A Man To Tame - Rachel Lindsay (Roberta Leigh) (8 page)

'You're beginning to make sense,'
Kate smiled, and drew a deep ecstatic breath as a fragrant soup was set before
them. Jewel-coloured vegetables nestled in a broth
fragrant with fresh basil. This was followed by a blanquette
de veau that bore no relation to the normal veal stew
served in British restaurants, and was accompanied by buttered baby beans and
carrots sprinkled with parsley.

At the sweet stage Kate baulked,
'I'm too full for anything more. Just coffee, please.'

It was only as the cups were set
before them that Dermot glanced over her shoulder and gave a slight movement. 'Mr Howard has just come in.'

'And has gone to a table by the
window,' she said dryly.

'Was that feminine intuition at
work?’

‘Normal logic,' she replied. 'He's
the sort of man who always expects to get the best wherever he goes.' She
longed to look round and see if he was alone, but forced herself not to do so,
though logic again told her he was certain to be lunching with someone.

‘Why did you let me believe Mr Howard was married?' she asked.

'Did I?' Dermot said, surprised,
and then shook his head. ‘You misunderstood me. You asked me if there was a Mrs Howard and I thought you meant if his mother was alive.
I took it for granted that you knew he was a widower.'

‘How should I know? I never met him
'until I came here to work.'

‘I assumed you knew about him because
you were recommended to the post by one of his friends.’

‘I know nothing at all about Mr Howard's private life.’

‘You don't look as if you care,
either,’ Dermot smiled, a statement which made it impossible for Kate to disclose
her curiosity.

Dermot signalled
the waitress for more coffee and as Kate half turned to watch the girl
replenish their cups, she was gratified to see that it brought Joshua Howard
almost within vision. It only needed a slight turn of her head for her to see
him clearly. He was a difficult man to miss. Even sitting down he bore such an
air of authority that it minimised everyone around
him. He was in tweeds and this made him look larger than ever and also younger,
so that she amended her original belief that he was in his forties-and decided
that late thirties was nearer the mark. He was not
lunching with a man, as she had expected, but with a girl, who was quite one of
the loveliest Kate had seen. In colouring she was as
dark as her companion, though her hair was long and black and fell dramatically
straight from a centre parting. Her Skin was golden, but from a distance it was
difficult to tell whether this was its natural colouring
or whether it was tanned by the sun. Certainly her clothes indicated she might
be foreign, for the cut of her dress was crisp and the
colour a vivid coral beloved by Rome.

The next Mrs Howard?' Kate
murmured, turning to see that Dermot had noticed where her attention had been
held.

‘Felicity hopes so,’ he replied.

‘Felicity. That’s an unusual name. Is she English?’

‘Welsh,’ he corrected, 'She has known
Mr Howard most of her life.’

‘You're destroying all my illusions,’
Kate said lightly. 'I didn't see her as the girl next door but as a glamorous
Latin.’

‘Until she was fifteen she was
definitely the girl next door,' he smiled. 'But a couple of years after he got
married she went off with her parents to live in America. She came back a year
ago and now lives in one of the prettiest cottages in the district. She's been
making a play for Mr Howard ever since.'

'He doesn't appear to mind.'

‘What man would!
He's a great one for the ladies —- at least he was till Felicity came on the
scene. Since then he's stopped playing the field.'

‘Now he's just playing hard to
get?'

'Can you blame him? When you've
been married once you don't lightly go into it again without making sure you're
doing the right thing.'

‘Did you know Mr
Howard's wife?' she asked.

'She died before I joined him; She was killed in a hunting accident when Janey was four.'

I’m surprised he hasn't married
before now.'

‘Why should he? His mother manages
his home, so why should he take on the problem of a wife when he can have all
the pleasures without the encumbrances?' Dermot's eyes twinkled. 'I would have
thought that you of all women, wouldn't advocate
marriage.'

'It's still the best basis on which
to build a relationship. Most people need to feel the comfort of a legal tie.'

‘Would you?'

'I'm not sure. It's something I can
only answer when I fall in love and apply the question to a particular man.'

'A very logical reply,' he said so
seriously that she knew he was teasing. 'Are you always so pontifical?'

'Only when I'm on
my guard.' Her eyes twinkled. 'You
don't expect roe to relax with any of Mr Howard's
personnel, do you ?'

‘What a cruel thing to say!' Dermot
reproached her. 'I was hoping you regarded me as a friend.' He leaned across
the table.
'I'd like
to be your friend, Kate. As I said the other day,
you're the best thing that's happened to me in years,'

‘You don't know me,' she objected.

‘Women aren't the only ones with
intuition!’

He stood up to go, and following
him, Kate had another chance to see Joshua Howard and the woman with whom he
was lunching, for he signalled them to go over to
him.

'I'm glad to see Dermot has persuaded
you
to
sample the delights of Pierre's cooking,' Joshua Howard greeted
her as she came within earshot.

Kate gave him a cool smile and kept
it in place as he introduced her to the woman who sat opposite to him. Felicity Davis. The name had a familiar ring, though she
could not place it, and had no time to ponder on it, for the girl was asking
her how she liked living in Llanduff. Seen at close
range, she was far more striking than at a distance, but her beauty was spoilt
by a static quality that, to Kate at least, indicated hardness. Her eyes were
light blue and contrasted well with her tanned slop, and ebony hair. Sitting
down she yet gave the suggestion of tallness, her carriage erect, her arms long and slim and heavily braceleted.
An elegant and confident woman of the world, Kate concluded, and felt her own
lack of height and sophistication.

‘You look far too young to be a
doctor,’ Felicity Davis remarked.

That won't be a deterrent in ten
years' time,' Kate said easily.

That's true. Fair-haired women
don't age, do they? They generally get more muted.'

Kate was taken aback by the lack of
subtlety far the comment, though the look on Felicity's face indicated she was
not aware of having been tactless. This suggested a lack of sensitivity which
made Kate decide that Joshua Howard could have met his match in this
dynamic-looking creature. Glancing at Dermot to see how long he would be, her
eyes met Joshua Howard's. There was derision in them and she found it difficult
not to return it with one of dislike. The man was insufferable f He was the one
who had come barging uninvited into her home, yet he had made her feel as
though
she
had been in the wrong. It was a relief when she heard Dermot
making his goodbyes and then turn to guide her from
the restaurant.

'Well,’ he said as they walked
towards the town centre’ ‘What bets are you prepared to lay
against the marriage?'

'None,' she said promptly. ‘Miss
Davis is the sort of person who gets what she wants.'

'So is Mr
Howard. The trouble is I'm not sure if he knows what he wants.' They reached a
furnishing store and Dermot paused to look in the window. There's a nice chair,’
he said, pointing to one upholstered in gold velvet.
'And it's not too big for your sitting room.'

'It's too expensive,’ she
protested.

'Howard Engineering can afford it.'

'I don't think Mr
Howard meant me to refurnish Dr Morris's house.'

'It's a company house and he was
most specific that you buy whatever you wanted for it.'

Reluctantly Kate allowed herself to
be persuaded, and when they finally emerged from the store she had also bought
a trolley—so that she could have a snack by the fire instead of eating in
solitary state at the dining room table—and a couple of rugs to hide the
dingy-brown carpet. She had resisted the suggestion of buying new curtains. It
would have meant taking, down the old ones and making sure the new ones fitted
properly, a task she could not face at the moment and one which she was
reluctant to put upon Dermot, though the young man, not knowing the reason for
her refusal, grumbled that she must enjoy being obstinate.

It was late afternoon before they
returned, to Llanduff and Kate was exhausted, eager
only to put up her feet and sleep.

‘You must have been a dormouse in
your last life,’ Dermot said as she tried to disguise a yawn. ‘How did you ever
manage to qualify?
I
always thought students burned the midnight oil.’

‘They do,’ she said, 'and so did
I.'

‘Yet now you're too tired to come
and have dinner with me.’

'I've already had lunch with you,’
she protested. If you see too much of me you'll get bored.'

‘I’ll take a chance on that.'

But she refused to let him persuade
her to change her mind, and after he had carried the things they had bought
into the house she firmly made him leave, knowing that if she let him settle she
would be stuck with him for the evening: The moment she was alone she sank down
into the new armchair, kicked off her shoes and wriggled her toes in the thick
pile of the rug that glowed golden brown on the dismal carpet. The boiler was
working and a delicious warmth permeated the house and lessened its bleakness,
though staring at the narrow' windows Kate regretted she had not accepted
Dermot's offer of new curtains. She wondered how the young doctor who had
rented her own flat was managing to cope, and felt a spurt of homesickness for
her own belongings. The feeling died as quickly as it had risen and she rested
her head back and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again she knew
she had been asleep for several hours; for she was considerably more relaxed
and, with a spurt of energy, went to the kitchen to unpack the provisions which
Dermot had placed on the table. Though he had wanted to pay for them, saying it
was all part of the service, she had insisted on doing so herself. She was
getting a more than generous salary for what she would be doing here and
already felt guilty at how little this was going to be. She had to do something
else to encourage more of the men to come to her. Their wives
and children too. Doctors could not canvass for patients unless they
wanted the Medical Council down on their ears, but surely she would not be
overstepping the mark if she let it be known she would be holding a surgery in
the house and Would be pleased to see anyone for a
chat. Perhaps if she became friendly with some of the women it might encourage
them to turn to her medically. She could not help wondering if her task would
be easier if she were middle-aged and exuded a motherly air instead of looking
like a determined sprite.
The
thought made her glance at her reflection
in the mirror as she crossed back into the sitting room. A few days in Llanduff had not brought back the roses to her cheeks, but
her smile was easier and there was a gleam of excitement in her eyes. She
really must have slowed down her living pace if a day's shopping in a market
town had made her feel so contented and pleased.

CHAPTER SIX

Kate spent Sunday morning in bed
resting, but in afternoon she made an attempt to put the small waiting room and
consulting room in better order. The heat from the boiler did not service this
part of the house, but two large electric heaters were there and she kept them
on all day to take the dampness from the rooms.

She knew Dermot would consider her
foolish to have consulting hours in the house when the ones she kept at the
factory were still not being utilised, but because
she believed that a surgery dose to the Howard housing estate was more likely
to encourage the wipes' to visit her, she persisted with her plans. She would
put up a notice to this effect on the door of her room at the factory and also
ask Dermot to see that the news was circulated in the monthly magazine that was
distributed free to everyone at the factory. It might also be a good idea to
write an article in the next issue. It would at least be another way of making herself known, providing she could find something of
interest to write about.

Her intention to put this
particular plan into action was thwarted by her discovery that both Dermot and
Joshua Howard had gone to London for several days. According to Nurse Evans it
was an unexpected departure and the result of a phone call which Mr Howard had received at seven o'clock that morning.

'How is it you are so well
informed?' Kate asked with a smile.

‘My sisters
housekeeper to Mr Howard.'

'I thought his mother kept house
for him?' That doesn't mean she does the actual work. They have a sizeable
staff at the Hall, though they don't do much
entertaining since young
Mrs
Howard
died.’

‘Mr
Howard only has the one child.' Kate made the words a statement but hoped the
nurse would see them as a question.

'Just the one, and she's handful
enough. If she—' The nurse was stopped by a knock on
the door and opened it to disclose an ashen-faced man.

'I know surgery isn't open,' he
gasped, ‘but I feel dreadful.'

Instantly Kate was, on her feet
beckoning the man in. He started to vomit and Nurse Evans rushed forward with a
bowl and then led him into the surgery. Careful questions solicited that he had
had breakfast in the -canteen and began to feel ill a couple of hours later. It
was not until four men came in with the same symptoms that Kate was positive
food poisoning was likely to become rampant throughout the factory. Immediately
she telephoned the canteen supervisor, who came hurrying down, adamant that no
food prepared under her eagle eye could become contaminated.