The girl in the blue dress (23 page)

"Can't we discuss it afterwards?"

"No. We've got to know
what we are going to do,
from now on.
He must wait a few minutes. Ask my father to wait a few minutes, Nurse. Miss
Farman,
won't be long."
 

"Very well, Mr. Revian." The nurse gazed
severely into space. "But I wouldn't delay too much, you know. He doesn't
stay very bright for long at a time."

"I won't be long, " Beverley promised, and
the nurse went out of the room again.

Geoffrey was pacing about once more, in nervous
agitation. And, looking at him, Beverley had the
distinct impression that it would be she who would have to take
the
initiative.

"It isn't really that he's weak, " she
told herself
quickly and defensively.
"It's just that everything has
happened so suddenly. And everything
that matters to him is trembling in the balance."

Aloud she said, "Will you trust me to handle the
situation in my own way?"

"You mean, tell him the
whole thing now?

"Not exactly as it is, no.
And not unless I see a good opening and feel that I can lessen the shock. But
let me see him alone, "

"I think that's what he wants, in any case.

"And leave me to do the
best I can."

"Remember that he must not have a severe
shock. And the reconciliation is very real, Beverley, but it's a new and rather
fragile plant."

"I'll remember."

"Bless you!" He
caught her hand suddenly and held
it
against his cheek. "You're the dearest and most wonderful friend. I feel
sick with myself for hurting
you so
much."

She pulled her hand away quickly. She had to do that,
or she would have begun to cry. And then, because
her pride had received all the battering it could stand, she said coolly,
"Don't think of me as too desperately hurt, Geoffrey. If it's any
consolation to you, I had already begun to wonder if, " she stopped, groped
for something
that would not be too hurtful,
"if I had really allowed
myself to become engaged to the right
man."

He stared at her.
"Do you mean, " he said almost hopefully,
"that there was someone else with you, too?"

"Oh, I, don't want to be too explicit at this
moment. But, " somehow she managed quite a provoca
tive little smile, "don't feel too badly about it all."

And then she went out of the room arid upstairs to
old Mr. Revian, aware that she had left a
half-puzzled,
half-relieved Geoffrey behind her.

She had little time to arrange any plan of
campaign. She must just trust to her own ingenuity and good sense. And she must
accept the fact that, unless a good opportunity presented itself, she would do
best to possess her soul in patience and delay any form of explanation for a
few days longer, rather than risk saying too much too soon.

The nurse was in the room when Beverley entered, but
she rose and took her departure almost immediately, probably on previous
instructions, Beverley thought.

"Come here, my dear. Come and sit down by the bed."
The old man's voice sounded stronger that morning. "I want to have a talk
with you."

Beverley came and sat down in the chair indicated, and
smiled upon Mr. Revian with all the tranquil good humour she could achieve.

"You're better. I can see that, " she
said. And he nodded briefly, but dismissed this as of no special importance.

"I want to talk to you about Geoffrey."
He plunged
into the subject without
preamble. "You understand,
him and manage him very well, I notice, "

"I've known him a great many years, "
Beverley
interrupted with a smile.
"Ever since I was a little girl.

We're very good friends, Geoffrey and I. We always
shall be."

"Well, that's quite a good basis for a
marriage, I
suppose." Geoffrey's father
smiled. "And I hope the boy's as stable in his attitude towards you. I
suppose you know, " he shot a shrewd look at her, "that he's not the
strongest of characters?"

"He is essentially good and decent, "
Beverley said quietly.

"Hm, yes. I think he's that. But if you marry
him
_____,

"Mr. Revian, have you any doubt about
that?" Beverley smiled at him,

"No, no. Just a manner of speaking. You
mustn't take offence so easily!"

"I wasn't taking offence, " said Beverley
slowly in an odd way, I was relieved."

"Relieved?" The old
man looked astonished. "Why?"

"Because Geoffrey thinks
you regard this marriage as signed and sealed and the only thing possible for
the happiness of all of us. Although three days ago you didn't even know of my
existence, Geoffrey seems to think it would be an almost mortal blow to you if
you couldn't have me for a daughter-in-law. No one's well-being should be so
much dependent on another
person, should
it?"

"Well no, of course
not." He looked disturbed and rather healthily annoyed, Beverley thought, "Mortal
blow, indeed! No, no, I wouldn't use a term like that.
But this is quite an academic argument, I take it, "

"No, Mr. Revian. It isn't, entirely. And
that's why I'm glad of the chance to talk to you. Whatever my faults may be, and
I have a number, at least I'm
straight with
the people I like. And I like you."

There was a moment's silence.
Then he said gruffly,
 
"I like you too, come to that. So
you can be as straight as you like with me. What is it you want to say? Something
I won't want to hear? That's usually what people mean when they say they're
going to do some straight talking."

She smiled slightly, but she put up a silent little
prayer that she might find the right words. "Mr. Revian, have you ever
been quite, quite sure of something in your life, and then found out, after all,
that you were wrong?"

Again he shot her that penetrating glance. "I
suppose so, yes. Most people have, if they're honest with themselves."

"Well, that really happened with Geoffrey and
me. We'd known and liked each other so long that we both thought, honestly, that
we would be happy married to each other. That's why we got engaged, some months
ago now. But then, quite recently, we both had the same experience. We met
someone else, "

"Both of you?" The old man looked
sceptical.

"Both of us, " Beverley insisted firmly.
"Neither knew about the other, and right up to yesterday, we both meant to
stand by our bargain. You see, we were truly too fond of each other as friends ,
to be able to face letting each other down. But then, yesterday, "

"Yes? What happened yesterday?" asked Mr.
Revian, as she paused.

"I suppose, " Beverley said slowly, "that
when one is under an emotional strain, and Geoffrey particularly was, after the
happiness of being reconciled to you, one is not so good at hiding one's
feelings. Somehow we came to talk frankly to each other, Geoffrey and I, and we
found that, while we shall always be fond of each other as friends, we both
want to marry someone else."

"You both, " The old man swallowed, and
for a moment Beverley wondered if she had gone too far and too fast.

"Please, please don't mind too much, "
she begged him. "Or else I shall feel a wicked, selfish girl, instead of a
very happy one."

Again there was silence, while Beverley held her breath.
Then he said, rather disagreeably,

"So you'll always be good friends, eh, in the
modem way?"

"Oh, yes, of course! And it's not especially
modern.
We've been friends for years.
There's no reason why we shouldn't go on being so."
 

"Does that mean that you'll go on being
friends with me?" he demanded with a grim smile.

"Yes, please." Beverley leaned forward
and kissed
his cheek lightly, which seemed
to surprise and please him immensely.
 

"I've a suspicion you're a minx, " he said.
"Well, who
is the girl that my boy is
going to marry?"

"A perfectly lovely girl
called Sara Wayne."

"Of Huntingford Grange?"
  

''Yes"
 

"Father's a bit of a mountebank, but her
mother's
good stock, " was the slightly
disagreeable comment on this. "And who are you going to marry?"

"I"
  
.

"Yes, you. You've got a part in this double
romance
too, haven't you? Unless you've been
foxing me with some story all the time." And he gave her such unexpectedly
penetrating look that Beverley felt herself tremble.

"Of course I haven't been 'foxing' you, as you
call it Why should I?" she protested.

"In order to shield that boy of mine, "
was the
devastatingly shrewd retort.
"You can't tell me much about him, you know, even though I'm confoundedly glad
to be friends with him again. But I'll not have him behave badly to a girl of
your caliber. Not if I have to turn him out of the house again."

"But you mustn't even think of doing
that!" cried
Beverley in great alarm, "You'd
spoil everything for all of us."

"And who are 'all of
us?'" was the dry enquiry.

"Why, Geoffrey and Sara, and me and, and, "

"Yes? Who?"
 

She thought for a wild moment of saying, "John
Smith, " but she knew that no fictitious creature was
going to satisfy this rather terrifying and angry
old man.

She had to find somebody genuine, somebody who
would do as a sort of "stand-in" in this
emergency.
Somebody, but who?

And then, quite distinctly and with complete
reassurance she recalled Franklin Lowell saying, only yesterday, "Use me
if you need me. I suppose it would soothe my pride a bit to know I was
essential to some
one's plans."

He had not meant it so literally, of course. But
she could not even wait to think what an outrageous thing she was doing. She
took a deep breath and said very
calmly,

"I didn't really want to tell anyone yet. Not
until we had actually fixed things up. But, I'm going to marry Franklin
Lowell."

CHAPTER ELEVEN
 
 
^

"FRANKLIN LOWELL?" repeated old Mr.
Revian in an astonished tone. "Do you mean Franklin Lowell of Eithorpe
Hall?"

"Yes " said Beverley resolutely, though
her heart really quaked when she thought what she was committing herself to.

“A very fine match for you, isn't it?" The old
man spoke bluntly.

"I suppose it is, " she agreed, wondering
now why on earth she could not have instanced someone much less distinguished
and much harder to identify.

"And you're telling me that you and he are
more or less engaged?"

"Like Geoffrey and Sara, yes." She saw no
point in watering down her statement now. She had made it, and
she had better stick to it. It was not as though
Mr.
Revian ill in bed, could make any real investigation or provoke any
crisis. To him the situation was of in
terest
only in so far as it affected Geoffrey's story.

At least, that was how Beverley profoundly hoped it

For a moment or two there was silence. Then he
said, “Well! you tell me that's how things are, there isn't much I can do about
it, I suppose, but accept
the position. But
I'm sorry you're not going to marry
my boy I think you'd have been the
making of him.”

"The girl he really wants will be the making
of him, ” Beverley managed to assure Geoffrey father with a smile. "That's
how it is with any man.

"Depends what sort of girl he wants, "
retorted old Man.

''Sara Wayne is the girl Geoffrey loves and she is
quite capable of bringing out the best in him.” Beverley asserted, and in that
moment she was fairly positive of the outcome.

“I am sure you're right." Geoffrey's father
was not willing to be convinced in the first few minutes. "And
now I suppose you want to go? You won't bother to
come
and see me, now that I'm no longer going to be your father-in-law."

"That doesn't follow at all. Geoffrey and I
are re
maining, "

"Yes, I know all about that. You've used that
silly
expression about remaining good
friends once already, "
he admonished her impatiently. "And it
doesn't really mean a thing. Or it shouldn't do so. If Geoffrey is going to
marry Sara Wayne, he won't have much time or notice for the other girl he
nearly married. And well you know it, since you're a sensible girl."