The Girl From Over the Sea (5 page)

‘
Students!
’
muttered Rita.
‘
Sauce!
’

The three Australians stared interestedly at the small frail figure. She must be the grandmother, Lesley thought rapidly. But she looked incredibly old and ill with her dark glasses and her white hair. Lesley thought in alarm,
‘
We can
’
t stay upsetting her. I suppose we ought to go.
’

But though she might look old and frail, her voice was high and autocratic as she called out,
‘
Come over here and tell me who you are and what you want.
’

Lesley thought: in for a penny, in for a pound, walked across to where
Mrs.
Trevendone was standing and said,
‘
Our name is Trevendone. We
...
we
’
re the children of Ralph Trevendone for whose whereabouts there were advertisements in Australian papers many years ago.
’

The old woman thumped the floor with her stick.
‘
Those advertisements were sent in against my wishes. My view was that Ralph had taken himself off to Australia when he was nineteen and as he stayed there he must have preferred it to Cornwall. So let him stay
...
’

Behind her, Lesley heard Rita mutter,
‘
Of course he preferred Australia to this cold benighted spot. Who wouldn
’
t?
’
Lesley hoped this rather formidable old person hadn
’
t heard.

She said placatingly, looking anxiously at the tottery old figure around which Miss Yelland was hovering and clucking ineffectually,
‘
Would it be better for all of us to sit down,
Mrs.
Trevendone? Then I could explain.
’

‘
Come in, then,
’
the other said ungraciously.
‘
Yelland, stop fussing and order some coffee. How many are there of you? Another girl and what
’
s this ... a boy?
’

‘
This is Rita, and here is Richard. I
’
m told he looks very much like his
...
like Father. Rick.
’
She turned to the boy and not without a certain grace, Richard sauntered forward. Till now he had remained very much in the background. Lesley, watching, saw
Mrs.
Trevendone
’
s face change, grow rigid as if with shock and then soften into delighted surprise. Obviously she could see through those dark glasses, perhaps more with her mind
’
s eye than with actual vision.

‘
It isn
’
t Ralph he
’
s like,
’
she said in tones of scorn.
‘
It
’
s Jason, my husband. Jason just as he was when we first met and I was attending my first grown-up party.
’

Lesley relaxed slightly. If this elderly member of the family
accepted Richard then the others would probably follow suit.

‘
Come in and tell me everything
,’
Mrs.
Trevendone went on now, swe
e
pingly.
‘
Yelland
...
that coffee,
if
you please.
’

The three followed her into a small beautifully furnished drawing room with a decor of cream and nile green. From the temperature it was obvious that there was some form of central heating, but a log fire burned in the cream-coloured fireplace. Lesley thought it was much too warm, but Rita, drawing near to the fire, still shivered.

‘
Sit down,
’
Mrs.
Trevendone ordered,
‘
and I
’
ll tell you about the Trevendones.
’
She began to talk in a rambling fashion while Lesley with knitted brows listened and tried to piece together what she was saying. She seemed to be the twins
’
great-grandmother with only one son, their grandfather surviving the First World War. He had had two sons, their father Ralph and his brother David.

‘
Now they are both dead,
’
Mrs.
Trevendone said vaguely,
‘
and all that are left are you three, Ralph
’
s children, and Dominic and Jennifer, David
’
s children
...
and me, your great-grandmother, an old, old lady who has outlived all her own friends.
’

Lesley
’
s hands were clenched as she stared at her.
‘
We didn
’
t know
...
didn
’
t realise he
...
our
...
Uncle David was dead. It was
he
whom I
...
we
...
were hoping to meet.
’

What should be her next move? she was asking herself. The man in possession, that cousin Dominic, might be a different proposition from an uncle who would know he had supplanted his brother.

‘
Now let me look at my great-grandson Richard. Come and sit here, young man.
’

One of Ricky
’
s more endearing qualities was that he was good with old people. It seemed to come perfectly naturally to him and now without embarrassment he went over to the old lady
’
s chair and perched on the arm.

‘
You
’
re too high there,
’
she said coquettishly.
‘
Get a
cushion and sit where I can see your face.
’

With the same lazy grace he collected a cushion,
placed
it
near her feet and looked up at her with a smile in his sea blue eyes.
‘
No need to ask whether you
’
re going to be a success with the girls,
’
she said.
‘
You
’
re just like my Jason. You even have his smile, for all you were bo
rn
and bred in that far-away country.
”

With tight lips, Miss Yelland brought in a tray of coffee and proceeded to pour out. Richard and Lesley got up to help her, but Rita, crouching in a chair near the fire, remained where she was. Even when a cup and saucer was placed on a small table beside her she did not stir.

‘
Rita
,’
Lesley said gently,
‘
drink your coffee while it
’
s hot
.’

She wished she had persuaded the girl to stay in bed, she thought in a troubled manner. Then the sound of footsteps in the courtyard caused her to turn to watch a figure passing by the windows of the elegant drawing room.

For a space of seconds it seemed to Lesley that her heart had stopped beating. Then she pulled herself together. Was she becoming completely
obsessed
? It was bad enough dreaming for two nights in succession about him. She surely wasn
’
t going to be so crazy as to start daydreaming as well!

Now she could hear footsteps crossing the great hall
’
and then in the doorway a figure loomed, prete
rn
aturally large to Lesley
’
s horrified eyes. It just wasn
’
t any good her defiant mind saying
‘
Oh no!
’
That didn
’
t make the slightest difference. It was the man to whom the twins now always referred as
‘
the Enemy
.’
And
‘
the Enemy
’
was here, right inside the place which they were hoping to claim as their home.

He was either very good at disguising his expression or he wasn
’
t as surprised as she was. Then in a swift flash, she recalled her grandiose manner at their first meeting when she had given him their address. Trevendone Manor! No wonder he had stared at her so consideringly.

He said,
‘
So it
’
s you
’
—and to Lesley
’
s prejudiced ears his tones seemed to convey the deepest disgust.
‘
You
’
ve arrived
at Trevendone Manor ... at last.’

CHAPTER
II
I

Lesley felt beyond speech and she dared not look in the direction of either twin. She sat motionless as he advanced into the room, followed by Miss Yelland looking unbearably smug.
‘
I sent for you because I thought you were the person to deal with this
...
invasion.
’

He sauntered over to the fireplace with an arrogant composure which revealed that he was very much at home, very much the master of the house, pausing only to lean with a smiling good morning towards old
Mrs.
Trevendone, who had again closed her eyes.

Then looking across to Miss Yelland, he said crisply,
‘
Couldn
’
t you have told these young people that it
’
s not convenient for us to have guests at the Manor just now, Miss Yelland?
’

The companion bridled.
‘
But,
Mr.
Defontaine
...’

Lesley didn
’
t hear the rest of her explanation.
‘
Mr.
Defontaine,
’
she murmured, and then, staring at him,
‘
You aren
’
t Dominic Trevendone?
’

His black brows went up in a surprised stare.
‘
No, madam, I
’
m not Dominic Trevendone. Whatever made you think that I was?
’

Lesley could have replied,
‘
Because you came walking in as if you were the lord and master of all you surveyed.
’
To her it had seemed he couldn
’
t be anyone else and her brain had already been groping for some way of coping with this final disaster. But if he wasn
’
t Dominic the situation wasn
’
t quite as hopeless as she
’
d imagined.

From under her long lashes she gave him a swift glance. He was being just that bit too civil, she thought in deep distrust, and some instinct warned her that the best thing she could do was to sweep the twins in front of her out of the room and immediately get in touch with a good lawyer. She didn
’
t know who this man was, or why he was here, but she was determined to have no dealings with him.

All at once old
Mrs.
Trevendone seemed to wake up. Her face glowed.
‘
Blake, isn
’
t it wonderful! These young people have come all the way from Australia on their own
!
’

‘
Have they indeed?
’
commented
Mr.
Blake Defontaine, his cold glance ranging from Rita, lolling like a sawdust doll on the chair by the fire, through Ricky who had left the cushion at
Mrs.
Trevendone
’
s knees and gone over to stand by Lesley
’
s chair and finally pinned itself on Lesley, who now rose defensively.

‘
Perhaps they will introduce themselves
,’
Mr.
Defontaine went on, his voice like the cold east wind blowing outside. Instead of chilling Lesley, however, it set her temper alight. Her eyes glittered very green and her small chin set very firmly.

‘
I really see no particular reason for introducing ourselves to
you.
Our business here is with the Trevendone family,
Mr.
Dominic actually, and not with any outsider
.’

‘
Outsider?
Mr.
Defontaine?
’
This was from Miss Yelland on
a gasp of outrage.

Blake Defontaine made a gesture which seemed to order her to be quiet. Then he turned back to Lesley.
‘
Mr.
Dominic Trevendone doesn
’
t happen to be here at the moment and. his sister, Miss Jennifer Trevendone, is away from home. .So perhaps
you
’
ll allow me to deputise for them, madam. You spoke of business.
’

Perhaps it was his use of the title
‘
madam
’
that put Lesley at
a disadvantage. She found herself stammering out an explanation,
‘
W
...
we
...
are Ralph Trevendone
’
s family
...’

‘
Really
!
’
His cold eyes ranged over them again.
‘
How odd! Ralph Trevendone was killed in a mine accident in Queensland twenty-five years ago, and I would guess that was before any of you
—any
of you
,’
he repeated, his eyes on Lesley,
‘
was born
.’

Before Lesley could make any answer there was a little sigh just behind her and she turned to see Rita, her slender form bent double, sliding down on to the green carpet.

‘
Rita darling
!
’
Lesley and Rick rushed forward, grasping the girl
’
s shoulders and trying to raise her from the floor. Blake Defontaine followed them to the other side of the chair and Lesley looking up saw him standing there tall and
broad-shouldered
, his dark face a mask of suspicion and disgust.

‘
Is this part of the act?
’
he enquired unforgivably.

Lesley flashed him one look of incredulity. Then her attention was again on Rita, whose hands when she touched them seemed to be burning, and yet who ever since their arrival at St Benga Town had been complaining of feeling cold.

She thought desperately: what are we going to do? She can
’
t be ill in a hotel. I wonder where the nearest hospital is
...
though she
’
ll hate being away from Ricky and me.

Now Miss Yelland approached rather gingerly as if
she was afraid she might catch something. She said, in a thin voice,
‘
The girl looks really ill. Was she all
right when you set out this morning?
’

‘
Help me to get her on to the settee, Ricky
,’
Lesley muttered, ignoring the question. She was blaming herself bitterly that she hadn
’
t insisted that Rita stay in bed and postponing this visit to the Manor.

Now Defontaine sauntered round the chair.
‘
I
’
ll lift her
,’
he said.

With an almost tigerish expression Lesley turned on him, her eyes flashing green.
‘
Leave her alone. Ricky and I will manage. You thought she was acting
.’

‘
I was mistaken
,’
he admitted,
‘
but you
’
ve been up to such queer capers on the other two occasions I
’
ve encountered you that I thought it was another in the series. Now move over
.’

And when Lesley didn
’
t move he pushed her unceremoniously to one side and lifted Rita, putting her down on the settee. He put his thumb on the fainting girl
’
s pulse and turned to Miss Yelland.

‘
Ring up Doctor Statham and ask him to come over as soon as he can. Then get
Mrs.
Piper to prepare a room. See there
’
s an electric blanket and hot water bottles. This girl has a temperature and needs to be kept warm.
’

The companion gulped, looked as if she would like to protest but dare
n’
t and rushed from the room. Old
Mrs.
Trevendone began to cry,
‘
Poor little girl, poor little girl
,’
while Ricky, his face very pale; asked hoarsely,
‘
Lesley, is she going to die?
’

‘
Of course not
,’
Lesley returned robustly, though she had never felt so frightened in her life.
‘
She
’
s probably got
‘
flu. We
’
ll take her back to the hotel and get her to bed
.’

She looked at Blake Defontaine with hostile eyes.
‘
We
’
ll go as soon as she comes round. I
’
ll ask the hotel proprietress
about a doctor.
’

‘
Don
’
t talk like a fool,
’
he told her brutally.
‘
You can
’
t take her out in to this biting wind. Instead of standing there looking self-righteous, come along and get some blankets.
’

Lesley stood rigid until she saw Ricky
’
s face, his dark blue eyes wide and imploring.
‘
All right,
’
she said shortly.
‘
Stay with her, Rick. If she comes round, see if she
’
ll drink some coffee.
’

‘
Do nothing of the kind,
’
interrupted the intolerably interfering
Mr.
Defontaine.
‘
Wait till the doctor comes and he
’
ll tell us what to give her.
’

Lesley took a deep breath but decided against further speech. The main thing was to get Rita warm, so blankets were a first priority. In the hall, Miss Yelland was standing by the big oak desk telephoning and a motherly-looking, middle-aged woman was coming from the other end.

The man said something to her, and the woman turned to Lesley and beckoned her to follow up the further of the oak staircases.
‘
I
’
m
Mrs.
Piper, the housekeeper, miss,
’
she said with a pronounced Cornish accent.
‘
I
’
ll soon have a room ready for you and the young lady, but I
’
ll give you a couple of blankets to put round her now. When she
’
s wa
rm
she
’
ll soon come round, I reckon.
’

Lesley followed her down a scarlet-carpeted corridor right to the end where there was a linen store.
Mrs.
Piper picked out two pale pink blankets, beautifully thick and soft, and bound with wide satin ribbon.

‘
If you can manage the young lady, I
’
ll get the bedroom ready,
’
she said.
‘
Now don
’
t you worry, miss. We
’
ll soon have her cosy and warm.
’

Lesley thanked her and sped back along the corridor and down the stairs. Miss Yelland and
Mr.
Defontaine were engaged in a conversation by the big desk, but Lesley scarcely saw them. Rita was conscious now, but she was shivering from head to foot. Between them Lesley and Rick wrapped her in the blankets. Almost immediately Defontaine came back into the room, walking with
that
loose-limbed arrogance that Lesley resented without quite knowing why. Perhaps it was because he seemed so much at home here.

He ignored the little group by the settee and went over to
Mrs.
Trevendone.
‘
Take it easy, old lady,
’
he said gently,
and pressed her back into her chair.
‘
Everything is being taken care of. I
’
m going to carry the girl upstairs and the doctor should be here very soon. Just relax. Miss Yelland will be here in a minute or two
.’

He was smiling down at her, arranging the cushions behind her and generally letting Lesley know, or so it seemed to her, that
Mrs.
Trevendone was a very old lady and that their impetuous arrival might have a serious effect on her. After all, she was very old.

Lesley bit her lip. She had been prepared to fight—indeed she still was—but this collapse of Rita
’
s put them in an awkward position.
‘
They were under an obligation before they had stated their case. And there
was
going to be a fight. Blake Defontaine had made that clear by ridiculing their claim.

Having settled
Mrs.
Trevendone, the man now approached the settee.
‘
I
’
ll carry her upstairs
,’
he said to Lesley.
‘
You
’
d better stay with her up there until the doctor comes
.’