Green Girl (15 page)

“
Oh, for sanity
’
s sake keep the brute!
”
he exclaimed,
“
but don
’
t think you can pull that orphanage stop again and get away with it, young woman—both strays, indeed! And I warn you, Harriet, if he makes any trouble with my two, out he goes, and not all your tears will get me to change my mind a second time.
”

But she was not paying any attention, for she had sprung to her feet at his first words, her face suddenly radiant, and as he finished speaking, she flung both arms round his neck and kissed him.

“
Oh, Duff—dear Duff!
Thank
you!
”
she cried, then hastily disengaged herself and stood rather awkwardly on one foot.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
she said,
“
I—I didn
’
t mean to embarrass you.
”

“
Why the heck should a kiss from my wife embarrass me? It was very pleasant,
”
he retorted, but his eyes were
a
little impatient. The warm, spontaneous gesture had indeed been pleasant, but he hadn
’
t cared for that swift withdrawal.

“
Well, you never kiss me—just that once in the vestry, and I suppose that was sort of expected of you.
”

“
Have you wanted to be kissed, then?
”

“
It—it would be friendly. Just goodnight and good morning, you know.
”

“
I see. Just a habit of convention between acquaintances.
”

“
I had thought we were friends,
”
she said then.

“
Did you, Harriet?
”
he said with unexpected gentleness.
“
Then that should be a beginning. You shall have your chaste goodnight salutation if it
’
s important to you, but there
’
s nothing to stop you bestowing the same favour upon me, if you
’
re so inclined, you know. Now, what did you mean when you said you needed a new coat and sundry garments? You have an allowance, so for pete
’
s sake, why don
’
t you use it?
”

“
Oh!
”
she said, and looked embarrassed. She had not appreciated that she could draw cheques without asking, never having had a banking account, neither did she know what to buy to meet the requirements of her new life.

“
What shall I call him?
”
she asked to change the subject, and gazed with such rapture at the unspeakable mongrel that he answered, quite sharply:

“
Since you
’
ve overruled me against all my better judgement in this matter, I claim the right to christen the
perisher myself. He shall be Uriah Heep, and no name could suit the cringing tyke better,
”
he said, but if he had hoped to ring an indignant protest from her, he was disappointed.

“
Uriah
...” she
said reflectively.
“
Well, it
’
s certainly unusual, and—you can call him anything you like, dear Duff, since you
’
re letting me keep him.
”

“
H
’
m
...
”
he grunted, eyeing the dog with distinct disfavour.
“
Well, you
’
ll have to placate Agnes if he pinches the Sunday joint or cocks his leg in her kitchen, so be it on your own head. Now, for heaven
’
s sake, Harriet, go and fit yourself out with some sort of trousseau, or the neighbourhood will be saying I keep a tight hold on the purse-strings where my wife
’
s concerned. I can
’
t run to the mink I wouldn
’
t allow you to accept from Samantha, I
’
m afraid, but get yourself a decent fur coat; you
’
ll need it when the winter really sets in.
”

“
Where—and what sort of coat?
”
she asked, alarmed by such vague and extravagant-sounding orders.

“
Oh, how the devil should I know? You need a woman to advise you, I suppose,
”
he said, and as if on cue, Samantha Dwight walked in, unannounced, observing provocatively
,

“
I
’
ve kept tactfully away while the honeymoon period would, one presumes, make visitors unwelcome, but now I thought it time I renewed acquaintance with your little wife, Duff dear. What
’
s this I hear about womanly advice? Does your charming Harriet need feminine support? She could certainly do with a few good clothes
...
What a very extraordinary animal! Is it yours?
”

CHAPTER
SIX

SAMANTHA undertook the supervision of Harriet
’
s wardrobe with enthusiasm. There was nothing she liked better, she said, than shopping for pretty clothes and basking in the flattering attentions of persuasive sales ladies, also it would give her an excuse to prolong her visit with her Aunt Alice.
“
Why not let us run down to Dublin for a couple of nights and do the thing properly, Duff?
”

“
I
’
ll not risk Harriet getting a taste for city ways. The local shops are quite good enough for our requirements here.
We don
’
t entertain,
”
he said, and Samantha looked amused.

“
Are you going to make the same mistake all over again, darling?
”
she said softly.
“
Even the most devoted wife needs an occasional break from Clooney
’
s splendid isolation.
”

“
I think you must be forgetting, Samantha. My mistake didn
’
t lie in denying freedom but in allowing too much, and—no, I don
’
t intend to make it again,
”
he replied.
“
Apart from that I can no longer afford the extravagance of eight years ago, as you should remember.
”

“
I don
’
t have to go to Dublin for the few clothes I
’
ll need here, Samantha, and Duff—I haven
’
t got extravagant tastes, as you should know, so if you can
’
t afford—
”

“
I
’
m not on the breadline yet, my dear, so don
’
t look so guilty,
”
he interrupted with slight irritation, then added more gently;
“
Thank you all the same for your concern. Clooney rather tends to swallow up one
’
s income with nothing much to show for it, except debts and obligations and a hefty overdraft, that
’
s all.
”

“
Yes, I see,
”
said Harriet, but she was not really enlightened. She knew little enough about financial affairs, having been supported by charity all her life, and since even the responsibility of housekeeping was denied her, she had no idea of the demands a place the size of Clooney could make.

“
I wish—
”
she began, but Samantha
’
s mischievous little air of attention stopped her. It was not the moment to plead for a share in domestic responsibilities, neither did she flatter herself that she could improve on the existing methods of household expenditure. She could, however, and did, keep a watchful eye on the purse-strings when buying clothes for herself, and found that Samantha soon wearied when the more expensive items of her choice were politely turned down in favour of something cheaper.

“
Really, Harriet, you don
’
t have to be quite so cheeseparing,
”
she exclaimed.
“
You
’
ve got an allowance, haven
’
t you? Well, for heaven
’
s sake blow the lot or have the bills sent direct to Duff. He
’
s hardly likely to grudge you a few extra bits of nonsense—Kitty cost him enough, God knows!
”

“
All the more reason, then, for me to practise economy,
”
Harriet said with a touch of primness, and Samantha who, if she privately thought of Duff
’
s choice of a
wife unrewarding, had no intention of jeopardising her own right of entry
to his house by alienating Harriet, replied indulgently:
“
Okay, honey, you do what you think best. Duff
’
s luckier than he deserves, the old skinflint.
”

“
Skinflint? Oh,
no
,
Samantha!
”

“
A figure of speech, darling. I
’
m very fond of your husband, so any names I call him are purely terms of
affection. But how come you never managed to scratch up some kind of trousseau yourself, or were your parents skinf
l
ints, too?
”
It was the sort of awkward question which had been bound to come up between them sooner or later, Harriet thought, but since she did not know how much or how little of his affairs Duff was prepared to discuss with strangers she answered briefly that her parents were dead and anyway there had been no time to think of a trousseau.

“
So I
’
ve rather gathered. If I didn
’
t know Duff as I do, I
’
d have been inclined to have obvious ideas for all this indecent haste—what a surprising blush, darling! Don
’
t take me too literally, will you
?
My more outrageous remarks are
born
of habit rather than malice, you know,
”
Samantha said lazily, and Harriet, whose colour had been occasioned by Samantha
’
s obvious ignorance of the true nature of her marriage rather than the implied suggestion, was relieved when the subject was dropped.

She never felt quite at ease with this glamorous stranger, but she came to look forward to those days when Samantha would call for her to drive into Knockferry to shop; not only did she enjoy the novel pleasure of acquiring a wardrobe, but also a more familiar acquaintance with the countryside.

But Harriet learnt very early to keep her enthusiasm to herself, for Samantha soon grew impatient at being asked to stop the car in order to investigate some fresh but probably commonplace feature of their trips into town. Sometimes they would lunch in the town; sometimes come back to Clooney for a late meal, when Samantha would linger on until Duff returned in the evening; sometimes, however, Samantha would just drop Harriet at the gates with a careless reminder of their next shopping date, and drive away.

Duff, mindful of his assurance, conscientiously bestowed the nightly kiss upon her, but she did not take
him
up on his casual suggestion, and offer any demonstration of her own. Only to Uriah could she fell free to expend the love and gratitude which so often welled up in her, and she watched in fullness of hearts the gradual filling out of the thin, starved body, and the trust returning to the soft dark eyes.

“
Don
’
t get things out of proportion, will you?
”
Duff warned her once, a little troubled by such a wanton squandering of affection, but she had answered quite simply that the dog was the first living creature that had ever needed her, and therefore exceptional, and he said no more. He was glad that Harriet had found an outlet since he was becoming conscious that he himself failed her in this respect. Uriah pattered in the wake of the two Alsatians on his little short legs, his tail carried at a vulgar angle, and however subservient he might be to the human race, he appeared impervious to snubs from his own kind; indeed the reactions of the other dogs were so contrary to Duff
’
s expectations that he could even feel annoyed. Kurt, it was true, dissociated himself entirely with well-bred scorn not only from the interloper but from Harriet, who had not appeared to notice his cautious bids for affection of late, but Delsa, the fastidious one, with eyes only for her master, lost her head entirely
.
She invited advances shamelessly, became skittish and ridiculously coy at the smallest attention, and lay gazing at her raffish admirer with love in her eyes and no thought at all for her destined mate.