Gates of Dawn (22 page)

So when he arrived in the grey car at eleven o
’
clock the following day she greeted him coolly, but with a pleasant enough smile in her eyes. She wore a white dress with a contrasting red belt and white sandals, and carried a white cardigan over her arm. Noel wore shorts and a yellow pullover, and looked young and carefree.

“
What a bevy of beauty I
’
m taking out with me,
”
Richard commented, and then instructed his niece to sit in the back of the car, while Melanie was to occupy the place of honor beside him at the wheel.

They drove until lunch-time through a lush green country-side that was starred with every variety of wild-flower, and but for the great snow-crested mountains rising all around them they might sometimes have believed themselves touring a corner of England at the time of high summer. But at other times they crossed foaming torrents and clung precariously to the steep sides of torturous mountain roads, and drove through picturesque villages that had the same mediaeval charm as the towns Melanie and Noel had visited in the company of Dr. Muller. Both girls were enchanted by the beauty of the scene and the perfection of the day, and when at last Richard halted the car and they left it to enjoy a picn
i
c meal, put up for them by Trudi, in the welcome cool shade of a pine wood which overhung a great flower-filled ravine on tile one hand, and climbed upwards to infinity on the other, Melanie was prepared to forget everything but the enjoyment of such a day, and let it soak deep down into the heart of her being.

Richard was inclined to make a joke of Trudi
’
s abundance, when the lid of their hamper was lifted, but he was not far behind the girls in making short work of its contents. And afterwards Noel wandered down the hillside to gather another armful of the tempting, star-like blossoms, while Richard ordered Melanie to recline on the turf beside him and give him an account of her adventures while climbing to watch the sunrise.

“
What I can
’
t understand,
”
he said,
“
is the charm of such an outing. Do you like getting up while sensible people are still counting on hours of sleep in order to become a kind of sun-wo
r
shipper? Because apart from being pagan it
’
s merely robbing yourself of your beauty-sleep. Not,
”
he added, lying gazing at her with the lazy, familiar twinkle under his languid lids,
“
that the charm of your appearance has suffered at all noticeably as a result of such thoughtless conduct. But I wouldn
’
t repeat the performance very often, if I were you—at least, not in the company of Dr. Muller!
”

Melanie twined her fingers in the long, coarse grass and said nothing. He rolled over on to his elbow—so that he was that much nearer to her—and dropped his cigarette-case into her lap.

“
Produce me a cigarette,
”
he commanded.
“
And perhaps you might be good enough to light it for me,
”
he added.

Her heart and pulses fluttered ridiculously as she complied with somewhat fumbling fingers. He took the cigarette from her and examined it for a moment intently before he placed it between his lips.

“
Thank you,
”
he said.
“
You don
’
t overdo the lipstick, do you?
”

“
I
’
ve never been very fond of lipstick,
”
she answered, not quite sure of his mood.

“
That
’
s all to the good,
”
he told her,
“
because I
’
m not fond of it, either.
”

This time she knew—or thought she knew—that he was deliberately trying to provoke her. She looked down at him where he lay, stretched out at full length within easy reach of her hand, and even on a holiday in Austria his sartorial elegance remained with him. There was no doubt about the quality of his English tweeds, which fitted his six feet or so of impressive masculinity in a way which must have delighted his tailor, and as always his neckwear was immaculate. His ti
e
—the badge of a well
-
known English public school—
f
lowed carelessly. Already he seemed to have become more than ordinarily bronzed by the sun, and there was a kind of aroma of lazy—if well-earned—success about him which, combined with that suggestion of mockery in his eyes, confounded her a little.

“
Tell me,
”
he said,
“
how long you are prepared to remain out here with Noel? Indefinitely? That is to say, until Dr. Muller considers her cure complete, or have you mad longings for home? Home in your case would probably mean returning to my sister, and that has never struck me as a wildly exciting job for a girl. So have you anything against staying on out here?
”

Melanie felt her heart sink a little, in a way it had when he said something which brought the exact relationship in which they stood to one another more forcibly to mind. Her temporary employer!—that was all he was! And as soon as he had no longer any need of her he would return her with thanks to his sister! If, of course, she was willing to be returned!

She replied a little distantly,
“
I have nothing against remaining here with Noel, but I imagine it will not be long before she will be able to dispense with my companionship. Dr. Muller might even be willing to take her into his clinic as a patient whom he could observe on the spot if you were willing. Now that she knows him, and is not at all strange
...
”

“
If Dr. Muller took Noel into his clinic he would almost certainly find you a job as his receptionist, or something,
”
he interrupted her smoothly.
“
So I don
’
t think we
’
ll think about that.
”

“
Then I am willing to remain while you need me.
”

“
Good girl!
”
he told her softly. He patted her hands, where they were rather primly folded in her lap.
“
I was a little afraid, since you already apparently have considered yourself neglected, that you might be nursing a desire to return home, and that would place me in difficulty, since I depend upon you, and Noel depends upon you. And one of the reasons why I
’
ve snatched a few days away from my work to come out her to see you is to get this question of your willingness to remain quite clearly established. I
’
ve got a busy time ahead of me, and I don
’
t want to have to bother my head about Noel, and questions of that sort.
”

“
I see,
”
she said.

“
I doubt whether you do,
”
he told her rather strangely, regarding her quizzically.
“
But Miss Gaythorpe is appearing in one of my latest plays, and while rehearsals are going on I don
’
t wish to be distracted by other matters. So long as I can depend upon your staying here quietly with Noel—
”
They heard Noel
’
s footsteps returning up the steep hillside, and he turned to catch a glimpse of her in her yellow pullover and shorts, looking very lithe and happy and brown—
“
and not taking it into your head to marry Dr.
Muller or anything of the sort
—”

Melanie looked astonished.

“
I am not in the least likely to marry Dr. Muller—or anyone!
”

He smiled at her in his whimsical fashion.

“
I wouldn
’
t like to think that you will never marry anyone, my dear child—but it must not be for some considerable while! Understand that?
”

Melanie felt herself flushing rather brilliantly as she strove to answer him.

“
You can feel safe on that point, at least, Mr. Trenchard.
”

“
Good!
”
he exclaimed, and once more patted her hands. She thought bitterly that once he no longer had any use for her she could, apparently, marry anyone she chose—which was kind of him! And rather a brutal revelation of the extent a
n
d quality of his own regard for her.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

BUT when Noel joined them Melanie succeeded in looking as if their con
v
er
s
ation had been merely of the lightest and most impersonal order, and Noel announced that she was hungry, and the remains in the picnic-basket were brought to light for her benefit.

Shortly after that they all three returned to the car, and by early evening they were back at the chalet. Richard decided to stay and have dinner with them, and this so delighted Trudi that she promised something special by way of a change. Trudi was never happier than when working culinary miracles in her spotless kitchen, and the opportunity to show off before a man who she knew was something of a connoisseur where food was concerned was very much to her taste. In addition to which she had, as she expressed it,
“
an affection
”
for Herr Trenchard. She had known and served him for years, and if at times his tongue was a trifle sharp-edged there were other occasions when he would joke with her in her kitchen, and even put his arm around her fat shoulders and give her an occasional hug. And that kind of encouragement went a long way with her, even if it did cause her to giggle hugely, and cause those same fat shoulders to shake and quiver like a jelly.

Although it had been so fine all day—indeed for weeks —while they were seated at dinner the weather underwent a most unpromising change. Mist swept down over the mountains, shrouding them like a curtain, and the valleys became temporarily almost blotted from their sight, all the color of beauty of them suffering a complete eclipse. And the change brought a lowering of the temperature which caused Trudi to come bustling in with logs and kindling and create a glowing fire on the hearth before which they all presently gathered while they sipped their coffee.

Melanie, who occupied a chesterfield with Noel, dispensed the coffee, and Richard Trenchard stretched himself out at full-length in his own favorite chair, a briar pipe in his mouth—he did occasionally prefer a pipe to cigarettes, and the scent of his tobacco always did something curious to Melanie, on whom the scent of honeysuckle and stocks on a warm summer night at home in England had a similar effect, and she longed to snuff it up openly, because it set all her pulses tingling queerly. The firelight leaped and played in the lamp, and the room looked exceedingly cosy. Richard had enjoyed his dinner and was in an amiable mood, and Melanie could not but recall those one or two nights at the Wold House when she had sat near him in close proximity to a blazing fire, and inclement weather without had somehow emphasized the snugness and the feeling of intense security.

But there was no security here in these lonely mountains, on which she must presently turn her back—and, if it came to that, there was no security for her in England, no actual and complete security. Only the position of a dependant in another
’
s more luxurious home, and the prospect of being turned out of it at a moment
’
s notice, more or less, if it suited the whim of her employer!

She sighed—the sigh escaping her before she realized it—and Richard ceased prodding the bowl of his pipe to regard her. His dark eyebrows shot upwards.

“
Miss Brooks is pensive tonight!
”
he observed.
“
Why, Miss Brooks?
”
he demanded.
“
What is the cause of that so gusty sigh?
”

Even Noel, who had been turning the pages of a magazine, looked at her curiously, and Melanie felt herself coloring a little, although she quickly denied the sigh.

“
I have no reason to sigh,
”
she prevaricated.
“
If I did it was probably because I was thinking it is very comfortable in here, and outside, for the first time, the weather is bad.
”

“
And that depresses you?
”
he asked.
“
But it will probably be clear again in the morning. These mists come down very suddenly, and often they clear just as suddenly.
”