Four Days' Wonder by A A Milne

Author:A A Milne [Milne, A A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781509869541
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2017-09-21T04:00:00+00:00

II

At Tunbridge Wells Nancy got out of the train, and put her bag in the cloak-room. Then she walked down to the post office.

So that was the post office.

It was half-past one. Should she go in and ask about Gloria Harris?

Yes . . .

No . . .

Obviously no. If Jenny had not called for her letter, then there was just the one chance of finding her. Hang about the post office until Jenny came. Sooner or later she was bound to come. But if Nancy asked about the letter now, and went away and had lunch, and came back again, then all through the afternoon while she was waiting, she would have the uneasy feeling that perhaps Jenny had come and gone in that luncheon interval, and that now she was waiting for nothing. For it would be quite impossible to make a second innocent inquiry about the letter.

She walked up to the High Street and lunched. She came back to the post office and went in.

‘Good-afternoon,’ said Miss Pitman, with a nervous but friendly smile. ‘Is there a letter for me? Pitman. Miss Alice Pitman. You see, I’m camping, and I didn’t quite—oh, thank you so much.’

The clerk had gone away to look. He came back to say that he was sorry, there was no letter for Miss Pitman. Miss Pitman looked disappointed.

‘Oh!’ she said. ‘Oh, thank you.’ She hesitated; and then, taking courage, gave the clerk another nervous smile, and said: ‘I’m so sorry to trouble you, but I wonder if you would mind telling me if there are any letters for my friend Miss Harris? We’re camping together, you see, and she——’

‘Have you an authority from Miss Harris to——’

‘Oh, no, no, no,’ interrupted Miss Pitman quickly. ‘I didn’t mean that! How silly of me! No, all I meant was, she’s coming into the Wells to tea, but it’s right the other side of the town, you see, and I know she talked of seeing if there were any letters for her, and I thought if I could tell her there weren’t any, then it would save her all that walk, you see, and if there were any, then of course she would come for them herself. I knew I couldn’t take them without an authority, of course, but I thought if I could just tell her, you see—oh, thank you so much.’

The clerk had gone away to look. With his back to her, he said: ‘Any name or initials?’

‘Gloria,’ said Miss Pitman eagerly. ‘Miss Gloria Harris. It is kind of you. It will save her all that long walk, and——’

‘Miss Gloria Harris,’ read out the clerk. ‘Yes. There is.’

‘Oh, thank you so much, then he has written. I’ll tell her. Unless of course she may have started to walk in earlier than she said, but then I expect she’d come anyhow, but of course she may have changed her mind and not be coming in this afternoon at all, but it is nice to know, isn’t it? Thank you so much, good-afternoon.

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