[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.No wonder she gives me a headache! She’s only a year older than I am, but she treats me like a backward six-year-old.Heaven help that baby if she doesn’t turn out to be a genius!’‘Funny how different your brothers’ tastes in women are,’ Lewis said, smiling.‘Is Janet way out like Gillian, or stately and beautiful like Caroline?’‘Neither.She has long dark hair and very straight brows and she wears glasses and flat shoes.You know,’ she added unexpectedly, ‘I thought at one time you rather fancied Caroline.’Lewis said carefully, ‘Doesn’t everyone? She’s a most attractive woman.’‘I was very upset about it.Of course, I thought it was on Edward’s behalf, but I guess it must have been Noel’s.’‘In any case, you wouldn’t have approved?’‘No,’ she answered quietly, ‘I just couldn’t have borne it.I’m glad it all fizzled out.’He didn’t reply for a moment, then he said diffidently, ‘And what are we going to talk about today?’‘I don’t know.To tell you the truth I feel lazy, not like working at all.’‘Probably due to your disturbed night.’ He paused.‘Are you going to tell me about your midsummer night’s dream?’‘Oh, it was, wasn’t it? I didn’t realize.It was nothing to do with fairies, though.’ She shivered and changed the subject quickly.‘By the way, I bumped into Paul Denver yesterday.He wants me to stop seeing you!’‘Oh! Might I ask why?’‘He doesn’t think you’re good for me.’‘Wise man! I’ve never been good for any woman!’‘Even Noel?’‘Especially Noel, bless her heart.And do you intend to take any notice of Denver’s warning?’‘I can’t, can I?’His eyes moved over her small face tilted to the sun, the delicate bone structure, the curve of her throat.She looked so defenceless and vulnerable, and Noel was so strong—stronger than he himself had ever been.‘No, my dear, I don’t suppose you can.’ Incredibly he felt a small stirring of jealousy.‘Is he in love with you?’Her eyes flew open.‘Paul? Good heavens, no! He bites my head off every time I see him these days!’‘Even so, I think it’s likely that he is.He seems to seek you out a good deal and to have your welfare very much at heart.’ Lewis could find it in his own heart to pity him.‘I think that’s because at first, when I was frightened of you, I told him about it.’‘No wonder he regards me as a sinister influence!’They were silent for a while and the sun slowly moved across the colourless grass.Lewis wondered if she were asleep, but he was perfectly content to relax in the warmth, knowing she was there and occasionally searching her face for hidden signs of Noel.At about six-thirty he brought out the pork pie and a large crusty loaf which he cut into thick slices.There was a strong cheese, pickles and a dish of spring onions, and they ate hungrily.Afterwards, Laura insisted on carrying the dirty dishes into the kitchen and washing them.‘Hardly on a par with the kitchen at Four Winds, is it?’ Lewis said ruefully, watching her wipe down the ancient wooden draining board.‘Hardly, but I feel more at home here.’‘Do you, Laura?’ For a moment he wanted above everything to take her in his arms and kiss her, but already she had moved away and the chance was gone.Slowly he followed her outside again.The sun was off the garden now but its heat still lingered.Laura was standing on the path surveying the weeds and brambles which ran riot.‘You know, you can hire machinery to cut away all this,’ she remarked.‘It’s not worth it.No one ever sees it and anyway it would only come back again.I’m afraid I haven’t the perseverance to be a gardener.’‘Is that a gate in the far wall? I hadn’t noticed it before.’‘Yes, it leads into the wood.Lord knows why.Perhaps the old dears who used to live here went foraging for firewood.’‘Have you ever used it?’‘No, I’m not given to walking in woods.Not alone, anyway!’‘Can we go now and see where it leads? I could do with a bit of exercise.’‘If you like.The trickiest part will be getting out of the garden!’Carefully they manoeuvered the treacherous wild rose thorns and clinging strands of the creepers which matted the undergrowth, and with only a few scrapes and scratches they managed to reach the gate.It was tied together with a fraying piece of rope, hanging drunkenly on broken hinges.Beyond it, the cool dim reaches of Gillet’s Wood stretched silently away.Lewis held the gate up while Laura went through.There was a dusty, barky smell and dried twigs snapped under their feet, startling birds which were pecking in the undergrowth so that they flew upwards with a clattering of wings.‘I wonder how long it is since anyone came along here?’ Laura said softly.‘Lord knows, but I doubt if there’s any need to whisper!’‘It’s almost like being in church.’ She peered upwards into the green cloistered arches of the branches which met overhead.‘Do you think we should leave a trail of pebbles to guide us back, like Hansel and Gretel?’He smiled and took her hand and they walked on some way until they came to a small clearing.Probably his surmise about the firewood had been correct, because an ancient pile of crumbling logs was piled in the centre, overgrown now by moss and wild bluebells.Laura gave a little shiver.‘It’s rather eerie, isn’t it? I wonder if when they, whoever they were, left this place for the last time, they realized it was the last time, or if they were confidently expecting to come back for the rest of the logs the next day.’‘That’s quite a thought.’‘Perhaps it’s as well that so many “last times” come and go without our recognizing them for what they are.’‘Perhaps.’‘Or would the very fact of knowing somehow enable you to take avoiding action and thereby cancel the necessity for its being the last time after all? Paul and I had a conversation along those lines once.’‘Precognition?’‘Yes.For instance, when Mother and I set out on that fatal journey, suppose some inner voice had said, “This is the last journey she’ll ever make.” Obviously we’d never have set out, and perhaps—’ She turned her head away from him and he gripped her hand comfortingly.‘Don’t grieve any more, Laura.She couldn’t have known anything.’After a moment, still with her head averted, she answered shakily, ‘How do we know? She must have known, just for a split second, that she was going to die
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]