Free The Man in Possession by Hilda Pressley Page A

stilted and conventional. She murmured her own thanks and said goodnight once more before closing the door.
    For a little while after hearing his car drive the few yards to his house and garage, Julia battled raggedly with a sense of dissatisfaction, but gradually she relaxed and smiled to herself as she recalled some of their conversation. In all, she went to bed in a happier frame of mind than she had known for a very long time.
    During the night there was a change of wind direction, and a gradual thaw set in. For three days rain came down, accompanied by high winds. The workmen moved into the office and Julia squelched her way to and from the house to work in the temporary office there. She saw very little of Roger. He seemed to be off on some business of which she knew nothing, and when she did see him he had very little to say to her. Julia began to wonder whether he had regretted taking her out to dinner. Perhaps from now on he wanted there to be strictly a boss-employee relationship between them. It was all useless conjecture, of course, and she told herself it didn ’ t matter to her in the slightest what he had in mind. All the same she would be glad when the busy season began, though even Easter was still some weeks away..
    On Thursday evening however, as she was putting things away at the end of the day, he came into the study/office.
    ‘ Have you thought any more about my suggestion of getting away for a week-end or so? ’ he asked.
    She shook her head.
    ‘Why not? ’ he demanded. ‘Can ’ t you tear yourself away from the place? ’
    Her eyes widened at his tone. ‘ I—don ’ t know what you mean. It ’ s just that I haven ’ t thought about it. ’
    ‘ Don ’ t you want to see your parents? ’ he asked accusingly.
    She had actually been thinking of inviting them to visit her over Easter. There was plenty of room in the houseboat. Quite apart from the Broads, this was a very good area in which to spend a holiday. There were so many places of interest all around, and she knew they would enjoy it.
    She looked at Roger Leighton ’ s dark face and wondered what had happened to annoy him.
    ‘ I ’ ll look up trains and go this week-end, ’ she said mildly. She thought she had also better ask him if it was all right for her to invite her parents to stay, and was about to do so when he exploded again.
    ‘ Trains? You can ’ t travel by train. ’
    ‘That ’ s the only way I ’ ll get there, ’ she told him. ‘ I haven ’ t a car at present. I sold it when I wanted to buy the business. I ’ m afraid I ’ ve been using the firm ’ s van for odd trips into town. I shall have to get another car, but meanwhile— ’
    ‘You can either get yourself another car or use the van, just as it suits you, but I ’ m going down to Surrey for the week-end-myself. That ’ s why I asked you. I thought we might as well travel down together. I ’ m sure we can both be spared at the moment, whereas in a few weeks ’ time neither of us will be able to get away. ’
    That was true. ‘But won ’ t Kent be out of your way? ’
    ‘ Very little. We could travel down tomorrow afternoon and come back Monday morning. And by the way, ’ he continued before she could say anything, ‘ ask Mrs. Harris if she ’ ll come in over the week-end and clean up the office after the workmen have left. It would be a good idea, too, to decide where you want things to go and leave some instructions with Andy. You won ’ t want to come back and find everything in a muddle and in the wrong places. ’
    He nodded and walked away in the manner of one ac c ustomed to taking explicit obedience for granted.
    ‘Yes, sir, certainly, sir, ’ Julia muttered under her breath.
    He was certainly in charge and, if one did not watch out, would also take charge of one ’ s life. But oddly enough the idea did not so much anger as amuse her.
    She telephoned her parents to let them know she would be coining, and at three o ’ clock the