A Gentle Awakening by Betty Neels

Author:Betty Neels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1988-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

THEY spent almost two hours in the animal sanctuary. Finally, they left with an ecstatic Pauline sitting on the back seat with a large woolly dog beside her, and a mother cat and her kitten in a basket on her lap. The dog was half-grown, his ancestry so numerous that it was impossible to classify him, but he had an honest face and eyes which shone with gratitude and anxious affection. His coat was curly, and once he had recovered his full health and strength its brown colour would be glossy. He had been found by a hiker tied to a tree and left to starve. The cat and kitten had been picked up on a motorway, tied in a plastic bag. They were black and white, the pair of them, and still timid, not believing their luck.

Florina, sitting beside Sir William, listened to the child talking to her new pets and spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘Isn’t it nice to hear Pauline happy?’

Sir William threw her a quick sideways look. ‘Is she not always happy?’

‘Almost always.’

‘But she is sometimes unhappy. Will you tell me why?’

‘No, I can’t tell you that—at least I can, but I don’t choose to do so.’ She added hastily, ‘I don’t mean to be rude, Sir William.’

His grunt could have meant anything. Presently he broke his silence. ‘I shall be away for the whole of next week, and I think it likely that I shall remain in town over the weekend. Nanny will be with you, of course, but you can always phone if you need anything—Jolly will know where I am.’

She said meekly, ‘Yes, Sir William,’ and wondered where he would be going. To stay with Wanda? Very likely. She sat silent, brooding about it.

Back at the house, Pauline ran off to the kitchen to show Mrs Jolly her pets, and Sir William excused himself on the grounds of telephone calls to make and departed to his study, which left Florina standing in the hall, not sure what to do. It was Jolly who entered the hall just then and told her that lunch would be in half an hour, and if she cared to go into the drawing-room she would find drinks on the table under the window.

So she went in there and sat down in one of the smaller of the easy chairs. She didn’t pour herself a drink, and she was surprised at Jolly mentioning it. After all, she should really be in the kitchen…

The house was quiet. But from the closed door leading to the kitchen came the sound of Pauline’s excited voice. The study door was shut, so Florina nipped smartly out of the room, and crossed the hall silently. The dining-room door was half-open; she peeped round it—the table was set for three persons. She took a soft step forward and was brought to a startled halt by Sir William, speaking within inches of her ear. ‘Set your mind at rest, Florina, you are lunching with us.’

She had whizzed round to gape up at his amused face.

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