Nurse Saxon's Patient (20 page)

‘
I think Ian knows,
’
she said in a low voice.
‘
That
...
about how we feel about each other.
’

‘
Then why in the name of thunder did he let Tansy go on with this ridiculous pretence?
’
Garth snapped.
‘
He must have realized I
’
d remember one day what had happened.
’

‘
No one could be certain,
’
Julie said.
‘
I
thin
k
Ian rat
h
er felt it was better to pity Tansy at the time
...’

‘
And hope that part of my memory would re
main
a blank,
’
Garth put in quickly, before she could continue.
‘
Because he hoped to
marry
you himself,
’
he ended bitterly.
‘
Had he ever proposed to you before
...
before you took on my case?
’
he demanded with a jealous and possessive note which Julie felt ashamed to rejoice over in her heart, but rejoice she did, just the same.

‘
Several times,
’
she said demurely.
‘
Before you and I even met.
’

‘
Then why hadn
’
t you married him?
’
Garth asked next.
‘
Don
’
t tell me,
’
he hurried on.
‘
It was because you didn
’
t—couldn
’
t—love him, that was it, wasn
’
t it? And he wouldn
’
t take no as an answer.
’

‘
Partly that.
’
Julie was perfectly honest with
him
.
It was the only way.
‘
Partly because of Roger
...’

‘
Rubbish
!’
Ga
r
th grinned suddenly, looking at her like a mischievous schoolboy.
‘
That doesn
’
t give you a leg to stand on and you know it. Roger was only an excuse, an excuse to offer to Ian, poor chap. The truth of the matter is that you don
’
t love him, you never have and you never could. Now,
’
he demanded, half laughing, half serious,
‘
if I asked you right now—if I had the right to ask you, which I haven
’
t while Tansy wears my ring—would you turn round and tell me you couldn
’
t marry me because
Roger
needed you? You know you wouldn
’
t.
’

‘
But he doesn
’
t need me so much now,
’
Julie protested.

‘
Yet you made him the excuse for telling Tansy you wouldn
’
t come with us to the States, if I went,
’
Garth pointed out.
‘
You see, darling, I know you so well. I
’
ve been with you so much these past months, come to know you even better than you know yourself, and I realize now that looking after Roger was all very well until
Mr.
Right—me—came along. If you
’
d loved Ian, which I
’
m very thankful you do not, nothing, no one, not even
your precious Roger, would have come between you. You wouldn
’
t have wanted them to, wouldn
’
t have allowed it. Would you let anyone come between us, when once Tansy
’
s out of the way, made to see how unfair this is, will you let Roger come between us then?
’
he asked quickly.

Julie felt the warm colour rush into her cheeks and she knew he was right. Neither Roger nor anyone else could come between them, only Tansy could do that, because she had a certain right to do so while she wore Garth
’
s ring on her finger.

‘
Well, would you?
’
he persisted gently as she did not answer.

Julie shook her head. This was not good for her driving and her concentration, but the country road was clear. She took her glance from the way ahead long enough to look directly at
him
.

‘
You know that I wouldn
’
t,
’
she said, so sincerely that he understood the depth of her feeling for
him
and knew it matched his for her, and the smile which lit up his ruggedly handsome features was reward enough for Julie at that moment.

‘
It
’
s up to me,
’
Garth was saying as she turned the small car in through the big gates of Woodlands.
‘
I feel a rotter, especially after what you said—that she mi
gh
t love me,
think
she loves me—but it has to be done.
’

‘
You thought you loved her too,
’
Julie reminded him gently, braking to a halt before the house.
‘
Don
’
t be too brutal.
’

‘
I was in love with love, or glamour, I don
’
t know which,
’
Garth observed, getting out of the car with some difficulty in negotiating his arm but obviously determined to manage by himself.
‘
And I found out—we both found out—that night that it would never work out. That
’
s why I strongly suspect some ulterior motive behind Tansy
’
s insisting on this engagement that had ended. It isn
’
t like her
...
or perhaps it is,
’
he ended musingly as
Mrs.
Andy came out to greet them.
‘
After all, I didn
’
t really know her very well. Not half so well as I know yo
u
,
’
he ended with a warm glance which brought the colour back to her cheeks again.

Thus it was that
Mrs.
Andy watched them enter the house, the
man
proud and suddenly more self-confident, more independent since that dreadful night when they had telephoned her and told her he had been taken to hospital. And the nurse, she thought, eyeing Julie. That warm colour beginning to fade now was something which could only have been occasioned by something he had said, something which had made the girl feel she mattered to him, that she was someone of importance in his life, and by that
Mrs.
Andy was not
thinking
in terms of a devoted nurse patient relationship.

I
’
m glad, she breathed to herself as they all walked into the house together. I
’
m glad he
’
s found out before it
’
s too late. If only that blank space in his memory could be cleared up as well he
’
d feel able to cope with
anything,
even poor Tansy
!

‘
Aunt Lavinia,
’
Garth paused at the door of the drawing-room,
smiling
in the way she remembered so well but which had been missing for so long that she felt the tears sting her eyes as she watched him now.
‘
Something wonderful has happened down there at the development site. Something happened—just a small thing, I
’
ll tell you all about it one day—and that blank space in my memory was filled as though it had never been.
’
Instinctively his arms went about the older woman as she moved impetuously towards him.
‘
I want to talk to Julie,
’
he was beginning, but Julie shook her head. She felt she could not face much more discussion of the matter at the moment. Garth was, technically, still engaged to Tansy, and the honourable thing was for that engagement to be ended before there was any further discussion about their own plans.

‘
I
thin
k
we should telephone
Mr.
Greensmith,
’
she said
primly.
‘
Not that this is his particular department, nor is it
any
thin
g
to do with the surgery and treatment he has been giving you and prescribed for you, but I think you should inform
him
of this latest development.
’

‘
Whatever it is, his department or yours or someone else
’
s,
’
Garth said, half laughing,
‘
there
’
s no denying it
’
s been one of the most important factors in making a cure. I feel fine,
’
he said exultantly.
‘
I
’
ve never felt better. The sooner he comes and takes this dratted thing off my right hand the better. That
’
s all I
’
m waiting for now. When that
’
s off I can
—’

‘
Mr.
Saxon is here, madam.
’

Garth broke off as Edna led the way for a tall, broad
shouldered young man whose face was the colour of lightly polished bronze and whose darkly gold hair sprang back off a broad, high forehead.

‘
Roger
!
’
Julie was across the room and hugging the stranger, words of greeting and welcome pouring from her lips, intermingled with laughter and a hint of tears. Garth stood by for a moment, looking on indulgently, but there was a hint of jealousy in his look which was not lost upon
Mrs.
Andy.

‘
Steady, Julie, steady
!’
Laughing at the warm, tempestuous welcome, Roger gently put his sister from him, looking down affectionately on her head, somewhere in the region of his chest.

‘
I
’
m sorry,
Mrs.
Crossman, sorry, Garth,
’
Julie apologized,
‘
I don
’
t know what came over me,
’
and in a rather quick, hurried voice she began to make the introductions.

Mrs.
Andy led the way into the drawing-room and asked Julie to pour drinks.

‘
Dinner will be in about half an hour
’
s time,
’
she observed.
‘
Edna will take you to your room when you
’
ve made yourself feel at home.
’

It was not as difficult to put Roger at his ease as it was with Tansy. One tactful, opening question from his hostess and Roger was talking with the ease of his profession, exchanging ideas with
Mrs.
Andy, comments with Garth, as though he had known them all his life. Watching him, Julie realized anew how much she had missed him, but deep in her heart she knew too that Garth had been right and that should matters work out for herself and Garth no one, not even Roger, as Garth had said, would come between them.

Roger wouldn
’
t want to, Julie realized. He only wants me to be happy. That
’
s what he
’
s always said. I wonder if he has found anyone he could love
...
out in Mexico
?

She was content to listen to him chatting with their hostess and with Garth, and when, a few moments later,
Mrs.
Andy was called away she listened to Roger describing to Garth and herself a typical day on the
film
set.

‘
Garth
!’
Mrs.
Andy
’
s voice readied them from the hallway.
‘
Could you spare just a moment, dear, please?
’

Garth rose, murmured his excuses and left them, first telling Roger to ring for Edna when he was ready to go up to his room.

‘
Julie will tell you,
’
he said, smiling at the girl,
‘
there are two gongs, one five minutes after the other, and if you want to keep in Aunt Lavinia
’
s good graces you
’
ll be down shortly after the first gong
!
’

‘
I
’
ll remember that,
’
Roger promised.
‘
Th
anks
!’

When Garth had left them Roger crossed over to where his sister sat alone on the wide divan, facing him. He had been watching her covertly all the time he had been talking to
Mrs.
Andy and her nephew, and he knew there was something seriously wrong in Julie
’
s little world at that mo
m
ent. That something, whatever it was, was responsible for the wild, tempestuous welcome he had received. That had not been the welcome of the disciplined, trained girl whom he had cared for so long. He sat beside her and slid an affectionate arm about her shoulders, drawing her closer to him in a brotherly and friendly gesture.

‘
What
’
s wrong, pet?
’
he demanded.
‘
Whatever it is we
’
ll cope with it together. You
’
re not on your own just now, you know. We must get together and you can tell me all about it
...’

There was no time before dinner for brother and sister to talk further together. Roger had been given a guest suite a little further along the corridor from Julie and Garth, but when she tapped on his door to find out if he were ready to go down, there was no answer. She found him in the drawing-room, talking to
Mrs.
Andy about the new book he was writing and the gypsy tribe with whom he had spent several weeks and who figured largely in the new volume.

‘
It sounds very fascinating,
’
the old lady said as Julie entered the room and the second gong boomed through the house.
‘
You must tell me more about it later, but after dinner I want you to have your sister to yourself for a little while. You must each of you have lots to talk about, and I
’
m going to offer to go through Garth
’
s hand exercises with him. I
’
ve watched Julie so often, and Garth can manage so much by
hims
elf
now, that I
’
m sure it will be all right.
’

There was no reason why it should not be all right, Julie reflected, and no one knew how much she was longing to confide in Roger that at last, as he had predicted she would, she had found a man she could really love
—did
really love—with her whole heart. It did not even occur to her to wonder how Roger w
o
uld manage without her, should the miracle happen and Garth become free of Tansy and able to ask Julie to marry him. There w
a
s no other obstacle, so far as she could see, but this phoney engagement of his, and Garth
’
s own feelings which, Julie knew, wo
u
ld not allow
him
to hurt anyone unless it could not possibly be avoided.