Vittoria Cottage (Drumberley Book 1) by D. E. Stevenson

Author:D. E. Stevenson [Stevenson, D. E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-09-20T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

HARRIET’S CAR was a novelty to the Dering family. There was not enough petrol to go for long runs, but there was a little in the tank, and one fine Saturday afternoon Harriet offered to take her relatives for a picnic to Farling Woods. The girls accepted with delight but Caroline refused, saying she had not yet written her weekly letter to James and it must be posted that evening. She saw them off with all the paraphernalia necessary — with coats and rugs and sandwiches and thermos flasks — and then she went back into the house and sat down at her desk.

As usual Caroline had a lot to tell James, but it was quiet and peaceful and there were no interruptions (except from Comfort who looked in to say that this seemed a good opportunity to polish the hall floor) so the letter got written quite quickly and Caroline was just addressing the envelope to the base at Kuala Lumpur when the telephone-bell rang.

She picked up the receiver and said, “Hallo!”

“Is that Mrs Dering?” inquired a man’s voice — rather a deep voice and somehow vaguely familiar.

“Yes, Mrs. Dering speaking,” said Caroline.

“Mother!” exclaimed the voice. “Mother, this is James!”

Caroline was speechless.

“Are you there?” asked the voice anxiously. “This is James. I’m in London. I flew home, I didn’t tell you I was flying home because I knew you’d worry yourself frantic. I’ve arrived safe and sound.”

“James!” said Caroline faintly.

“Yes,” said the voice. “Yes, James. I’m here in London. I’m taking the next train to Wandlebury. I get to Wandlebury at five-ten. Can you meet me or shall I just find my way over to Ashbridge? I suppose there’s a bus or something.”

“I’ll meet you,” said Caroline.

“Are you all right?” asked the voice in urgent tones. “I mean, you sound awfully far away —”

“I’m perfectly all right. I’ll meet you —”

“Not if it’s a bother,” the voice adjured her.

The line went dead. Caroline listened for a few moments, but nothing happened, so she laid down the receiver. Her hand trembled and she had some difficulty in fitting it on to its stand.

“I heard!” exclaimed Comfort, appearing at the door. “I couldn’t help hearing! It’s Mr. James! Oh, isn’t it lovely!”

“Yes,” agreed Caroline in a dazed voice. “I suppose it’s true. It couldn’t be a — a joke or anything.”

“A joke! Goodness no! It was Mr. James’s voice, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Caroline. “It seemed to be. At least —”

“Of course it was,” declared Comfort. “It was him, all right.”

“I must think,” said Caroline, trying to rouse herself and take a grip of the situation. “He’s arriving at Wandlebury at five-ten, so I must get the four o’clock bus —”

“No, a taxi,” said Comfort firmly. “Then you’ll have it to come back in — see? It’s much the best. I’ll ring up Mr. Black and tell him to bring his big car. You’ll need the big car for the luggage. You go and change, Mrs. Dering. You’ll put on your

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.