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registrar, catching up with his private patients at his
consulting-rooms. It was only when he had dealt sat-
isfactorily with all these things that he permitted
himself to think about Eulalia. She would have
moved by now, of course. He phoned Mr Willett and
was told that, yes, Eulalia had taken up residence at
Ivy Cottage. She would be going to see Mr Willett
some day next week. 'She has, I hear, made the place
very attractive, knows exactly what she wants and
goes after it. Very like her grandmother,' added Mr
Willett drily.
Ursula, peevish at Mr van Linssen's determination
to keep his handsome nose to the grindstone, had
taken herself off with friends to the south of France,
so he felt free to plan a day's outing to Brokenwell.
He had to explain to Peter why he hadn't answered
his letter, besides that he had a present for him.
102 FATE TAKES A HAND
It was a fine morning when he set out, and the
traffic was heavy since it was a Saturday; all the
same, he drew up at Ivy Cottage soon after ten
o'clock. Peter, hanging out of his bedroom window,
saw him at once and raced downstairs. 'Aunt Lally,
he's here, I knew he'd come...' He opened the cot-
tage door and flung himself at Mr van Linssen,
which gave Eulalia time to peer into the little look-
ing-glass in the kitchen and deplore her shining nose
and untidy head of curls, but there was no time to
do more than switch off the iron and go to meet him.
Her, 'Good-morning, Mr van Linssen,' was pleas-
antly friendly and was answered by his cheerful,
`Hello, Eulalia,' and a quick kiss on her cheek.
She ignored that, aware that her heart was thump-
ing far too loudly. 'How did you know where we
were?'
`Your landlord gave me the forwarding address.'
He was a truthful man, but the lie slipped off his
tongue without trouble; if he told the truth he would
involve Mr Willett, who would never forgive him.
`Well, now you're here,' said Eulalia in a cool
voice, 'will you have a cup of coffee? Trottie's shop-
ping she will be back presently and will be glad to
see you.' She went a little pink at his amused look,
and added clumsily, 'Well, we are all glad to see
you. Do come in.'
`Thank you, but first I have something for Peter.'
He went back to the car, and when he turned round
there was a small puppy under his arm.
CHAPTER FIVE
`I HAD your letter, Peter and thank you for it. I had
to go to Holland for a while and had no chance to
answer it, and when I got back I had rather a lot of
work to do. I hope this little fellow will recompense
you for your disappointment.'
`A puppy,' shouted Peter. 'For me? For my very
own? I can keep him?'
Mr van Linssen put the little creature into Peter's
arms. 'If Eulalia will allow you to keep him, he's
yours.'
The puppy peered from under his arm, his round
eyes wary. He was of no known breed, with large
ears and a rough black coat with a white shirt-front.
Eulalia reflected that Mr van Linssen hadn't put a
foot wrong; someone less understanding might have
turned up with a pedigree pup, but he had known
just the kind of dog a small boy would want. She
said quietly, 'Of course Peter may have him, it's one
of his dreams come true. He's a darling little dog.'
She watched the small creature in Peter's arms,
wriggling a little and then licking the small hand
which held him. 'He likes me,' said Peter in a sat-
isfied voice. 'Thank you very much, Mr van Linssen,
103
104 FATE TAKES A HAND
he's just exactly what I would have chosen. Has he
got a name?'
`Not yet, that's for you to decide, isn't it? I've
brought his basket with me, and there's a little book
telling you how to feed him and take care of him...'
He was still standing at the door, and Eulalia said
quickly, `Do please come in.'
`Thank you, and coffee would be delightful. I'll
get the basket first, shall I?'
He came back from the car with it, carrying a box
too. 'I wasn't sure whether you could get the right
food, so I brought some with me.'
He followed her into the cottage with Peter keep-
ing close, cuddling the puppy.
Trottie, returning from her shopping trip, came up
behind them.
`Well, this is a lovely surprise. Sit yourself down,
love coffee's soon ready, and one of my cakes.
Come far, have you?'
He bent to kiss her cheek. 'What a lovely warm
welcome,' he observed, and Eulalia blushed. She had
been lacking in manners; he must think her rude.
She said on an impulse, 'I'm sorry I wasn't more
welcoming, Mr van Linssen, I I was surprised.'
Trottie had gone to fetch the coffee and Peter had
gone into the garden with the puppy. Mr van Linssen
loomed over her. 'Oh, good I thought for a moment
that your strong feelings had got the better of you
and you were going to show me the door.'
BETTY NEELS 105
`That's absurd, besides, you brought the puppy
and made Peter so happy.'
He smiled a little. 'And you, Eulalia, are you
happy?' He looked around the comfortable little
room. 'This is a charming little cottage, a far cry
from Cromwell Road. Did you win the pools? The
letter I had from Peter left me rather in the dark.'
She was very conscious of his nearness. 'It seems
that I had a great-uncle in Australia, who left me the
cottage and quite a lot of money there isn't anyone
else in the family, you see. I'd never heard of him,
but he has my eternal thanks.' She drew rather a
defiant breath. 'I'm going to open a shop a flower
shop.'
`What a splendid idea. Here in the village?'
She nodded. Not just yet, of course, but I'll have
to make a living of some sort later on. There are any
number of large houses scattered around, if I could
get them interested, and there'll be weddings and
funerals.'
He didn't say what he thought about her plans but
bent and kissed her cheek very gently. 'I'm so glad
you have had good luck for a change.' He moved
away from her and added lightly, 'You don't mind
me calling? I had to put matters right with Peter, but
I promise you I won't bother you again.'
Before she could answer that, Trottie came in with
the coffee. 'You'll stop for lunch,' she told him, and
didn't look at Eulalia. 'Cold chicken and a salad and
jacket potatoes, and an apple pie for afters.'
106 FATE TAKES A HAND
`Delicious. Thank you, Miss Trott, I should like
that very much. And how do you like this village?'
`Bless you, love, I was born here, know every
stick and stone in it, not to mention them as lives
here.'
`Indeed?' He turned an enquiring face to Eulalia.
`So that is why you decided to come and live here.
I suppose you could have sold the cottage and found
something else.'
She handed him a slice of cake on a plate. 'As a
matter of fact, I lived here too,' she told him. Her
manner dared him to ask more questions.
He looked politely surprised. 'Well, well, that
must be delightful for you. The village is well away
from the main roads, isn't it?'
They discussed the surrounding countryside for a
while until he said, 'May I find Peter and talk to him
about the puppy? He's a bright little boy, but I'd
better explain feeding times and so on.'
He took himself off to where Peter sat with his
new companion, eating cake, sharing the slice be-
tween them. The garden was still unkempt and over-
grown, but Peter had found an old wooden bench
and Mr van Linssen sat down beside him. The bench
groaned under his weight but didn't collapse, and the
pair of them stayed there until Trottie called them in
for their lunch.
`Wash your hands,' she warned them. 'There's our
nice bathroom so you've no excuse.'
Mr van Linssen, meekly doing as he was told,
BETTY NEELS 107
looked around him. It was a very basic new bath-
room, he considered, but Eulalia seemed to be man-
aging very well. The cottage was repaired and
painted but she hadn't wasted money on unnecessary
furbishing. He wasn't sure about her plans for a
flower shop, but it would be best not to mention it
at the moment he was, after all, supposed to have
only a passing interest, and when he had said that he
wouldn't come to see her again she hadn't replied...
He left shortly after their meal, saying all the right
things to Trottie and kissing her elderly cheek, shak-
ing hands with Peter and bidding Eulalia a coolly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]