Once For All Time by Betty Neels

Author:Betty Neels
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction
Published: 2011-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

“No, just work. Mrs Dent’s better… Dr Evans has taken a blood sugar.” She watched his face; it was as calm as always, but of course he wasn’t a man to show his feelings.

He said in an absentminded manner: “Good, good. Could we have a meal together? To get this trip to Leyden sorted out. In an hour, or is that rushing you?”

“Not me, but won’t it rush you? Dr Evans told me she was having drinks with you.”

His heavy lids open and she saw how very bright blue his eyes were.

“The devil—I’d forgotten! It’s Jeff Saunders’ birthday and he’s asked most of the medical staff to have drinks with him in the common room. I don’t need to stay for more than half an hour, though…”

He looked at her in a puzzled way. “Why on earth am I having drinks with Mary Evans? It’s the last thing I want to do.”

“Is it?” asked Clotilde happily.

“Well, that’s what she said, so naturally I thought…”

“If you thought that you’re out of your mind, my girl. Now go and put on something pretty and we’ll go to a pub.”

She assumed that James’ idea of a pub might not be the same as Bruce’s had been, so she played safe with a wool dress and the fur jacket her father had given her for the previous Christmas. Anoljust as well, because he took her to Le Gavroche, which wasn’t a pub at all, but a very upper-crust French restaurant.

He seemed in no hurry to discuss the trip to Leyden and she was content to

enjoy the desultory talk, but over coffee he said: “About Leyden, can you manage four days off?” He gave her the dates and she nodded.

“Yes, I think so—I’ll take two week’s days off together; it’ll be a weekend, won’t it? How do we go?”

“Drive down to Dover and cross to Calais.”

“Oh,” she visualised a map of France, ‘really? Surely that’s miles from Leyden? And do we go by train from there? Isn’t it rather a long way? “

“We’ll drive up,” he told her, and didn’t offer any more information than that, leaving her speculating as to whether the Bentley went with them on the ferry—surely not? But of course cars went on the ferries and it would be far quicker. Having settled that point she ventured further.

“Do I stay with Katrina?” She asked.

“My grandparents live near Leyden—they’ll be delighted to have you.”

He added: “Katrina spends a lot of time with them.”

“And you’ll be with your friends?”

“The dreary old professors?” He laughed a little.

“We usually get together.”

“You’re quite sure Katrina wants me to come? After all, we’ve only known each other a very short time.”

He smiled at her.

“Kitty phoned me this afternoon to remind me to see you about the trip and make sure that you were coming.”

“Oh, of course—how nice of her.” Clotilde smiled back and spoke lightly, wondering at the same time why the idea that he had asked her out in order to

carry out Katrina’s wishes and not for reasons of his own should depress her.

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