Free Royal Purple by Susan Barrie Page A

one of her sunniest humours. She had slept badly, and her rheumatism was troubling her, and in addition she declared that the scent of so many flowers in the house had given her hay-fever. Lucy didn’t believe in the hay- fever, but she did believe in the sleepless night and the rheumatism. Her employer’s eyes were tire d , and she moved her hands stiffly and awkwardly when she reached for anything.
    “I don’t know that I can spare you for a whole day,” she returned in response to Lucy’s request. “And if you have lunch with this man, and it’s his day off, I suppose his idea is to keep you with him for the whole of the day?”
    “I don’t know,” Lucy answered, thinking however that a whole day in the company of Paul Avery would be too much to hope for. “And of course, if you can’t spare me—”
    “I didn’t say that I can’t spare you,” the old lady snapped. “I said that I didn’t know whether I could spare you. But as it would be intolerable for me to have you mooning around the house looking as if someone had deprived you of something, I say that you can go off for the day if you want to. But don’t make a night of it as well as a day! That’s all I ask !”
    “Of course not,” Lucy gasped, in gratitude. “As if I would!”
    “Be back here by six o’clock.”
    “Oh, I will, madame .”
    The Countess smiled at her unexpectedly.
    “Cheer up, child. You’re entitled to a day off since I can’t remember when you had one last, and see to it that you enjoy yourself. Make yourself as attra c tive as possible for the young man’s benefit, but don’t bowl him over completely. Remember we have only a limited number of vases!”
    Lucy raced back to the hall and the telephone to let Paul Avery know that it would be all right. She could almost see the smile enter his eyes when she confided that the Countess had given her the whole day off if she wanted it. So long as she was back by six o’clock!
    “Fine!” he said, and for the first time she thought his voice sounded faintly American. “I’ll see to it that you’re safely returned to your doorstep by six o’clock. And I’ll call for you about midday, if I may?”
    “Of course,” she answered. And then she thanked him for the flowers. “They were wonderful,” she said. “I’ve never had so many flowers all at once in my life before.”
    “In that case I’m sorry I didn’t double the order. .But that’s something that can be rectified in the future. Until tomorrow, Lucy!”
    As she set down the receiver she breathed into the silence and the heavily flower-scented atmosphere of the hall, “Until tomorrow!”

 
    CHAPTER VIII
    UNLIKE her employer, Lucy was not particularly interested in food, but she did realise that the lunch they consumed in a small Soho restaurant was good.
    She thought it was an Italian restaurant to which Paul Avery took her, until he corrected the impression and explained that the man who ran it was a Seronian. His eyes flickered towards the dark little man who stood watching them and beaming as Lucy sipped her coffee appreciatively at the conclusion of the meal, and then beckoned him towards them.
    “This is Mademoiselle Gray, Andrei,” he said. “She has the honour to be employed by Her Excellency the Countess von Ardrath.”
    “The Countess von—?” The little man’s eyes rolled in a kind of awe. “But that is wonderful!” he declared. “That is very wonderful!”
    A gleam that might have been amusement lit Paul’s dark eyes. He said softly to Lucy:
    “So now you understand that it really is an honour to work for the Countess! Especially when she despatches you on an errand connected with the sale of her jewellery!”
    The proprietor of the restaurant was concerned to find out whether Lucy really had enjoyed her meal, and whether everything had been entirely to her taste. She assured him that lunching at his restaurant was an experience she wouldn’t forget, and his worried expression