Free The girl in the blue dress by Mary Burchell Page A

admitted.
"I'll be ready in five minutes."
    "All right. Come down when you're ready. You'll
find us in the little drawing-room, " Sara told her.
    She went away again, and Beverley hurried"
with her clearing-up operations. The
invitation was very welcome, in more ways than one. Quite apart from the fact
that it would really be delightfully interesting to see Geoffrey's picture of
her once more, she thought suddenly that the chance of seeing Sara and Franklin
Lowell together in their future home might do more for her than anything else
to set her mind finally at rest about Toni's confidences. She might, once and
for all, see that Sara's appar ent indifference was no more than a
reserved manner. And she might conceivably find, in the contemplation of the
two of them together, something entirely re assuring to set against that
disagreeable recollection of Sara outside Geoffrey's studio.
    When she came downstairs, she found not only F ranklin Lowell and all the members of the Wayne family
whom she already knew, but also, for the first time, Mr. Wayne. He had, she had
gathered, been away on some vague business trip abroad during her first week or
so at Huntingford Grange. But now that she saw him, she remembered immediately
what his second daughter had said about his being a darling but quite unpractical.
And she thought that, whatever his trip abroad had included, good, hard, practical
business affairs had not been to the fore.
    He was an exceptionally
handsome man, it was obvious where the Wayne girls got their looks, and he had
a genial, charming, all-embracing manner which was in curious contrast to his
wife's cool reserve. On being introduced to Beverley, he welcomed her more as a
friend of the family than a casual employee, and she very much doubted if he
had even noticed the few words of explanation with which Mrs. Wayne had
amplified the introduction.
    All he appeared to have
caught was the fact that she came from Binwick, and he immediately launched into
an eloquent appreciation of the beauties and the historical significance of
Binwick, delivered in a rich and flexible voice to which one could only listen
with admiration and pleasure.
    His manner was rather that of
a slightly old fashioned but highly gifted actor-manager, and Beverley could
not help thinking that if Madeleine had any grounds for visualizing herself
succeeding in a stage career, she must have inherited these from her father.
    He seemed to be on
unexpectedly good terms with his future son-in-law. And, if Franklin Lowell
listened to the dissertation on Binwick with obvious amusement, it was a sort
of indulgent amusement. At the end, he got to his feet, stretched himself
lazily, so that Beverley could not help noticing how tall and strangely graceful
he was, and said, "Well, shall we go now?"
    In contrast to Mr. Wayne's
rolling periods, there was something almost comic about the curt economy of that. But Sara, it seemed, was
quite ready to go. She said goodbye to her mother and went out to the car with
Franklin, Beverley following a tactful step or two behind.
    Just as they had seated
themselves, however, Sara remembered that she had forgotten something she wanted
to take over to Franklin's housekeeper. "I won't be a minute, " she
promised. "Wait for me." And, jumping out of the car, she ran into the house once more.
    It was very pleasant, sitting
out there in the late afternoon sunshine, the windows of the car open to the
breeze which almost always blew round the small plateau on which Huntingford
Grange was built. And leaning back in her seat, Beverley relaxed with a slight,
contented sigh.
    Franklin Lowell turned round
in the driving-seat and smiled at her. "Settling down all right here?" he enquired
good humouredly.
    "Oh, yes, indeed!
Everyone is very kind to me. And they are a delightful, an interesting family to work for."
    "Yes, they're interesting,
all right. Is that the first time you've met Mr. Wayne?"
    Beverley said it was.
    "Amazing