When the dance was over, Miles led her back to their table, his hand still clasping hers. She made no effort to break free. The other two couples, laughing loudly, also came back to the table, and Vanessa forced herself to join in their laughter.
Glancing to Ian and his party, Vanessa noticed Freda and Ian talking animatedly. They looked as though they were having an argument. Ian shook his head, Freda put her hand on his arm, but Ian shook his head even more vigorously. Then suddenly Freda pushed back her chair.
Vanessa turned to answer something Miles was saying to her, but the next moment Freda was standing beside their table. She spoke briefly to the others, then looked at Vanessa.
“We’d all like you to join us for a drink, if you will—and if Miles doesn’t mind.”
The meal was now finished. Here and there people were moving from one table to another to greet other friends and mix more generally.
Miles’s shoulders lifted. “It’s up to Vanessa, of course.”
Vanessa glanced across at Ian. Why had he been shaking his head so vigorously? Had she been the cause of their argument?
“I—don’t really think I’ll come, Freda, thanks,” she said.
Freda looked upset. “But, Vanessa, why? Oh, please—”
At this Vanessa wavered. She liked Freda. The last thing she wanted was to be rude or give offence. She stood up. “I don’t really think Ian wants me to.”
“Nonsense, of course he does. He’d have come to fetch you himself except that he can’t stand Miles,” Freda said in a low voice. “And but for a mistake you’d probably have been with our party, wouldn’t you? In any case, once the dinner is finished everyone moves around and mixes a bit.”
It seemed churlish and unfriendly to hold out any longer. Vanessa made her excuses to Miles and the others and went with Freda.
Ian and Harry rose politely. It was Freda who introduced the other girl.
“Vanessa, this is an old friend of ours.” she said, confirming something of what Miles had told her. “Cecile Harland. Cecile. Vanessa is a new friend—and our neighbor.”
“How do you do,” Cecile said in a cool voice.
Vanessa responded in a similar fashion. Ian brought up a chair for her and ordered drinks. There was a little general conversation in which Cecile took no part, smoking a cigarette in a long holder and looking a trifle bored Freda and Harry did most of the talking. Ian listened and answered when referred to. Vanessa noticed he had replaced his more usual pipe for a cheroot.
After a while Harry asked Cecile if she would care to dance. As they left the table. Ian half rose in politeness and subsided again. There was a moment or two of silence which Vanessa found uncomfortable. Then Ian stubbed out the remains of his cheroot and turned to Vanessa.
“Will you dance?”
She had no option, socially, but to accept. She felt sure he had only asked her out of courtesy. For a minute they danced in a silence which Vanessa sensed was as strained for him as it was for her, then he said, surprisingly, “You’re looking very charming. Are you enjoying yourself?”
Was he being polite again? Well, she could be too. “Thank you. Yes, I’m enjoying myself enormously. I’m with a very lively crowd.”
“Yes,” he said briefly.
She looked at his face and saw the granite-like expression. “You don’t like Miles very much, do you?”
“Do you?” he threw back.
She shrugged and lifted her chin defiantly. “Yes, I do. Why not?”
“No reason at all as long as you don’t let your heart rule your head,” he answered.
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I mean that if you have any business dealings with him, be sure not to take his word for anything. Have it all in writing.”
An unreasonable anger took possession of her. “You’re the most disagreeable man I’ve ever met in my entire life! I’m not likely to have any ‘business dealings’ with Miles. We’re friends because we like each other. I find him courteous, considerate, amiable and—all the things that you are not.”
“Thank you,” he said icily. “Then I suggest you go back to him.”
“With pleasure.” She tried to break free, but grim-faced he held her until the music stopped.
“Don’t make a fool of yourself into the bargain,” he said cuttingly.
Vanessa made her escape to the powder room without answering him. He was hateful, hateful! She didn’t want any more to do with him. But it was a struggle to keep the tears away. She had been hateful too. She knew it. She wasn’t enjoying the company of Miles’s rowdy friends one bit. She would much rather have been with Freda and Ian.
She forced herself to put a stop to her thoughts, to calm herself and return to her party and Miles. He was alone at the table, waiting for her. She blessed him.
“What’s up?” he asked. “I saw you dash away looking as though you were seeing red. Friend Ian been his usual pleasant self?”
“You could say that, I suppose. Let’s dance, shall we, Miles?”
“Sure.”
He rose eagerly and Vanessa could not help but feel warmed toward him. Later in the evening when Ian was dancing with Cecile, Freda beckoned Vanessa over.
“What made you leave us so soon?” she asked.
“Don’t ask me, Freda. I told you Ian didn’t want my company. We—we just don’t get along together, that’s all.”
Freda shook her head in bewilderment. “I simply can’t believe it.”
“It’s true,” Vanessa told her. “Just because I said I liked Miles and was enjoying myself, he suggested I should go back to him.”
“Is that all? I mean—is that all that happened?”
Vanessa realized she was not being quite fair to Ian. “Well, I did rather lose my temper.”
Freda smiled. “You are a pair of idiots! I knew something was wrong. Ian’s been like a bear with a sore head.”
Vanessa rose swiftly as the music stopped.
“No, don’t go—” Freda said quickly.
“I’m sorry, Freda, I must. Give me a call, or drop in to see me some time.”
Vanessa was thankful when, at last, the evening was at an end. Miles drove her home and was all she had told Ian that he was—and more. He was not only charming, he was kind and understanding. When Vanessa thanked him and said she had enjoyed the evening, he put his arm around her shoulder and fondled her ear.
“You’ve only enjoyed it in patches, though, haven’t you, Vanessa? What with Ian Hamilton upsetting you, and the rowdies we were with.”
“But they didn’t ‘upset me’,” she protested, beginning to feel like a person who was hard to please.
“I didn’t mean they upset you, altogether, but they weren’t quite your type. I must admit they got on my nerves at times. We’ll have to go there again sometime—on our own.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I must say you looked absolutely great. Not only that, you dance like an angel.”
She blinked, feeling a ridiculous desire to weep. But she said lightly, “Or do you mean like a fairy?”
“I mean I think you’re wonderful. But I mustn’t keep you from your beauty sleep—unless of course you had ideas of inviting me in?”
“Not tonight, Miles, if you don’t mind. It’s very late.”
“Of course I don’t mind,” he said gallantly. “I only mentioned it because I didn’t want to pass up a chance of prolonging the evening, if there was any such possibility. Give me your key. I’ll unlock the door for you.”
She handed it to him. He helped her out of the car, unlocked the door of the house for her, kissed her lightly and said good-night.
“Good-night, Miles. Come and see me soon.”
“You bet!”
When he had left, she switched off the lights and went straight upstairs to her room, thinking how sweet he was. How could Ian be so nasty about him?
At the very thought of Ian tears filled her eyes. Suddenly she felt heartbroken. She stood for a moment, her ha
nd over her mouth as if to stem the tide of emotion which threatened to erupt from deep inside her. She took a few deep breaths. This was ridiculous. She was overtired, that’s what it was. She didn’t care two hoots about Ian Hamilton. She wasn’t really concerned what he thought of her or anyone else. She thoroughly disliked him. He managed to spoil every occasion at which he was present, so far as she was concerned. She was determined not to allow him to upset her.
Unconsciously she lifted her chin and resolutely began preparing for bed She would not think another word about him. She did not run a bath for fear of waking Nancy, but she washed and splashed tepid water liberally on her face. That was better. A hot drink, a book, and she would be asleep in no time.
But putting him out of her mind did not prove easy. It was not that she thought about him consciously, but his name seemed to be written indelibly across her brain. He was something which had happened to her. He was a part of her. Yet she did not try to analyze any of this. She only knew that, even when she almost dropped off to sleep with her light still on, he was still in her mind.
Following the events of that evening, she plunged herself even more energetically into the work of clearing the grounds of weed and of planning a future business. She talked things over with Nancy.
“You know, I think I’m being too timid for a prospective business woman. I need to be bolder. After all, you have to spend money to make money.”
“What had you in mind?” asked Nancy.
“Windows in the barn, for one thing. And electricity for future lighting and heating.”
“For the purpose of renting?”
Vanessa shook her head. “I’ve been thinking. I won’t rent the barn after all. I shall want it for plants. If I try to use it for two purposes, I’ll have difficulties continually moving things. Besides, once I start renting it, it wouldn’t be fair to discontinue. No, I’m going to buy more plants and garden supplies and go into business as soon as possible. Puck’s Hill Garden Center. How about that, Nancy? I can have some posters printed and ask the local stores to display them. In return I could give them a flowering pot plant or fern or something to decorate with.”
Nancy thought the whole idea was wonderful. “And why not serve teas in the garden when it’s nice? In fact there’ll be room in the barn for a few tables in wet weather, as well as the plants. I’m not much of a hand with plants, but I could serve tea and cakes. I think it would make a pleasant afternoon or evening for people—especially on weekends. They could stroll around the garden, have tea, and then buy a plant or so. We hope,” she added.
“Nancy, that’s it!” Vanessa cried excitedly. “That’s exactly what we’ll do. You’re sure it won’t be too much for you? I’m afraid you’re doing most of the housework too.”
“Of course it won’t be too much. It will only be for about a couple of hours in the afternoon. But if anybody comes in the mornings and asks for a coffee—or in the evenings even, well, they can have one. Once we have it all organized, it won’t be any trouble at all. As for tables and chairs: I’m sure we’ll find plenty of both in the attic and various rooms.”
“You’re a tonic, Nancy. I’ll get in touch with a builder about windows right away. Then the next step will be garden supplies—plant pots, lawn seed—all kinds of things. And some plants already in flower like dwarf chrysanthemums, geraniums and pelargoniums. Foliage plants too. If only I had a car!”
“I thought Ian Hamilton was going to find you one?” queried Nancy.
“He did say so, but—” Vanessa shrugged. “I expect he’s waiting for me to ask him.”
“Well, why don’t you?”
Vanessa’s lips tightened and she shook her head. “I’m not asking any favors of Ian. He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him.”
Nancy looked at her in astonishment. “But what has happened? I was wondering why he hadn’t dropped in lately.”
“Nothing’s happened.” Vanessa told her. “We just rub each other the wrong way, that’s all.”
“And what about Freda?” asked Nancy quietly.
“Oh, Freda’s all right.”
That same afternoon Nancy returned from a visit to the stores to say she had seen Freda in the drugstore.
“She told me to tell you that she’s going into town in the morning, if there’s any shopping you’d like to do.”
“That’s an odd coincidence.” mused Vanessa. “I want to go to the garden center. You didn’t tell her I wanted to go, did you—I mean before she asked you to give me the message?”
Nancy shook her head vigorously. “Of course not. She also said she’d been extra busy; that’s why she hasn’t been around to see you.”
It was nearly a week since the Foresters’ Club dinner and dance. Miles had dropped in once, but she had neither seen nor heard from Freda or Ian. Nancy supplied an answer to that, so far as Freda was concerned.
“She says she’s called a couple of times but could get no reply. I told her I was probably shopping, and you were busy in the garden.”
“You seem to have had quite a chat.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I saw Miles Kendal too, but he didn’t deign to speak to me.”
“Perhaps he didn’t see you,” suggested Vanessa.
“Of course he did.”
Vanessa said no more. Nancy did not like Miles, but she was as prejudiced in Ian Hamilton’s favor as Aunt Maud used to be.
Miles called to see her that evening. Over a cup of coffee, Vanessa told him about her new plans.
“I called a local builder. He can send a man tomorrow to start on the windows for the barn.”
He gave her a wry smile. “Determined to make a go of it, aren’t you?”
“If I can, yes. I must admit I wavered once or twice, but I’m sure this new plan is the right one.”
“And what are you going to do with all the rest of the ground—if you ever get it cleared?” asked Miles.
“What I don’t need for growing perennials and other plants, I shall just grass over. I did have the idea of selling part of the grounds, but—”
“You what?” asked Miles in a startled voice.
Vanessa laughed. “Calm down! I decided against it.”
“Why? It sounds like a marvelous idea to me, as you’re so determined never to sell the house. It would be a jolly good way around the problem.”
But Vanessa shook her head firmly. “It was pointed out to me that I’d be compromising on my promise to Aunt Maud, and I saw the truth of it.”
Miles frowned. “Who pointed that out, for heaven’s sake? Ian Hamilton?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“He would. Maybe he thinks you should give it away.”
“Hardly. You have given me an idea, though, Miles,” she said, her voice quickening. “I could lease a piece of it.”
But this idea did not please Miles at all. “Lease it! You mustn’t do that,” he said agitatedly.
“Why not, for heaven’s sake?”
“But why do you want to?” he countered. “You’re getting rid of the weed all right, now that you’ve found out what it is. You’ve got quite a nice area cleared already.”
“I know. But it’s so slow and such hard work. It’s not that I mind the work, but while I’m spending day after day on that I’m not able to do anything else. The idea with our Garden Center is that people can spend a pleasant half hour or so walking around the grounds if they want to. At the moment it’s a case of ‘tiptoe through the hogweed’.”
Miles frowned thoughtfully. “I admit it’s slow going for you. If I’d known you wanted it done in such a hurry, I’d have waded in and helped you.”
“I wasn’t in any particular hurry for clearing it down at the farthest end, but now I want to speed things up a bit. I thought if I could lease some out to—”
She broke off. The mention of Ian’s name to Miles would be as a red rag to a bull: one on which she did not w ant to dwell herself. Before the evening of the Foresters’ Club affair s
he would have been quite happy for Ian to use part of her land for the planting of seedling trees. He would have been willing to clear the ground himself in that case. But now she was not sure she wanted any more contact with him than she could help.
‘‘Look.’’ Miles said earnestly. “I think your scheme is great. If I were you I’d hang on to every last little bit of your land for your own purpose. Now I know you want it cleared quickly, I can get hold of some men for you. They’ll dig more of this hogweed out in a day than you and Joe can in a week. In fact, for a little bit extra, if you’re prepared to spend a pound or two, they’d come Saturday and Sunday to have the lot cleared.”
“In one weekend?” queried Vanessa doubtfully.
“Yes, in one weekend. You’ll see. And I’d throw my little bit of an effort in for good measure. But these fellows I know are used to digging. Then when that little lot is cleared, you could get a local contractor in to level the site, have sod laid—and ‘Bob’s your uncle’, it’s all finished.”
Vanessa laughed, feeling suddenly as though a heavy load had been taken off her back.
“Oh, Miles, that would be wonderful. You make it all sound so easy. Can you get your men for this coming weekend, if it’s fine?”
“Nothing’s easier,” he assured her. “They’ll be only too glad to earn a few extra pounds. I’m sure the weekend will suit them all right so long as they can toddle off to the local in the evening. In fact, if you can lay on beer and sandwiches for lunch they’ll work even better.”
Vanessa gave a sigh of relief. “Miles, how can I ever thank you?”
Miles kissed her cheek. “Don’t thank me, darling girl. I—would do anything for you, you know that.”
At the warmth of her smile, he took her in his arms and kissed her. Something stirred within her. She wondered if she was falling in love with him. Why couldn’t Ian be more like this—gentle, loving? she found herself thinking.
To My Dear Niece Page 11