High Master of Clere (7 page)

CHAPTER III

As soon as she went to her office the next morning Verity lifted the phone and dialled Bob Wales
’
s number.

‘
Ready when you are, Bob. They
’
re lining up now,
’
she told him, knowing he would understand he was being summoned to the ritual of
‘
Doc chits
’
which was routine practice on the second day of term.

‘
Doc chits
’
were the clean-bill-of-health certificates each boy was required to bring from home, to be checked by Dr
.
Wales and filed by Verity for reference. They were documents which had a genius for disappearing en route or of offering themselves as the ideal raw material of paper darts, and it was always a major triumph for Verity when, at the end of several arduous hours, the number of names checked in tallied with the number of certificates for filing.

The morning took on its accustomed pattern. Bob Wales arrived, tousling a head here, feinting with a body-blow there, on his way through the queue and making his stock joke to Verity.
‘
Look fighting fit to me. Why do we bother? Not a measle nor a mump nor a chicken-pox in sight among the lot of
’
em.
’
To which she replied with her usual
‘
I should hope not indeed!
’
before they set companionably to work.

She had known Bob for years. His people lived locally and when he had qualified he had returned to Clere to live at home and to practise in the surrounding villages. His parents
’
house had seemed designed for children
’
s parties, and Verity had played her first game of tennis with Bob on their court. On his weekends at home during his training and walking the wards he had kept her posted about his various love affairs, and though she had not confided equally in him she suspected he had known of her feeling for Max Doran. The two men had sparked hostility from each other whenever they met, and it was good, now she herself had finally escaped from Max, not to have to be on the defensive for him any more.

Currently Bob was pursuing the daughter of a hospital consultant in Norwich. The ups and downs of his courtship of Rosemary Baird had all the makings of a soap opera, and this morning, during the lull between their dealings with South House and East, he had just embarked on the latest episode, when Daniel Wyatt came in.

Bob broke off, eased himself from his perch on the
corner
of Verity
’
s desk and said good morning.

‘
Good morning.
’
Daniel turned to Verity.
‘
What is happening now?
’
he asked her.

She told him they were waiting for the boys of East House to be sent over. They had finished with South.

‘
With North and West still to do? Does it have to take the entire morning?
’

‘
It usually does.
’

‘
And those
‘
—he nodded at the pile of certificates
—’
what happens to them?
’

‘
I destroy last term
’
s lot and file these in their place.
’

‘
They
’
re filed here? Isn
’
t that a mistake?
’

‘
A mistake? But we
’
ve always
—’
As Verity
bit back the phrase of which she knew he was intolerant, the question was repeated to Bob.

Bob echoed too,
‘
A mistake? I don
’
t understand you, High Master. The things have always been filed here in Verity
’
s charge.
’

‘
Even though they
’
re much more Matron
’
s concern, surely? Matron
’
s and yours?
’

‘
Yes, well
—’
As Bob paused to consider the
point Daniel went on,

‘
For instance, if a boy reports sick and she suspects a contagious contact, isn
’
t it better for her to have his chit on hand instead of needing to refer over here for it?
’

Bob nodded.
‘
But she hasn
’
t a filing system in the clinic.
’

‘
What of it? It only calls for a simple card-index drawer.
’

‘
Yes. But Matron hasn
’
t much use for record keeping. She
’
s fond of claiming that she
’
s there to mother healthy boys and nurse sick ones and that paper work isn
’
t her job.
’

‘
I
’
m afraid she must make it her job. It
’
s absurd to have medical data kept anywhere other than in the clinic. Finish here as usual, but see that Matron takes over in future,
’
Daniel added to Verity, and went out.

‘
H
’
m. Work-study methods—plus!
’
commented Bob.
‘
In other words—Efficiency Is All. Is the
re anything else he is changing?’

‘
Quite a bit. He calls it
“
dusting off the surface cobweb”.’

‘
Which I
’
m sure must endear him no end to the more cosily dug-in members of the staff!
’
grinned Bob.
‘
Old Nick, for one.
’

Verity said,
‘
Oddly enough, not. Old Nick is even prepared to root for him, and though the others grumble, they seem to be taking all the changes in their stride. And I
’
ve been thinking—though it never occurred to us before, it
’
s surely rather obvious that medical chits
ought
to be kept in the clinic?
’

Bob shrugged.
‘
I
’
d say it couldn
’
t matter less.
After all, what easier than for Matron to phone you for any details she needs, as she has always done? No, the impression I get from all that heavy weather is that, finding you apparently idling with me, the man saw a chance to throw his weight about—and threw it.
’

‘
Oh, Bob, no! He isn
’
t like that
—’

Bob shrugged again.
‘
Have it your own way. I
’
m just the onlooker.
’
He looked out of the window.
‘
Action stations. East to a man looming on the horizon,
’
he warned, then threw her a shrewd glance.
‘
Rooting for him a bit yourself, eh?
’

Verity felt her colour rise.
‘
Only when I think he
’
s got something. When I believe he may be right,
’
she said shortly. But as they went to work again she was thinking again of Max. Of how she had always had to champion him against Bob
’
s dry criticism, just as now he had forced her on to the defensive for Daniel Wyatt.

Not that there was any comparison really. For, however briefly and disastrously, she had been in love with Max.

The term was three weeks old when Daniel decided to give a cocktail party for the staff in order, as he expressed it,
‘
to get the chalk out of our hair for one evening
’
. Verity first heard of it from her mother, whom he asked to act as his hostess, though he wasn
’
t troubling her with any catering or arrangements, which would be handled by a Norwich firm.
Mrs.
Lytton reported,
‘
I told him I thought it a
splendid idea. Except that
—’

‘
Except that what?
’
Verity prompted the pause.

‘
Well, I said that, as the staff are in each other
’
s pockets all day long, wouldn
’
t he consider asking a few other people too. For instance, the Governors and their wives who live around here, and some of
the local people he ought to meet. After all, whenever Robert and I gave a party, we found we finished up with half the county at it—didn
’
t we
?’
Mrs.
Lytton appealed wistfully.

Verity laughed.
‘
Bless you, so you did. And are you to be allowed to snowball this one too?
’

‘
Well, yes. Daniel was so nice about it. He wants me to make a list of the people I think he should ask, and he
’
ll get you to send out the invitations. So if you
’
ve time and would lend me a pencil, dear, we could sketch out a provisional list straight away.
’

The provisional list made, altered, pared down, was still of a formidable length when it was handed to Daniel, who read it through, then passed it to Verity with the comment,
‘
For your reference.
’

Mrs.
Lytton searched his face anxiously.
‘
You don
’
t think I
’
ve made too big a thing of it, do you?
’
she asked.

Daniel smiled at her.
‘
Well, as the relaxing evening I
’
d envisaged for the staff—perhaps a little. But as something between a civic reception and a crowd scene in a mammoth epic—not at all
!’

‘
Oh dear! Then you do think it
’
s too much?
’

‘
Not if you think I ought to know all these people.
’

‘
I
’
d like you to. Or rather, I want them to know you. And I
’
m not only thinking of that. It
’
s the younger staff, you see—the unmarried ones. Robert and I always felt we had a social duty to them. To see that they have the chance to meet some nice girls, I mean.
’

‘
I see. But shouldn
’
t the three or four months of the vacations afford them the chance to arrange their private lives for themselves?
’

Mrs.
Lytton eyed him doubtfully.
‘
I believe you
’
re making fun of me, Daniel! But we never interfered or attempted any matchmaking. It
’
s just
that schoolmasters
should
be married young, and making the right marriage is so important for
t
hem
—’
She broke off in confusion.
‘
There
now! I
’
ve said the wrong thing, haven
’
t I? Where should Verity and I be, if
you
had already been married?
’

Daniel laughed and rose.
‘
You shall invite everyone you wish, just so long as I
’
m not expected to use my party as a springboard into matrimony
!’
he promised as he left the room.

Mrs.
Lytton looked after him, sighing.
‘
He really is nice, though I don
’
t always know how to take him. He seems to withdraw, though one can
’
t quite tell where to. But next time we
’
re chatting, I must ask him if he knew how dear Cleo and I used to plan that he should marry you, Verity darling. He
’
ll enjoy the joke against us, I
’
m sure.
’

Verity protested,
‘
Mother, please—no!
’

‘
But it
would
be only a joke! Why not?
’

‘
Because
—
Well, obviously, because I work
for him and it would embarrass me—and him.
’

‘
I don
’
t see why it should. It isn
’
t as if he were an ordinary chief, who would expect to keep you at arm
’
s length for the sake of office discipline. After all, we are in rather a special relationship with Daniel, aren
’
t we? But I wouldn
’
t dream of mentioning it to him, if you say not.
’

‘
I beg you not, Mother.
’

‘
Then of course I won
’
t.
Although
’
—
Mrs.
Lytton
’
s face shadowed—
‘
although I
’
m afraid I did tell Jane Dysart and the Percevals. Just in passing, when I was telling them how odd it was, my having known Daniel as a boy. Do you mind?
’