The Marriage Wheel (4 page)

Frederica jammed on her brakes and came to rest beside the taxi, and the taxi-man breathed a fervent sigh of relief because he had been expecting his fare to be run down and blotted out of existence right in front of his eyes.

The indignant fare in question wrenched open the nearside door of the Daimler and looked to Frederica as if he was in a towering rage.

“
What,
”
he demanded, with an obvious constriction—almost certainly due to rage—in his throat,
“
do you think you are doing with my car, young woman? And how dare you let her out at that speed when she
’
s still in the process of being run in?
”

“
Run in?
”
Frederica blinked at him.
“
But a car like this doesn
’
t need to be
run in
’
...
and I
’
m sure I wasn
’
t doing more than ninety, because I was just about to turn
...”

“
Oh, you were, were you?
”
His face was pale with anger.
“
That
’
s very kind of you, I
’
m sure
...
Slight proof that you were not actually making off with the car. And when I say you were doing a hundred and fifty you were doing a hundred and fifty, so please don
’
t argue with me in future!
”

“
N-no, sir.
”
Actual and acute dismay tore through Frederica, and she hardly knew how she answered him. No need to ask who he was. Even the taxi-man was sitting there behind his wheel looking as if a time-bomb was about to go off at any moment, and he perfectly understood the reason why. The one thing the taxi-man had been appalled about was the request that he should pursue the Daimler before it made its turn, and as he had pointed out to the irate owner, a vintage car with the eccentricities of his vehicle simply did not travel in the wake of anything that was capable of speed. It managed to do the journeys to and from the station, but almost everything left it behind.

“
I
’
m terribly sorry, sir,
”
Frederica breathed, after moistening her lips.

“
You haven
’
t yet explained what you
’
re doing in the car. This fellow Wilkins says he drove you to the Hall yesterday. Are you a friend of Lucille?
”

“
No.
”
Her tongue flickered once more over her bottom lip.
“
I—I
’
ve been engaged to drive you, sir!
”

“
To—drive me?
”

To say that he reeled back and clasped his head would have been an exaggeration; but there was no doubt about it, he had seldom been more surprised in his life. For a long moment he stared at her in absolute incredulity, and then to her horror he said curtly:

“
You
’
re joking, of course.
”

“
I
’
m not joking, Mr. Lestrode,
”
she replied.
“
I
’
ve been engaged to act as your chauffeur, and I was engaged by the agency to whom you applied for someone to be sent to Farthing Hall as quickly as possible—someone with the right sort of qualifications. And I—I happen to possess the right sort of qualifications,
”
she added, in what sounded in her own ears like a slightly defiant whisper.

Humphrey Lestrode turned to the taxi-man and ordered him, in a bleak voice, to put his luggage in the Daimler. He appeared to have quite a quantity of it, and it was all very expensive luggage, with the rather worn appearance that luggage acquires when it travels continually about the globe, and is handled sometimes with care and sometimes with extreme carelessness. Every piece had the letters H.V.L. painted on it in large black letters, but it appeared to have escaped being plastered with hotel labels ... no doubt because Mr. Lestrode was too fastidious to permit this sort of thing.

Mr. Lestrode himself was tall and dark, with well-cut features and cold eyes. They were not hard eyes, and it was impossible to determine their colour until one got to know him rather well; but Frederica understood that the annoyance that dwelt in them at the moment was the result of a sudden shock. He was profoundly disturbed, and at small pains to hide the fact, and it lent to the shapely curve of his lips a definitely harsh curl, and seemed to throw into prominence the rigid line of his jaw.

“
You
’
d better slide over into the other seat, and I
’
ll take the wheel,
”
he said.
“
I
’
m a little tired after travelling all the way from Manchester, but this car happens to be a very recent purchase of mine, and I prefer to drive it myself rather than have it smashed up somewhere between here and the Hall.
”

Frederica heard herself expostulate in a stammering voice:

“
B-but I
’
m perfectly capable
...”

“
Move over.
”
His tone was bleaker than ever, and there was definitely an adamantine quality about the line of his jaw. He paid Wilkins his fare, and the taxi-man ventured to glance sympathetically at the girl. He had thought her a very nice young woman the day before, but was surprised to learn she considered herself capable of piloting someone like Mr. Humphrey Lestrode about. If only he
’
d known earlier he could have warned her what to expect.

“
Thank you very much, sir!
”
Wilkins climbed back into his ancient taxi, and Mr. Lestrode waited until he had removed the offending sight of it from his line of vision before starting up the Daimler and moving off effortlessly in the direction of Farthing Hall. Frederica sat very still beside him, biting her lips so hard that they bled a little, and wondering whether he was always as impossible as this and why Lucille had not had the sense to warn her in advance.

If only she had said,
“
He
’
ll never let you drive that car
...”
then she would have known what to do. She would have realised that she had made a big mistake and returned to London by the
mor
ning
train—before being humiliated like this.

“
I shall have to have a word with that agency,
”
Mr. Lestrode remarked as he drove.
“
They should never have sent you down here without letting me know beforehand that you were a chit of a girl. Standards may be slipping nowadays, but I
’
m accustomed to adequate service when I
’
m expected to foot the bill for it. Just let them submit a bill to me for this little lapse of—ordinary common sense!
”

Frederica went on biting her lip.

“
You can
’
t possibly object to me simply and solely because I
’
m a—girl,
”
she said.

“
Can
’
t I?
”
He glanced at her momentarily sideways as if for an instant she amused him.
“
Then I
’
m afraid you don
’
t know me, my dear young lady. I can object to anything if I feel that my reasons are good enough
...
and a girl of your size at the wheel of a car like this is quite ridiculous! Besides, you
’
re a mere infant. You may be able to manage a Mini, but I wouldn
’
t like to be your passenger.
”

“
I was not driving carelessly when you saw me just now.
”

“
That
’
s a matter of opinion!
”

“
I
’
d just got the feel of the car
...
really got the feel of it, I mean! This morning, when I took it out for the first time, I thought the gears were a little stiff, and I got the local garage man to look at them—
”

“
Oh! So you took it out this morning!
”
His face went black as a thundercloud.
“
While I was innocently having my breakfast on the London train you were threatening my newest acquisition!
”

“
It was not as early as that,
”
she pointed out truthfully; and then wondered why she bothered to make such a stupid observation when it opened the door to yet another conversation.

“
Oh! So you were still in bed, were you? You
’
re not an early riser? Let me tell you that when I employ either a man or a woman I expect them to work hard for the salary I pay them! Under no circumstances do I permit slack behaviour, so it
’
s perhaps fortunate for you that I shall not be adding you to my pay-roll.
”

“
Yes, it is, isn
’
t it?
”
she agreed, with a meekness that was born of sudden absolute depression.

The car was behaving beautifully under his hands, and he was such a confident driver that he was able to spare her a second sideways glance
...
rather a thoughtful one this time.

“
By the way, what is your name?
”
he asked abruptly.

“
Frederica Wells.
”

“
And how old are you? Nineteen?
”

“
I shall be twenty-three next birthday.
”

“
A great age,
”
he observed,
“
but not old enough to be entrusted with anything belonging to me.
”
They turned in at the gates of Farthing Hall.
“
In any case, if I employed you I couldn
’
t call you Wells
...
and Frederica is an impossible name. It would have to be plain Fred.
”

“
My sister calls me Freddy,
”
she confessed with the same air of dejection and meekness.

“
Oh, so you have a sister! And what is her name?
”

“
Rosaleen.
”

“
Ye gods!
”
he exclaimed.
“
Any other sisters?
”
“
No. There are just the three of us—my mother, my sister and I.
”

“
And did your mother bestow your Christian names upon you?
”

“
I believe so. She is called Electra
...
and she likes people to call her Electra.
”

The car swerved for a moment, and as they were travelling at considerable speed along the drive she felt justified in uttering a faint gasp of alarm.

“
Sorry,
”
he apologised carelessly,
“
but I
’
ve never known any woman struggling with the disadvantage of being called Electra wishing to be known by that name.
”

Frederica felt an upsurge of genuine indignation.
“
Ah, but you haven
’
t met my mother,
”
she reminded him icily.

“
That is perfectly true. And I would say at this precise moment that there is little or no likelihood of my ever meeting her. However, I
’
m inclined to agree with you that your family
’
s
penchant
for unusual Christian names is their affair.
”

They came to rest at the foot of the front door steps, and he addressed her carelessly over his shoulder.

“
I
’
m sorry you
’
ve come all this way for nothing, Miss Wells. Naturally, I shall see to it that you
’
re not out of pocket. Before you leave here tomorrow I shall pay you one week
’
s salary and give you your fare back to London.
”

A muscle at the
corner
of her mouth quivered.
“
Then you
’
re quite determined not to employ me, although you haven
’
t asked me any questions relating to my previous experience, or bothered about previous references, or anything of that sort? You prefer to accept it that the agency who sent me here was behaving incompetently?
”

“
I do.
”

“
And there is not even a—a faint possibility that you
’
ll give me a trial?
”

“
I
’
m afraid not. Having witnessed the manner in which you handled this car I
’
m counting my lucky stars that my train got in from London when it did.
”

She stumbled awkwardly out on to the drive, and in the whole of her life she had never felt so abashed and humiliated—and at the same time so silently resentful.

“
Very well, Mr. Lestrode,
”
she choked.

“
Of course, you don
’
t have to leave here until the morning,
”
he said quite kindly, surveying the gleaming instruments on the dashboard in front of him with an air of pleasure and pride. He even patted the wheel as if that in itself afforded him a great deal of satisfaction.
“
I
’
m sure Lucille will fix you up with some dinner tonight, and perhaps in the morning you
’
ll get your own breakfast—I don
’
t like my staff to be overworked.
”
He glanced at her briefly.
“
You
’
ll find an envelope addressed to you on the hall table in the morning. Goodbye, Miss Frederica Wells!
”