The Marriage Wheel (12 page)

Sir Adrian Dillinger, who had a charming and friendly face, and an equally warm and almost naive voice, also put his head in at the car window and
spoke to her.

“
You should have come and had lunch with us,
”
he said.
“
Why didn
’
t you bring her, Humphrey?
”
he demanded, looking over his shoulder.
“
She would have been very welcome! And it
’
s so seldom nowadays that we see anyone really young
...
”
He bent lower and spoke in Frederica
’
s ear:
“
Our family, you know—all married and gone away to homes of their own,
”
he told her sadly.
“
It
’
s not often we see any of them nowadays!
”

Lady Dillinger, too, lamented the fact that nowadays there were just the two of them, and it was a bit lonely sometimes. But she was more cheerful about it than her husband, who looked so chronically wistful that Frederica felt really sorry for him.

The afternoon sunlight was falling mellowly all about them, and the great trees that bordered the drive looked infinitely attractive with their deep green tops moving gently against the deep blue of the sky. There was a scent of roses in the air, and scented peonies, and on all sides of the house the well-cared-for velvety lawns looked like velvety skirts spread out to get the benefit of the afternoon sunshine. Frederica, who had hardly noticed the house before, took a quick look at it now and decided that this was a very charming ho
u
se, and it belonged to two very charming elderly people.

“
I hope you did have some lunch, my dear,
”
Lady Dillinger said to her through the window.
“
Garside always looks after visiting staff, and I hope he looked after you?
”

“
I—er—yes, thank you,
”
Frederica replied, without realising exactly what it was she said. And then truthfulness supervened and she corrected any wrong impression she might have made.
“
I had some chocolate and apples
...
I don
’
t always eat lunch,
”
she added hurriedly,
“
especially when I
’
m driving a car.
”

Lestrode
’
s hostess looked quite shocked.
“
Chocolate and apples?
”
she echoed. Then she glanced at the girl
’
s slim and diminutive figure.
“
Oh, I see,
”
she said, as if she suddenly understood, but was by no means certain that she ought to approve.
“
You young people nowadays
...
you like to think of your figures!
”

Lestrode spoke up in a blunt and decisive manner.
“
If Wells devotes much more of her time to dwelling on her figure she
’
ll fade away,
”
he said.
“
And I
’
ll have to get myself another chauffeur!
”
He took his seat in the back of the car.

“
Home, Wells,
”
he said, and Lady Dillinger was left looking slightly bewildered on the drive, while Sir Adrian frankly frowned.

Frederica negotiated the many bends in the drive smoothly and without incident, and waited for the storm to break in the back of the car.

It did so when they were out on the main road again.

“
Chocolate and apples!
”
he scoffed furiously.
“
I suppose you consumed them at the local inn, or did you go farther afield to buy yourself lunch?
”

Frederica answered truthfully:

“
I didn
’
t
...
buy myself lunch,
”
she amplified.
“
I didn
’
t really need any lunch, so I took my chocolate and apples to a nearby wood, and then I
’
m afraid I fell asleep afterwards.
”

“
You—fell asleep?
”

She nodded over the wheel without answering.

“
In my time?
”

“
It wasn
’
t exactly your time,
”
she defended herself.
“
You told me to join the servants in the servants
’
hall, and if I
’
d done that I would simply have been joining in the gossip that went on there, and I don
’
t honestly think you could have complained about that. However,
”
she admitted, with a nervous swallow,
“
I was nearly a quarter of an hour late in picking you up, and for that I do apologise. I
’
m really very, very sorry!
”

There was absolute silence from the back of the car.

She repeated:
“
I
’
m very sorry!
”

Her employer made a noise as if his teeth were clicking together.

“
I suppose, if you were capable of admitting the truth, you
’
d tell me straight out that you
’
re too genteel—or you think you are!—to join the servants in the servants
’
hall,
”
he said coldly and contemptuously.
“
But far from getting mixed up with a gang of gossiping servants at Appleby Manor you would have been almost tenderly taken care of by Lady Dillinger
’
s butler, Garside, and his wife, who are the only two servants who run the place.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Frederica mumbled, watching the speedometer crawling to ninety, and realising blissfully that they hardly seemed to be moving.

“
In future,
”
Lestrode informed her arctically,
“
you will obey my orders when you drive me to visit friends, or anywhere else if it comes to that, and if you ever again waste two good hours of what is legally my time sleeping in a wood on top of a spartan diet of apples and chocolate I
’
ll give you the sack straight away. When I
’
m being driven, either by a man or a woman, I like my chauffeur to be in the peak of condition, and that means that if an emergency arises you
’
ll be capable of coping with it. I doubt whether you would be capable of coping with an emergency this afternoon.
”

Frederica assured him, humbly, that she would.

“
I should have known better than to burden myself with you,
”
he said shortly.
“
If you had half the gentleness and pliability of your sister you might get somewhere, but as it is you are that annoying thing, an independent female
...
and if there
’
s one thing I detest it
’
s an independent female! Fifty years ago you
’
d have been ganging up with suffragettes and tying yourself to railings in order to prove to the world that you
’
re no clinging vine! Nowadays, unhappily, there
’
s no need for you to seek to prove that. It
’
s standing out in prickles all over you, and a certain section of the community would say
‘
Well done!
’
But I do nothing of the kind!
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Frederica breathed again, more humbly than before.

A few minutes later he told her to leave the main road they were pursuing back to Farthing Hall, and turn down a by-lane.

“
The Dower House is about a hundred yards down on your left,
”
he told her.
“
It isn
’
t actually a dower house, but it
’
s called that. It might have been a rectory at some time or other. I bought it when I bought the Hall, and I
’
ve been wondering what to do with it. We
’
ll have a look at it, and you can give me your unbiased feminine opinion-on its possibilities.
”

Frederica could have retorted that she was not supposed to have strictly feminine opinions on anything, but she refrained. Instead she concentrated on negotiating the somewhat difficult track—for a car the size of the Daimler—which branched off the high road, and followed it as far as a pair of white gates which stood open on to a weed-grown drive.

Here she brought the car to rest, as the brambles looked as if they might harm the Daimler, and they made the rest of the way up to the house on foot. As Humphrey Lestrode observed:

“
If anything comes down the lane you
’
ll have to move the car, but I doubt very m
u
ch whether it will. It
’
s an infrequently used road.
”

Frederica
’
s first impression was that the place was far too isolated and closed in by trees to suit either her mother
’
s or her sister
’
s taste. But for herself she found it enchanting. The house had big windows on the ground floor that opened on to a sunny lawn, and there was even a sun-dial in the middle of the lawn which added to its attractiveness. A kitchen-garden and an orchard were badly overgrown, but with a little labour they could be highly productive once more.

Inside the house there was peeling wallpaper and a smell of damp. But here again there were great possibilities
...
beautifully proportioned rooms and at least two Adam fireplaces; a graceful, curving staircase, and light and airy bedrooms. The bathroom accommodation was a little inadequate, but there was a wonderful conservatory on the ground floor. Electra, who rather enjoyed looking after pot plants, might find it amusing pottering about there. But who would do the housework in a house of such size Frederica couldn
’
t think.

“
It
’
s a bit big,
”
she hazarded, as she stood admiring the flowing line of the staircase.

“
Not as big as the Hall,
”
her employer replied, frowning.
“
And Lucille manages to keep that looking fairly spick and span.
”

“
Lucille works too hard,
”
Frederica commented rather sharply—far more sharply than she actually intended.
“
And in any case it isn
’
t properly furnished yet. When it is completely furnished you
’
ll have to get extra staff.
”

“
I stand reproved for expecting too much of poor Lucille,
”
Humphrey Lestrode retaliated drily.

Frederica surveyed him with cool, clear eyes.
“
She really does work very hard, you know,
”
she repeated.
“
It honestly isn
’
t quite fair to expect so much of one willing pair of hands.
”

“
Some people work too hard, and others don
’
t work nearly hard enough,
”
Lestrode observed with a mocking edge to his voice, while he gazed back at her in open amusement.
“
Your sister is like the young lady in the nursery-rhyme who was born to sew a fine seam
...
only I somehow doubt whether she could even do that with a great deal of efficiency. And you don
’
t see her settling down here?
”

“
I never said so,
”
Frederica objected, with somewhat unreasoning resentment.
“
For one thing,
”
she added,
“
I shouldn
’
t think there
’
s any question of her settling down here. The house is vast if you
’
re thinking of making it over to my mother and Rosaleen, and would cost a small fortune to be made really habitable. Of course, once it was habitable it would be adorable.
”