TABITHA wakened early and listened to the faint sounds of the little town stirring, and because it was already a beautiful day, she got up and dressed in pink denim slacks and a pink and white checked shirt, then went downstairs, intent on finding Hans and Marius so that she could thank them once more.
Hans was already in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee from a blue enamel pot of vast dimensions. He put it down, however, when he saw Tabitha and said: ‘Miss Tabitha, good day—you are soon, I make tea.’
Tabitha perched on the table. ‘Good morning, Hans. The coffee smells good, may I have a cup, Hans, please?’
He smiled widely. ‘Already so Dutch,’ he chuckled, ‘that is good.’ He handed her a blue mug which matched the pot. ‘You don’t sleep?’
‘Yes, very well, thank you, only I woke early and I don’t think I thanked you or Mr van Beek nearly enough for being so nice last night. I do thank you, Hans—you were like a fairy godmother…’
‘Would that by any chance make me the prince?’ asked Marius from the door. She turned to look at him; he had been on the yacht, for he had a handful of tools in one hand and was wearing nothing more than a pair of oil-stained shorts. He saw her look and said mildly: ‘Well, perhaps not—I’m hardly dressed for the part, am I?’ He smiled and held out a hand for the coffee Hans had poured. ‘You’re up early, Tabitha, didn’t you sleep?’
‘Very well. I was explaining to Hans—I wakened early and it seemed to me I hadn’t thanked either of you enough for—for last night.’
She looked at him, lounging in a high-backed, painted chair a couple of feet from her, and her heart did a somersault because, despite the shorts and the oil stains, he looked very like a prince should. He stared back at her, a smile curving his mouth, and she said hastily, going pink under his look: ‘It was a great nuisance for you having to go back for me—in the dark too,’ and stopped because his smile had broadened into a wide grin as Hans said: ‘Never worry about the dark, miss. Mister Marius, he lived on the water from when he was a little boy—he sails it blindfold if he must—he knows every square metre.’
Tabitha digested this, then: ‘And you let us plan our trips just as though you didn’t know your way about—you must have known all the places like the back of your hand.’ She frowned, and opened her mouth again to speak her mind when he stopped her.
‘Why not, Tabby? Bill loves navigating and planning, even old Knotty, although he remembers it all quite well, enjoyed it, and I’ve enjoyed it as much as any of you, perhaps more.’ He stretched hugely. ‘I don’t know what’s planned for today, but how about a run in the car before breakfast? Give me ten minutes.’
He was gone before she could reply and Hans took the mug from her hand and refilled it, remarking in his placid voice: ‘It will be good to drive now—later too hot.’
Tabitha sipped her coffee. ‘Hans,’ she asked, ‘have you always lived in Veere?’
He nodded. ‘Thirty-five years, but for a year in Rotterdam. First I was chauffeur and house steward to old Mijnheer van Beek, and friend too for Mister Marius and his brother and sister—we had good times together. I teach them to drive, you understand? But this one, he is best of them. He travels much, but always he comes back to his home which he loves. He is a good man. You like him, Miss Tabitha?’
His question was asked without guile. Tabitha put down her mug.
‘Yes, Hans, I like him.’ She didn’t say any more because she could hear Marius coming down the stairs, and anyway there wasn’t much more she could say. She got to her feet and stood waiting for him. He came through the door looking as though he had never held a tool in his life, let alone used it; he had on immaculate slacks, beautifully tailored and an open-necked shirt with a silk scarf tucked inside it. More of a prince than ever, thought Tabitha, wishing she looked more spectacular herself and then reversing the wish when he said idly: ‘You look nice, Tabby—you have the happy knack of wearing the right clothes at the right times.’
The car was just across the cobbles, close to the harbour’s edge. As they got in Marius asked: ‘Shall we just wander—there are some delightful roads.’ So they went straight along the shore of the lake to Vrouwenpolder and then turned off to weave a way through the narrow, badly surfaced country lanes running between the flat fields, until they came to Domburg, larger than Veere but not nearly as picturesque, for it had a great many hotels and camping sites, but as Marius pointed out, that was inevitable as it was a popular seaside resort amongst the Dutch. From there the coast road was a good one; Marius followed it for several miles and turned inland again, short of Middelburg, going slowly through the quiet country. Afterwards Tabitha couldn’t remember what they had talked about, only that she had enjoyed every moment of it. As they drew up opposite the house once more, Marius turned to look at her.
‘That dinner—will you come out tonight?’
She ignored her galloping pulse rate. ‘Thank you, I should like that—that is if it doesn’t interfere with—with anything.’ By anything she had meant Lilith and perhaps he had guessed that, for he said easily:
‘Why should it? About eight o’clock at the hotel, I think, don’t you?’ His smile held faint mockery. ‘Leave it to me, Tabby.’
The weather still held, and at breakfast it was decided that they should sail down the canal to Middelburg and Vlissingen and then round the coast and so back to the Veerse Meer from the west. In the excitement of planning this trip there was very little opportunity for much discussion about the previous evening’s escapade, or the dinner party. What questions were asked Tabitha left Marius to answer, which he did with a casual good humour which robbed it of all drama, at the same time including her in the conversation with such adroitness that she seemed to be taking a far greater part in the talk than she actually was. As for the dinner party, the Raynards and Mr Bow had enjoyed themselves; the hotel was praised, as was the delicious food, and if rather less was said about their hostess and her daughter, no one saw fit to comment upon it. This led, naturally enough, to Marius observing that perhaps they wouldn’t mind too much if he took Tabitha out to dinner that evening, a remark which earned the company’s wholehearted approbation, and when Hans, who seemed to know everything going on in the house, came in with the post, remarking that if they were going out that evening they had better make a start on their day’s outing or they wouldn’t be back in time, everyone made haste to get down to the yacht.
Tabitha, helping Mr Bow as he slowly negotiated the cobbles, couldn’t fail to see how much better the old man looked. He had become quite brown, so that his white whiskers looked even whiter and he looked ten years younger, despite the crutches. Bill Raynard too had been revitalized to an astonishing extent. The thought of him returning to St Martin’s in a few weeks’ time filled Tabitha with unease—he had always been twice as energetic as anyone else; now it looked as though he would be doubling his operation lists and filling the beds faster than she could ever hope to get them made up; he was already beginning to talk with enthusiasm of what he intended to do as soon as he got back to work. She switched her thoughts away from the hospital; time enough to worry about her work when they got back. She heaved a sigh and choked on it when Mr Bow observed gently: ‘No sighing today, Tabitha—sighing is wasted breath.’
The day was a success; if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was going out to dinner with Marius that evening, Tabitha would have wished it to last for ever. As it was, she felt her heart leap with excitement as they neared Veere, an excitement doused by the expectation of seeing Lilith or her stepmother on the quayside, but there was no sign of either of them—it seemed as though the day was going to end as perfectly as it had begun.
They strolled up to the Campveerse Toren just before eight o’clock and went up the curving staircase to the restaurant overlooking the water. They had a table in one of the windows and watched the boats coming in for the night while they drank their aperitifs and talked over their day. They were still talking about Chidlake and Veere now as they ate ratatouille, which Tabitha had never heard of, followed by roast duckling stuffed with prunes, and finally a dessert of fresh pineapple filled with a delicious concoction of almonds and bananas and whipped cream, lavishly awash with rum, and because Marius said it was a celebration, although he declined to say of what, they drank champagne.
It was while they were sitting over their coffee that Marius said:
‘Only a week left—how time flies when one is content.’ He gave her a keen glance. ‘You are content, Tabitha?’
Tabitha filled their coffee cups for a second time. ‘Yes, very— I’m happy too.’ Her pretty voice was warm with feeling, for she was happy, or almost; as happy as she would ever be with Lilith, smiling and triumphant, reminding her of a happiness she herself was never likely to have—but she had now, and she had had the whole day with him too. She said slowly:
‘St Martin’s seems like a dream. I can’t imagine myself going back there, making out diet sheets and putting up extensions,’ she sighed, and then, for fear he should pity her, said brightly: ‘But everyone feels like that after a holiday, don’t they? Besides, there’s still another week.’ She looked out to the dark blue water of the lake. ‘Do you think this gorgeous weather will last?’
It was a red herring which he ignored, and that was a pity because she found it so much easier to talk about things and not themselves.
Marius said blandly: ‘You won’t be putting up extensions for the rest of your life, you know.’
She deliberately misunderstood him. ‘Oh, but I couldn’t do much else. I’ve worked on Orthopaedics for several years and I’m hopelessly out of the running with Medical or Surgery—I might manage theatre, I suppose.’
His voice was still bland. ‘Ah, yes, when the pretty Sue gets married.’
Which remark, Tabitha thought crossly, he could have better left unsaid. She saw herself in the successive years ahead, taking over from the pretty girls who got married. To rid herself of the unpleasant prospect she said vigorously: ‘I shall stay on in Men’s Orthopaedic,’ and then, not sure that he would choose to answer: ‘What are you going to do, Marius?’
Apparently he hadn’t minded her question. ‘Bill won’t be able to do a full day’s work for a couple of weeks after we get back. I shall stay a couple of weeks—less, perhaps—then I have a short lecture tour and—er—affairs of my own to settle.’
Tabitha, made reckless by a little too much champagne, opened her mouth to enquire what affairs, but before she could utter he said smoothly:
‘No, don’t ask, Tabby,’ and was about to say more when he looked across the room and saw Lilith and Mrs Crawley and said instead: ‘Here are your family. Shall we ask them over for one last drink before we go?’
Tabitha gave him an empty stare. She said dully: ‘Yes, of course, it would complete the evening, wouldn’t it? You should have invited them for dinner,’ and Marius, his eyebrows lifted at her sudden rudeness, said silkily: ‘Yes, perhaps I should.’
It was half an hour before they got up to go and even then on the way down the staircase Marius paused, and with a brief murmured excuse went back up again, to reappear after a couple of minutes. Tabitha, studying his face, thought that behind his placid good looks there was quiet satisfaction. They walked back to the house, making conversation while Tabitha thought her own thoughts, knowing that he was thinking his too, and she fancied they were triumphant ones. She said her thank yous and good nights in the hall and went to her room where she went at once to the window without putting on the light. As she had known, with a certainty as strong as though he had told her himself, Marius had already left the house again and was walking briskly back to the hotel.
She slept late the next morning because she hadn’t slept very much during the night. She got downstairs just as everyone was sitting down to breakfast and because of her unusual lateness had to put up with a good deal of mild teasing, which she answered in a lighthearted manner wholly at variance with her shadowed eyes, elaborating upon her evening out and even declaiming at some length on the pleasure of meeting Lilith and Mrs Crawley. It was only when she caught Marius’s thoughtful eyes upon her that she realized that she was being far too talkative.
They spent the day sailing and in the afternoon the weather became overcast, and then suddenly the sky became pitch black and the storm broke over their heads. Tabitha, who didn’t like thunder and was frightened of lightning, was surprised to discover that neither bothered her overmuch because everyone else in the party appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely, especially Marius, sitting at the tiller, singing some song about ‘Piet Hein’. The worst of the storm had blown over as they approached Veere; the sky was blue again and the sun shone once more. The little town looked delightful with its quaint roof tops glistening with the recent rain, and everything looked fresh and green.
They made their way through the crowded little harbour to their berth, past Jan’s boat, but there was no sign of Lilith on board, nor was she by the harbour. Tabitha heaved a sigh of relief as she crossed the road with Mr Bow and Marius and went into the house. There was a note on the side table in the hall. Tabitha saw that it was in Lilith’s handwriting as Marius picked it up and without reading it, put it in his pocket and led everyone into the sitting room where there was an instant and lighthearted discussion as to how they should amuse themselves that evening, which the two girls cut short with the positive assertion that they refused to discuss anything until they had bathed and changed.
Half an hour later Tabitha was on her way downstairs again, her hair piled in its coils and rolls, and wearing a blue and white patterned dress and flat-heeled blue sandals on her feet. She made no noise at all on the stairs and none on the thickpiled hall carpet. The door of the sitting room was half open, as she neared it she couldn’t fail to hear Marius say, his voice urgent:
‘Knotty, there’s only one thing for it, you’ll have to feel ill—just ill enough to stay home. If I know Tabby she’ll insist on staying with you. Bill and Muriel can come with me and dine on their own, that will leave me free to dine with Lilith—I’ll persuade her to get Mrs Crawley to join us afterwards—if only the woman would make up her mind where she wants to live. I must talk to them, Knotty, they’re going in two days. Their coming in the first place has made things a great deal easier, but I must have my answer before they leave. And Tabitha is not to know. You agree to that too, don’t you, Bill?’
Tabitha heard Mr Raynard’s growling reply as she made her way back to her room. Once there she went to the mirror and stared into it, surprised to see that she looked just the same as she had done before she had gone downstairs. She was a little pale perhaps, but she could always plead a headache after the storm. She went on staring at her reflection, no longer seeing it, conscious only of the pain somewhere deep inside her because Marius, who had wanted to be her friend, was making a mockery of friendship. What was it he didn’t want her to know, and why had he told Mr Bow and Bill Raynard? Did he think her such a fool that she was incapable of seeing for herself that he and Lilith…? She turned away from the mirror. It would have given her a great deal of satisfaction to have gone downstairs and flung open the sitting room door in a dramatic fashion and told him exactly what she thought of him, but on second thoughts she rejected the idea, she wasn’t dramatic for a start and she had not the slightest idea what to say. She said out loud: ‘Listeners never hear any good of themselves,’ and Muriel who had just knocked on the door came in wanting to know why she was talking to herself. They went down together to join the men and Muriel asked at once: ‘Well, what have you decided to do with the evening?’
Marius was pouring sherry into his beautiful glasses. He said unhurriedly: ‘How about all of us going up to De Campveerse Toren for a meal?’ Which was so exactly what Tabitha had been expecting that she nodded her head slightly and looked across to Mr Bow, for he would be the one to answer. She wasn’t disappointed, for he said at once:
‘What a splendid idea, Marius, dear boy, but I feel a little under the weather—the storm, you know. If I could be helped to bed, I shall be able to manage very well.’
Tabitha picked up her cue; since they were acting, she might as well make a success of her role. ‘I’ll stay with you, Mr Bow, I don’t mind a bit, because I’ve a headache myself.’ She looked round the circle of faces, her smile the bright professional one she wore on the ward to hide her real feelings, although she was unaware of that, but Marius saw it and said sharply: ‘No—’ and then stopped, giving her the chance to ask:
‘Why ever not? I came to look after the two invalids, if you remember. So far I’ve done nothing at all.’ Which wasn’t quite true, but sounded right. As though everyone had agreed with her she said to Mr Bow:
‘You shall go to bed, Mr Bow, with a nice supper tray, and later on I’ll give you one of your sleeping pills.’
She smiled round the room again, nicely in control of her feelings and rather proud of the way she had risen to the occasion, and Muriel who of course knew nothing about it made it easier by saying: ‘Well, if you’ve got a headache, Tabby…though it won’t be such fun without you. You don’t mind if we go with Marius?’
‘Not a bit,’ said Tabitha heartily, and saw Marius eyeing her with speculation and puzzlement though he smiled as he remarked gently: ‘You don’t seem too upset, Tabby.’
Perhaps she had been a shade too hearty. She smiled directly at him, although it was an effort. ‘There will be other evenings, I expect. Of course I’m sorry I shan’t be coming, but I wouldn’t be much of an asset with a headache, would I?’
They went half an hour later, Muriel a little doubtful at leaving her, but Bill Raynard said nothing and nor did Marius, although he wished them a cheerful good night and advised Tabitha to take something for her headache. At the door he turned round to suggest that she went to bed early—advice she ignored, for once Mr Bow had been settled with his book, his spectacles and his glass of water within reach, she wandered down to the sitting room again and sat in Marius’s great chair, leafing through a pile of magazines. Hans was in the kitchen and the house was quiet. She had had her own dinner while Mr Bow partook of a few suitable dainties on a tray and there was nothing to do except flip through Vogue, her mind on the dinner party at the hotel; it didn’t bear thinking about. She got up and prowled up and down the lovely room and finally went upstairs to see how Mr Bow fared. Since he was supposed to be feeling ill, she might as well treat him as though he were.
He was sitting up in bed, with a book open before him, not reading it but staring in front of him. He gave her a piercing look as she approached the bed and pronounced: ‘I am deep in thought, young lady.’
‘Pleasant ones, I hope,’ observed Tabitha. ‘Is there anything you want?’
He answered her absently: ‘No—no, what should I need?’ and glanced at his old-fashioned watch on the bedside table. ‘I had imagined that you would have gone to bed with that headache of yours—was it a very bad one?’ His blue eyes looked very innocent.
Tabitha could look innocent too. ‘No worse than your sudden indisposition, Mr Bow. I daresay we’re both feeling better, aren’t we?’ She smiled at him. ‘Now I’m going to bed. Good night and sleep well.’
But she didn’t undress immediately, nor did she turn on the light as she went to sit in the chair by the window. She had only been there a few minutes when Hans, accompanied by Smith, went out. She watched them walk stolidly down to the end of the harbour and then back again, with frequent pauses for Hans to greet acquaintances on the way, and still more pauses for Smith to do the same. Ten minutes after they had entered the house again Tabitha saw the Raynards returning from the hotel. Bill Raynard was managing very well with his heavy stick and his wife’s supporting arm—at the rate he was going he would be back at work in a couple of weeks’ time. There was no sign of Marius; she undressed slowly, lingered over her bath and got into bed, only to get out again and peer out of the window. There were still a number of people about, for though it was past eleven o’clock the cafés were still open and the little town’s visitors were strolling around enjoying the warm late evening. The bells had sounded midnight before she saw Marius walking back by himself. He didn’t go into the house but went to stand by the water, his hands in his pockets. Presently he went over to the Bentley, got in, and drove away, leaving Tabitha, quite bewildered, to go back to bed where she lay thinking up an incredible number of reasons for his strange behaviour, none of which made any sense.
She was down early the next morning, but Marius was earlier, standing at the open door talking to the postman. He gave her two letters from the pile in his hand and said: ‘Hullo—here are a couple for you—how’s the headache?’ He gave her a questioning smile and looked as though he really wanted to know.
‘Gone,’ she said briefly, and couldn’t resist adding: ‘Mr Bow has quite recovered too. I went to see him on my way down.’
Marius’s eyes met hers; there was a gleam in their depths, but whether it was laughter or suspicion she couldn’t tell. ‘I thought he would be,’ was all he said.
They strolled across the cobbles and sat down on the grass bordering the harbour to read their letters—a lengthy business for Marius, for he had a great number, but Tabitha’s two were quickly read—one from Meg, full of the unimportant but interesting happenings of home—the milkman’s wife had had another baby, there was a new washer needed on the bathroom tap and did Tabitha know that the rent was going up in two weeks’ time, and lastly, dear Podger was behaving beautifully and would Tabitha let that nice Mr Bow know that his pet was proving a very loving companion which she would find it difficult to part with. Tabitha smiled as she folded this missive and Marius glanced at her and asked: ‘A letter from Meg? I hope everything is all right at home?’
Tabitha opened her second letter. ‘Yes, thank you,’ she said in a voice calculated to discourage further questions, and started to read the second, longer letter from Sue. Sue had a great deal to say; the theatre was dull because there were only the cases from the women’s ward and the casualties were being sent elsewhere. The ward was almost finished—she had sneaked down after duty one day to have a look, and had Tabitha really been allowed to choose the curtains by herself and if so how had she got round Matron to let her do it; and did she know that there were two new housemen? And at the end of a further page of gossip, Sue wrote: ‘I’m getting married at Christmas. How about having a go at my job?’ At the very end of the letter there was a P.S. ‘You didn’t mention Mr van Beek—I wonder why?’
Tabitha folded that letter too. It was a little over four months to Christmas, time enough for her to make up her mind if she wanted Sue’s job or not, and time enough, too, to know more about Lilith and Marius. She frowned, and Marius, without appearing to look up from his own letters, asked: ‘Bad news?’
‘No—’ Tabitha hesitated, wondering if she should tell him, and decided against it. She sat quietly beside him until he had finished reading and then asked: ‘Are there any plans for today?’ because that seemed the natural question to ask and would perhaps prevent him from talking about the previous evening. She didn’t want to hear how lovely Lilith had looked…besides, he had been looking quietly satisfied with himself ever since they had met that morning.
Marius got to his feet and pulled her to hers. ‘How about going down to the Zilveren Schor for a quick swim? I’ve a luncheon date and I don’t expect to be back until after tea—perhaps later.’
She said ‘Oh?’ in an uncertain voice, longing to ask who he would be with, and went scarlet when he added mildly: ‘You’re dying to know who with, aren’t you, but I daresay you can guess—Lilith and your stepmother. They’re going back tomorrow, you know.’
Presumably that was reason enough to spend most of the day with them. She said composedly despite her red face: ‘Oh, yes. How quickly the week has gone—too quickly for you, I expect.’
He gave her a long hard look. ‘Why, now that you mention it,’ he answered coolly, ‘yes, far too quickly.’
They went back into the house then and joined the others for breakfast. They, it seemed, knew about Marius’s date and were full of an afternoon’s shopping they had planned in Bergen-op-Zoom, and when Tabitha wanted to know why they couldn’t go to Middelburg, which was a great deal nearer and surely just as interesting, they put forward so many reasons why Bergen-op-Zoom was the only place to go that she very quickly realized that Marius was going to Middelburg and they were all being very tactful about it.
The Zilveren Schor wasn’t very far and they had the wind with them. They tied up to a convenient pole and went ashore and Tabitha discovered that only she and Marius were going to swim, for Muriel declared that she had no energy and the water there was far too deep for her anyway.
There was a very small island off-shore; Tabitha and Marius swam towards it without haste and then lay on its tiny sandy beach. It was pleasantly warm and the sun was bright, so that she lay with her eyes closed, hoping that this might discourage conversation. It did nothing of the sort, for Marius said almost immediately:
‘I shall miss these pleasant outings—you’re a good companion in the water, Tabby.’
She kept her eyes shut and said ‘Um’ in an unforthcoming way.
‘You’re not bad at crewing either,’ he conceded.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Tabitha. ‘I’m not much good on a boat the size of the Piet Hein—I’m used to dinghies.’
‘All the more credit to you,’ he went on smoothly. ‘You should go back to work feeling like a giant—giantess, refreshed.’
‘I shall, thanks to you. It’s been a lovely holiday—I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.’
Which was by no means true and perhaps Marius guessed it, for he said on a laugh: ‘Oh, Tabitha, that’s a sweeping statement.’ He rolled over on his side to look at her. ‘Shall I ask Lilith and your stepmother in for drinks this evening so that you can wish them goodbye? You haven’t seen much of them.’
Tabitha got up and started to wade back into the water. When he caught up with her she said with a little spurt of anger: ‘Are you trying to change me? I can think of no other reason…just because you’re going to marry into the family doesn’t give you the right…’ She stopped because her voice had become a little shrill. ‘It would be nicer for you if things were different, but you don’t have to be friends with me, you know—it upsets Lilith. We never have got on well and there’s nothing you can do about it.’
She dived under the water and then went into a brisk crawl. What with temper and swimming beyond her strength she was breathless when they reached the shore again; it was annoying that Marius was breathing as easily as though he had just got out of a chair. He caught her by the hand at the water’s edge. ‘Since I am to marry into the family,’ he said silkily, ‘allow me to tell you that I shall do exactly as I wish to do. You talk wildly, dear girl, and that’s not your usual form.’
She pulled away from him and ran away to change, and when she got back it was time to return to Veere. She hardly spoke to him on the way back and when she did he blandly ignored her curtness so that she derived little or no satisfaction from it.
She was in the little walled garden, hanging out the bathing kit in the sunshine when he joined her. ‘I’m off,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Enjoy your afternoon’s shopping. There’s something I want to give you before you go.’
Tabitha adjusted her bikini top to a nicety on the line. ‘What’s that?’ she wanted to know coldly, and turned round to be caught and kissed soundly.
‘Why, a brotherly kiss, dear girl,’ said Marius. He held her for a moment longer, staring down at her with twinkling eyes, then deliberately bent his head and kissed her again. He had gone before she had time to get her breath. She went slowly indoors and up to her room to tidy herself for lunch. If that was brotherly behaviour then the quicker she uprooted herself and went to live somewhere inaccessible, like the Highlands of Scotland or a remote part of Wales, where even a Bentley wouldn’t reach her all that easily, the better for her peace of mind. Not that he was likely to come after her; Lilith would see to that. She sat combing her hair, wondering where he and Lilith would live, for she couldn’t imagine her stepsister in Veere. Even if Lilith actually fell in love with Marius she would still want her own way.
Tabitha flung down her brush and went downstairs to Mr Bow’s room where she knocked and asked if he needed anything. It was purely a rhetorical question, for he was sitting in great comfort with The Times on his lap and a pile of books as well as a drink on the table beside him. He looked up briefly, said ‘No, my dear,’ and then because he was a discerning old man and Tabitha looked unhappy, went on: ‘Come in and keep me company for a few minutes.’
Tabitha sat down opposite him and looked out of the window just in time to see the Bentley purr past; Lilith sat beside Marius, Mrs Crawley was in the back. Mr Bow saw them too. By way of opening the conversation he said: ‘Well, well, there they go.’
Tabitha began to tour the room in a restless way, looking at pictures and fingering the trifles of silver and china lying around. Finally she burst out, not really meaning to say it: ‘I suppose when Marius marries he’ll live here.’
If Mr Bow found her remark unexpected he made no mention of the fact.
‘I imagine so. It is his home, he would choose to be here for most of the year, I should think.’
Tabitha dumped a small Sévres dish back on to a side table with a decided thump. ‘Most of the year? Where else should he go?’
Mr Bow allowed himself a smile behind his magnificent whiskers. ‘Well, he has a flat in Rotterdam because of his work there, but probably if he had a wife and children here he would commute…but I would suppose he might have some sort of residence in England. He’s over there frequently, you know, and with hotels the price they are…’ he shook his head and tut-tutted about the hotels. ‘No, Marius would make a home there too. He has, as you may have observed, my dear Tabitha, no need to practise economy.’
Tabitha said nothing to this; she was examining a mezzotint of the house, a charming thing. Mr Bow went on gently: ‘Marius has waited a long time to marry, probably he has been too busy to fall for—er—female blandishments. Now of course he is established in his own field. I daresay he will settle down.’
Tabitha turned her back on the mezzotint and came and stood in front of Mr Bow. Her voice was fierce. ‘You really think that?’
‘That is my considered opinion, my dear young lady, although I speak only for myself. Perhaps you have your own ideas?’
‘Yes,’ said Tabitha a trifle wildly, ‘I have. I—I think I’ll take Smith for a walk before lunch—there’s still ten minutes or so, isn’t there?’
She was at the door when Mr Bow murmured: ‘Marius won’t make the mistake of marrying the wrong girl, you know.’
Tabitha thought about that as she and Smith sauntered along the harbour. Because of course, however much Mr Bow and she herself considered Lilith to be the wrong girl for Marius, what difference would it make if he, for his part, thought her the right one?
The afternoon in Bergen-op-Zoom was pleasant, with Hans to look after Mr Bow and Bill Raynard while the two girls went shopping. They got back in the early evening and there was no sign of Marius—indeed, he didn’t appear until a few minutes before dinner when he looked in briefly as he passed the sitting room before going to the kitchen to talk to Hans at some length. And when he joined them it was to enter at once into their talk without giving one single inkling as to where he had been or what he had done.
Dinner was gay, almost as though there was something to celebrate, which probably there was, thought Tabitha, being gayer than anyone else, and after dinner they crowded into the Bentley and drove over to Domburg for drinks at the Dolphijn restaurant and talked about everything under the sun except Lilith and Mrs Crawley, who weren’t mentioned. Tabitha, peeping at Marius from her seat beside Mr Raynard, came to the conclusion that under the bland façade of his handsome face, he was excited. About Lilith, of course, but why hadn’t she been invited to join them? Tabitha remembered that he had told her that he would invite Lilith and her stepmother in for drinks, and here they were in Domburg. She said across the little table between them: ‘I thought you were going to ask Lilith…’
He cut in smoothly: ‘They have to pack. They preferred to come for coffee tomorrow morning before they leave.’ He half smiled at her and turned away, making it impossible to ask any more questions.
They went to bed much later than usual. Tabitha, on her way to Muriel’s room with some shopping she had taken to her own room by mistake, was surprised to meet Marius on the lower landing, on the point of going into Mr Bow’s room. She stopped short, forgetful of flying hair and a hastily thrown on dressing gown, and whispered: ‘You’re not going in? You don’t mind me saying so, but Mr Bow was very tired when I helped him to bed—don’t you think he might be asleep?’
‘No,’ Marius sounded amused. ‘He’s expecting me. We’ve—er—things to discuss.’
Tabitha pinkened. ‘I’m sorry, it’s not my business, only I thought…’
He nodded and the corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Yes, Tabby. Now run along before I forget myself.’
She said good night rather huffily; he need not have been quite so high-handed; she was, after all, a nurse and her duties, however light, surely included seeing that Mr Bow had a good night’s rest. She crossed the landing and tapped at Muriel’s door and as she went in looked back at Marius. He had made no attempt to go into Knotty’s room; he was still standing where she had left him, watching her. She tossed her head and went in to give Muriel her parcel.
‘They’re up to something,’ Muriel confided. ‘Bill’s still downstairs—says Marius will help him up to Mr Bow’s room to have a little chat.’ She snorted delicately. ‘What about, I wonder?’ She looked enquiringly at Tabitha who said she had no idea and after a few more words went away to bed. As she crossed the landing she could hear a steady murmur of voices coming from Mr Bow’s room.
Marius appeared at breakfast dressed quite obviously for something other than a sailing trip. Tabitha, eyeing his well tailored elegance covertly as he took his seat at the table, could well understand that any woman would be glad to have him for an escort. She buttered a finger of toast and then sat with it arrested in mid-air; he was going to drive Lilith and her stepmother to Schipol. Why hadn’t she thought of that before, for was it not the most natural thing in the world that he should want to see as much of Lilith as possible? She found herself wishing that her own holiday was over; Marius must be wishing that he was leaving with Lilith…
‘Daydreaming again,’ remarked Mr Raynard grumpily. ‘Here am I begging for butter and all you can do is to stare before you like Lady Macbeth!’
Tabitha begged his pardon, passed the butter and went on with her own breakfast, and presently found herself walking to the post office with Mr Bow, who, as usual, had a great many letters to post.
She said, for something to say: ‘I’ve never met anyone like you—you write letters every day.’
‘Yes,’ said Mr Bow happily, ‘I have written to everyone in the ward as well as to Mr Steele.’
She looked at him with admiration. She had written a great many postcards herself, with a well-tried phrase scribbled on each. ‘They’ll enjoy them. I had a letter from Sue—the theatre sister, you know—she says the ward is almost ready.’
‘Yes—I shall miss my companions there, and you, Tabitha, though I hear that I am to come back into your care for a few days while they do a check-up on my leg.’
Tabitha said worriedly: ‘That reminds me—have you somewhere to go? I’m sure I…’
Mr Bow patted her brown arm. ‘How kind you are, Tabitha. Marius has my future in his very capable hands, though I shall add that I am free to do exactly as I wish.’
Tabitha put the letters in the box. ‘Will you come and live here?’
He became vague. ‘Probably, but not, I imagine, permanently. It depends on several factors; nothing can be finally decided until Marius’s own future is…’
Tabitha shot the last letter in. ‘Oh, yes,’ she said quickly because she didn’t want to know about Marius’s future, not then at any rate. ‘Let’s go back, shall we, or he’ll wonder what’s become of us.’
Mr Bow was suddenly meek. ‘Why, of course—have we time to go back past those delightful little houses behind the Town Hall?’
She knew the ones he meant, she loved them too; they wandered the short distance, pausing to rest every now and then so that by the time they got back to the house Mrs Crawley and Lilith had already arrived. Everyone was in the sitting room and Marius got up and came to apologise because they had already started their coffee without them. ‘We decided to go to Middelburg first,’ he explained, ‘so we must leave earlier than we had planned.’
Tabitha made a suitable little muttering sound which her hearer could interpret as he wished and went to speak to her stepmother, who listened graciously to her wishes that they would have a pleasant journey and then remarked with the little smile Tabitha so hated:
‘I daresay it will be very tedious, but at least Marius will be with us most of the time. Lilith wanted him to come all the way with us, but I advised her not to ask him, for I daresay the rest of you would have objected.’ She gave Tabitha an appraisal, half mocking, half scornful. ‘Though heaven knows he must be bored with you all by now.’ She added with gentle venom: ‘Your skin’s like old leather, Tabitha—and your hair…you look plainer than ever!’
Tabitha got to her feet. ‘I daresay I do—you should be thankful; think what a menace I should be to Lilith if I were pretty.’
She didn’t wait to see the effect of her words but moved across the room to where Muriel was sitting. She was so angry that she was trembling a little and her eyes, usually so calm and soft, held a fine sparkle. She put down her coffee cup with a hand which still shook a little and prepared to sit down, to be frustrated by Lilith, who got up from her chair by Marius with the request that Tabitha should take her upstairs to her room so that she might tidy herself, and there was nothing to do but accede to her wish, although it was apparent to Tabitha that Lilith, who looked as much in need of tidying as the front page of Vogue, had some other purpose in wishing to get her on her own.
She was right. The bedroom door was scarcely shut behind them when Lilith remarked: ‘What a dull lot you are, and how bored Marius must be. I’m glad we came to cheer him up, though we didn’t see as much of him as I’d hoped, but of course he kept on fussing about being with his guests. I must say his manners are delightful,’ she cast a sideways glance at Tabitha who had gone to look out of the window, ‘but you never know what he’s thinking, do you—all that charm. I wonder what’s behind it? Not that it matters to you.’ She gave a triumphant chortle. ‘I think I’ve got him hooked.’
Tabitha didn’t turn round. ‘How vulgar you are, Lilith,’ she said quietly, while her heart raced happily; so Marius hadn’t asked Lilith to marry him yet; she wondered why not, and got her answer.
‘What a fool you are, Tabby! I’ve been rather clever, you know. It only needs a little more encouragement from me…but first I want to know more about him. He’s—well, vague. He won’t talk about himself, only about this dreary little town—I’m damned if I’ll live in such a poky hole.’
‘Veere is a very lovely place,’ Tabitha said hotly, and Lilith laughed again. ‘As beautiful as Chidlake? I thought that was the only place worth living in? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for this potty little town.’ She stopped speaking and came and stood by Tabitha. ‘Or,’ she said slowly, ‘perhaps it’s Marius you’ve fallen for?’
Tabitha had expected that. She answered composedly: ‘Mr van Beek is a very kind host and I admire him as a surgeon.’
‘Oh, pooh,’ exclaimed Lilith, ‘don’t you ever think of anything else but your beastly work? What a dead bore you are!’
She strolled back to the mirror and did things to her already perfectly arranged hair. ‘I must say you’ve done very well for yourself—a cushy holiday with almost nothing to do and this gorgeous room—it’s better than mine was at the hotel. Mother said you were going to be a kind of mother’s help.’ She looked around her and added spitefully: ‘Well, you’ll miss it all when you get back, won’t you?’
Tabitha shrugged her shoulders. ‘Will you be at home for the rest of the summer?’ she asked, not because she wanted to know, but it made something to say and Lilith seemed in no hurry to go downstairs yet.
‘Stay at Chidlake? You must be joking! We’re off to London.’ She paused, her eyes slid away from Tabitha’s ‘I can’t remember. We’re going to Paris too. After that we have to wait and see.’ She jumped to her feet and Tabitha opened the door thankfully.
‘There’s one thing for sure,’ said Lilith as she went past her. ‘Don’t expect to be the bridesmaid.’
They went a few minutes later and it was while the farewells were being made that Marius came and stood by Tabitha, waiting by the door.
‘What did your stepmother say to you just now?’ he wanted to know. ‘You looked in a fine rage, the place practically burst into flames.’ He frowned. ‘And what secrets did Lilith tell you upstairs?’
She didn’t smile. ‘It’s of no possible interest to you what my stepmother said, and Lilith has never told me a secret in her life; she isn’t likely to now.’
She thought he looked relieved, though his voice was silky. ‘I’m glad of that, but make no mistake, Tabitha, it is of interest to me. Perhaps you will feel like telling me when I get back.’
Tabitha’s temper plucked at her tongue, making it reckless. ‘I shall not. In any case, I daresay we shall all be in bed, and asleep by the time you’re home.’ She turned on her heel, then paused to say through her teeth: ‘I hope you have a lovely day,’ and was furious when he laughed.
He was back before tea. They were all at the harbour’s edge watching a rather splendid Norwegian yacht edging its way out into the lake, and it was Tabitha who turned at the soft sigh of the Bentley stopping behind them. She stared at Marius’s face as he got out of the car to try and read from it how his day had gone and he returned her look placidly, seeming neither elated nor cast down. He said: ‘Hullo there, how nice to be back. Schipol is a miracle of modern planning; it is also no place to be in if you happen to want peace and quiet. Have you had tea? If not, I’ll be with you in five minutes.’
He was back with half a minute to spare, sitting in his great armchair.
‘What shall we do with our evening?’ he wanted to know. ‘I feel guilty leaving you all day as I did.’ He smiled round at them all, looking not in the least guilty but rather very pleased with himself, and, thought Tabitha, studying his face, he was keeping it to himself. He glanced up before she could look away. ‘Tabby, I’ve a message for you—your stepmother asked me to tell you that they intend to be away for several weeks and there will be no point in you going to Chidlake until they return.’
Tabitha’s thanks were a little bewildered, for her stepmother had never before bothered to send her messages, good or bad; it was almost as though they didn’t want her at Chidlake… She made a strong resolve there and then that just as soon as she could, she would drive over to her home and see for herself. Even if Lilith and her stepmother were going away, there was no reason why she shouldn’t go there for her days off. She had in fact done so on several occasions, for it was, when all was said and done, her home. She contradicted herself. It was only her home by courtesy of her stepmother—she had no more claim to it than anyone else now.
She came out of her brown study to find Marius’s eyes on her again, and this time the look was guarded and thoughtful, almost as though he had guessed her thoughts. For no reason at all she went pink and when his mouth twitched in a faint, mocking smile, the pink deepened into red just as though she were guilty of something or other. She lifted her chin and turned to Mr Raynard beside her, to plunge into a series of questions about his children, which he, being a kindhearted man and seeing her hot cheeks, answered with a tremendous wealth of detail.
They decided not to go out that evening, instead Marius suggested that he might ask a few friends in for drinks after dinner, an idea which everyone acclaimed, especially Tabitha and Muriel who saw a chance to wear their new dresses and did so with startling success, even provoking Bill Raynard to say: ‘Well, I must say, Tabby, I’ve always thought you looked very neat and tidy in uniform, but you’ll never be the same again now, however tight you pull back your hair and starch your aprons. Marius, what do you think?’
Marius put his glass down and his hands in his pockets. He spoke mildly.
‘But Tabitha isn’t going to pull her hair back any more, are you, my girl? Though I know what you mean, Bill.’ His eyes twinkled although he wasn’t laughing. ‘Cinderella’s ball gown did the same for her, I believe.’
Everyone laughed and Tabitha with them because it would have looked silly if she hadn’t, and they had a rather noisy dinner because, for some reason, they all felt lighthearted.
The guests came about nine o’clock. Tabitha had expected half a dozen of the worthier citizens of the little town, and true enough, the burgemeester and the dominee were the first to arrive with their wives, quickly followed by a sprinkling of lawyers, doctors and several members of the yacht club, but these were augmented by several younger married couples from further afield until the room was full of gay and, as Tabitha couldn’t help see for herself, very well-dressed people. She felt glad she had on the new dress and began to enjoy herself.
The party broke up about midnight and Tabitha, helping Mr Bow to bed, had to admit that it had been great fun. She said so to him now and added:
‘I’ve put your water and glasses and book on the table, but you won’t need a sleeping pill tonight.’ His bewhiskered face looked tired against the pillows; she dropped a kiss on his cheek and said: ‘I’ll peep in on my way up in a few minutes,’ and went downstairs. Muriel and Bill were on the point of going up to their room, but Marius said: ‘Unless you’re very sleepy, Tabitha, stay a minute—I haven’t seen you the whole evening.’
She didn’t answer but stood rather self-consciously by the door until Marius said in a voice so unlike his usual mild tones that she stared:
‘For heaven’s sake sit!’ and before she could do more than feel surprise at his brusque tone, he asked: ‘What do you think of my friends?’
That surprised her too, for her mind had been running on Lilith. She said, stammering a little: ‘Very nice,’ and added idiotically: ‘They’re all married.’
Marius’s eyebrows rose slowly. ‘This part of Holland is hardly a hotbed of permissive society,’ he observed blandly, and Tabitha frowned and said shortly: ‘That isn’t at all what I meant—they’re all married with children, or all those I spoke to were, and you…you’re still a bachelor.’
She was affronted when he burst out laughing and then suddenly unhappy when he said softly: ‘Yes, I am, but not for long now.’
She wondered if she should congratulate him or just murmur politely. She had decided on the murmur when he disconcerted her by saying: ‘I like your outfit—very dashing and with it. Do you know you’ve turned into a very attractive woman, Tabitha?’
She got to her feet. The conversation was getting them nowhere.
‘Look at me, Marius,’ she said flatly, ‘and I mean a proper look—not just a kind one, for I know you are kind and you’ve done all you can to make me believe that I’m not a plain girl,’ her voice rose, ‘but what is the use? Why did you do it? Look at my face…’
Marius had been tossing a paperweight up and down like a marble; even in her misery she hoped he wouldn’t drop it; she had admired it several times, it was a millefiori and probably very valuable. She caught her breath as he caught it for the last time and then looked at her. ‘I am looking, Tabitha,’ he smiled with a hint of mockery. ‘I’ve been looking for a long time.’ He sent the paperweight spinning again. ‘Go to bed,’ he said, his voice suddenly harsh. ‘Good night.’
She tried to make sense of the conversation before she went to sleep, but perhaps she was too tired, for she couldn’t think rationally and the urge to have a good cry was very great. She blew her sensible little nose with determination and closed her eyes firmly on the tears.