Free The Chain of Destiny by Betty Neels Page A

morning,’ was curt but not unfriendly. ‘I’ll introduce you to Juffrouw van Dijl; you will leave with her in her car in about half an hour. Did Cobb give you an envelope?’
    â€˜Yes, I’ve not opened it.’
    â€˜Do so when you have the opportunity.’ He didn’t say what was in it, but led the way through the imposing front door, held open by an impassive manservant. ‘I have no time to waste, so don’t dawdle,’ he advised her unnecessarily.
    They were led up a grand staircase to a room over looking the street, furnished in an opulent style which Suzannah found overpowering and in which were a number of people: an elderly man, a slightly younger woman, a youngish man whose eyes were too close together and a very pretty girl with dark hair and eyes, dressed dramatically in the very height of fashion and looking nervous and excited.
    When she saw the professor she rushed to meet him and caught him by the arm. ‘Guy—are you sure I’ll be all right? You will come and see me? What will I do if I feel ill?’
    He said gently, ‘Why should you feel ill, Julie? You were always a remarkably healthy girl, and now that you are well again there is no reason why you should be anything else. Besides, I have brought Suzannah with me; she will keep an eye on you—and she is not a nurse, you know, just someone to keep you company and remind you from time to time that you’re perfectly well again.’
    The girl looked at Suzannah, taking in her neat, unfashionable appearance. ‘Oh, hello.’
    She nodded carelessly, not listening to Suzannah’s polite, ‘How do you do, Miss van Dijl?’ and turned back to the professor.
    â€˜You will come, won’t you, soon?’
    â€˜When I can arrange it, Julie. I’m tied up at the moment.’ He left her and crossed the room to shake hands with the older man and woman and introducedSuzannah. ‘Mr and Mrs South,’ he told her, ‘are aunt and uncle to Juffrouw van Dijl; she has been staying for a few days with them before returning home.’
    Suzannah shook hands with them and wondered just where home was. Just as though he had read her thoughts, the professor said quietly, ‘You will find all the information you need in the envelope, Suzannah.’
    He went away presently, and shortly after that Suzannah accompanied her new employer out to the Rolls-Royce outside and got in beside her. Her luggage had been put in the boot, together with a great many cases belonging to Juffrouw van Dijl arranged there, and she sat quietly while tearful farewells were exchanged. No one had thought to bid her goodbye; she didn’t mind that the aunt and uncle had overlooked her, but she chalked up another black mark against the professor for doing no more than nodding at her as he left. It had been a last-minute, absent-minded nod, too, as though he had remembered just in time that she was there.
    The young man had stayed in the background; now he put his head through the open window of the car and spoke urgently to Juffrouw van Dijl; Suzannah tried not to listen but it wouldn’t have mattered if she had for he spoke in some language she couldn’t understand— Dutch, she thought—and her companion had answered just as urgently before they drove off.
    They were going by hovercraft to Holland, and the drive to Dover took no more than an hour and a half. Juffrouw van Dijl made no attempt at conversation but sat, wrapped in thought, ignoring Suzannah, so that after a while she took out the envelope she had been given and read its contents: a detailed resumé of everything she needed to know while she was in Holland.
    More information as to Juffrouw van Dijl’s way of life, a reiteration of the hours she was to work and when she was to be free, the arrangement made to pay her salary each week, the currency, the name and telephone number of the family doctor, where she should go if