Andrew looked at them dourly, plainly disgusted at this end to the evening. 'Get going, boys and girls,' Belinda said briskly. 'This chap wants to doss down on the sofa for the night.'
'Is that so?' enquired a cheeky young doctor. 'And just who is the gentleman, to make so free with hospital property?'
'Dr Andrew MacFarlane,' Belinda announced with a flourish. 'He was a resident here when you were dissecting your first cadaver, so a bit more respect, if you don't mind.'
This raised a laugh, though Andrew didn't smile. He surveyed the sofa nearest to the stove gloomily, while Belinda thumped him cheerfully on the back. 'With a couple of blankets you'll be very snug.'
By the time she returned with them the last of the residents were trailing from the room. Nell was glad to see her friend, because she was afraid that Andrew was about to make a scene. Belinda punched up the cushions, spread out the blankets and patted the sofa invitingly.
'Sleep well. No one will disturb you now.'
'Big deal,' Andrew said glumly. 'Why can't Nell have one of the other sofas?'
Belinda gave him a look of mock horror. 'Because the R.S.O. wouldn't approve, that's why. And the dear man's often up at night.'
'You said I wouldn't be disturbed,' Andrew pointed out, but he seemed to be resigned to doing what he was told.
He sat down heavily on the sofa and began to undo his shoes.
'Our cue to depart,' Belinda said with a giggle, and inarched Nell out of the room. For her friend She had commandeered the bedroom next to hers, whose owner was away on holiday.
'Couldn't you have found another for Andrew?' Nell queried. 'He'd have been more comfortable in a proper bed.'
Belinda winked at her. 'There are two empty rooms, but if he'd been up here he'd have got ideas. Much better where he is! Or did you want him paying you a visit?' She ducked as Nell threw a sandal at her, laughed and said goodnight.
They left London at ten o'clock, after a leisurely breakfast Andrew seemed to have recovered his usual good humour and was delighted to discover several acquaintances among the senior residents. Even the R.S.O., under whom Nell and Belinda had suffered, turned out to be an old friend of his.
'Good thing Ted's away for the weekend,' Belinda murmured under cover of the general chat, 'Though he's bound to hear about it.'
'I don't see why he should if you don't tell him.'
'Be your age, Nell! This place thrives on gossip.'
'Very true,' thought Nell. 'And perhaps all for the best.' It might discourage Ted, put him off visiting her. Such a pity they couldn't have remained what they had been through five years of medical school, good friends and nothing more.
Nell had a hard job dragging Andrew away from Q.C.H. Happily reminiscing about his own triumphs on the rugby field, he would have been quite content to stay for lunch. 'But I told my aunt I'd be back by midday.' Nell had telephoned early that morning in case they were worrying about her, and Elizabeth had said coolly that she would appreciate Nell's return because she wanted to go out after lunch. By common consent they never left the Colonel alone in die house.
'Does it matter when you're back?' Andrew asked offhandedly, and Nell told him that it did. 'Proper little killjoy, aren't you?' he grumbled, but good-naturedly today, because he had after all enjoyed himself, though perhaps not in the way that he had intended.
They reached Lanmore at half past twelve and were at the Manor two minutes later. They swung on to the forecourt to the noise of flying gravel, for Andrew was inclined to brake at the last possible moment. Nell saw Philip's Aston Martin parked beside her aunt's car, and as she climbed out of the red two-seater he came out of the front door accompanied by Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was immaculate as always, hair smooth and neatly coiled, elegantly dressed and smartly shod. She looked as if she had just returned from church and so did Philip. They made Nell feel self-conscious in the duffle coat and thick boots she had donned this morning for the return journey. She had a sudden absurd desire that Philip could have seen her last night in her borrowed finery, was annoyed at her own foolishness and rushed into speech as a result.
'Hallo, you two. We're back at last!' She ran a hand over her windblown curls, wishing she had the sort of hair that would look good in a chignon, as her aunt's did.
Elizabeth took in her niece's untidy appearance with one of those smiles that only just moved her lips, and turned to share an amused glance with Philip.
'Hope you weren't worried last night,' Nell rushed on. 'I'd have rung if it hadn't been so late when we decided to stay.'
They were all looking at her and Nell realised that she was talking too much. She swallowed and there was a little silence, broken by her aunt. 'That's quite all right, Nell. I guessed what had happened.' Something had put her in an exceptionally good mood this morning. Philip's company, possibly? 'Come in for a drink, Andrew,' she suggested, with more warmth than she usually showed towards him. 'I'll be with you as soon as I've seen Philip off.'
They were not going to Philip's house for lunch today, because they had a lot to do before the move tomorrow. When Elizabeth joined them she was looking very pleased with herself. Her manner towards Andrew was almost affable, and once she gave a little laugh as if she was enjoying some secret joke.
'Where's Grandpa?' Nell asked.
'Having a day in bed. Sandy thought he'd been overdoing it,' and at Nell's anxious look, 'No, he's all right. Sitting up reading the Sunday papers and grumbling about having to move tomorrow.'
Andrew left a few minutes later and Nell said she would finish off her drink in the old man's company. 'One moment, Nell!' Elizabeth held up a finger, and the girl halted in the doorway. 'I didn't tell him you were out all night. I thought it wiser not to.'
'Didn't tell him ... why ever not?'
'Your grandfather's old-fashioned. He doesn't approve of the modern life-style.'
'Elizabeth! It was too late to come home and Andrew's blood alcohol must have been alarmingly high.' Nell smiled at the thought, then stopped smiling at her aunt's next words.
'You don't have to make excuses to me, Nell. You're of age. You can choose your own way of life,' and a thoroughly reprehensible way it is, her tone implied.
Nell would have done better to leave well alone, but she found it difficult to allow Elizabeth the last word. 'I don't see anything very terrible about spending the night in London.'
'Don't you, dear? With Andrew?' A wealth of meaning in those few words.
'If you want to know, Elizabeth, we stayed at Q.C.H. In the doctors' wing. Belle found me a bed, and I did not share it with Andrew.'
Her aunt's well-bred face registered disapproval and distaste. 'Really, Nell! Spare me the details. I am only concerned that you shouldn't upset your grandfather.'
'I don't think Grandpa would be upset by the truth!' snapped Nell. 'And unlike you, he'd probably believe me.'
'Would he, dear? Philip jumped to the obvious conclusion,' her aunt said smugly.
Nell gave her an astounded and angry stare. 'For crying out loud, why bring him into it?' and then she knew why her aunt had been in such a good mood when Andrew and she had arrived. She had been pleased that Philip had seen them together, and had undoubtedly made plain to him that they had been out all night. Cunning Aunt Elizabeth, disposing of the opposition! Though Nell doubted if Philip cared one way or the other how she spent her time. He had given her the most cursory of glances and she had avoided looking at him, because she had been self-conscious and gauche. Remembering her bright and meaningless remarks in the courtyard, Nell gave an angry laugh. They had thought she was ill at ease because of a guilty conscience, and not quite bold enough to carry it off with aplomb.
She topped up her glass with a hand that shook slightly, swallowed most of it at one gulp and went abruptly from the room.
Next morning the builders moved in and the family moved out. 'Whatever you say we're putting you to a lot of trouble,' Nell said worriedly as Philip showed her to her room. She had
come round to his house later than the others, because she had waited to admit the workmen.
'Nonsense.' He stood in the bedroom doorway, unsmiling, and she wondered why he looked so grim.
'You do such a lot for us and we're not even very old friends.'
'You're very dear friends,' Philip said firmly, then made an amendment to that. 'Your grandfather and Elizabeth.'
'Well, naturally.' Nell said quickly, her colour mounting and her voice rather high, 'I don't look on myself as a friend.'
'Don't you, Nell?' His smile was difficult to read. 'How would you like to define our relationship, then?'
Her chest felt tight. It had been an abysmal error to come to this man's house. 'I wouldn't say we had a relationship,' she managed unsteadily, and he laughed unkindly.
'We could always develop one, or wouldn't Andrew care for that?'
'Why bring him into it?' Nell asked stormily.
'You know why.'
'Andrew's just a friend. Oh, for goodness' sake, Philip, this is a ridiculous conversation!'
He ignored her last remark. 'Rather an intimate friend,' he said sardonically, 'if you spend the night with him.'
'Oh, stop it! You're as bad as Elizabeth. I thought it was only women who indulged in gossip.'
'My dear Nell,' he said cuttingly, 'I am not in the least interested in your love life. You can be as promiscuous as a cat for all I care, but I don't like to see your family upset. Couldn't you be more ... discreet?'
'There's nothing to be discreet about!'
'If you say so.' He sounded bored and disbelieving. 'Come down when you're ready. The others are having coffee.'
'I knew it was a mistake to come here,' Nell muttered at his departing back, but she didn't think he heard, or if he did he paid no attention. 'I don't care what you think,' she announced, and pushed the door to with a bang. Childish behaviour, but Philip's readiness to condemn pricked at her composure. From the expertise of his lovemaking he had had plenty of practice, so what right had he to criticise? And what exactly had he meant by those remarks about their relationship? There had been a sort of amused contempt in his voice, as if he no longer had any respect for her. Nell didn't care to examine too closely why this should upset her so much.
She determined to keep out of Philip's way as much as possible, so she was delighted when Dr MacFarlane asked her to do some extra sessions at the surgery. Andrew was attending a three-day symposium on heart disease in Birmingham, and Nell agreed to do every morning while he was away, plus one evening surgery.
'And why can't I be on call on Thursday night?' she asked eagerly. 'It is your off duty time.'
Dr Mac's expression was dubious. 'Sure you feel up to it?'
'Of course I do.' Nell stifled a pang of apprehension at the thought that it would be the first time she was totally on her own. Perhaps the shrewd old doctor read her mind, for he gave her a pat on the shoulder and pointed out that he would be around if she was desperate. He had no plans to be out that night.
As Nell drove home from the surgery she pondered the problem of her future. She got on so well with the MacFarlanes. She could finish off her training with them. Belinda and Jimmy, however, had other views on the subject and thought she would be crazy to accept.
'Throwing away your chances!'
'Stagnating in the country!'
'Hey, am I stagnating?' Andrew had asked indignantly, and they had said that was different. He had finished his training, held a whole lot more hospital posts than Nell had done.
It was a difficult decision and she had to give an answer to Dr MacFarlane by the end of the month. She was still frowning over her thoughts when she reached Philip's house, to find a strange car in the drive. To her surprise and dismay it was Ted's. He had driven down from London on the offchance of finding her in, and the builders had told him where she was staying.
'I knew you'd only put me off again if I told you I was coming,' he said, sounding defensive and very unsure of himself. Though she wasn't pleased to see him, Nell hadn't the heart to be cross with him. Thank heavens, she thought, that Philip had gone away. She felt a little uncomfortable asking Ted to lunch in someone else's house, but she had offered to be on call until two o'clock, so that Dr Mac could do his rounds in peace and have an undisturbed meal.
'A sort of trial run for my night on call,' she had suggested, and the old man had agreed.
'We could go somewhere local and you could leave their number with the surgery,' Ted suggested, but Nell told him there was nowhere good to eat within easy reach.
'I'd settle for a ploughman's lunch in the local pub,' he muttered, for his first meeting with Elizabeth and Colonel Whitehead had been decidedly strained. It was a stiff and uncomfortable meal, with poor Ted overawed by Elizabeth's cool dignity, and quite plainly terrified by the irascible old man.
'He isn't as bad as you seem to think,' Nell told him as they walked by the river later in the afternoon.
'No? You've forgotten very quickly how badly he treated you.' Ted hurled a fallen branch into the water and stood to watch Paddy plunge after it.
He was right; she had put the past behind her. No good came of brooding over old injustices. 'And some of the blame was on my side,' Nell mused. 'I should have been more tactful, tried harder to make it up.'
'I can see you've been thoroughly brainwashed,' Ted exclaimed disgustedly. 'Belinda says you're thinking quite seriously of staying on with these G.P.s.'
'Yes, I am.' Nell called Paddy to her and he lolloped up the bank, dripping wet and muddy. 'I'm not ambitious, Ted. I could be quite happy in general practice.'
'All right, but do some more house jobs first.' Ted had his own career meticulously planned. He knew what he would be doing two years from now. Nell admired his determination but lacked the incentive to emulate it. Only a few exceptional women were prepared to struggle like that. She had put her career before her family in the past, and it had not led to happiness.
'I suppose you've been influenced by this MacFarlane chap. Belle told me about him.' Ted's fair face flushed as he spoke.
Nell shook her head. 'If anything Andrew's being in the practice makes me less likely to accept.' At his sceptical look she tried to explain. 'It could be awkward working with him.'
'Because you're in love with him?' Ted cut in, and caught her by the arms and swung her round to face him.
'No, because he's a bit of a wolf,' Nell answered, trying for the light touch, for Ted in this difficult and possessive mood wasn't easy to handle.
'You haven't answered my question,' he persisted doggedly. 'Are you in love with him?'
'Oh, Ted, of course I'm not! I like him. I admire him as a doctor, but that's all.'
'I wish I could believe you.' His grip tightened on her arms, hurting her, for he was a powerful young man and at this moment under great emotional stress. 'Come back to London,' he said thickly. 'I miss you like hell.'
'Let me go, Ted!' Nell tried vainly to free herself.
He shook his head obstinately. 'If there's no one else then I've still got a chance,' and he lowered his head to hers.
He was a presentable young man, athletic, decent, genuinely fond of her, and he moved Nell not at all. There was no spark between them. She stayed passive in his arms and after a few moments he let her go with a sigh. 'What is it about you, Nell? Are you frigid or something?'
A man's first assumption when he failed to arouse a woman, Nell thought wryly, and wondered how he would have felt if he could have seen her in Philip's arms. Why did one always have to be physically attracted to the wrong man, and why, oh, why did she have to keep on thinking about him?
'Let's go back,' she suggested. 'It must be nearly teatime.'
'I don't want another meal with your snooty relatives,' said Ted, sounding like a sulky schoolboy. 'Your grandfather may improve on acquaintance, but your aunt is a right bitch.'
They walked along in a heavy silence, the dogs the only cheerful members of the party. At the house Ted stoppe
d by his car. 'I might as well go back. No point in staying.' He looked very young and unhappy, so that Nell's kind heart was troubled.
'Please stay to tea. It's such a long journey back. I'm ... truly sorry to have disappointed you.'
He made a brave attempt at a smile. 'I believe you. I suppose I've been a fool, expecting a girl from your sort of background to fall for a chap like me.'
'That's an idiotic thing to say!' Nell slipped an arm through his. 'Come and have tea or I'll think you're afraid to face Aunt Elizabeth again!'
The housekeeper had already wheeled in the tea trolley. They were eating in the main sitting-room, which was a pity, because the smaller room was cosier and more friendly. It was also unfortunate, from Nell's point of view, to find Philip already returned from his business trip earlier than expected. He made her edgy, so that she was less able to give Ted the moral support the young man needed. Ted sat beside Colonel Whitehead, perspiring and unhappy, while the old man barked questions at him in a heavy-handed attempt to be friendly.
Nell sat on her grandfather's other side, facing Elizabeth and Philip, who chatted quietly together, though they looked in her direction now and then. Elizabeth's expression was supercilious. She quite plainly despised Ted's lack of social graces. Philip? Nell caught him eyeing the young doctor with a look that was almost pitying. Then his gaze shifted to her again and became disagreeably sardonic, so that she turned away quickly and began talking to the other two.
Tea was nearly as much of an ordeal for Nell as for Ted, so that when he leant forward and gave her a despairing look, she interpreted it correctly. 'Get me out of here! I can't stand much more of this!'
'Ted has to get away,' she announced, and he rose with alacrity. He was too pleased to be going to prolong the farewells.
'Don't make a hasty decision,' he urged, leaning out of the car window with an earnest and worried look. 'Once you cut yourself off from your teaching hospital it's not easy getting back.'
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