Authors: Mary Burchell
CHAPTER IV
LEILA had a wild impulse to hang up the telephone receiver without replying. But she retained enough common sense to realize that this would only postpone, not save her from, explanations. And after a second or two of heavy silence, she said a little huskily: “It’s—it’s Leila, Aunt Hester.”
At the same moment, Frances and Mr. Brogner exhausted the topic which they were politely pursuing, and Leila’s sensational statement—though quietly uttered—dropped into a perfect well of silence. She almost heard it “plop.”
Frances actually started forward a couple of steps, and Leila thought there was a slight exclamation from her. But all other sounds were drowned out by the spate of words which now issued from the telephone.
“What has happened? What on earth are you doing? Miss Parker said—But I couldn’t possibly believe her. What are you and Simon doing together—meeting secretly, and he carrying your case as though—Has Rosemary’s running away something to do with all this? Did my poor girl run away because you and Simon—”
“Aunt Hester,” Leila interrupted at last, clearly and firmly. “Rosemary’s running away was an accomplished fact before I even thought of coming with Simon. I’m here because Simon was at his wit’s end over the likely effect of all this on his mother, who is dangerously ill, as you know. I’m doing my best to substitute for Rosemary at the moment—”
“
Oh
!”
The one outraged syllable behind her made Leila falter, and Aunt Hester seized the opportunity of thrusting in another angry, bewildered question or two.
“But why didn’t you tell us? Why all this ridiculous deceit? What am I to
s
ay to Miss Parker? She—”
“I don’t care what you say to Miss Parker,” Leila interrupted coldly and distinctly. “It isn’t her business.”
“Of course it isn’t! That’s why she’s passionately interested,” cried poor Aunt Hester, with unconscious cynicism. “But the whole thing
looks
so extraordinary. Why didn’t you tell me Leila? Whose idea was this ridiculous deception? Simon’s? I can’t believe it.”
“The idea was mine,” stated Leila curtly and categorically, for now she was past considering the probable effect of her words on the two listeners in the hall. It was asking too much of anyone to have to bear two entirely different audiences in mind. Besides, Aunt Hester—usually so stolid and well-balanced—actually sounded as though she were growing hysterical. “It was my idea—and he accepted it with relief.”
“You wicked girl!”
She was startled out of all awareness of Aunt Hester’s reply, by the furious, whispered ejaculation behind her. And, in spite of all the complications of her talk with her aunt, Leila’s overwhelming reaction was one of sheer astonishment that Frances should take the revelation like this.
Surprised she might well be, annoyed perhaps. But this fury of reproach and indignation was out of all proportion.
Leila began to wonder if she were in some dreadful and ridiculous dream when, to her immeasurable relief, the operator’s voice said brightly: “Time’s up, I’m afraid.” And Aunt Hester faded out, and was a hundred miles away again, and Leila was free to replace the receiver and turn to tackle the other half of the problem.
Frances was standing there, flushed, with tears in her eyes.
“How wicked of you!” she exclaimed. “How could you deceive my poor mother like that?”
“My dear girl—”
“I’m not your dear girl!” Frances spoke more like an outraged child than a reasonable young woman. “I’m just one of the other poor fools you thought you could trick.”
And
to Leila’s incredulous dismay and disgust she burst into tears and rushed sobbing into a nearby room.
Leila passed a bewildered hand over her hair, and for a moment could do nothing but stare after her. Then Mr. Brogner coughed, and Leila was most unwillingly recalled to the realization that this scene could hardly have had a reassuring effect on him.
“If this silly business can be quietly shelved—” he had said. And from that moment the silly business had developed with most unwelcome drama and sensationalism, right in front of his eyes. Shelving it seemed out of the question.
“A very painful and foolish scene,” Mr. Brogner observed austerely.
“I had no idea she would take it like that,” Leila began wearily.
“And
I
had no idea that you were foolishly trying to carry out this ill-advised deception without even informing Mrs. Morley’s family,” he replied severely. “Really, Miss
Lorne
, words fail me, when I contemplate your behaviour.”
She had a silly and hysterical desire to say: “Don’t contemplate it then.” But she retained her presence of mind sufficiently, to say instead:
“It seemed best to us to have as few people as possible in the secret.”
“The number appears to have been regrettably increased during
t
he last quarter of an hour,” remarked Mr. Brogner, gesturing distastefully towards the telephone.
“Oh—” Leila bit her lip. “That was my aunt.”
And then a door upstairs was opened, and a moment later Simon and the doctor descended the stairs together.
Seeing her and Mr. Brogner standing rather aimlessly in the hall, Simon said absently: “Hello, darling. Where’s Frances?”
“In there, crying her eyes out because I’m not Rosemary,” replied Leila, indicating the room into which Frances had disappeared.
“
What
!”
“I’m sorry.” There was no reason to preserve appearances simply for the sake of Dr. Brogner. “The fact is that Aunt Hester rang up and—and the situation fell to pieces.”
“Oh—
”
Simon looked completely nonplussed, while Dr. Brogner glanced from one to the other, with an expression which showed that he had what his brother so sadly lacked—a keen sense of humour.
“Perhaps we should be going now,” suggested Mr. Brogner pointedly.
“If I can’t be of any further use.” The doctor looked quizzically from Simon to Leila once more.
“Thank you—I don’t think there’s anything else for you to tackle.” Simon made an obvious effort to conceal the fact that he wanted to be alone with Leila and hear all the unfortunate details.
“Will you—explain to the doctor, please, Mr. Brogner,” Leila said. “There’s no point in his not knowing now.”
Mr. Brogner inclined his head solemnly, but she felt that he was mentally counting up the number of people who now knew about the whole horrid affair. And when he added: “I will write to you from the office,” she felt she could almost see the opening sentence: “After full consideration of the unfortunate position, I very much regret, etc.”
The moment the door had closed on them, Si
m
on turned to her and exclaimed:
“Good lord! What really happened?”
“Everything.” Leila laughed a little shakily, and sat down on a hall seat, while Simon stood over her with an air of anxious sympathy which comforted her much for the last half-hour. “Aunt Hester telephoned, just as I was managing not too badly with Mr. Brogner and Frances brought me the message.”
“But how did she know it was you? She thought you were Rosemary.”
“Yes, but—don’t you see?—Aunt Hester asked for Miss
Lorne
, and of course Frances thought she was enquiring for her daughter, forgetting to use her new, married name. I couldn’t just say flatly that I wasn’t the daughter, after all. I had to take the call, and Frances and Mr. Brogner were hovering a bit aimlessly in the background and heard everything. Naturally Aunt Hester knew my voice as soon as I replied—”
“But how had she known you were here—suspected you were here, I mean? What first made her telephone?”
“Oh—Miss Parker told her about seeing us.”
“Miss Parker?” It was Simon’s turn to pass a bewildered hand over his ha
i
r.
Leila explained carefully about Miss Parker having seen them at the Junction. And Simon made a slight grimace and said:
“This is where you’re entitled to say ‘I told you so.’ Because you did suggest that it was unwise to meet so near home.”
“Did I? Never mind. It was bad luck. You might just as well have been right.”
He didn’t say anything to that, and she was so busy about another line of thought that she missed the curious, approving glance he gave her.
“Simon, I had no idea that Frances would react in that extraordinary way.”
“Oh—that!” He shrugged impatiently. “She’s a completely unpredictable person. That’s why I wouldn’t agree to our telling her in the beginning. It’s a sort of exhibitionism with her, you
know.”
“Well, if she’s working herself up into reproachful hysterics, perhaps we had better go and talk to her,” Leila said with a sigh. “She doesn’t
look
that sort at all.”
He laughed ruefully.
“She has always been the same. Emotional and inclined to take everything in a ridiculously personal manner. I’m not as patient and careful with her as I might be, I know,” he added, with almost boyish frankness and regret. “But she makes me crawl with embarrassment and irritation when she throws one of these scenes.”
Leila glanced at him not without sympathy, but she said, in a brisk and matter-of-fact tone:
“One can’t afford to feel that way about one’s own. You’d better call on all your reserves of sympathy right now.”
“All right,” he replied, with unexpected docility, and they went in search of Frances.
They found her standing near the window in the back drawingroom, staring out tragically into the garden, and pulling nervously at the comer of the handkerchief she was holding.
“There is no need for you to upset yourself like this, Frances,” her brother began, in a tone from which he had managed to banish all impatience, but most other feeling, too. “Leila and I were thinking only of Mother’s good, and I know that’s your chief concern, too.”
“
I
would have died rather than deceive Mother,” replied Frances, in a tone of dark reproach.
“But it is more helpful to ensure that she lives, at the expense of a little deception,” replied her brother dryly. “Don’t be silly, Frances. This isn’t an occasion for heroics.”
“It’s not a question of heroics.” Frances’s breathing began to quicken dangerously. “That girl—”
“Be quiet! I won’t have you speak so of Leila.”
Leila herself was astonished at the tone of authority in which he said that, and Frances dropped her sullen gaze. But she continued—though in a lowered voice:
“It was
her
idea. She says it was. Men are so silly. They never see when a girl wants to entangle them. She’s in love with you herself. Anyone can see it, the way she looks at you. She and her cousin seem to be a precious pair, and they’ve made a fool of you between them.”
“Why, she’s jealous,” thought Leila wonderingly. “He says they don’t get on well together—but she is jealous of anyone who does get on with him.”
Simon, however, was not noticing that just then.
“That will do,” he said quietly to his sister, but the quietness of his tone did not hide his anger. “I have reason to be very grateful to Leila for all her help in this unfortunate business, and I won’t have her behaviour called in question. As for your ridiculous invention about her—her being in love with me—” He stopped for a moment, as though something had just occurred to him, and Leila felt her heart stop, too. Then he went on almost immediately, addressing himself to Leila: “I’m sorry you should be embarrassed and annoyed by such nonsense.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Leila managed to say rather faintly. And he turned again to his sister.
“The really important thing is to have your assurance that you will help us to keep Mother in ignorance for the time being.”
Frances was silent.
“Frances,” he exclaimed exasperatedly, “can’t you see how important it is? Forget about yourself for once. You’re as anxious as I am that Mother should have the best possible chance. For God’s sake, help us to see that she has it.”
Frances shot an extraordinarily unfriendly glance at Leila. Then she shrugged and said:
“Well, since you’ve started this disgraceful business, I suppose the only thing is to keep it up.”
Leila, for her part, was reluctantly realizing what a singularly unpleasant few days lay before her. Frances set the note for them immediately by enquiring, with malice:
“Do you want any alterations made in the matter of rooms—now?”
The pause before the “now” was so significant that Leila felt she was only beating the air when she replied firmly:
“Yes, please. Of course we were going to get you to do that, anyway.”
Frances laughed. It was quite a soft laugh, but it expressed such an amount of contemptuous incredulity that Leila felt her colour rise, and Simon said sharply: