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ter of each agent and made recommendations.
Reading the words which had been scribbled in those
languorous seas between one coral outcrop and the next,
Pat could see Simon very dearly. In khaki drill with a
helmet tipped over his eyes against the tropic sun, his mouth
straight and secretive, his skin a shade or two darker than
it was at the moment. Elusive and enigmatic, scornful of
people who dung, frightened, to the fringes of civiliza-
tion.
Try as she might, it was impossible to visualize him at
Craigwood. The great house might hold memories of his
boyhood with Richard; fleetingly he might recapture some
of the affection he must have had for the place. But Pat
was quite sure that the Simon Leigh who had returned
from the South Seas and the war-torn Far East was an
entirely different being from the man who had set out
a few years ago. That younger man had been passionately
in love; (he present Simon had an element of granite in his
nature which discounted human relationships. Pat was
pretty sure he would never be in love again.
To Marion, she voiced some of these conjectures.
"I know what you mean," Marion said. "You get the
impression that nothing, no one, could hurt or delight him;
Up to a point that's true, I think. Outwardly he was always
50
invulnerable, bat I rather thought his was the sort of im°
perviousness which is assumed by certain men who are
capable of deep emotions  a doak." Marion gave that
exasperated sigh. "Time's flitting by, and we'll never get
dose to him in London."
"Possibly not,, but he isn't ready for Craigwood yet."
"How can you tell?"
"I suppose from these notes of his. Only a fortnight
ago he was in Singapore, and I can't imagine a greater
contrast to the Far East as it is today than Manbury. You'll
have to give him time."
"But the weeks pass so quickly, and that office of his
may send him somewhere else and we'll lose sight of him
for years again." Marion laughed and held up crossed
fingers. "We'll hope," she said, "and help hope along
with a persuasive word now and then. By the way, we're
both invited to his flat for dinner on Friday. He's roped
in a retired rear-admiral, or something, to make up the
number."
"But why me?" demanded Pat bluntly. She never wen£
out with Marion except on business.
"Why not you?" countered the other woman calmly.
"If he's needing the companionship of someone young
and feminine, let him have it!"
The topic of Simon was one which quickly became tiring
 not boring, but mentally wearing in its frustration. Pai
was glad to put it away for a while.
That Roy should telephone on Friday was almost inevi-
table. Foolishly, she was beginning to connect Simon with
Roy, to regard the first as a blight on her friendship
with the latter. Fortunately, this time she was prepared,
"So sorry, Roy, I have a duty date tonight."
"And I'm fixed up for the week-end," he groaned. "It'1
have to be lunch today at Giulio's. Meet you there at one?"
It was arranged. Very cautiously, Pat began to, hum to
herself ''as she slipped Simon's notebook, and a batch of
typed sheets into a large manilla envelope and set it
aside till evening. She put on the black suit with a pink
chiffon blouse and planted the black silk cap at its most
becoming angle above her brow.
Roy was waiting in the tiny entrance to Giulio's. Tall an
teren-featureds, with halt the brown-gold of ripe corn and
light brown eyes which had a smile imprisoned in their
depths, he had an air of lively and insatiable anticipation.
He had never really worked in his life. Occasionally he sat in
an office adjacent to his father's and he had travelled round
the Brandon department stores, spending a week here and
a week there, but his role in life seemed to be that of a
decorative spectator. He took part in the world's fun, but
graver issues, he was wont to say, were for graver men.
"Pat, my sweet, you look wonderful," he exclaimed,
regardless of the large, uniformed doorman and others
arriving for lunch. "If you hadn't turned up I'd have
stormed your castle  in spite of Mrs. Leigh. Do you
realize I haven't seen you for more than two months? Two
long, heart-wrenching months!"
It was all very extravagant, but also very pleasant. Roy
was one of those men who seem to have acquired early in
life a special look in the eyes, a perpetual endearment on
the lips, but he was less dangerous than some because danger
mostly lurks in the unknown, and Roy was transparent as
well water.
They were seated at a table for two near a beautifully- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]