Читать книгу Midnight House - Ethel Lina White - Страница 19

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The news was a shock to Elizabeth, but she forgot it in astonishment at the Captain's anger. His pleasant face set in a rigid mould as he spoke in a low furious voice.

"If that woman comes here again and tries to see the boy, throw her out."

"Isn't that a job for the man of the house?" asked Geraldine, winking at Elizabeth.

Suddenly, and to her own surprise, Elizabeth heard a voice which sounded like her own, amplified by a loud-speaker.

"Let me do it. It takes another woman to deal with her type."

The Pewters looked at her—nineteen and fly-weight—before they burst into a shout of laughter. It was so hearty and friendly that, for the first time in her life, she did not resent a joke at her expense. She was even on the point of joining in when she started at the sound of the front-door bell.

"Don't run away, Miss Feathers," said Geraldine. "It's only the little doctor. He'd said he might drop in for tea."

"I hope you aren't potty on the doctor, Miss Feathers, like all the women," remarked Captain Pewter.

Aware that Geraldine was the magnet which drew two eligible men—Dr. Evans and Hartley Gull—to No. 10, Elizabeth tried to please both brother and sister.

"He's very pleasant," she said. "But I feel uncomfortable when he stares."

"Unconscious diagnosis," explained Geraldine proudly.

"But I'm a very private person. I object to his seeing my organs all over my face."

As the Captain coughed over his smoke, Geraldine looked suddenly thoughtful. She was tired of being a temporary housekeeper and wanted the freedom of her old life again, but a sense of duty made her sacrifice her personal wishes... For the first time, she wondered whether Elizabeth was the solution of her problem. She discounted the difference in age, because she was devoted to her brother and believed him an ideal husband for any woman.

Since his enforced retirement, he suffered from boredom and depression. Besides the faculty to amuse him, Elizabeth evidently possessed affection for the children.

"Barney's not every one's cup of tea," she thought. "Besides, girls who earn their living are always realists."

She looked up self-consciously as Dr. Evans entered.

"I wonder you dare show up," she said a trifle too nonchalantly. "You let me down over your precious Maxine."

"I did not," declared the doctor. "I only vouched for Maxine's mother. She was housekeeper to the Browns and better educated than her employers. She took the job to educate her child and she was kind to poor tragic Marion. So when her daughter called at my surgery and told me she wanted work, I mentioned to you that I knew of the family."

"Oh, all right, all right. Seen her lately?"

"Maxine? Only as a patient. But I've seen her with Gull at the cocktail-bar, South-Western Hotel... And here's my best girl."

Phil charged across the room, bounced upon his knee and threw her arms around his neck.

"What's the latest news?" he asked, pandering to her weakness.

"We went down Murder Lane," announced Phil. "Miss Feathers wanted us to see a black man. But we couldn't see him. She ran all the way home. She's a very frightened lady."

The exposure dissolved Elizabeth's film of happiness. For the first time in months, she had felt inside a family circle. Geraldine gossiped to her while she was aware of the Captain's dawning interest.

She tried to explain the incident—only to find it impossible. How could she convey a threat of mental domination which seemed to link Barney with something evil, when her own emotions were merely groping in the dark? She stammered, contradicted herself and finally dried up, while they seemed to accuse her with their gaze.

In the silence which followed, she was aware of Phil's big blue eyes staring at her like a personified conscience. Then Dr. Evans spoke quietly.

"I've advised my secretary and staff not to go through Maundy Passage after dark."

"Dangerous?" asked Geraldine.

"I should imagine the special danger is past. But it has morbid associations." He turned to Elizabeth. "Do you mind if I remind you that Barney is neurotic? If you have any more—fanciful—suggestions to make to him, you might confine them to fairies."

Elizabeth felt his hostility but she managed to return his stare while she collected her scarf and gloves. She reached the door, where she paused to ask the Captain a question.

"Have you a cellar?"

"Naturally," he replied. "All old houses have them. Want to see it?"

Elizabeth shuddered as she shook her head.

"Oh, no. Only—Barney had told Philippa about a black man in the cellar. So, you see, there is a bad influence and it was here before I came. It's wrong and dangerous to frighten Philippa."

"She's not an expectant mother," remarked Geraldine callously. "She's a healthy kid and she likes a thrill. Don't you, Baby Bunting?"

Elizabeth turned to the door again, when she was arrested by the Captain's challenge.

"I dare you to go into the cellar, Miss Feathers."