Fate takes a hand

by Betty Neels

  was eaten, warned them that he wanted to leave in ten minutes.

  `You're sure you don't mind?' asked Eulalia, already halfway to the door. 'Taking us, I mean...'

  `I'm delighted to have your company, but don't keep me waiting.'

  He drove them to a quiet street next to the cathedral in Utrecht, explained how they might reach the shopping streets, and warned them to be back at that spot in three hours' time. 'And don't try and climb the Dom tower, there are four hundred and sixty-five steps. Have you money with you?' He didn't look at her. 'You've had no time to get guldens, have you?' He fished in his pocket and handed her some notes, and seeing her attempt to refuse said, 'Don't be silly, you can pay me back later on. We'll have a quick lunch together, but you'll need coffee.'

  He got back into the car and drove away. 'I should have liked to have gone with him,' said Peter.

  And so, reflected Eulalia, would I.

  They spent a long time in the cathedral, took a look at the Dom tower, then found their way to the shops and a café where they had coffee and a milkshake and, since she might as well use the money now that she had it, some luscious cream cakes. They were in a quiet corner, and she opened her purse and counted the guldens. More than five hundred—however did he think she could repay him if she were to spend them? She prudently put almost all of it with her sparse bundle of five-pound notes and calculated

  how much she could afford to borrow. That done to her satisfaction, they went shopping for presents for Trottie and Dodge—a cup and saucer for each of them in Delft blue, not the genuine china but pretty, nevertheless, and by then it was time to find their way back to the little side-street again, pausing to hang over the little arched bridges and watch the boats on the canals and gaze up at the old gabled houses.

  The Bentley nosed its way ,round the corner as they turned into the street. 'Enjoyed your morning?' Fenno wanted to know. 'We'll have lunch and drive on to Leiden.'

  He took them to the Café de Paris, smart and expensive, with a decor which left Peter's eyes wide open.

  `Something quick,' he suggested.

  `Whatever you suggest...'

  `Omelettes? And french fries for Peter?' He gave the order and asked for coffee at the same time, and an orange drink for Peter, who plied him with questions about the hospital until a plate was set before him and he began on the french fries. It was a pleasant meal, even if they wasted no time over it; indeed, Peter was finished first, impatient to be gone since they were to go round the hospital in Leiden.

  It was thirty miles to Leiden, a distance the Bentley covered in less than half an hour, and Mr van Linssen drove straight to the hospital. 'I shall be here for an hour or so—why not walk a little way

  along Rapenburg by the canal, and come back here in about half an hour? I'll leave word at the lodge. Just say who you are.'

  So they walked a bit, and discovered the university and the Hortus Botanicus gardens, the library and a museum, and presently presented themselves at the porter's lodge and were handed over to a young doctor.

  `Wim Bakker,' he introduced himself. 'Mr van Linssen asked me to show you round.'

  `How kind, but shouldn't you be working?' Eulalia liked him at once.

  `I have a few hours off duty.' His English was as good as hers.

  `Then we're taking up your precious free time.'

  `It is a pleasure, Miss Warburton.' He smiled down at Peter. 'You wish to be a great man like our Mr van Linssen? And why not? Let us start our tour.'

  They were in the entrance hall an hour or so later when Mr van Linssen joined them, asked if they had enjoyed themselves, thanked Wim and swept them out to the car, his manner a mixture of the avuncular and the impatient, at least with Eulalia; with Peter he was painstakingly kind, answering questions and explaining things.

  It was the same when they returned to his home, so that she became stiff and shy with him; she had been a fool in rose-coloured spectacles just because he had invited her and Peter for a few days' holiday and had broken off his engagement to Ursula. She

  went hot and cold at the thought that she had given herself away, and that evening, after Peter was in bed and they were sitting in the drawing-room, when Mevrouw van Linssen remarked that she and Peter had had a very full day, and Fenno capped that by observing that she must be tired, she seized on it as an excuse to take herself off to bed, where she wept herself to sleep.

  They left for England the next morning. Mevrouw van Linssen kissed her warmly with the remark that a longer stay would have been very pleasant. But of course, Peter mustn't miss his schooling, must he?' she said, and waved them away cheerfully. She lifted her face for her son's kiss and said that she expected to see him again. 'Very soon,' she added with a wide smile.

  The journey home was made with the ease Eulalia was beginning to expect from Fenno, with just enough time when they reached Calais to go on board and a quick getaway when they reached Dover. He stopped at a service station so that Peter might have egg and chips while he and Eulalia had coffee and sandwiches, and when they were once more on their way he delighted Peter by phoning Dodge from the car to let him know that they would be home in time for supper. He and Peter kept up a seemingly endless conversation for most of the journey, casting an occasional remark over their shoulders to her, so that she had all the time in the world to think. Not that she solved any of her problems.

  They arrived at Ivy Cottage to a warm welcome and a pleasant flurry of activity from Dodge and Trottie, and they sat down to supper almost at once. Between them they had produced a meal fit for a king: prawn cocktails, minute steaks with creamed potatoes and baby sprouts, and one of Trottie's apple pies for afters, and, since Trottie was full of questions, Eulalia forgot her problems for the moment, thinking how delightful it was, all of them sitting round the table with Charlie and Blossom pacing to and fro in the hope of titbits, and of course Fenno sitting at its head.

  She was taken quite by surprise when the meal had been cleared and Fenno said casually, 'Well, we must be off. You're ready, Dodge?'

  `Off?' said Eulalia. 'You're going back to London now?'

  `Like Peter, I have to work tomorrow.'

  Trottie and Dodge were in the kitchen but Peter was standing by Fenno, so even if she had wanted to, there was no chance to say anything. What would she say, anyway? she wondered forlornly, as she expressed her thanks with suitable politeness.

  `I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Far too brief, though. We must do better next time.'

  `There won't be a next time,' she said very fast, quite forgetting Peter.

  `But, Aunt Lally, why can't we go again? I liked it, and I like being with Mr van Linssen.'

  `He's a busy man, Peter. I'm sure he has very little time for—for...'

  `His friends?' asked Fenno blandly. 'For those he loves? You are mistaken, Eulalia. He has all the time in the world.'

  She didn't look at him, and Peter, happy again, went out to the car with him, and Dodge wished her goodbye and got in beside his master. The car was out of sight when she realised that Fenno hadn't said goodbye. She supposed that she had deserved that.

  With Peter back at school, she picked up the threads of her life once more. The future was precarious and first she must talk to Trottie. That lady, when asked when she was going to marry, parried the question with a vague, 'Well, Miss Lally, it all depends...'

  `On what, Trottie?'

  `One thing and another. I'm not going up the aisle with my leg in a plaster, that's for sure.' Trottie looked up from the table where she was polishing glasses. 'And that reminds me, I'm to have another plaster on Friday. Mr van Linssen told Dodge he could take the Rover and fetch me. Such a kind man. Dodge'll be here around nine o'clock. You'll be all right on your own?'

  `Of course.' Eulalia made her voice sound cheerful; after all, before long she would be on her own, wouldn't she? And Trottie, dear Trottie, who had shared everything with her without complaint, must marry just as soon as possible. It would be a good
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  opportunity while she was at the hospital to collect as many newspapers as possible and look for part-time work. She knew to a penny how much she needed to keep Peter and herself, and there were one or two things she could sell. His school trust, thank heaven, was more than enough for the fees, so she could fit him out as he grew. She would manage. She asked, 'Are you going to live at Mr van Linssen's house when you are married? It's very nice there, not a bit like Cromwell Road. You'll like it.'

  `Well, we'll wait and see,' said Trottie, infuriatingly refusing to give a plain answer.

  It was hard to maintain a cheerful face, since Peter talked about Mr van Linssen incessantly and it seemed to her that Trottie encouraged him. If only she could go somewhere and have a good cry about it and then forget him.

  Friday came and with it Dodge, driving sedately down the village street. He wished Eulalia a dignified good morning, when she wasn't looking kissed Trottie, and then helped her carefully into the car and drove away. They might not be back until the afternoon, he observed, and if Trottie was tired he hoped that Eulalia wouldn't object if he took her for some refreshment.

  `Heavens, of course I don't mind, Dodge. Have a nice lunch or something—there are lots of good restaurants in Cirencester—and come back when you like. I'm going into the village now but I'll be in for the rest of the day.'

  The moment the car was out of sight she got into her coat and hurried to the newsagent in the main street, where she bought every likely paper as well as The Lady magazine, and bore them back, and with Blossom on her lap and Charlie beside her, she spread them out on the kitchen table and began looking for work.

  There weren't many jobs which she could do. Check-out at a supermarket, someone to deliver circulars in Malmesbury, someone to look after a frail elderly lady, hours to suit—she wondered what that meant, to suit her or the old lady? Someone to walk two dogs twice a day, a young lady to demonstrate a new brand of margarine at one of the supermarkets. She made a list and then, surrounded by newspapers, she composed a letter applying for each of them. A job, any job, was necessary, so that Trottie would feel free to go. With luck, she reflected, she might be able to fit in two part-time jobs, as long as they were both in Cirencester...

  She was on her third attempt at an application when the knocker was thumped, and before she could get up the door was thrown open and Fenno came in.

  `Well, really,' said Eulalia, short of breath and with her heart thumping against her ribs, torn between surprise and delight and rage. 'How did you get here?' she managed, as he closed the door behind him and locked it, put the key on the table and picked up her last effort.

  He looked at her over the top of it. 'In my car. Although if it had been necessary I would have walked.'

  `Walked all the way from London? Why?'

  He fended off Charlie with a gentle hand. 'Because I wanted to see you and, come to that, I would walk from the other side of the world if I had to. Even though I would not be sure of my reception, for a more obstinate, pig-headed girl I have yet to meet!' He swept the newspapers off the table and pulled her gently into his arms, ignoring her indignant gasp. 'I took you to Holland because I had a sentimental wish to ask you to marry me while we were in my home, but you were so polite and distant. Why?'

  She stared at his waistcoat buttons. 'I thought... Well, I'd only just discovered... What I mean is...'

  Mr van Linssen considered this a sufficiency satisfactory answer to allow him to tighten his hold and kiss her soundly.

  `I'm not pig-headed,' said Eulalia, 'or obstinate.'

  He kissed her again lingeringly. 'You're both, my darling heart. Will you say yes if I ask you to marry me?'

  `Yes,' said Eulalia. 'Am I really your darling heart, Fenno?'

  `Forever and always, my dear love.'

  `Is that why you bought this cottage and gave me all that money?'

  `That is why.'

  She smiled up at him, and Mr van Linssen, a man of flesh and blood, kissed her again, taking his time.