Cobweb Morning by Betty Neels

Author:Betty Neels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1975-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

IF Nel hadn’t been there, beaming at them both, Alexandra might have answered him back; instead she followed the woman out of the room and up the staircase, along an arched gallery overlooking the hall and into a room which rather took her breath. It overlooked the gardens at the side of the house and although it wasn’t very large, it had the same high ceiling as the room downstairs and the same painted walls. It was furnished quite beautifully in the Regency style, and Alexandra, exploring once she was left on her own, saw that the bed and the small table in the window were antiques, as was the bow-fronted chest against one wall and the little button-backed crinoline chair standing invitingly beside the burnished steel grate. There seemed to be no particular colour scheme; pinks and blues and pale greens were nicely harmonized in the curtains and bed cover, and the floor was covered by a deeply piled white carpet. Very cosy, she decided, aware that this was an understatement. There was a small bathroom leading out of the bedroom too, all pink and white and containing everything she could possibly want. She eyed it with deep pleasure and went back into the room to unpack and do her face and hair and presently went in search of Penny.

She met Miss Thrums first, however, for that lady flung open a door on the opposite side of the gallery and invited her to enter. This room was delightful too, larger and more splendidly furnished and facing the ornamental pool.

‘Very comfortable, isn’t it, my dear?’ murmured Miss Thrums, ‘and so different from my cottage. It always surprises me that when Taro comes to stay with me he gets the morning tea and peels the potatoes as though he had done such things all his life. I daresay if he attempted to do either of these things here, his devoted staff would be appalled.’

She took a look at Alexandra. ‘You were surprised? I don’t suppose Taro thought of telling you, you see, he wouldn’t have considered it important.’ She paused. ‘And it isn’t, is it, Alexandra—not to you.’

‘No. I think I—I felt sorry for him at first, you see he wore those tweeds—nice but shabby—and he was driving the Morris; I quite thought it was his. I imagined him to be a GP with not too much money and perhaps a wife and children…’

‘Too much money, my dear,’ declared Miss Thrums, ‘and no wife—he hasn’t had time to look for one yet, or so he says.’ She shot another look at Alexandra. ‘But I’m wondering if he’ll have to look much further.’

Alexandra turned to look out of the window. ‘Probably not,’ she said in a colourless voice, and thought of Penny. Which reminded her to say: ‘I think I’d better go along and see if Penny has unpacked. Is her room nearby?’

‘Across the front corridor and down the little passage at the back,’ directed her companion. ‘Did Taro tell you at what time we lunch?’

‘Yes, thank you, I’ll see you then.

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