The Man in Possession (16 page)

Celia was due to arrive in Norwich at twelve-thirty on the Saturday morning. Roger, naturally, went to meet her himself.

‘I
’
ll take her somewhere in town for lunch,
’
he told Julia, ‘keep her out of your way for a little while. Then maybe you
’
d both have tea with me at the house. The worst will be over by four-thirty, I imagine,
’
he added, referring to the coming and going of the boat hirers.

She nodded. ‘The boats will all be ready by then, anyhow, even if there are a few late arrivals, and Bob likes to stay around until they
’
ve all taken over.
’

They stood in the doorway of the office for a few minutes and surveyed the busy scene. Bob Winters was guiding what must surely be t
h
e last of the large cruisers into a mooring space, the quayside was dotted with cars, holiday-makers—most of them wearing slacks and sweaters—going to and fro with their luggage, cleaning women with either buckets or clean linen, and, as it was a fine, sunny morning, some early arrivals sitting on the grass waiting to take over their boat without waste of a single minute.

‘
Nobody would think that they weren
’
t supposed to take the boats over until four o
’
clock,
’
said Roger.

Julia smiled. ‘It
’
s astonishing how quickly they catch on. But it relieves the congestion if some of them do get away before four.
’

Roger screwed up his face against the sun and watched Tony Sheldrake step ashore from a six-berth cruiser.

‘The new men all working satisfactorily, would you say?
’
he asked.

Julia hesitated. She had never spoken to Roger about
the engineer, and during the last week or so there had been no troubles with the engines of the craft once the hirers had taken them out.

‘
Yes, I think we can safely say that,
’
she answered.

‘Good.
’

Another car drew up and a family of holiday-makers spilled out. Julia greeted them smilingly and went into the office to attend to them. She was very glad that Roger was taking Celia to lunch in the town. A sandwich lunch was all she would have time for herself, but she would have wanted to offer Celia something a little better than that, busy as she was. All the same, it was with a twinge of envy that she heard Roger drive off to Thorpe station. Lucky, lucky Celia
!

It was four o
’
clock before Roger returned with their visitor, and she arrived looking radiant—like a woman in love, Julia thought with a pang.

‘Did you have a good journey?
’
she asked Celia.

‘
Any journey would be good which brings me to Roger
’
s side,
’
came the rather naive reply.

Roger gave an amused—or was it an indulgent—smile.

‘
Have you nearly finished for the day, Julia
?’

She nodded. ‘There
’
s only one more party to come, and Bob Winters will look after them.
’

‘Right, then we
’
ll have tea.
Mrs.
Harris has left it all prepared. I
’
ll car
r
y your bags round later, Celia.
’

Julia asked to be excused while she tidied herself after her busy day, not only in the office but also lending a hand at the quaysides, handing out life-jackets, extra pillows, answering queries, and when everyone else was busy, helping to bring craft in to moor and giving them a push out. It was work she loved and she was in love with Roger, yet her heart was heavy. The wonderful sense of peace and happiness she had experienced when first she had acknowledged her love for Roger had been short-lived. Useless now to wish she had not invited Celia. In any case, she would merely have been putting off ‘the evil day
‘
, she told herself. The day when Celia would be here permanently. Julia wondered again what they had quarrelled about. Was it because Roger had given up his secure job for his venture into the boat-hire business? It seemed very likely indeed. Roger was the sort of man who would do his best to make a woman happy, but she was certain he was too much of a man to allow a woman to dictate to him.

She washed her hands and face and changed her dress, then rather reluctantly went over to the house. The interior decorators—though having departed for the ‘week-end—had finished their work on the lounge/dining room and had started on the bedrooms.

‘It will be absolutely lovely when it
’
s all finished, darling,
’
Celia was saying, as Julia entered.
‘
But what about the kitchen?
That
is simply frightful.
’

Roger laughed.
‘
It
’
s not too hot, I admit, but I thought we
’
d leave that until last.
Mrs.
Harris is perfectly happy with it and anything too complicated might be too much for her. Later, of course—
’
He rose to his feet out of courtesy to Julia and offered her a chair.

‘
Shall I go and make the tea
?’
she asked, only too anxious to get away and wishing she had not come.

‘Well, I don
’
t really see—
’
Roger began, but Julia moved swiftly towards the door.

‘I don
’
t mind in the least,
’
she said. ‘You stay and talk to Celia. I
’
ll see to it.
’

She glanced around the kitchen. It was not very
modern
or labour-saving, but it contained all the essentials. Somehow, Julia could not imagine Celia being very domesticated at all, but of course, one could never tell. For her own part, she would not care for a kitchen to look too computerized with a confusion of dials and switches. A decent cooker, a washer and spin dryer, good cupboards—

She pulled herself up sharply. She must stop dreaming, seeing herself even in the vaguest of terms as Roger
’
s wife, mistress of his house.

The kettle was already full. Julia switched it on and
took the covers from the plates of food
Mrs.
Harris had left prepared and carried them in. Roger and Celia had their heads together over something and did not even notice her entrance.

This, Julia told herself fiercely, was something she would just have to learn to live with. Or get away from. But she couldn
’
t. Not now. She simply could not let Roger down with a busy holiday season before them.

She made the tea and took that in. Now Celia was telling Roger what kind of kitchen she would like.

‘Of course I
’
m not ve
r
y domesticated in a general sense, as you know, but I do like to cook now and then.
’

Roger laughed.
‘
Does that mean your husband would only eat now and then? For my part, I find I have to eat eve
r
y day, otherwise I grow kind of weak, if you know what I mean.
’

This made even Julia smile, though she was not enjoying what she could only describe as Roger
’
s ‘love teasing
‘
.

Celia laughed heartily, ‘Oh, Roger, you are an idiot! You know perfectly well what I mean.
’

Julia put her hand on the handle of the teapot to pour out, but suddenly Celia
’
s hand shot out to stay her.

‘I
’
ll pour out, Julia, thank you.
’
Then she added sweetly: ‘You
’
ve had such a busy day. You must be quite exhausted, and I do want to pull my weight.
’
Julia let go the teapot and sat back, feeling put in her place very decidedly. Obviously Celia wanted her to know who was to be mistress of this house. As she poured the tea she became patronizing.

‘Roger tells me what a treasure you are in the office and boatyard,
’
she said.

‘
I don
’
t know about
“
treasure
”
,
’
Julia answered.
‘I just like the work, that
’
s all.
’

Celia smiled. ‘Such an unusual job for a woman—messing about with boats and things.
’

‘I don
’
t agree at all,
’
Julia came back. ‘As long as one likes the feminine things as well, I can see no reason why a woman can
’
t enjoy those pleasures so often thought of as the masculine prerogative.
’

‘But, darling, I was talking about
work
, not pleasure. I
’
m hoping Roger will teach
me
to sail while I
’
m here. It
’
s something I
’
m looking forward to enormously.
’

Julia saw Roger
’
s eyebrows raise slightly. ‘Since when have you been interested in sailing, Celia?
’

She gave him a provocative smile. ‘Ever since you came to Norfolk, of course.
’

Roger did not answer. He picked up a plate of sandwiches and offered it to Julia.

‘Eat,
’
he said. ‘You must be starving.
’

Celia reverted to the topic of Julia and her efficiency.
‘
I
’
m so glad Roger
has
got someone like you to keep an eye on things. It means he
’
ll be free to take me around—when we
’
re not sailing, I mean. I suppose there are other things in Norfolk besides the rivers and Broads.
’

‘There are,
’
Roger told her.
‘
And it
’
s a pity you didn
’
t bring your own car. I
’
m afraid I shall be busy some of the time.
’

‘But of course you will, darling.
’

As soon as she reasonably could Julia made her escape, pleading that she was tired. She did not even offer to do the washing up. She decided it would not hurt Celia to do that.

‘Come just whenever it suits you to get settled in,
’
she told the other girl, giving her as warm a smile as she possibly could.

It was not going to be easy during Celia
’
s stay, Julia knew that. Quite apart from the pain of seeing the man she loved with another woman, she sensed that Celia did not like her and resented her having daily contact with Roger. Perhaps, in the way women did know these things, Celia knew instinctively that Julia was in love with him.

About an hour later Roger brought Celia
’
s luggage to the houseboat. Julia viewed with dismay the two large suitcases. She had cleared the wardrobe of everything except her pony-skin coat, and had emptied two large drawers under one of the beds, but even so there would not be room for all the clothes Celia had evidently brought.

‘Good gracious, I had no idea there would be such a shortage of hanging space,
’
Celia exclaimed. ‘Perhaps if you could get rid of this coat—
’

She took Julia
’
s coat unceremoniously off its hook and thrust it at her.

Julia looked at the coat and frowned worriedly.
‘
I suppose I could hang it in the office for the time being.
’

Celia shrugged and flung back the lid of one of her cases. ‘My dear girl, I don
’
t care what you do with it.
’
Julia bit back a sharp retort. This woman was, after all, Roger
’
s guest as well as hers.

‘There are plenty of drawers,
’
she said, indicating the two spacious ones which were a standard fitment, forming the under part of each sleeping berth.

Celia glanced down at them—those under both berths.

‘The four of them? They
’
ll do, I suppose, though normally I don
’
t like putting my clothes in drawers.
’

Julia suppressed a sigh. ‘The two under the right
-
hand berth are yours. My own clothes are in the other two.
’

‘Oh. Oh dear
!
This really is too bad. What a woman in love will suffer for the sake of her man! There
’
s only one thing for it, I shall have to put some of my things in one of the rooms in the house.
’

‘Don
’
t forget the workmen will be about the place come Monday,
’
Julia warned her. ‘Surely, what there isn
’
t room for in the wardrobe and drawers—and I think you
’
ll find the drawers will hold more than you think—you can leave in one of your cases and the cases can be kept on the berth not in use.
’

‘Leave my clothes in a suitcase?
’
Celia echoed. ‘I couldn
’
t possibly do such a thing
!’

Julia couldn
’
t see why not and was beginning to wonder whether the other girl was being difficult deliberately.

‘
Well, I
’
m sorry, but I
’
ve offered you the best I can. I
’
ll leave you to it,
’
she declared firmly.

Fortunately she had put her pony-skin coat in a polythene cover. There was nowhere in the saloon to hang it, so she took it across to the office and hung it there on its coat-hanger. She did not go straight back to the houseboat, she lingered on the quayside and gazed down river where at this time of the evening the water was still and the reflections barely distinguishable from the original. It was so beautiful here. She would never, normally, want to leave it.
‘
Home is where your heart is,
’
her father had quoted. Her heart was here with Roger, but if he belonged to someone else—