[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
looked a little uncertainly at her before adding, 'There's a select little cafe
just around that corner --' He flung out a hand to indicate the corner he
meant. 'I'm just going for a cup of tea...?' The unspoken question was not
answered immediately, but realising that she would enjoy a cup of tea Lorna
said she knew the cafe and had been there before. 'They have delicious
home-made cakes,' she added with a smile.
They walked together along the street where the little shops, which had
clearly been cottage dwellings at one time, were gay with coloured
sunblinds and concrete tubs spilling bright orange nasturtiums,
forget-me-nots, variegated ivies and other decorative plants. Reaching the
caf6 they went inside and were given a table by the window. Few other
people were there, as it was rather early for the delicious afternoon teas for
which the cafe had become famed among the locals and those people who
regularly passed through the village on their way to the town of Aberfeldy.
'So you work up at the Dower House,' said Jeff ; thoughtfully when their
order had been given. 'In what capacity?''I came as a resident nurse, but I'm
Mrs Lamond's companion as well.' Lorna felt a fraud, talking as though she
were really in employment.
'So you're a nurse? My sister was before her marriage.'
'How long are you here for?' enquired Lorna, changing the subject rather
abruptly because she had no wish to be asked any more questions about her
employment with Mrs Lamond.
'Three weeks. I'm employed as bailiff on the estate of the Flavells who have
a castle just outside Alnwick. I expect you know of it?' Jeff leant back in his
chair, his appreciative eyes fixed on Lorna's face. She saw his glance move
from her hair to her eyes and then to her mouth. He was having a good look,
she thought, but felt no resentment over it, and wondered why.
'I've heard of it. It's open to the public, I think?'
Jeff nodded.
'Every Wednesday and Sunday and all Bank Holidays, of course.'
Lorna said nothing, her eyes wandering to the window and the garden where
flower borders were so expertly tended that she was reminded of the
superbly-kept gardens of the Dower House. A rustic seat was set beneath a
spreading oak, and the shade seemed redolent of something not quite British
in that it savoured of the exotic, probably because of the vine that had
established itself among the branches of the tree.
'Here's our tea and cakes.' Jeff paid the waitress, shaking his head when
Lorna brought out her purse. 'It's on me,' he said.
Lorna did not like the idea, but decided not to create a situation that would
probably be as embarrassing to her as it was to Jeff.
'Thank you,' she said simply, choosing a cream cake from the plate he held
out to her. She poured the tea and for a few moments a silence fell between
them.
'How long have you been up here?' asked Jeff after a while.
'A month, that's all.'
'I expect you love it up there, at that great house?'
'It's very nice, yes.'
'The old girl's a millionairess, so it's said.'
Lorna's eyes opened very wide. She had not thought that Mrs Lamond was
as wealthy as that!
'A millionairess?' she gasped.
'Even wealthier than her grandson, and that's saying something. She
inherited a fortune from her mother, and another from a maiden
aunt Dame something-or-other who owned a vast estate on the west of
Scotland. She's been tight with her money, refusing to pass any of it on until
she's dead.'
'It doesn't appear that her grandchildren need it,' commented Lorna,
wondering just how much this young man knew about her employer.
'Craig doesn't, but Jeannie's not got much at all. Her mother married beneath
her and they've been poor ever since. They live in that grey house standing
on the rise just above the village.'
'That little hill to the west of here?' It wasn't a very nice house at all, Lorna
had decided when she had first noticed it. Drab in colour, with small
embrasured windows that seemed to give a grim aspect to the house, it stood
starkly devoid of the natural embellishments provided by nature. Not one
tree in the garden, not a flowering shrub or flower bed. 'How long have they
lived there?'
'Not long. Their house was burned down about a year ago and they managed
to get this one, but it's in a bad state of repair.'
Lorna, thoughtful, forgot that her tea was going cold. Intrigued as she was by
the information being given to her, she forgot also that she had not wanted to
talk about her employer.
'Surely Mrs Lamond could have provided them with something better than
that,' she said, frowning.
'Undoubtedly she could, but as I've said, she's tight with her money.'
Lorna's frown deepened. Mrs Lamond certainly was not tight with her
money where she was concerned; she paid her about three times as much as
she would have earned elsewhere. The mystery was deepening, it seemed.
Lorna wondered what would be the old lady's reaction if she, Lorna, were to
refuse to take so much money from her, if she were to insist that her salary
were reduced.
She said presently, 'Why doesn't Craig help his aunt and uncle?'
'I'm sure he would have done, but they're too proud. You see, Jeannie's father [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
looked a little uncertainly at her before adding, 'There's a select little cafe
just around that corner --' He flung out a hand to indicate the corner he
meant. 'I'm just going for a cup of tea...?' The unspoken question was not
answered immediately, but realising that she would enjoy a cup of tea Lorna
said she knew the cafe and had been there before. 'They have delicious
home-made cakes,' she added with a smile.
They walked together along the street where the little shops, which had
clearly been cottage dwellings at one time, were gay with coloured
sunblinds and concrete tubs spilling bright orange nasturtiums,
forget-me-nots, variegated ivies and other decorative plants. Reaching the
caf6 they went inside and were given a table by the window. Few other
people were there, as it was rather early for the delicious afternoon teas for
which the cafe had become famed among the locals and those people who
regularly passed through the village on their way to the town of Aberfeldy.
'So you work up at the Dower House,' said Jeff ; thoughtfully when their
order had been given. 'In what capacity?''I came as a resident nurse, but I'm
Mrs Lamond's companion as well.' Lorna felt a fraud, talking as though she
were really in employment.
'So you're a nurse? My sister was before her marriage.'
'How long are you here for?' enquired Lorna, changing the subject rather
abruptly because she had no wish to be asked any more questions about her
employment with Mrs Lamond.
'Three weeks. I'm employed as bailiff on the estate of the Flavells who have
a castle just outside Alnwick. I expect you know of it?' Jeff leant back in his
chair, his appreciative eyes fixed on Lorna's face. She saw his glance move
from her hair to her eyes and then to her mouth. He was having a good look,
she thought, but felt no resentment over it, and wondered why.
'I've heard of it. It's open to the public, I think?'
Jeff nodded.
'Every Wednesday and Sunday and all Bank Holidays, of course.'
Lorna said nothing, her eyes wandering to the window and the garden where
flower borders were so expertly tended that she was reminded of the
superbly-kept gardens of the Dower House. A rustic seat was set beneath a
spreading oak, and the shade seemed redolent of something not quite British
in that it savoured of the exotic, probably because of the vine that had
established itself among the branches of the tree.
'Here's our tea and cakes.' Jeff paid the waitress, shaking his head when
Lorna brought out her purse. 'It's on me,' he said.
Lorna did not like the idea, but decided not to create a situation that would
probably be as embarrassing to her as it was to Jeff.
'Thank you,' she said simply, choosing a cream cake from the plate he held
out to her. She poured the tea and for a few moments a silence fell between
them.
'How long have you been up here?' asked Jeff after a while.
'A month, that's all.'
'I expect you love it up there, at that great house?'
'It's very nice, yes.'
'The old girl's a millionairess, so it's said.'
Lorna's eyes opened very wide. She had not thought that Mrs Lamond was
as wealthy as that!
'A millionairess?' she gasped.
'Even wealthier than her grandson, and that's saying something. She
inherited a fortune from her mother, and another from a maiden
aunt Dame something-or-other who owned a vast estate on the west of
Scotland. She's been tight with her money, refusing to pass any of it on until
she's dead.'
'It doesn't appear that her grandchildren need it,' commented Lorna,
wondering just how much this young man knew about her employer.
'Craig doesn't, but Jeannie's not got much at all. Her mother married beneath
her and they've been poor ever since. They live in that grey house standing
on the rise just above the village.'
'That little hill to the west of here?' It wasn't a very nice house at all, Lorna
had decided when she had first noticed it. Drab in colour, with small
embrasured windows that seemed to give a grim aspect to the house, it stood
starkly devoid of the natural embellishments provided by nature. Not one
tree in the garden, not a flowering shrub or flower bed. 'How long have they
lived there?'
'Not long. Their house was burned down about a year ago and they managed
to get this one, but it's in a bad state of repair.'
Lorna, thoughtful, forgot that her tea was going cold. Intrigued as she was by
the information being given to her, she forgot also that she had not wanted to
talk about her employer.
'Surely Mrs Lamond could have provided them with something better than
that,' she said, frowning.
'Undoubtedly she could, but as I've said, she's tight with her money.'
Lorna's frown deepened. Mrs Lamond certainly was not tight with her
money where she was concerned; she paid her about three times as much as
she would have earned elsewhere. The mystery was deepening, it seemed.
Lorna wondered what would be the old lady's reaction if she, Lorna, were to
refuse to take so much money from her, if she were to insist that her salary
were reduced.
She said presently, 'Why doesn't Craig help his aunt and uncle?'
'I'm sure he would have done, but they're too proud. You see, Jeannie's father [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
