Free Tabitha in Moonlight by Betty Neels Page B

unnecessary chatter. Even Mr Bow received only the briefest of remarks and when they reached Mr Raynard, that gentleman besought his friend not to hang around; he was doing nicely enough, and unless Tabby chose to kill him off in the meantime, he would still be there on the following day. As the party moved towards the door Tabitha spoke.
    â€˜You would rather not wait for coffee, I expect, Mr van Beek.’ She went through the door into the office ahead of the others and turned to smile bleakly at him. ‘I hope you have a very pleasant day,’ she added insincerely, and smiled warmly at George Steele and Tommy, indicating with a little nod the coffee tray ready on her desk. Mr van Beek paused for the smallest moment of time, his eyebrows lifted. Then his eyes narrowed.
    He said smoothly: ‘Thank you. The pleasures of the day will doubtless make up for the lack of coffee now.’
    He stalked away and Tabitha watched him go, feeling wretched and miserable because he had seemed to mind so much, and excusingher own bad temper as concern that a man as nice as he was should fall for someone like Lilith. She attempted to throw off the peculiar sense of loss she was sustaining by being extra bright and chatty to George and Tommy, leaving them even more puzzled. They went away presently, shaking their heads over her, for they liked her very much, having a brotherly fondness for her which allowed them to appreciate her good points without noticing her plain face.
    The day dragged; Tabitha took an afternoon off duty so that Staff Nurse Rogers could have a half day—Mrs Burns, the part-time staff nurse, would stay until five o’clock. She went home to the flat and helped Meg turn out cupboards, then sat idly with Podger on her lap, trying not to think about Lilith and Mr van Beek. Sunbathing, she supposed, or having tea on the terrace of some hotel and then later, dinner and a drive back in the moonlight. She found her imagination unbearable and got up so quickly that Podger let out a protesting miaouw and only allowed his ruffled feelings to be soothed by a saucer of milk and the small portions of sandwich with which he was fed when Meg came in with the tea.
    â€˜A nice beast,’ observed Meg, ‘makes a bit of life about the place. You haven’t told me about the dance, Miss Tabby.’
    â€˜Well,’ said Tabitha, ‘it wasn’t all that exciting—not for me, anyway.’ She explained about not wearing the new dress and Meg tut-tutted in a comforting voice.
    â€˜Never you mind, child,’ she consoled. ‘You’ll get the chance to wear it, you see if you don’t.’
    â€˜Yes, I know. The Christmas Ball at the hospital. Even though I’ve never worn it, it’ll seem old, if you see what I mean.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I must fly, Meg dear, I’m a bit short-handed this evening, so don’t worry if I’m late.’
    But on the whole, it was a quiet evening. There had been an admission, it was true, which had gone straight to theatre to have a broken arm put in plaster, but the patient would go home again very soon and presented no great strain on the ward staff. There were a couple of men admitted for laminectomy for the following day too, but they were allowed to sit in the day room, watching the television with anyone else who could manage to get as far, and the remaining patients were quiet enough. Even Mr Raynard, deep in a thriller, gave less trouble than he usually did. He had been sat out for a short period during the day, and so had old Mr Bow; they had faced each other across the ward, their legs carefully propped up before them,while they boasted to each other how soon they would be on their feet again, and while Mr Bow didn’t exactly smirk with satisfaction when Tabitha did her evening round, he certainly seemed to have taken on a new lease of life, a fact which Mr Raynard noted when she reached his bed.
    â€˜Nice old