Free The Girl From Over the Sea by Valerie K. Nelson

no talk of any kind about your ... our claim ... until Rita is better and we have a united front. ’
    The boy laughed and threw a careless arm around her neck. ‘ You ’ re like a mother hen with us, aren ’ t you, Les? Too right you are! ’
    ‘ Too right I am, ’ agreed Lesley. ‘ One more thing, Rick. Keep an eye on Dingo all the time. We don ’ t want, him chewing up anything in the house. And don ’ t let him off the lead when you go out in case he chases someone ’ s cat ... or something ...’
    ‘ ... or snaps at someone ’ s horse ’ s fetlocks ,’ grinned Ricky unrepentantly. ‘ I ’ d let him do that any time, except that I ’ ve too much respect for the horse. ’
    Leslie ’ s brows were knitted. ‘ Rick darling, avoid that man whenever possible. Actually, though I didn ’ t ask for the information Mrs. Piper did say that he lives at the Lodge—that pretty little house just where we turned in at the entrance to the drive. Do you remember? I expect he rents it, and that ’ s why he was walking round as if he owns even the Manor, and that silly Miss Yelland sending for him made him f e el all the more important. I shouldn ’ t be surprised if he gets the Lodge at a peppercorn rent too. But we ’ ll look into that later .’
    ‘... and hand him his notice to quit ,’ grinned Ricky wickedly. ‘ I shall enjoy that, and I ’ m sure you will too .’
    Lesley looked thoughtful. She wasn ’ t at all sure they would be able to dismiss Mr. Blake Defontaine quite so easily. For one thing he hadn ’ t accepted that they were Ralph Trevendone ’ s children. Where had the story that Ralph had been killed in a mine disaster in Queensland twenty-five years ago come from ? She decided not to remind Ricky of that remark, but it continued to worry her. Just now she merely said again, ‘ Avoid him whenever you can, Rick, and especially when you ’ re with Dingo .’
    ‘ Okey doke ,’ returned Ricky cheerfully.
    Later, when she came to think back on it, that continued cheerfulness of Ricky ’ s should have roused her suspicions. He hadn ’ t wanted to come to England and once they were in London he most certainly hadn ’ t wanted to come down to Cornwall.
    London was his scene, he had assured Lesley. There he would be able to get somebody interested in his musical talents. He could play the piano quite well, was an accomplished guitarist and had a good voice. Once he got into a group, he had said hopefully ...
    All the way down to Cornwall he had been gloomy and depressed, so that to find he wasn ’ t moping here at Trevendone Manor under these trying conditions was one of the bright spots for Lesley while she nursed Rita.
    The others were those moments when she was able to stand by the bedroom windows, or occasionally in the doorway of the great hall while she waited for a tray to be brought from the kitchen and was able to look out at the masses of snowdrops and crocuses which painted the brown earth of the flower beds, or the flowering shrubs some with pretty little red flowers, other purple. And always there was the brilliant green of the grass, its smooth sward filling her with admiration and wonder.
    That would be her lasting impression of England, the greenness. As to Cornwall! Through the conifers which grew far down beyond the lawn, she could get glimpses of the sea and the creaming, surf, the sea of that pewter colour which always made her think of ‘ the Enemy ’ and his penetrating cold impartial grey eyes. Yes, so far as Cornwall was concerned, it would always be the sea ... and those eyes.
    She found the lack of sunshine this spring surprising, and it was that which filled her patient with the deepest gloom.
    ‘ I shall never get used to it ,’ Rita said wearily. ‘ Why did we ever come here, leaving our friends and everybody we knew, leaving a country that is sparkling and alive for this place which is ... dead? ’
    ‘ It ’ s a bad period, darling ,’ Lesley told her. ‘