The Ransom by Grace Livingston Hill

Author:Grace Livingston Hill [Hill, Grace Livingston]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63058-188-6
Publisher: Barbour Books
Published: 2014-02-11T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

But Maggie had heard the bell and came hurrying to open the door. She did not intend to have her other blessed lamb kidnapped. Christobel retreated when she saw Maggie and stood on the stair landing wide-eyed, her hand upon her heart.

It was a lady at the door this time, and suddenly Christobel knew, even before she saw her, who it must be. She was not surprised when she saw the slight altercation at the door end by Maggie being swept aside peremptorily.

“I am an intimate friend of the family, my good woman!” said a hard, imperious voice that yet resembled the fawning voice that Christobel knew. And Maggie, still holding the door open because she did not want to admit that she was conquered and shut the unwelcome guest inside, gave one protesting glance upward to where her nursling stood, just in the act of flight. Maggie was not quite sure, but she didn’t like this woman as an intimate for her master’s family. Her lips were too red and her perfume too subtle.

For an instant Christobel remained poised on the landing for flight. Then she heard her father return from the garage and enter the telephone booth in the back hall. At any moment he might come out and be the prey of this interloper. Christobel thought she could not bear to have this added to the burden of the evening. Very likely this persistent woman would somehow persuade her father that he must either allow her to stay here and share in their anxiety and distress, or else that she, Christobel, must go home with the woman and be protected. The thought of either was horrible to the girl. It must not be. She did not know how she was going to prevent it, but some way she must.

So she turned quietly, adjusting an untried dignity, and went swiftly downstairs, an odd thought flitting through her mind. Afterward, she wondered why it had come. The thought was a wish that Phil Harper would come back. A feeling that somehow he would sense the need and find a way to get this woman courteously out of the house. But she put it swiftly by, knowing that this was an emergency she must meet herself if it was to be met.

It was Maggie who spoke, raising an angry, frustrated face and flashing blue eyes. “This wumman was wantin’ ta see yer father, Miss Chrissie, an’ I was tellin’ her he was very much occypied, an’ that ye was wore out with the trubble and excitement.”

Christobel smiled indulgently.

“It’s all right, Maggie. Mrs. Romayne didn’t understand. Never mind, I will speak to her for just a moment. Good evening, Mrs. Romayne. Will you just step in here where we shall be free from interruption.”

Christobel swept the light on again in the small reception room, drew Mrs. Romayne within, and pulled the curtains after her. Now, if her father came back, he would not see who was there.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Romayne,”

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