Romance Classics (92 page)

Claire stared at her, and Amanda nodded.

“It takes time to heal a wound like this,” she went on quietly. “It helps if there is a change of scene. New people, new places — away from people who know about what’s happened. Do you have any ideas in mind?”

“I’m too stunned even to think — ”

Amanda nodded. “Of course you are. But I have something in mind that might interest you. Ever thought of taking a cruise around the world?”

Claire managed a threadbare, completely unconvincing laugh.

“On what?” she asked wryly.

“On a freighter,” answered Amanda briskly. “They carry cargo, but also a small passenger list.”

“Sounds delightful.” Claire’s training was giving her some small measure of control, though the bitter ache in her heart would not be eased. “But I’m a nurse, remember? Not a millionaire.”

Amanda’s mouth twisted with a sly grin, though above it her eyes were anxious and troubled.

“Well, contrary to what people like to believe about me, neither am I,” she said quietly. “However, I can manage the cruise for you, and it would give me a vast deal of pleasure after your kindness to me — ”

“Thanks, but I couldn’t possibly accept — ”

“Will you be quiet and listen to me?” Amanda snapped. “I’ve planned a cruise like this for a long time. I made reservations, paid for transportation and have been waiting for a notice that a ship had been found with a single vacancy. That notification came yesterday — with me piled up like this — and by the time this wretched leg is well, I’ll have passed my sixty-fifth birthday and no longer be eligible. The freighter cruises are open only to people between twelve and sixty-five: and only twelve passengers are carried, because if they take more, they have to carry an RN also. Since I can’t use this reservation, and since it’s already been paid for, I can’t see any reason why you shouldn’t go in my place, do you?”

Claire put her shaking hands to her face and sat still for a long moment while Amanda went on telling her about the cruise. At last Amanda broke off to ask, “Didn’t you tell me your mother and father were living in Hawaii?”

“Why, yes. Imagine you remembering that — ”

“You’d be surprised what a memory I’ve got, my girl, as some of my competitors on the local stock market will agree,” said Amanda dryly. “You can leave the ship anywhere you like. Why not in Honolulu for a visit to your parents? That ought to take your mind off this — this unmentionable doctor — ”

Claire was staring at her wide-eyed.

“Well?” Amanda’s voice cut into Claire’s thoughts. “Wouldn’t you like to see them again? You told me you hadn’t seen them in four years, not since they went out there. And I’m told it’s beautiful country.”

“I don’t know what to say — ” Claire stammered, and some of the anguish in her heart faded slightly at the thought of seeing her mother and father again.

“Well, say yes, for goodness sake, so I can call my travel agent and arrange for you to take my place. Then you’ll have a lot of packing to do; a physical examination, because the ship’s owners want to be sure nobody goes aboard in anything but perfect health. The hospital can take care of that — ”

Claire listened in a daze of confusion while Amanda made the necessary telephone calls and then insisted Claire dismiss herself from the case, send in another nurse, and get busy with her packing.

The superintendent of nursing was very kind when Claire came in and offered her resignation and asked that it become effective at once. She, too, of course had known of Claire’s love for Dr. Massey, and the pity in her eyes made Claire realize that she could not stay here and face that in the eyes of all her friends and associates.

“I hate to lose you, Claire,” said Mrs. Webb gently. “You are a fine nurse, and if ever you want to come back, we’ll be glad to have you.”

Claire murmured her thanks hastily and was glad to escape.

The next twenty-four hours were so crowded that when Claire went aboard the big freighter at Jacksonville, she had the dazed feeling that she was living in a dream from which she must surely awake soon and find that she and Rick were still members of the staff of Chatworth Memorial. The hours had been little more than a blur, and when she climbed the gangplank of the ship and followed the short, chunky steward down the companionway to a tiny cabin, she felt that all she wanted to do was crawl into the narrow but comfortable-looking bed and sleep for days.

Other passengers, who had sailed with the freighter from its home port of Boston, had gone ashore for the few hours of loading and unloading cargo, and as Claire leaned against the deck railing, looking down at the wharf, they began to straggle back, smiling tentatively at her as they passed on their way to their own quarters.

A man came striding down the deck with an air of authority that told Claire, new to ocean-going as she was, that he was probably the captain. She turned, managing a faint smile, as he paused beside her.

“Well, hello,” he greeted her, his very good-looking face, bronzed by sea and sun, making his teeth look even whiter as he smiled at her. “You must be the new passenger. I knew we were picking one up here, but I didn’t dare hope she’d be young and beautiful.”

The man’s good looks were spectacular, his charm so obvious that Claire felt herself freeze up. After the stunning good looks and charm of Rick Massey she felt she never wanted to see another handsome man as long as she lived.

“I’m Claire Frazier,” she told him coldly. “Miss Dawson had booked passage, but she is ill and sent me along in her place.”

“I’m Curt Wayne, second officer.” The man smiled at her. “I haven’t met Miss Dawson, but I feel sure the
Highland Queen
is in luck, with you to replace her.”

Claire’s head went up and her eyes were cold.

“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Wayne,” she said.

For a moment, obviously puzzled by her hostility, he studied her and then, frowning, turned to the gangplank as two women hurried up it, the one in front scolding the one who followed.

“Oh, there you are, Curt dear,” said the woman who led the way, and gave him an enchanting smile. “Nora dawdled, so I was afraid you’d sail without us. I think the wretched girl would have been pleased if you had.”

Curt laughed and offered his hand to help the woman down to the deck.

“Oh, we’d never have sailed without you, Mrs. Barclay, or your charming daughter,” he said. And Claire wondered if it was only in her ears that the mockery sounded, as he held his hand out to the younger woman, who carefully avoided it and jumped down to the deck unaided.

“Aren’t you sweet?” Mrs. Barclay cooed, and glanced at Claire with blue eyes that chilled. “Oh, do we have a new passenger?”

“Mrs. Barclay, may I present Miss Frazier, who has just come aboard? And Miss Barclay, Miss Frazier.” Curt’s manner was as gracious and pleasant as though they stood in some formal drawing room.

“How do you do, Mrs. Barclay?” said Claire formally.

Mrs. Barclay made a gay little gesture of disclaimer.

“Oh, dear, not ‘Mrs. Barclay’ — shipboard is so informal,” she protested. “Since we are all going to be together so long, why shouldn’t we just begin by using first names? Mine’s Vera, and my spoiled, naughty girl is Nora.”

Clara managed a smile and said, “And I’m Claire.”

If Curt Wayne had been an unpleasant reminder of Rick Massey’s spectacular good looks, then Vera Barclay was a most unpleasant reminder of Elaine Crossett. She had the same carefully tended beauty, though Vera’s hair was ruddy-gold and she was obviously older than Elaine; the same gaily coquettish air. A born man-hunter, Claire told herself grimly while they all chatted politely for a few minutes, and heaven help the man who didn’t want to be hunted!

Nora was about eighteen, Claire decided as the girl stood sullenly aside, taking no part in the bright chit-chat between Curt and Vera. Her eyes were more gray than blue and her hair was plain carrot-red; she was plump and awkward-looking and her thin cotton dress clung in all the wrong places. Vera was smartly dressed, beautifully and deftly made-up, not quite as tall as Nora and with curves in all the right places.

Nora said suddenly, her tone sullen, “I’m going downstairs, Mother.”

Without waiting for a word from Vera, she turned and strode down the deck, and Vera looked after her, sighing and shaking her head.

“My poor, poor baby,” she mourned, and fluttered her eyelashes at Curt appealingly. “She didn’t want to come on this trip, but I simply
had
to get her away from that awful boy! A mere nobody — an oaf! But I’m afraid the baby hates her poor Mommie for insisting on this trip!”

Claire studied her curiously, wondering if any man could be simple enough to admire her. Looking up at Curt, she saw that he definitely did, and excused herself for a turn about the deck. As she walked away she heard Vera’s light, musical laugh and set her teeth hard, walking faster to escape the sound.

As she turned along the deck, past the bridge, she collided violently with a small, slight man whose thin white hair was ruffled by the breeze and who was buttoned snugly inside a coat that seemed much too large for him and too heavy for the mildness of the day, even on the water.

She reached out swiftly, caught the slight figure and steadied it as she smiled with warm apology.

“I’m terribly sorry. That was very clumsy of me!”

The man smiled at her, his eyes watering a little behind his eyeglasses, his face ruddy with the wind, as he settled his hat more firmly on his head.

“It’s quite all right, dear lady.” He gave her a slight, old-fashioned bow, and his eyes were warm and friendly. “The fault was mine, I’m sure. I’m new to ships, and I have a bad habit of wandering about absent-mindedly. You’re new with us, aren’t you? I do hope you haven’t been confined to your cabin with seasickness since we left port?”

Claire laughed. “Oh, no, I just came aboard,” she told him, and added, “I’m new to ships too. This is my first ocean voyage!”

The man beamed happily. “Dear me, then perhaps we can be of service to each other. This voyage is the realization of a lifelong dream. I can scarcely believe I’m really here. And if I’ve enjoyed it so much, just coming down from Boston, what will it be like when we go through the Panama Canal, and then Hawaii and the Orient?”

“I shall be leaving the ship in Honolulu,” Claire told him. “I’m going to visit my parents there.”

“Oh, you’ll miss some of the best part of the trip,” protested the man. “I’ve been reading up on the ports where we are going. Of course, one of the charms of a freighter cruise is that you are never quite sure where you are going or when you’ll get there. Sometimes, I understand, the captain gets an order to pick up cargo in some port not on the itinerary. I think that’s fascinating, don’t you?”

“I suppose so, unless you’re in a hurry — ”

“Oh, but, dear lady, if you are in a hurry you should never take a freighter,” he protested earnestly. “Freighters are for people who want to take a vacation, a rest cure, get away from all the rush and bustle and hurly-burly of our much too modern world. Surely you must have realized that before you booked passage?”

“I didn’t book passage,” Claire explained carefully. “That was done by a patient of mine, who has a broken leg and is unable to travel — ”

The little man looked swiftly about him and said very softly, “You are a nurse? An RN?”

Puzzled at his manner, Claire said, “Why, yes, but — ”

“Let me advise you, my dear! Don’t let anybody aboard know that!” His was the tone of a conspirator, and Claire, more puzzled than ever, stared at him.

“I can assure you,” she said curtly, “nurses are accepted in even the most polite society. I see no reason why one should be snubbed aboard a freighter!”

The little man was so distressed he seemed on the point of tears.

“Oh, my dear young lady!” he protested anxiously. “How very clumsy of me — and you completely misunderstand me! I didn’t mean to infer — Heavens, what a clumsy fool I am! I was only warning you that since the freighter carries twelve passengers, and neither a doctor nor an RN, the fact that you are a nurse may mean you’ll be bothered by people who want to discuss their ailments and get free advice. I do hope you understand now why I said you shouldn’t let them know you were an RN.”

His distress was so acute, so appealing and so deeply sincere that Claire laughed forgivingly.

“You must forgive me for being edgy,” she said gently. “Yes, of course I understand now what you meant.”

The little man beamed happily.

“I’m so glad,” he said, and looked it. And there was suddenly a merry twinkle in his faded eyes. “You’ll be perfectly safe with me, young lady. I had a complete physical before I came aboard, and all the necessary injections — shots, I believe they are called — and I have a complete supply of first aid medicines. So you needn’t be afraid I’ll take advantage of your training to ask you to prescribe for me.”

Claire, liking the little man more each moment, leaned towards him and said confidentially, “It would be a pleasure, any time, though I hope you won’t need it.”

The little man beamed happily.

“Oh, I’m sure I won’t,” he told her eagerly. “Of course, I was a bit seasick until we got past the Cape. It was very rough. I’d always heard that Cape Hatteras was a rough passage, and the weather was very bad, but I really think I brought it on myself, worrying about it and dreading it, you know. But the weather will be improving from now on, and I seem to have regained my sea legs.”

“I’m so glad.”

“I don’t think the captain likes it very much when any of the passengers is unable to be at the table for meals,” he said cheerfully. “The freighter lines claim they don’t make any money on us — the passengers, you know. In fact, they claim they lose money on us. But they carry us for the crew’s morale.”

Claire looked puzzled, and he explained eagerly:

“I suppose they do get a bit bored and on each other’s nerves on these long trips, so it’s nice for them to see other people not connected with the ship except as passengers. That
does
sound rather logical, doesn’t it?”