by Anne Hampson
Geoffrey’s lips were tight.
‘I want to have my daddy downstairs. I don’t like him being in bed—’
‘You heard me,’ in rather stern tones from Rohan. ‘You go up only when you’re told you can. Is that clear?’
Reluctantly the boy nodded. Soothingly Dominie told him to go out in the garden and play with Susie.
‘We’ll all go up and sit with Daddy later—if the doctor says we can,’ she promised, and both children smiled then, seeming to be reassured by her gentle tones, and her smile. But she herself was troubled; Jake had looked very ill indeed when, for a few moments between her telephoning and the arrival of Rohan, she had stood beside his bed. His face seemed even more drawn and thin, and he scarcely noticed that she was there, his eyes being closed, and his forehead damp with perspiration.
‘I don’t like the look of him at all,’ Rohan was saying a few minutes later. ‘He seemed to get worse even while I stood there. If only we could get hold of that doctor—’ He stopped and then, with sudden decision, ‘We’ll find out where he is!’
After telephoning the doctor’s residence Rohan then made another call, catching Dr. Hooper before he left the house of the patient he was visiting.
‘You’ve got him?’ Dominie spoke even before Rohan had replaced the receiver.
‘Yes; he’ll come here next.’ Rohan’s voice was grim; his eyes strayed to the two children playing on the lawn. It wasn’t difficult to read his thoughts and Dominie swallowed hard, trying to remove the blockage that had risen in her throat.
Dr. Hooper arrived twenty minutes later and Rohan took him up to Jake’s room, which was darkened, as Dominie had drawn the curtains, shutting out the fierce tropical sun. It seemed an eternity before the two men came back into the sitting-room where Dominie waited, her heart beating over-rate and her mind dwelling all the time on what might happen.
‘Frankly,’ the doctor was saying as they came through the arched doorway separating the room from the entrance hall, ‘I don’t know what it is, Mr. de Arden. As I’ve just said, I’m arranging for him to enter hospital.’
‘Is it something very serious, Doctor?’ Dominie spoke without thinking, so great was her anxiety, and she was not surprised when Dr. Hooper gave a small sigh of impatience.
‘I don’t know,’ he answered abruptly, and Rohan intervened, in his quiet, accented voice,
‘We’re troubled, as you must understand, and naturally we’re wanting to know just what’s wrong with Mr. Harris.’
‘I do understand,’ shortly and followed by another sigh of impatience. ‘I wish I knew myself what’s wrong with him.’ He appeared vexed at his inability to produce a diagnosis and Rohan understandingly told him that the doctor in Florida had also been baffled by Jake’s illness.
He went with the doctor to the door and when he rejoined Dominie his face was as troubled as hers.
‘You didn’t mention anything about your leaving?’ he asked, nodding approvingly as Dominie shook her head.
‘We’ll have to keep our engagement a secret,’ she said, and although Rohan frowned slightly at this he had to agree.
‘If we let it be known generally it’s bound to come back to him, as he’s sure to be having numerous visitors while he’s in hospital.’ Crossing over to her, Rohan took her hands in his. ‘I hadn’t any intention of waiting, my love,’ he said tenderly, ‘but it seems I must.’ Bending his head, he kissed her on the lips. ‘I’d marry you tomorrow were it at all possible,’ he told her, but Dominie found herself quite unable to be thrilled by these words. Not only was she prevented from doing so by her anxiety over Jake, but also by a recurrence of that foreboding she had experienced on a previous occasion and which, for some inexplicable reason, was vastly increased by this necessary secrecy over the engagement. It was as if a great shadow were pressing down on her, slowly but surely enveloping her in darkness.
‘The children are going to be upset,’ she said, forced to change the subject, in the hope that she could transmute her fears merely to disappointment, which would be a much more natural, and understandable, emotion. ‘I don’t quite know how to tell them that their father is to go into hospital.’
‘I’ll tell them,’ offered Rohan without hesitation and, going over to the window, he tapped on it and beckoned to them. They came running in at once; Rohan took them to the couch and they sat down, one on either side of him. Dominie waited long enough to see him slip an arm around each, and then she quietly left the room.
Two hours after Jake’s removal to hospital, which was less than a mile and a half from Sunset Lodge, Dominie glanced up to see Mrs. Edgley coming up the path which, running at right angles to the main drive, led to the part of the garden in which Dominie was sitting, reading to the children, both of whom were at her feet, seated on a rug which Dominie had spread upon the grass.
‘I heard your voice,’ the woman said, ‘so I came to you first. Is Jake in? I’d like to see him—but if he’s busy, or anything...?’ Mrs. Edgley spread her hands in a little nervous gesture. ‘I wouldn’t want to disturb him if he’s working. I seem to recall that his wife said he was always in his study.’
Looking up at the woman from her brightly-covered garden chair, Dominie felt puzzled by her manner. On the surface Mrs. Edgley appeared to possess her fair share of confidence, yet she was obviously nervous and uncomfortable and Dominie sensed that this resulted from the fear that Jake might not be pleased to see her. She, on the other hand, seemed more than anxious to see him, and the additional impression that came to Dominie was that the woman had actually forced herself to make this visit.
‘I’m sorry, Mrs. Edgley, but Jake was taken to hospital about two hours ago. He returned from his trip to Florida this morning and went straight to bed, as he’d been ill while he was away. The doctor was sent for and ordered him to enter hospital. They don’t know what’s wrong with him,’ she added, anticipating Mrs. Edgley’s question before she could voice it.
‘In hospital...?’ The woman’s face had paled slightly. ‘It’s serious?’
‘We don’t know, Mrs. Edgley. The doctor could tell us nothing. I have to ring the hospital this evening.’ A strange feeling of pity rose within Dominie; she recalled that this had occurred on her first meeting with the woman. Did she still care for Jake? And was she cherishing the hope that, now he was widowed, she might stand a chance? It would seem so, decided Dominie, watching the woman’s mouth as it trembled slightly, despite her obvious effort to prevent it.
‘So you don’t know how long he’ll be in there?’ And when Dominie shook her head, ‘It’s fate,’ the woman murmured to herself. ‘We’re not to meet.’ She looked up and her eyes had taken on an unnatural brightness. ‘I shouldn’t have come,’ she quivered. ‘I—I hope Jake will be all right—for the children’s sake. I’m sorry to have troubled you, Miss Worthing.’ Turning away, she said huskily, over her shoulder, ‘Good afternoon. Please don’t mention my visit to Jake.’
‘Mrs. Edgley!’ Impulsively Dominie let out the exclamation and the woman twisted round. Her pretty face was puckered; she looked more like a child than a woman approaching middle age. ‘Can I offer you some lunch—? No, please don’t refuse. We usually have ours at one o’clock, and it’s almost that time now.’
‘But the—the trouble,’ she began, when Dominie interrupted her.
‘It’s no trouble at all,’ said Dominie, rising from her chair. ‘Do stay, Mrs. Edgley. I’ll go and have another place laid for you.’
‘You’re very kind.’ The low sweet voice was not quite steady, but the hazel eyes had taken on a happier look. ‘The children,’ she murmured, glancing at their upturned faces, ‘you were reading to them.’
‘They don’t mind if I stop now.’ Dominie gave them a smile and they instantly responded. ‘Do you, my pets?’
‘No,’ from Susie, but hesitantly, and then, ‘Can this lady read a bit more to us, while you go and tell Molly that she’s staying for lunch?’
‘Well...?
’ Dominie looked questioningly at their visitor, who eagerly accepted the invitation Susie had offered.
‘May I have your chair?’ she added, preparing to sit down.
‘Of course.’ Dominie moved away, an unaccountable lightness having entered into her, and she dwelt on this through lunch, which was taken in the elegantly-furnished dining-room whose main windows faced the mountain scene, and whose side window gave on to a vista of colourful terraced gardens sweeping down to the palm-fringed swimming-pool.
‘Jake has a magnificent place here.’ Mrs. Edgley’s voice brought Dominie from her private thoughts. She had been trying to find a reason for this strange lightness of spirit, but with the intrusion she gave up the attempt, politely offering Mrs. Edgley her whole attention. The children, who had been quietly talking to one another, both looked up as their visitor spoke, and it was Susie who responded to what she had said.
‘Do you like it? We love it here—but we haven’t always lived with Daddy, you know. We lived with Mummy most of the time, in England, and we stayed with Daddy only for July and August every year since I can remember.’
‘With Mummy?’ A swift glance in Dominie’s direction, but although Dominie braced herself for the question it was held back, for which Dominie was thankful, having no desire to discuss her employer with Mrs. Edgley who was, after all, an almost complete stranger to her. But Susie, with typical childish frankness and lack of tact, very soon answered the unspoken question and Mrs. Edgley, learning of the separation, did then venture to put a question or two to her hostess.
‘Were they separated for long, Miss Worthing?’
‘About five and a half years.’ A pause, and then, ‘I’m not really in Jake’s confidence. I met him only around Christmas time; we were travelling on the same ship—’
‘Daddy was bringing us here, to live with him,’ interrupted Geoffrey, his small mouth full of food. ‘It was a cruise, but Auntie Dominie missed it because she came to stay with us for a little while.’
‘She missed the ship,’ explained Susie after first telling her brother that he must not speak with his mouth full. ‘Our car went wrong and Daddy asked Uncle Rohan to take her to the ship, but when they got there it was sailing away!’
‘We were glad, weren’t we, Sue?’
‘Yes, because Auntie Dominie couldn’t go home.’
‘I did eventually go home,’ she reminded them, having decided it was too late to quieten them, as already they had said sufficient to give Mrs. Edgley a fair picture of Jake’s marriage.
‘But you soon came back, so that you could mind us.’
‘That’s how it happened?’ smiled Mrs. Edgley, and Dominie nodded.
‘I hadn’t any real ties in England, and as I liked the children, and they seemed to like me, I accepted Jake’s offer.’ She was thinking of Rohan, and the way she had been drawn to him after first disliking him excessively, mainly because of the conversation she had overheard. It was strange, she mused, that Rohan’s first impression of her should have caused him to dub her a little mouse, and even now she flushed uncomfortably at the recollection. Of course, at the time he had been endeavouring to persuade the girl into a situation which suited his desires, and with this aim in view he was also trying to convince her that no other woman could have any attraction for him. Little he knew, at that time, how close he was to falling in love with the girl of whom Sylvia spoke, and whom he had so casually dismissed as unimportant.
Sylvia ... Several times Dominie had wondered how she would take the engagement. She had wanted to marry Rohan, but she was not in love with him, Dominie was absolutely sure of that.
‘It’s lucky for Jake that you’re here at this time,’ Mrs. Edgley was remarking as she leant back in her chair, dabbing her mouth with her napkin. Dominie merely nodded and after a small pause Mrs. Edgley continued on a little wistful note, ‘You must enjoy looking after two such delightful children. It was always a deep regret of mine that I never had any.’
‘Children are nice to have around,’ agreed Dominie, going on to ask if Mrs. Edgley had had enough to eat. ‘You’ve not taken very much,’ she ended, with a glance at the portion of delicious sherry trifle left on Mrs. Edgley’s plate.
‘I have to watch my figure. I’m very stern with myself, for I’ve no intention of putting on weight and in consequence growing old before my time.’
On leaving the table the two children ran off into the garden, and Dominie ordered coffee for Mrs. Edgley and herself to be served on the patio. ‘They’d be at school in the normal way, I expect?’ Mrs. Edgley settled into the comfortable chair which Dominie pulled forward for her. ‘They’re at home today because of the visit to Florida?’
‘That’s right. It was after nine when they arrived home, having caught the early morning plane from Miami.’ Bringing up a small table, Dominie placed it close to her visitor, and then sat down. ‘They’ll be at school tomorrow.’
The two chatted for a while, with Mrs. Edgley becoming more confiding so that Dominie learned a good deal about her and, reading between the lines, fitted in a good deal more. Erica Greenwood, as she was then, had been thirty when she met and fell in love with Jake Harris who, at thirty-four, had recently met the lovely seventeen-year-old Doreen and begun going about with her.
‘I suppose I would be termed the bitch,’ Mrs. Edgley said reminiscently. ‘I wanted him so badly that I wished I could part them—yes, I freely admit it because, you see, I knew instinctively that they weren’t suited. I felt that I could make him far happier than she ever could. But what chance has a woman of thirty with a lovely girl of seventeen? She won, and I faded out; I eventually got married—for companionship more than anything else, and for security. My husband and I never quarrelled; on the other hand, we were never really close. I was sorry when he died, but I was not grief-stricken.’ Erica Edgley paused in thought and Dominie watched her changing expression as she lived through those not-too-happy years with the husband whom she had never loved. Dominie admired her honesty, refusing to regard her as the ‘bitch’ which she termed herself, for it was Dominie’s own view that Erica would indeed have made Jake happy. She was sincere and frank; she was dainty and pretty, and she possessed a very charming way that even the children had noticed, for on Dominie’s going to them as they washed their hands before going in to eat their lunch, both children had said she was ‘nice’.
‘She talks in a nice way, and her face is nice,’ stated Susie, and her brother complemented with,
‘She has a nice smile and her eyes are nice when they look at you.’
‘It’s some years since your husband died, I believe?’
‘It’s nine years.’ Erica picked up her coffee cup and took a drink, her eyes wandering to where the children were playing with a huge, brightly-coloured beach ball on the lawn. ‘I began to travel, and when a cruise ship I was on berthed here I couldn’t resist the temptation to call and see how Jake and his wife were getting on.’
‘You hadn’t quarrelled with them, then?’
‘No; we’d parted quite good friends. I once had a suspicion that Jake knew I cared for him, but he never knew that I would have come between them had I ever had the chance.’
‘Were you living on St. Thomas at the time?’
‘We all lived in New York. I was secretary to Jake’s partner. Jake has since bought this man out. Now of course, the business has expanded, and become a large company. Jake bought this place about two years after he was married.’ Erica replaced her cup and leant back in her chair, looking at Dominie. ‘They seemed quite happy at the time I visited them,’ she went on musingly. ‘Susie was a delightful little thing—about fifteen months old. I adored her...’ The words trailed away in a deep and yearning sigh and Dominie bit her lip till it hurt. ‘Geoffrey wasn’t born, of course. They were married several years before Susie was born,’ she added, then lapsed into silence, her eyes straying once more to the children playing on the lawn.
Dominie said, not knowing from where the ess
ence of her words had sprung,
‘I wish it had been you he had chosen—’ and just as suddenly as they were spoken, so the words were clipped off and Dominie was staring at her companion, the colour slowly rising in her cheeks. ‘I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
The woman smiled and shook her head.
‘Don’t apologize. It was kind of you to say that.’
‘But not thoughtful. I know I’ve hurt you.’
‘I’m beyond being hurt, Dominie—I can call you Dominie, can’t I?’
‘I’d like you to,’ she replied simply and when Erica remained silent, ‘Would you care to stay until I’ve phoned the hospital? You would know then if he can have visitors.’
The profound hush that fell was almost poignant in its intensity. It was broken by a long drawn-out sigh before Erica murmured, her expressive hazel eyes misted by tears,
‘Dominie ... it’s been such a long time since anyone was kind to me.’ A lump rose in her throat and she swallowed and she fell silent, swallowing. ‘Thank you,’ she ended huskily, and reached in her pocket for a handkerchief.
‘We eat at seven—because of the children,’ Dominie informed her prosaically, yet blinking away the tears from her own eyes. ‘If you like, I’ll show you a bedroom, with its bath, so that you can rest if you wish, and tidy up later.’
Erica merely inclined her head, and followed Dominie into the home. The room to which Dominie took her was decorated in two shades of lilac; the furniture was white. Embroidered net curtains billowed into the room as the Atlantic breeze filtered into the partly-open window. The view was to garden and the sea. The only sound that of the children’s laughter drifting up from below.
Erica’s eyes were still bright. Understandingly, Dominie said,
‘Perhaps you’d like that rest right now,’ and turning on her heel, she went out, and along to her own room where she stood, in the middle of the floor, wondering how she could be feeling lighthearted and sad at the same time. ‘I’m sure—quite sure—that they’ll get together,’ she whispered, at last realizing why she was feeling this lightness of spirit. Subconsciously, she had been worrying about Jake, and the children, wondering if Jake would find someone kind and understanding to care for Susie and her brother. Almost from the moment of Erica Edgley’s arrival Dominie’s anxiety had been evaporating, and she now knew why. Her sadness was of course a mere temporary thing, caught from Erica as her story was unfolded.