A couple of days later they had an unexpected visitor— Mrs Middleton-Massey, whose daughters had been at school with Nell, and whom she had known all her life. Nell was surprised to see her, because she knew that her aunt didn't care for the other woman. Mrs Middleton-Massey made it quite plain why she had come. Striding through the hall in the old brogues she favoured, she addressed Nell in her deep, almost masculine voice.
'Glad you're back, m'dear. Been away too long.' She dropped heavily on to a dainty gold chair and submitted the girl to a searching quiz, while Elizabeth went off to organise coffee. They had reached the stage of Nell's matrimonial prospects when Elizabeth returned, and with her Philip. No whit disturbed by their arrival, Mrs Middleton-Massey continued with her catechism.
'Thank you, Elizabeth. No sugar. If I get any heavier my horse won't be able to carry me, poor brute! So you're back, Philip? How can you bear to stay in town? Well now, Nell, as I was saying, it's high time you got yourself married. All the girls are off my hands except Pamela, thank goodness!'
'Nell is a modern girl, Roberta,' said Elizabeth with a touch of malice. 'Marriage comes fairly low on her list of priorities.'
'Nonsense, Elizabeth. All girls want to get married, even the brainy ones.' Mrs Middleton-Massey turned her small dark eyes on the unfortunate Nell, who was all-too aware of Philip's ill-concealed amusement. 'Fortunately she's very presentable—yes, very presentable indeed, don't you agree, my dear man?'
'Oh, undoubtedly,' Philip returned smoothly, his face bland as he stared Nell down.
She sought, not very successfully, for a degree of composure. 'Mrs Middleton-Massey, couldn't we talk about something else? The others aren't interested in my affairs.'
Later, when Mrs .Middleton-Massey was leaving, she asked Nell to walk out to the car with her. 'Wanted a few words on our own, m'dear.' She halted by the Land-Rover, drawing on serviceable string gloves. 'How are you getting on with Elizabeth, mmm?'
'Well enough,' Nell answered cautiously.
'And that's a white lie if ever I heard one. She's no friend of yours, my girl. Never has been. Spread a lot of malicious gossip after you left.'
'Oh, please, I'd rather not hear ‑'
'Helps to know who one's enemies are,' the other woman said gruffly.
'Don't you think you're rather overstating the case? Aunt Elizabeth and I have never exactly been friends, but we're not enemies.'
'Speak for yourself, Nell. She hated your mother, so she's not likely to spare much affection for you.'
Shocked, Nell stared at Mrs Middleton-Massey. 'You can't mean that! My mother was her sister.'
'Sisters can hate each other. Jealousy usually, and your mother was always the favourite. Prettier, more affectionate, popular with young men. And such a sweet girl too. Oh yes, my dear, Elizabeth may have done her best to hide it, but she had no love for your mother, none at all'
Her voice carried even when she was attempting too lower it, and Nell glanced over her shoulder uneasily.
'She can't hear,' boomed the other woman. 'Too taken up with that Trent fellow. And that's another thing, Nell —keep out of his way if you want a peaceful life.' At the girl's puzzled look she dug a hard forefinger into her ribs, and gave a throaty chuckle. 'He's Elizabeth's property. Surely you've noticed?'
'Oh, honestly!' Nell exploded with mirth. 'I'm not likely to compete with my aunt over him! We don't get on at all well, you know.'
'He's a man!' Mrs Middleton-Massey had a habit of stating the obvious. 'I saw the way he was looking at your legs just now!' She climbed ponderously into the Land Rover, and leant out as another thought struck her. 'You've nothing to ride now, have you? You can borrow one of the girls' horses any time you like. I kept them on after they married for old times' sake.'
Nell was delighted, for it had been a blow to discover that the stables were empty and falling into disrepair. After she left her grandfather had sold the few remaining horses, for Elizabeth had never been keen on riding, and he was too old for it.
'Goodbye, my dear,' called the older woman. 'If the wind blows too cold in this quarter you know where to come.'
She roared off in a flurry of gravel and grinding gears. A magnificent rider, she was famous for her bad driving. Dear, tactless, outrageous Mrs Middleton-Massey! Nell went back into the house, smiling, but thoughtful too. Allowing for Mrs Middleton-Massey's tendency to exaggerate, and the fact that she and Elizabeth had never been friends, there might still be a grain of truth in her remarks.
Sisters didn't always get on. They might even hate each other. Her other suggestion, that Elizabeth might come to look on Nell as a rival, was too bizarre even to contemplate.
CHAPTER THREE
Colonel Whitehead came home after the weekend, wheeled into the house in a chair with his new nurse beside him. They had converted the small sitting-room into a bedroom and Nurse Taylor, looking round with a practised eye, pronounced that it was adequate.
'Though it would have been handy to have a washbasin in the room.'
'The downstairs cloakroom's right next door,' Nell said quickly. 'His bedroom has a washbasin, but we thought he'd be happier here.'
'More in the thick of things,' agreed Nurse Taylor. 'Nicer for me too.' She patted well coiffured blonde hair, and slid her navy serge cloak from her shoulders. 'Shall I hang this in the cloakroom?' She was brisk, modern and around Elizabeth's age.
Nell thought she was ideal, mature enough to handle a difficult patient, yet not so old that she would expect to be waited on all day. Nights she was to have off except in an emergency, for Blackie had found a distant cousin, a widow, who was prepared to sit up with the Colonel.
'But if you're the least bit worried you must call me,' Nell told die woman, when she arrived that evening for her first session.
'Fuss about nothing,' grumbled Colonel Whitehead. 'Only got to ring the bell if I feel unwell, haven't I?' He glared at Blackie's cousin and the woman retreated nervously into a corner.
'Just for a week or two until we're sure you're quite out of—really on the mend,' pleaded Elizabeth.
The Colonel's bushy eyebrows drew together in an ominous frown. 'Beginning to wish I'd stayed in hospital! At least they had other patients to fuss over as well.'
'And here you'll get all the attention,' Nell teased him. 'You're an old fraud, Grandpa. You know you're pleased to be home.'.
The Colonel pouted his lips, so that his moustache waggled up and down, a trick that Nell had loved as a child. He looked round the pretty blue room, with its velvet curtains and the brocaded day bed, at the sporting prints on the walls that Nell had moved from his study. 'I suppose I am glad,' he conceded. 'As long as you women don't go on at me. Too many females around, that's the trouble!'
'I'll ask Philip to look in and see you tomorrow,' Elizabeth suggested, and the old man brightened.
'I'd like that. Good lad, Philip. One of the best.'
Nell smiled to herself to hear the very adult Philip described as a good lad, and followed Elizabeth to her grandfather's side to kiss him goodnight.
'Stay a moment, Nell. I want a word with you. Alone.' His fierce look sent Blackie's cousin scurrying from the room, followed more composedly by Nurse Taylor. Elizabeth lingered in the doorway.
'Nell will be along in a moment,' Colonel Whitehead said to his daughter, and biting her lip with vexation, Elizabeth left.
'Sit down, girl. What I have to say is important.'
'Couldn't it wait till morning? You look very tired.'
'No, it couldn't. Mightn't be here in the morning,' the old man said bluntly. At her shocked face he added quietly, 'One has to face facts, my dear. I'm old, and if I can have one coronary I can have another. Mind, I've every intention of getting better and plaguing you girls for years to come!'
'Oh, Grandpa!' Swallowing on the lump in her throat, Nell pressed his thin hand.
'Don't work yourself up, Nell. I can't stand emotional scenes. Now what I wanted to say was, if anything happens to m
e, look after your aunt. She's never had to manage on her own.'
Astonished, Nell could only stare at him.
'Know just what you're thinking. That Elizabeth's fifteen years older than you, and ought to be able to look after herself. But she can't, my dear. She needs someone to lean on.'
That was possibly true, but Nell couldn't see herself as a prop to Elizabeth. However, to please her grandfather she agreed that she would always be available if she was needed.
'Will you?' he asked with a touch of wistfulness. 'You won't cut yourself off from us again?'
This wasn't the time to remind him that she had tried to make up their quarrel, that he had been the one who had been recalcitrant. 'No, Grandpa,' Nell said steadily, and she bent forward to kiss the worn old face.
Elizabeth was talking to Blackie's cousin in the hall, but moved away from her as Nell appeared. 'What did he want?' she asked sharply.
Nell didn't think her aunt would be flattered to learn that the Colonel had no opinion of his daughter's capabilities. 'Well ... nothing much. Just needed a—a bit of reassurance.'
Elizabeth's mouth thinned in that way it had. 'Really, Nell, do you have to be so secretive? Father and I have always discussed everything.'
She swept into the drawing-room, where Nurse Taylor was already installed by the log fire and looking hopefully at the television set.
'Would you like to watch something, Sister?' Nell asked, switching on the set. Elizabeth, with an audible sigh, picked up a novel. Nell thought a little grimly that her grandfather was right. There were too many women around! Elizabeth already showed signs of disliking Nurse Taylor's bright and breezy manner. If she made it too plain they might be in trouble, for private nurses weren't easy to come by in these days, and Nurse Taylor was no shrinking violet. She would up and leave if she took offence.
Indeed it took all Nell's tact in the next few days to keep the peace. Her only opportunity to let off steam was in her visits to Blackie's room, for she was too anxious about her grandfather to go far from the house. It wasn't only his health that kept her always on hand. It was apprehension that the smouldering antagonism that had developed between Elizabeth and Nurse Taylor might break into open warfare if she wasn't around to smooth things down.
'I can't understand my aunt,' she told Dr MacFarlane on one of his morning visits. 'You'd think she'd be glad to have such competent help on the spot.'
They were alone in the library. Dr MacFarlane grunted and took a sip of the excellent sherry Nell had poured him. 'Elizabeth's a wee bit possessive over her father. Doesn't like other people doing things for him.'
'But that's absurd! She'd be grumbling she was overworked if we didn't have Nurse Taylor.'
'Of course it's absurd, but jealousy is irrational. Giving you a tough time, are they?' His shrewd eyes looked her over critically. 'You're not as bonny as you were when you came.'
'It has been a bit of a strain,' Nell admitted. 'Hard to believe I've only been home a month.'
'What you need is a day off. A complete change of scene.'
'Honestly, Dr Mac, I'm all right. Until Grandpa came home I was getting out every day.'
'And now you've been housebound for a week.' The door opened and Elizabeth came in, accompanied by Philip. 'Hallo, my dear,' said Dr Macfarlane. 'Nell was just telling me she's getting a bit jaded. Poor girl needs a break, I'm sure you'll agree.'
Nell opened her mouth to protest, but was forestalled by Elizabeth. 'Really, Sandy? No one expects her to make a martyr of herself, you know. She's free to go out when she likes.'
'Aunt Elizabeth, I don't want ‑'
'If you feel hard done by I wish you'd talk to me, instead of grumbling to Sandy.' Elizabeth's face was cold as she looked across at her niece.
It was useless to try and explain that she hadn't been grumbling, and that it was Dr MacFarlane who had brought up the matter, especially in front of Philip, whose very expressive face was registering open disapproval at what he probably saw as another example of her selfishness.
'Your grandfather's much better. Take tomorrow off,' urged Dr MacFarlane, who could pursue an idea doggedly when he wanted.
Irritated by her aunt's attitude and even more by Philip's unspoken criticism, Nell thought she might as well do just that. 'I believe I will,' she said. 'I'll go to London and do some shopping. Call in at the hospital and catch up on the news.' And then she remembered that she had arranged for her car to be serviced. 'Oh well, I can go another day.'
'I'll run you up,' Philip said unexpectedly. 'I have to be in the office by ten. All right?'
She wasn't too keen on the idea, but didn't see how she could turn down his offer without offence, and the inevitable unpleasantness afterwards with Elizabeth. Her aunt had already commented on the fact that Nell did her best to avoid Philip, and was no more than civil to him on the rare occasions when they did meet.
When he arrived next morning Nell was waiting in the hall, wearing her camel car coat and dark trousers. 'Wouldn't a skirt have been more suitable if you're going to the hospital?' Elizabeth asked, coming out to the car to say good morning to Philip.
'I'm only going to see my friends,' Nell said lightly, determined not to let Elizabeth's old-fashioned views irritate her today.
Philip opened the car door for her and she climbed in. He spoke for a minute of two with Elizabeth, and Nell caught the odd word here and there. 'These young things are all so ...' That was Elizabeth, presumably about her. And Philip's amused reply, 'Well, at least she's not...'
The crunch of gravel under his feet cut off the end of this sentence, so that Nell was left wondering about it. As they halted at the end of the lane to let another car go by, he turned towards her. 'Where shall I put you down? I'll be going in through Hampstead.'
'Anywhere near your office. I can get a bus to Piccadilly. Do my shopping first, before I go on to the hospital.'
'Wishing you were back there?' he asked, moving forward again.
His voice was neutral. She gave him a quick glance to see if he was being disagreeable, but his face was impassive, so she couldn't decide.
'Do I detect a note of criticism?' she asked carefully, and he shrugged slightly and raised one hand from the wheel.
'Not really. I realise you don't have Elizabeth's sense of family responsibility, so I suppose you've done quite well to stick it this long.'
Nell breathed hard, but managed to control herself. 'Not many young people do nowadays, I suppose,' he added thoughtfully, pulled a packet of cigarettes from the glove compartment and stuck one between his lips. 'Mind if I smoke?'
'I don't, but you should.' Nell had recently finished six months as a house surgeon on the Chest Unit at Q.C.H., and felt strongly about the risks of smoking.
'I'm not a heavy smoker.' He lit up with an expert flick and gave her a sardonic smile. 'Haven't you any vices, doctor?'
'Of course I have, Mr Trent. I'm selfish and self-centred.
I don't care about my family ‑' She broke off in confusion, furious with herself for letting her tongue run away with her. 'Isn't that what you think of me?' she added crossly, and was even more annoyed when he laughed.
'You said it, my dear! Conscience pricking, perhaps?'
'No, it isn't. Did it ever occur to you that there are two sides to every quarrel? And you've only heard one.'
'Spare me the petty details. I do my best not to get involved in other people's rows.'
'But you are involved!' Nell cried indignantly. 'You've made it plain ever since we met that you're on Elizabeth's side.'
'I'm not on anyone's side.' He sounded bored and contemptuous. 'Don't you think it's time you grew up, and stopped being such a trial to your unfortunate family?'
Nell was so angry that she nearly told him to stop the car. However, a moment's reflection made her realise that she was some way from a bus stop and she didn't fancy hitching a lift. So she swallowed hard, stared out of the window and waited until she had herself under control. 'I don't want to
discuss family affairs either, Mr Trent,' she managed in a cool little voice, since she was quite unable to think of anything more cutting to say.
'Good grief, my dear girl, do you think I do?' he exclaimed, and after that they were silent, which was at least better than arguing.
She thanked him stiffly when he swung into a side road behind Oxford Street.
'Want a lift back? You could meet me at my office.'
'No, thank you. I'm not sure what time I'll be leaving.'
He walked round the car to open her door. 'It's up to you. If you change your mind give me a ring. Trent Electronics—it's in the yellow pages.'
She looked up at him in some indignation. 'I can't understand you, Mr Trent.'
'Philip. Now what's bothering you?'
'We did nothing but argue all the way up ‑'
'Except when you sat in smouldering silence!'
'Yes, well—surely you can't want my company on the return journey?'
His sudden grin made him look years younger. 'I can bear it if you can. It's up to you, Nell.' He raised a hand in farewell and turned away.
Nell was delighted to catch up with all the hospital gossip. When she had finished her shopping she called in at the residents' mess and had lunch with her friends. They were all there, Belinda and Jimmy and Ted, long back from Switzerland, but still tanned and fit-looking. Beside them she felt pale and unattractive.
'So how much longer are you going to be stuck down there?' asked Ted towards the end of the meal, and Nell gave a sigh.
'I wish I knew. It depends how Grandpa does.'
'Have you heard about the obstetric job yet?'
'No. Still waiting.'
Belinda and Ted were doing another six months at Q.C.H. Jimmy Green, to Belinda's sorrow, was moving out of London. 'Only thirty miles away,' he said bracingly. 'We'll still be able to see each other, Belle.'
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