ He put his hands on Charity’s shoulders and twisted her round to face him. ‘I’ve been in love with you since the very first moment I set eyes on you. You were standing on a chair in Miss Hudson’s office changing a light bulb. I took one look and knew that there would never be anyone else but you.’
Charity heaved a great sigh. ‘I didn’t know then, but it’s been you all the time. And I did try to be a model secretary.’
He folded her in his arms. ‘You were, my darling, most efficient. Will you marry me, my dearest? Have I told you that I love you above everything in the world?’
‘No, but you have now,’ said Charity, ‘and yes, I will marry you, dear Jake.’
She had no chance to say more; she was being kissed in a manner which left her in no doubt as to Jake’s feelings. And when the door opened and two ladies, bent on making tea, came in, he paused only long enough to glance at them and wish them a polite good afternoon.
They stood in the open doorway, gazing their fill. Never mind the tea urns boiling away, this was romance, and in a most unlikely place. That nice little Miss Graham too. They went out again and closed the door soundlessly behind them.
Charity, who hadn’t even heard or seen them, wreathed her arms round Jake’s neck. When she had the opportunity she said, ‘We have a great deal to talk about, Jake.’
‘Indeed yes, my little love, but let us get married first.’
Which seemed a good idea. There was no need to speak, so she kissed him instead.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3961-6
TWO WEEKS TO REMEMBER
Copyright © 1986 by Betty Neels.
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