A Pearl for Love (21 page)

CHAPTER X

Elizabeth
’
s improvement was very slow, and some days she looked pale and depressed. Catherine saw that Aunt Lucille was worried about her, but the older woman maintained a cheerful attitude towards her, and had long talks with the doctor in private. As soon as Elizabeth was able to get up, Lucille planned to take her abroad for a month or two.

‘
Not too far away, Mother,
’
pleaded Elizabeth, who had agreed to her plans, as much to make her mother happy as to improve her own health.
‘
I don
’
t feel li
ke travelling too far afield.’

‘
Not the Channel Islands again, dear,
’
protested Lucille, who loved going there, but who felt that somewhere different was called for. Elizabeth must be taken out of herself.

Catherine enjoyed sitting in on the discussions, but she herself was feeling restless and dissatisfied with her life at the moment. Nothing seemed to be going right. John was considerate and polite towards her, but she felt that a coolness had grown between them, a sort of barrier which just wouldn
’
t go away, even though she had told him, haltingly, that she had been mistaken.

‘
I
’
m glad you feel that,
’
he told her gravely.
‘
I
’
m glad you don
’
t feel that my father and I conceal horns under our hair.
’

But their friendship had undergone a change, and now John treated her warily, and she longed for the old teasing affection. Yet perhaps that affection might be just as bad as indifference. It would be a far cry from love.

If only she could dear things up between Elizabeth and Michael, she thought unhappily. That, at least, might be something accomplished. Yet if she saw Michael again, he would only think she was being hoodwinked by the Sheridans. And she could only make him try to see the truth by telling him what James Sheridan had told her about his father. She couldn
’
t possibly do that, thought Catherine, her whole being shrinking from such a thing. The only person who could, perhaps, tell him would be his mother.

His mother. He had promised to take Catherine to meet his mother one day, pointing out the pretty bungalow where she lived with his stepfather, as he drove Catherine home in his car one day. Michael now lived in a small flat, above the shop which she now knew was his.

On Wednesday evenings as she returned from evening classes on the bus, Catherine looked at the bungalow. Would it do any harm for her to see
Mrs.
Rodgers, who was now
Mrs.
Someone Else? Catherine did not even know her new name.

She dismissed the idea almost as soon as it was bo
rn
. No doubt Michael
’
s mother would be very angry at her interference. Yet as the days slipped
by, and she saw Elizabeth getting slowly better, but still unhappy, her old courage and pride no longer being worn like a proud flag, Catherine felt her resolution being strengthened. What had she to lose? If Michael
’
s mother asked her to go, then she could bear the humiliation, and Elizabeth would be no worse off.

The following evening she gathered her courage together and caught the bus out to the bungalow, her knees shaking a little as she walked through the white-painted gate and up the flagged path. Michael
’
s stepfather must be a keen gardener, she decided, looking at the neat borders and plentiful flowers.

The woman who came to the door was so like Michael that for a moment Catherine could only stare, then she recovered enough to introduce herself.

‘
I
’
m Catherine Lyall, and I live with the Sheridans. I ... I worked with Michael before he
...
before he left the firm.
’

‘
Of course. Michael has talked of you many times. Please come in, Miss Lyall. Michael rather forgot to tell me he was bringing you, and he said he would be here after eight-thirty, so do forgive me if I
’
m not quite ready to receive visitors yet.
’

She was picking up discarded newspapers and a pair of comfortable slippers, but Catherine scarcely noticed.

‘
Michael
...
coming later
?’
she asked.
‘
Oh dear, I didn
’
t know. I
’
m afraid he won
’
t want to find me here, Mrs
...’

‘
Duncan. Joan Duncan.
’

‘
Mrs.
Duncan. In fact, I don
’
t think you would welcome me either, if you knew why I had come. Perhaps it would be better if I just go
...’

Mrs.
Duncan looked puzzled and a little alarmed.

‘
That sounds rather ominous, Miss Lyall. I think I would prefer to hear why you have come. Do sit down.
’

Catherine sat down slowly, and rather gingerly, on the edge of a deep armchair, then drew a deep breath.

‘
Because of Elizabeth,
’
she said simply.
‘
She and Michael. There
’
s such misunderstanding between them. I don
’
t know how it could ever be unravelled. Yet Elizabeth is so unhappy, and I bet Michael is, too. So I thought that
...
well, you could help,
Mrs.
Duncan. You know the whole story. At least, Uncle James said y
o
u did. Only Michael seems to have got it wrong.
’

‘
Got what wrong?
’

Catherine bit her lip, very embarrassed.

‘
About his father,
’
she said quietly, and the older woman stiffened.

‘
He thinks James Sheridan cheated his father after years of hard work, when he bought him out. Only Uncle James says it wasn
’
t quite like that. There were
...
other reasons that you
’
d know about.
’

She shot a glance at
Mrs.
Duncan
’
s stony face, and rushed almost blindly into the whole story, about what Michael had told her, how she had tackled James Sheridan and even about her own pearl.

‘
I had to ask Uncle James,
’
she said at length,
‘
and I feel he was telling me the truth. Only it
’
s keeping them apart
...
Elizabeth and Michael
...
if they each see a different side of the coin. If ... if Michael doesn
’
t know the
real
truth, couldn
’
t he be told,
Mrs.
Duncan?
’

The older woman got up and walked nervously over to the window.

‘
And of course you believe what James Sheridan told you,
’
she said flatly.

Catherine paused only for a moment.

‘
Yes.
’

Mrs.
Duncan hugged her arms, looking out at the pretty garden, then she sighed.

‘
And you
’
d be right,
’
she said at length.
‘
My first reaction to your coming here, Miss Lyall,
was
to ask you to leave, but you
’
re good at putting your case. I know Michael has broken with Elizabeth and I
’
ve been trying to pretend it didn
’
t matter. I
’
ve kept out of his life
...
perhaps afraid of the truth coming out, as it has
...
and out of his affair with Elizabeth for that very reason. But—well, I admire her very much.

‘
I knew, sooner or later, that Michael would break free, however. I thought I had no business to interfere, especially when the idolised image he has of
his father comes from me.
’

She came and sat down opposite Catherine.

‘
Does one tell a boy that his father was a gambler, and brought suffering to his wife and son because of it? If Freddy had lived, Mike would have found out for himself. But he didn
’
t, and Mike only remembered him with love, and respect. I couldn
’
t spoil that.
’

‘
But when he quarrelled with Elizabeth
...’

‘
He didn
’
t say why they had quarrelled. I
...
rather wondered if he found you attractive.
’

Catherine coloured.

‘
No,
there was nothing like that between us, though
...
well, I thought he was very attractive when I first met him.
’

Mrs.
Duncan smiled.

‘
Yes. There have been other girls making excuses to call, but for him it was always Elizabeth. That
’
s why I was surprised. But, as I say, sometimes people change as they grow older. I wondered if Michael had changed. He was, all of a sudden, so
...
busy, somehow
!
’

‘
No doubt due to coming out in the open about his own business,
’
said Catherine dryly, and
Mrs.
Duncan flushed.

‘
Yes, I should have told him, when I knew what he had done. Only I felt it was too late then.
’

Catherine glanced at her watch. She would have to go before Michael arrived.

‘
I
’
d better go, then,
‘
she said, standing up.
‘
You know the position then,
Mrs.
Duncan. I ... I suppose it
’
s up to you whether you decide to help or not. But I feel only you can do it.
’

‘
I
’
ll think about it,
’
Mrs.
Duncan told her.

‘
Is Michael
’
s future happiness less important than his image of the past?
’
she asked quietly.

‘
I
’
ll have to assure myself that it
is
his future happiness which is at stake,
’
Mrs.
Duncan returned smoothly, and opened the front door.

Catherine turned to shake hands, then her heart leapt into her mouth as the gate clicked and a tall figure swung up the steps.

‘
Catherine! What on earth are you doing here
?’
asked Michael.

She went scarlet.

‘
Er
...
you pointed out the bungalow to me once, Michael. I ... I was rather at a loose end, so I thought I would come and see your mother,
’
she lied bravely, and his eyes narrowed.

‘
No, that
’
s not good enough,
’
he said.
‘
Come on, back inside both of you. I want to know what
’
s going on behind my back.
’

Then a thought seemed to strike him.

‘
Elizabeth! It isn
’
t Elizabeth, is it? She
’
s all right, isn
’
t she?
’

Mrs.
Duncan looked at her son, then her eyes met Catherine
’
s, almost painfully.

‘
No, it isn
’
t Elizabeth, darling. Well, it is, in a way. Miss Lyall came to tell me something, and
...
well, I rather think I have to talk to you, Mike.
About the Sheridans.
’

‘
Oh,
’
he said grimly.
‘
Well, if that
’
s all, I don
’
t want to hear. No doubt they have brainwashed Catherine, too.
’