Читать книгу Jandy Mac Comes Back - Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley - Страница 4

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Janice Fraser, entering the phone-box, did not see the girl on the bank sit up with a jerk of astonishment. She stared at the car, at Joan, at Janice; but Janice was busy with the directory, so she controlled her eagerness and sat waiting, clasping her hands round her knees in their neat breeches.

“He called her ‘my lady’,” Joan marvelled. “I wonder who she is? It sounds like a fairy-tale!”

Janice found her number at last, and after some delay was told she was through to the Hall. “Can I speak to Lady Quellyn? Is that Abinger Hall?”

A clear contralto voice answered her. “This is the Hall. Who is speaking, please?”

“Sounds puzzled,” Janice thought. “What’s wrong now? Has Joy removed? She’d never leave the Hall! We do seem to be down on our luck to-day!” She spoke into the phone. “My name is Fraser. I knew Lady Quellyn years ago, when she was at school. I’ve just landed from Australia, and I thought I’d look her up. Is she at home?”

“Oh! I couldn’t understand why you didn’t know. She’s in America; she won’t be home till July. Sir Ivor Quellyn is directing an orchestra in New York. I’m so sorry!”—as the speaker heard a groan of dismay from the other end of the wire. “I’m afraid it’s a disappointment, but I really can’t help it.”

“No, of course not. I’m sorry to have troubled you. I certainly didn’t understand. Has Lady Quellyn taken the twins with her? My little girl is craving to meet them.”

“No, they’re here. Perhaps you’d like to come to see them? Joy has taken David with her.”

“David? Who’s he?”

A laugh came over the wire. “The baby. He’s six months old; Joy couldn’t leave him at home. She went away when he was just two months. We hardly believe he’s real; we’ve seen so little of him.”

“Joy with a baby boy? But how delightful for her!”

“Oh, lovely, of course! After all these years.”

Janice heard the warning signal. “Time’s up. May I ring you again, when I’ve had time to think this over?”

“Oh, please do! But don’t come this afternoon. I have to be in town.”

“Thank you so much! Whom shall I ask for?”

“Oh, just Maidlin!” and then the line went dead.

Janice came out of the box and crossed the road to the car, without glancing at the girl in riding-breeches, who had sprung up and was coming towards her.

“Is it all right?” Joan shouted. “Can we go to the Abbey, Mother?”

“No, it’s all wrong, my child. There’s nothing for us to do but go sadly back to town, feeling silly.”

“Excuse me!” A clear and friendly, if slightly masterful, voice hailed them.

Janice, at the car-door, swung round to face the rider. “How nice she looks!” The thought shot through her mind, as she exclaimed, “Can we do anything for you? Is something the matter?”

“Nothing serious. But I couldn’t help hearing what your little girl said. You seem to have been ringing up my best friends, and you don’t look too pleased with the result. Can I do anything about it?”

Janice gazed at her in amazement. Then her face cleared. “But, of course, you’ve been to ask for Joan, haven’t you? You passed us in the drive. If you know Joan, you’ll know Joy too. You heard us speak of the Abbey, I suppose?”

“And the twins, and Abinger Hall. But it’s very odd!” The fair girl was gazing at them in wonder. “You know Mrs. Raymond and Lady Quellyn well enough to call them Joan and Joy, and yet I’ve never met you before. How has it happened?”

“Do you know all their friends?” Janice asked, in equal wonder.

“I thought I did! All Joy’s friends, anyway; Joan has lived abroad, of course. But, considering that I spent seven years at the Hall, I thought I knew all Joy’s real friends. May I ask who you are?”

“You lived with Joy for seven years?” Janice cried. “Then you must be—can you possibly be—one of the two schoolgirls whom she called her adopted twins, long before she was married?”

“One of them,” the girl assented, with laughing eyes. “And I strongly suspect that you’ve been talking to the other. Who spoke to you from the Hall?”

“I didn’t catch the name; it was strange to me. It was a clear, very sweet, contralto voice.”

“Quite. It’s singing for the B.B.C. this afternoon.”

“Oh! She said she’d be in town. Broadcasting! She must be very good!”

“It was Madalena di Ravarati; called by us Maidlin, or just Maid. I’m Rosamund, and Joy was more than good to the two of us when we were kiddies. We lived with her for years, and we grew up very close chums. Now who are you? Why have I never met you before?”

Janice Fraser laughed. “Because I went——”

“Because she’s a South Sea Islander!” Joan, shouted. She had been following the conversation with deep interest.

Rosamund glanced at her. “And what do they call you?”

“Joan Fraser.” Joan shot a quick look of warning at her mother. “I’m called after Aunt Joan, and her first little girl is called Janice after Mother.”

Janice finished her explanation. “My name is Janice Fraser. I stayed at the Hall when I was eighteen and Joan and Joy were sixteen. Then I went to the South Seas and married; my husband is a sailor, and we’ve always lived in Samoa. I haven’t been home since. I wrote to Joan Raymond for some years, but lately I’m afraid I’ve been slack. It’s my own fault, but I’m quite out of date in the family news.”

Rosamund was looking at her closely. “Are you, by any chance, Jandy Mac—the girl who helped them to find the Monks’ Path and the grave of old Ambrose?”

Janice laughed. “Jandy Mac I am. My name was Janice Macdonald.”

Rosamund’s hand shot out in greeting. “I’ve heard stories of those days. I’m so glad to meet you! You were buried alive in a tunnel under the Abbey with Joan and Joy! And at one time you thought the Abbey and the Hall might belong to you and you’d have to take them from the Abbey Girls!”

“I wish they had belonged to Mother!” Joan said fervently.

“I felt awful! I still remember how frightened I was,” Janice exclaimed.

“May I come into your car and sit down for a few minutes?” Rosamund interrupted her. “Of course I shall look after you now. As the rest of the family is otherwise engaged or in New York, you must let me take on their job. You’ll come home to lunch with me, to begin with. But if I might come in, while we talk——”

Joan had leapt out and hurled herself into the seat beside the chauffeur. “In there, with Mother! Oh, please do! You were sitting on the grass; did you want to rest? Or were you waiting for somebody?”

“Both.” Rosamund took the seat gladly. “May I explain? It must seem odd. I’ve been to ask for Joan, and I realised suddenly that it was too far and I couldn’t ride home. I didn’t want to confess to Jack Raymond, so I didn’t tell him, but my man has just phoned, and I’m waiting for the car to come and take me home. I hate doing it; I don’t like giving in or owning I’ve made a mistake! But I promised my husband, most faithfully, that if I found it was too far I’d wait for the car. He said it was too much for me, but I was sure I could do it. I’m only learning to ride, and I haven’t done very much yet, and—well, I have a young baby, and it isn’t good for either of us if I do too much. That’s why I was sitting by the roadside like a gipsy! The car will be along in a few minutes. I hope you’ll let me take you home to lunch?”

“It’s extremely kind of you! Are you sure it will be convenient?” Janice hesitated.

Rosamund’s laugh rang out. “Oh, quite! There’s plenty of lunch for two or three extra! I’ll love to have your company. Geoffrey—my husband—had a luncheon engagement, but I was excused, because Hugh—the infant—needs attention; I have to be at home at certain times for his sake. So when we heard that Jimmy Raymond had arrived, I decided to ride over and leave cards on Joan, in proper style. I was told it was too far, and it was, so I’m having to crawl home, feeling crushed. Very humbling! Good for my conceit, no doubt, but unpleasant. Everybody tells me I’m so sure of myself. Do come back with me, and make it easy for me! It will seem quite natural to be using the car, if I’m bringing friends home for lunch.”

Joan, hanging over the front seat, chuckled. “It gives you a good excuse. Oh, Mother, do let’s go! You said we’d find some lunch somewhere! Let’s send the car back to Mrs. Grant and go off in hers!” with a nod towards Rosamund.

Janice explained quickly, in answer to a questioning look. “We met some charming London people on the boat—we only landed four days ago, and we’ve been seeing a little of London. They rang us up to ask our plans, and when they heard about our pilgrimage, as they called it, in search of old friends, they insisted that we should use their car for the day, instead of complicating matters with trains and taxis.”

“Wasn’t it marvellous of them?” Joan cried. “We’ve come all the way from London by car!”

“A good idea, and much the easiest way,” Rosamund said calmly. “In that case, it’s quite simple. When my car comes we’ll all transfer to it. Yours shall follow and we’ll feed your man, and then he’ll go back to town and leave you with me. When we’ve talked things over, I’ll send you anywhere you want to go.”

“We’ll be a royal procession!” Joan shouted, in great glee. “First us, in your car, and then this car, and then the man with the horses!”

“The horses won’t keep up with the cars. They might as well start at once, but I know Ferguson won’t let me out of his sight till he’s seen me in our own car, so I won’t suggest it,” Rosamund said.

“Does he have to take care of you?” Joan asked, round-eyed.

Rosamund nodded. “He thinks so, anyway.”

“But what a bore for you!”

“I manage to put up with it. He wasn’t pleased with me for riding to-day; he said it was too far, and he wanted me to have the car.”

“Did he say you’d been silly?”

“He didn’t say it. He looked as if he thought so.”

“We feel we’ve been silly, to come here without first ringing up to ask if it would be convenient,” Janice remarked.

“We’re silly, and she’s silly. Better send all the silly people home together,” Joan suggested.

“Joan, my child, you’re being too noisy.”

“Haven’t you another name?” Rosamund looked at Joan. “I keep thinking your mother means our Joan. We’ll have to call you something else.”

Joan threw an imploring look at her mother. “Don’t tell her!”

Rosamund laughed. “What is your other name? Out with it! I’m going to call you by it. We really can’t have two Joans!”

“Her father calls her Littlejan,” Janice said ruthlessly. “He thinks she’s so like me.”

“She is like you, of course. But it’s rather young for her. How old is she?” Rosamund looked at Joan with thoughtful eyes.

“I’m thirteen. That’s nearly grown-up,” Joan protested. “I won’t be called by that baby name!”

“No, I agree with you. I shall call you Joan the Second—no, that’s clumsy! Joan Minor—like boys at school; Jones I. and Jones II.; I shall call you Joan-Two.”

Joan began to laugh. “Joan Two or Too?”

“Both—either. But I meant Two; our second Joan.”

“I’d like to be called Joan-Two.”

“Right! Joan-Two you shall be. That’s settled. Will you come and have lunch with me at my little house?”

“Yes, please, Miss Rosamund. It’s terribly nice of you.”

“Not ‘Miss.’ I’m going to show you my baby boy.”

“But you can’t take in the whole crowd of us!” Janice exclaimed.

“That will be all right. I’m thrilled to be meeting the Jandy Mac I’ve heard so much about. To be the first to entertain her is great luck! The rest will be thoroughly annoyed with me,” Rosamund said, laughing. “I shall tell you all about the families, and I’ll hear all your news. I’m the cat stealing the cream off the family milk! So don’t say any more about it. I’m delighted to have the chance to kidnap Jandy Mac and daughter!”