High Master of Clere (10 page)

CHAPTER IV

The next day Verity waylaid Lance on his way to a class and told him about Daniel
’
s offer. Lance listened, staring, then echoed her own surprise.

‘
A Leica—just like that? You
’
re joking! People don
’
t lend that kind of gear around
!’

‘
Well, evidently Daniel doe
s—’

‘
Daniel
?’

Verity snapped,
‘
Oh, don
’
t be tiresome. You know Mother always calls him Daniel at home, so naturally I do too—off the job. And he calls me Verity all the time, just as he calls you Lance, except in school.
’

‘
Well, tell him, will you, that I
’
d rather settle for Lytton
?’
retorted Lance rudely. Hitching the books he was carrying, he added,
‘
And while you
’
re at it, you could say that if he
’
s hoping to suck up with the loan of a camera I can
’
t afford, he
’
d better think again.
’
But as he turned away Verity caught at his arm.

‘
Listen,
’
she said.
‘
The thing is on my desk now, waiting for you. I
’
ve accepted it in your name and I
’
m not handing it back. What
’
s more, when the High needs to suck up to a mere fifth-former, that
’
ll be the day! So you
’
re going to borrow that camera
—and
use it, do you hear?
’

‘
Oh, I am
?
And who
’
s going to make me, huh?
’
defied Lance.

‘
As if you didn
’
t know!
I
am,
’
even if I have to stand over you in the hide. So I
’
ll expect you to collect it after school.
’

‘
You
’
ll be waiting a long time.
’

‘
Then I
’
ll bring it over to West myself. And if I
’
m forced to do that, don
’
t be surprised if I tell Old
Nick that you
’
ve turned down a chance to put on a complete show of your own films for the House,
’
warned Verity.

‘
What do you mean—a show?
’

‘
Just that. I think Daniel had in mind a programme of your best results with your commentary added on tape, perhaps. He seemed to think you might be glad to have the chance.
’

Lance hesitated.
‘
But I haven
’
t any stuff good
enough
—’

‘
Nonsense. You know you
’
ve got some wonderful shots. What about all those
you put on for us last Christmas
?
And the ones you
’
ve just got on the Broads? But remember, if you
’
re giving a show Daniel will expect you to have got some results with the Leica.
’
Verity paused.
‘
You
’
ll come along and look at it when you
’
re free, then?
’
she added.

Lance hunched a shoulder.
‘
Maybe I
’
ll come in break,
’
he grudged. At which Verity astutely hid her relief. Once he handled the camera, he would be tempted, she was sure, and the rest should be easy.

A week later Nash gave one small yelp as he loped down from his bed to give Verity his morning greeting. He had done the same before the onset of his spinal trouble in the summer, and her heart plunged with dismay.

‘
Oh, Nash,
no
!’
she begged, and ran for the tablets which the vet had left with her against such a recurrence. Before ringing him she saw other danger signals she recognized—the drawn-in ste
rn
, the little dog
’
s sharp wariness to her touch, and when the vet came his verdict was even more guarded than before.

Rest, drugs, loving attention—all these Nash should have in good measure. But his earlier attack had weakened his heart, and though
Mr.
Cody counselled hope, his diagnosis had little else to offer.

This Verity sensed. Though the worst remained unspoken at that first visit, she feared its inevitability from the way in which
Mr.
Cody, unaware that she was listening, addressed Nash as he left. A hand under the sensitive muzzle—
‘
Well, feller, you
’
ve had a baker
’
s dozen of good years, haven
’
t you?
’
said
Mr.
Cody, and Verity
’
s throat constricted with dread.

She left Nash in her mother
’
s care when she went to her office, and Daniel enquired about him when he called her to take letters. She slipped back to see Nash during break. He was sleeping under the sedative effect of the tablets, but she did not leave him until after the next school period had begun.

She heard her telephone ringing from down the hall and when she snatched up the receiver a woman
’
s voice said,
‘
Is that Clere? Yes? Then I should like to speak to the High Master. Miss Cusack—Ira Cusack of Viking Vision here.
’

‘
Oh yes. Good morning, Miss Cusack.
’
Verity
’
s pleasant tone masked her faint recoil from the associations which the name recalled.
‘
Mr.
Wyatt asked you to ring about now, didn
’
t he? But I
’
m afraid—just a moment, please
’
—Verity referred to the class timetable above her desk—
‘
yes, I
’
m afraid I can
’
t call him to the phone at the moment as he has just gone to take a History period with the Sixth. Perhaps I could
?’

She wasn
’
t allowed to finish. Ira Cusack
’
s urbane voice cut in,
‘
He
’
s gone
where
?’
and to Verity
’
s reply,
‘
But that doesn
’
t put him at the ends of the earth, surely? So tell him, please, that I
’
m on the line and that I
’
ll hold on to speak to him
—in person
.’

Verity said patiently,
‘
I
’
m sorry, but you can
’
t just now. If you must, I suggest you call again
—
say, at half-past twelve, when he should be free. This is Verity Lytton speaking—his secretary, you know—and I
’
m under orders not to call him from a class after it has begun, except for the greatest urgency.
’

‘
And who decides what is urgent and what isn
’
t
?’

‘
Almost invariably, I can,
’
said Verity evenly.

‘
Dear me! The complete watchdog, aren
’
t you
?’
Ira
’
s short laugh was unamused.
‘
But as you say you know
Mr.
Wyatt asked me to ring him, why are you being quite so obstructive, I wonder?
’

‘
If you remember, he suggested you should ring
me
to make an appointment for you,
’
Verity corrected.
‘
And I can do that now if you like, as I keep his engagement book.
’

Silence from the other end of the line. Then Ira asked,
‘
Well, if you
’
re all that
au fait,
do you know whether he
’
s prepared to co-operate on the Stately Schools project?
’

‘
I
kn
ow he
’
s ready t
o
discuss it with you. He asked me to tell you so when you rang up.
’

‘
Very well—
Cerberus
! Or is that too bad of me?
’
Ira
’
s voice was mocking.
‘
I mean, if he
’
s the kind of chief who gives you the works if you don
’
t obey orders to the letter, one must forgive you the three-headed custodian act! Some bosses come that way, I know, and you
’
ve simply got to train them. Use your sex appeal like crazy. Flutter your eyelashes. Or throw a small tantrum every other week. However, to business. I have my own great man
’
s little book here, so what about—let
’
s see—the twenty-fourth at, say, three o
’
clock?
’

‘
The time would do, but I
’
m afraid not the date, as
Mr.
Wyatt will be in London,
’
said Verity.

‘
The twenty-fifth instead?
’
As she waited for Ira to agree, Bob Wales knocked and looked round the door. In dumb show she told him she would be off the phone in a moment and he came to perch on the edge of her desk as she confirmed the appointment aloud,
‘
Friday the twenty-fifth at three.
Mr.
Wyatt will expect you,
’
and wrote it into the engagement book.

Bob swung a leg.
‘
“
And gentlemen in England, now abed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
”
’
he remarked dreamily, and grinned at her glance of perplexity.

‘
Don
’
t you know your Shakespeare better than that?
’
he accused.
‘
Henry the Fifth—the speech before Agincourt
?’

‘
Of course. But what
’
s the connexion
?’

‘
The twenty-fifth of October, of course. St Crispin
’
s Day. Agincourt. El Alamein too. And by the oddest coincidence, also my birthday, as by now you should well know. And what are you going to do about it
?’

Verity smiled.
‘
I dare say I
’
ll run to a birthday card. I usually do, don
’
t I?
’

‘
But I shall
have
a birthday card. Or two. Or perhaps even three. No, I really looked in to see if we couldn
’
t make a date for a meal together that night? And before you go all upstage about playing proxy for my lovely but capricious Rosemary, may I remind you that it wouldn
’
t be the first time, nor the second, that you
’
ve saved my face and I
’
ve saved yours at some delicate or crucial point in our affairs of the heart?
’

‘
I know. Do you remember that Clere Old Boy you rescued me from by telling him we were only waiting for our people
’
s consent to get engaged? That faded him out, and was I grateful to you! But what is it this time? Do you want rescuing from Rosemary or simply to teach her a lesson?
’
asked Verity.

‘
Rescue? Heaven forbid!
’
said Bob, alarmed.
‘
No, but she
’
s playing hard-to-get rather cunningly just now and I thought that one or two
“
other good fish in the sea
”
ploys might bring her back to heel. Such as taking you out and subtly letting her know that I had. What do you think
?’

‘
It depends. If she
’
s a girl of any spirit it might send her whinneying off in quite other directions, and then where would you be
?’

‘
Much where I am now—at Square One,
’
said Bob gloomily.
‘
I dare say I can
’
t risk it after all. But as she
’
s going to London for the weekend and wouldn
’
t be available for the twenty-fifth in any case, could we still make it a date, you and I
?’

But in the shadow of Nash
’
s illness, Verity had no heart for making plans.
‘
I
’
d rather not, Bob,
’
she told him.
‘
Promise you, I mean, and then have to back out. I
’
ve got Nash paralysed again and I
’
m afraid he
’
s very ill indeed this time. Of course he could be better by your birthday, but if he were
worse or
—
Well, you do see?
’
she broke off.

Bob reached for her hand and squeezed it.
‘
Of course, old girl. Forget it. Poor old Noble and Sagacious! But you mustn
’
t lose hope yet, you know. He got better last time and could again. I suppose you
’
ve had Cody to him? What does he say?
’

Verity told him and he nodded.
‘
One thing you can be sure of—if anyone can save him, Cody will,
’
he said.
‘
May I take a peep at him on my way out?
’

‘
I wish you would. You
’
ll find Mother with him, I think. But I won
’
t come with you. I was late back from break, and I
’
ve got a stack of work to get through before lunch.
’