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“Nor of me,” Hector replied. ‘In fact, that has rather surprised me. I’d fully expected, when I met her at the airport, that after I’d told her the latest news of Mr Ainslie’s condition, she would want to know why it had happened. But she didn’t.”

“I think that may have been because it didn’t altogether surprise her that he’d been taken ill,” Meg said slowly. “You remember, I told Dr Muir that we’d both been worried about his health.”

“Yes, I do remember,” Hector acknowledged. “And I think you’re probably right about your aunt. None the less, she’ll have to know. Shall I tell her or would you prefer to do that?”

"Well, I’m not looking forward to it,” Meg said frankly. "But on the whole, I think it’s my job, though it may be that she’ll want to talk it over with you afterwards.”

“Quite likely,” Hector agreed. “Now, is there anything else we’ve got to thrash out?”

“I don’t think so,” Then, as she realised that for the first time in their acquaintance the blue eyes were regarding her with—good heavens!—real approval, she felt suddenly shy and stood up hastily. “Thank you very much for letting me interrupt your work.”

“Oh, this!” He stirred up the papers with a disparaging finger. “One is never rid of paper work these days, and some of my tenants are better farmers than they are accountants! We get it sorted out in time, but there are occasions when I feel like going on strike! The trouble is that I prefer an active life to sitting at a desk.”

“It must have been very difficult for you to leave the Navy,” Meg was surprised to hear herself say sympathetically, and instantly wondered if Hector would resent her intrusion into his affairs.

But he showed no signs of doing that.

“It was,” he admitted frankly. “Very difficult. But inevitable, as I’d always realised. And for all the petty irritations, this is a worthwhile job.”

He walked with her to the foot of the stairs which led to the flat and explained to her that normally a panel which slid across to hide them was kept closed.

“But it’s perfectly easy to open from either side,” he told her, and demonstrated the way in which the controlling mechanism worked. But as Meg walked upstairs, she realised that he was still standing there watching her. At the top, she turned and lifted her hand in salute. Hector responded in the same way and then she heard the gentle swish of the panel as it closed.

*

“And now,” Aunt Ellen said that night as they prepared for bed. “I’d like to hear the whole story from the very beginning—and don’t try to spare my feelings by leaving anything out!”

So, as simply and explicitly as she could, Meg did just that, and except for an occasional extremely pertinent question, Aunt Ellen didn’t interrupt her. Even when the story was ended, she didn’t speak immediately.

“What a chapter of accidents!” she said at last. “And yet almost inevitable. The trouble is, of course, that in one way at least Hector and Andra are alike.”

“Aunt Ellen!” Meg was genuinely surprised at that and, perhaps less understandably, a little indignant, though she could not have said exactly why.

“Oh yes, they are,” Aunt Ellen insisted. “They’re both men who are accustomed to be in complete control of their own quarterdeck—though that’s a phrase which is perhaps more appropriate in Hector’s case than Andra’s. But what I mean is that both of them have been used for many years to have the right to give orders and to have them obeyed—or else! ”

“Yes, of course, that’s true,” Meg acknowledged. ’“And you think—?”

“I’m perfectly certain,” Aunt Ellen told her energetically. “Think of yourself. But that’s where one comes to the significant difference between them. When Hector left the Navy, he took over the care of Heronshaw. You might say that he simply exchanged one command for another. But in Andra’s case it’s different. He gave up the life of authority to which he was accustomed and in its place what had he to put? Absolutely nothing! From being a Somebody, he became a Nobody in a single day. And I very much doubt if he stopped to think what that meant. In fact, from what you’ve told me, he most certainly didn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to give orders on another man’s quarterdeck —and while we’re on the subject, can you imagine what would have happened if someone had tried to defy Andra’s authority in a hospital? Fireworks, to say the least of it!”

“Yes,” Meg had to admit for a second time. “That’s true.”

“I think so,” Aunt Ellen replied so firmly that it was clear she really had no doubts on the matter. “Then if you add to that the fact that not only is Hector a much younger man than Andra but also that, as a lad, he had the reputation for being a handful and I suppose it’s small wonder that he put Andra’s back up when he started laying down the law.” She paused. “On the other hand, younger man though he is, Hector was within his rights—and he had every reason to resent being ordered about on his own land by a man who lad clearly lost his temper. And don’t think I’m being disloyal to Andra in saying that. This is a state of affairs where facts have got to be looked at squarely. Andra was a peppery-tempered person in his young days. Later, he learned to control that. But recently he hasn’t been a well man, and one sign of it was that on occasions he reverted to his earlier pepperiness.”

“If only Sir Hector had told Uncle Andra who he was—” Meg mourned.

“I doubt if that would have helped,” Aunt Ellen said drily. “Andra had already made it clear that whatever the rule might be about other people, he expected special treatment. If he’d realised earlier who Hector was, he’d have pressed that claim more strongly than ever! And of course, it’s perfectly true. If you make an exception in one case, other people expect a similar concession. What a pity it all started that way! Worse was almost certain to follow. And then, the muddle Agnes made over that telephone call—” she sighed deeply. “Well, we’ll have to get it patched up somehow or other —and you must admit that since Andra collapsed, Hector has gone out of his way to do everything possible to help. Oh well, there it is. I think you’re right in thinking I’m the best person to put Andra in the picture and in saying that we must wait until Mr Messiter and Dr Muir say that can be done. And now, we really must go to sleep or we’ll be fit for nothing tomorrow!”

But before sleep came to them, Aunt Ellen had one more thing to say.

“About Nanny,” she said suddenly just as Meg was drowsing off. “I’ve a feeling that something you’ve said about her is important because it would put everything into perspective so that there would be no need to resort to this unpleasant combination of witchcraft and vandalism for explanations. But—” she yawned prodigiously, “I really am too tired to work it out now. Don’t let me forget, though. I think it’s got something to do with how long Nanny was in hospital before she died.” And silence settled down on the room.

Jeremy had kept his promise to have Meg’s car brought to Heronshaw House. It had been put in the old coachhouse which was now used as a garage, and when Meg went to get it out she realised that Jeremy himself must have brought it over, because lying on the driver’s seat was a message from him scribbled on a sheet tom from the back of his diary.

“I’d hoped to see you—that’s why I brought the car over myself,” he had written. “Partly because I wanted to assure myself that you’re a free agent and partly because there’s something else I want to tell you. It’s rather important, so will you ring me up to say when and where we can meet? I’d appreciate it very much, Meg.

Jeremy.”

Meg read it through a second time and then put it into her handbag, but for some minutes she sat thinking it over and came to the conclusion that she wished Jeremy hadn’t written it—in fact, that he had kept out of a situation which was surely complicated enough without the further addition of someone who felt so much animosity towards Hector. A free agent, indeed! What did he think Hector had done? Kidnapped her, to say nothing of Aunt Ellen! It was absurd—and yet, even as she rejected such an idea, she decided that she wouldn’t ring him up from here. She would do so either from a public call box or perhaps from the hospital itself when she drove Aunt Ellen there during the afternoon. Yes, that might be the better idea, because in any case it would be only tactful to leave her aunt and uncle alone together for a while.

Actually, an even simpler way of getting in touch with him presented itself.. Some of the items had been left out of the order for groceries which had been delivered and as there was only one delivery a week from the shop, and Hector was not available, Meg volunteered to collect the missing articles, an offer which was gratefully accepted.

“Don’t worry if I’m gone a fairish time,” she remarked casually as she was leaving. “I’ll probably come back a roundabout way so that I can see a bit more of the countryside.”

Both Aunt Ellen and Mrs Laidlaw accepted that without question, which made Meg feel rather guilty. What she had told them was true enough, but all the same, she had stooped to subterfuge in order to see Jeremy without anyone knowing. And that was really rather absurd. After all, even if Hector and he didn’t hit it off, there was no reason at all why she should take sides. She was entirely neutral—and she had every intention of staying that way.

Her message fulfilled, she drove round by the hotel to find the drive cluttered up with builders’ vans and materials. They had different names on them, but all had Blytheburn addresses. So, though Uncle Andra hadn’t been able to get local firms to undertake the work at Nanny’s cottage, Jeremy could get all the help he needed. For a moment Meg felt rather put out. Then she remembered that the reason Uncle Andra had been given for the refusal had been that they were all too busy. He had regarded that as no more than an excuse, but after all, it might be the simple truth. Jeremy had told her that there was quite a lot of work to be done and no doubt the necessary arrangements had been made long before Uncle Andra had so much as set foot in Blytheburn. Just one more misunderstanding!

She had a little difficulty in finding Jeremy, and when she did eventually run him to earth, he looked surprised at seeing her and, she thought, not entirely pleased— which was odd when his note had been so urgent.

“I didn’t expect you so soon,” he told her.

“Well, I’m sorry if it isn’t convenient,” Meg said rather stiffly. “But it happened to suit me to come this morning rather than this afternoon.”

“You mean Heronshaw is out of the way and you were able to sneak out?” Jeremy suggested, a note of unmistakable triumph in his voice.

“No, I don’t mean anything of the sort,” Meg retorted crossly. “Simply, this morning I had to go to the village anyhow, whereas this afternoon I’m driving Aunt Ellen to the hospital and it’s impossible to say when we’ll get away. Nothing more sinister than that, I do assure you! ”

“Oh—I see.” Jeremy looked considerably deflated and Meg, though she felt rather sorry for him, made the most of the opportunity for getting this silly obsession of his cleared up as quickly as possible.

“Jeremy, what is this absurd bee you’ve got in your bonnet about me not being a free agent?” she demanded, and instantly saw that she had put Jeremy on the defensive.

“Is it so absurd?” he asked belligerently. “I don’t think so—after what’s happened.”

“After what’s happened?” Meg repeated. “Just what do you mean by that?”

“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know!” Jeremy retorted scornfully. “I know—and you ought to by now— that Heronshaw isn’t likely to be a good friend to you or your family!”

“And just what do you know?” Meg asked coolly.

“Too much to be gulled into thinking that a man like Heronshaw is capable of behaving with disinterested kindness,” Jeremy insisted grimly.

“Go on,” Meg said as he paused.

“Oh, all right, if you want chapter and verse,” Jeremy shrugged impatiently.

“I do,” Meg told him bluntly.

“Well, to begin with, can you deny that right from the beginning, Heronshaw’s treatment of your uncle was both unpleasant and obstructive?”

“No, I can’t,” Meg said calmly. “Any more than I can deny that Uncle Andra asked for it!”

“What!” Jeremy looked utterly dumbfounded. “That doesn’t sound like you, Meg. Surely, in loyalty to your uncle—”

“It isn’t a question of loyalty. It’s a question of
fact”
Meg retorted firmly. “I was there, remember, and I
know
that Uncle Andra lost his temper and began to give orders in a way that Sir Hector resented. In other words, it was a clash of personalities. And if it’s of any interest to you, that’s Aunt Ellen’s opinion as well as mine!”

“Only because you’ve talked her round,” Jeremy insisted. "If she knew the facts from an unbiased point of view—”

“Yours, in other words?” Meg asked with a touch of irony.

"Mine, certainly,” Jeremy admitted. “But if you claim to be basing your opinions on fact, then heavens above, so do I! Look, Meg, I saw your uncle immediately after that phone call. You didn’t So you’ll have to accept it that I’ve never in all my life seen a pleasant, friendly soul like Mr Ainslie so upset. He was beside himself—”

“Yes, I’m quite sure that’s true,” Meg admitted.

“And immediately after that, he went to see Heronshaw,” Jeremy resumed triumphantly. “So it’s obvious that the call was something to do with Heronshaw—even that it was he who made it!”

“No,” Meg assured him. “You’re wrong on both counts.”

“Rubbish!” Jeremy declared scornfully. “It must have been!”

“You’re jumping to conclusions—which is just what Uncle Andra did,” Meg told him crisply. “The call was from someone who isn’t used to telephoning and it was to pass on a message from the builder to say that he wouldn’t be able to keep his appointment yesterday. Evidently Uncle Andra didn’t get the message clearly and he assumed that Sir Hector was to blame—”

“As, of course, he was!” Jeremy declared impatiently. “Really, Meg, if you were taken in by a palpable excuse like that, your head needs examining! Heronshaw was simply trying to avoid any responsibility for your uncle’s collapse—”

“The real reason why Mr Jeavons couldn’t come was that his wife was injured in a car accident on her way to see their daughter and naturally, he had to go to her,” Meg told him with ominous calm. “And to blame Sir Hector for that would be as illogical as blaming you because the local people had turned Uncle Andra down earlier.”