The Wedding Dress (17 page)

She was free at last, however, and resolutely telling herself that this time she must not be deflected from her purpose, she ran downstairs and through the gay boutique where Marcelle was painstakingly putting away stock.

“
He is still there,
”
she said over her shoulder, but whether in congratulation or warning, it was hard to say.

“
I don’t see him.
”
Loraine gave a quick glance through the boutique window, but there was no sign of Paul’s car anywhere.

“
There
—
in the big grey Daimler, right opposite the door.
”
Marcelle left her work and came to stand beside Loraine and point out the car.

“
That
car? But Paul’s car is
—
Oh!
”

Suddenly the color flooded into Loraine’s face and her heart began to beat fast and unevenly. For the man who was waiting in the grey Daimler was not Paul. It was Philip.

CHAPTER
NINE

“
PHILIP!
”

Hardly waiting to call goodnight to Marcelle, Loraine wrenched open the door of the boutique and ran out to the waiting car.

“
Oh, Philip, how wonderful that you’ve come!
”
She bent down to greet him through the open window.
“
At least—
”
Suddenly she remembered that he might have come in a mood of grim inquiry rather than friendly reconciliation, and her smile faded anxiously
—
”
at least, I hope it is.
”

“
Why shouldn’t it be?
”
He smiled at her in the old way, as he opened the door, and she felt her heart warm almost physically, as though it literally basked in the rays of that glorious moment.
“
Come on
—
I’m taking you to supper, and I’m not even listening to any excuses.
”

“
You won’t have to,
”
she informed him happily, as she slipped into the seat beside him.
“
Oh, Philip, what a lovely surprise!
”

“
But I sent up word that I’d be waiting for you. Didn’t you get the message?
”
he inquired.

“
Yes. But you were just described as a very charming
English monsieur. I thought
—
”

“
What did you think
—
with your long trail of admirers?
”
he wanted to know, but his tone was the half teasing, half affectionate one she loved.

“
I thought
—
it was Paul,
”
she explained apologetically.

“
I see.
”
But there was no suggestion in his voice that the mention of Paul awoke either fury or dismay.
“
I trust I’m not a disappointment.
”

“
No,
”
she said simply.
“
I was so glad it was you that I even forgot you might still be angry with me.
”

“
I was not angry with you at any time, Loraine,
”
he informed her. And she thought there was a slight emphasis on the
‘
you ’, which suggested all sorts of interesting implications.

“
Not after that dreadful scene in the fitting-room, when Madame Moisant snatched me away before I could even explain my silly behavior?
”

“
I don’t know quite what I felt then,
”
he admitted, frowning even now at the recollection.
“
I was so bewildered and appalled and
—
yes, I was angry, I suppose. But then one tends to be angry when anything hurts a great deal.
”

“
Oh, Philip, I’m so sorry. Did the discovery of my connection with Paul really hurt you
?
”

“
No darling. Not that. It was the feeling of being in some horrible mystery. And I thought at first—Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought now, because it was idiotic of me ever to think of such a thing in connection with you,
”
he declared.
“
But there are still a great many questions I want to ask.
”

“
I’ll answer them all
—
willingly,
”
she told him, with a great sigh of relief.
“
It will be wonderful not to have any secrets any more. I hope we’re going somewhere quiet, where we can talk for ages.
”

“
Leave that to me,
”
he said
—
which she willingly did. And ten minutes later they were seated opposite each other at a corner table, in a quiet, unpretentious little restaurant, where the checked cloths and the thick china did nothing to detract from the delicious food.

“
Now,
”
he smiled at her as though the very sight of her made him contented,
“
the first question is why, for heaven’s sake, did you think it necessary to conceal the fact that you were Paul Cardine’s ward?
”

“
I thought you might not want to see any more of me if you knew.
”

“
But, you absurd child, there was no
harm
in being his ward.
”

“
No. But there could have been a great deal of embarrassment
—
both for him and for you. It wasn’t that I thought you would blame me in any way. It was just that I thought you
—
you might decide it was all too difficult and that the best thing was to
—
drop me as gracefully as possible.
”

“
You don’t think much of me as a friend, do you?
”
He smiled reproachfully at her.

“
I do, Philip, I do! But I couldn’t help seeing how awkward the whole thing could be. Equally, I decided not to tell Paul, in case he forbade me to see you any more.
”

“
Would you have taken any notice, if he had done such a thing?
”
he asked curiously.

“
No. But it might have made things very awkward at home.
”

He laughed at that and said,
“
You’re a darling,
”
in the way he used to before Elinor had complicated the issue.

“
So you trod your tightrope between us, deceiving both of us?
”
He laughed again, but this time with a note of admiration in his voice.

“
I didn’t like deceiving either of you,
”
she said quickly, as she had to Paul. But, unlike her guardian, he grinned sceptically and said:

“
I bet you did! Girls always love a bit of mystery.
”

“
I hated it!
”
she told him almost passionately.
“
And, in the end, I don’t think it served me particularly well, for I had to make excuses not to see you, for fear you should find out.
”

“
How did you think I might find out, Loraine?
”

“
The way you did in the end. By Elinor connecting Paul’s telephone number with me.
”

He looked at her curiously and said,
“
How long had Elinor known about the telephone number?
”

“
I
—
don’t know.
”
She dropped her eyes, for, once more, she felt she could not be the one to expose Elinor’s shabby behavior.
“
You’d better ask her about that, P
hili
p,
”

“
I can’t very well.
”

“
You mean it’s
—
difficult to discuss the whole thing with her?
”

“
No. I mean it’s virtually impossible to discuss anything with her,
”
Philip said calmly,
“
since we broke off our engagement this afternoon.
”

O-oh!’ She glanced up quickly and then down again. And, because convention has a curious compulsion upon all of us, she added,
“
I’m sorry,
”
and then
—
“W
as it about this unhappy business?
”

“
Not entirely. I don’t think we were very well suited anyway, Loraine.
”

“
Perhaps
—
not.
”
She glanced up again, and it struck her, for the first time, that under all that charm and ease of manner, Philip could be curiously hard.

It was not that he looked angry. He merely looked coldly indifferent, as though he had closed a book which had failed to interest him after all.

There was quite a long silence. Then she said, with a rather nervous little laugh:

“
I find it hard to believe that everything has changed so much since Madame Moisant hurried me from the scene. I imagined I should find the greatest difficulty in explaining my motives
—
my behavior
—
to you. I left you looking angry and stunned, and, hardly more than twenty-four hours later, you arrive outside the salon, smiling and full of understanding. Almost as though someone had forestalled me, and told the tale better than I could tell it myself.
”

“
Someone did forestall you, Loraine.
”
He smiled slightly.
“
And
—
yes, made a very good job of telling the story, I suppose.
”

“
Someone?
”
She opened her eyes wide in astonishment.
“
Someone told you the real position? But
—
how could anyone? Do you mean,
”
her admiration for Mrs. Otway’s shrewdness suddenly bounded up,
“
do you mean that your
mother worked it out and convinced you that
—
”

“
No, Not my mother, dear. Your guardian.
”

“
Paul?
You can’t mean it! But he hates
—
”
She put her
hands to her lips.

“
Yes, I suppose he does hate me,
”
agreed Philip, with an air of smiling reflection.
“
He certainly gave no impression of appreciating my special charm .But we were extremely
polite and civilized to each other and
—
”

“
How did you meet?
”
she interrupted incredulously.

“
We didn’t meet
—
if you mean a chance meeting. He rang me up and asked if he could come and see me this morning.
”

“
He
—
did that?
”
she said softly.
“
It must have been a real sacrifice of pride.
”

“
How about my pride
?
”
inquired Philip amusedly.

“
You aren’t proud
—
in the way Paul is. And, anyway, you weren’t the injured party,
”
Loraine retorted, and not until she saw Philip make a slight face did she realize how
determinedly she was identifying herself with her guardian.
“
But it was nice of you to see him,
”
she added quickly.

“
I thought so too,
”
Philip agreed carelessly, and she found herself wondering if he had adopted that smiling, half mocking air towards Paul. Her guardian would have loathed it, she supposed.

“
So Paul made it his business to tell you the true situation.
”
Again she spoke half to herself and, putting her elbows on the table, she cupped her chin in her hands and stared thoughtfully at Philip.
“
You see now why I defended him, that time you told me he was a tough nut.
”

“
I see that you might have felt some sort of family loyalty, as it were,
”
he conceded with a smile.
“
I still see no reason to query the general estimate. He’s not a soft character.
”

“
Not
soft
! Of course not. But he’s kind and imaginative and
—
and sensitive.
”

“
I feel bound to say he didn’t strike me that way,
”
Philip said drily.

“
But don’t you see that it was sensitive of him to realize my distress
—
and both kind and imaginative to go and put things right on my behalf?
”
she said earnestly.

“
I see that you like to explain his action that way,
”
Philip told her indulgently.
“
For my part, I’m more inclined to think he had other motives. Human perhaps, but not quite so pure and sensitive.
”