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CHAPTER 27
She turned away from Je
It was very dark in the wood. There was still some light outside, but here the trees moved with their shadows and shut her in. They gave her a feeling of safety. They were the walls of her house of defence. It was her own place, where she could be quiet and steady her thoughts. She walked to and fro in the little clearing at the heart of the wood. Presently she would have to think, but for the moment all she wanted was to stop thinking, to be quiet, and above all to be away from Crewe House.
She did not know how long it was before she heard the footstep. It was a man’s step, quick and vigorous. She heard Craig calling her.
“Rosamond! Are you there?”
For a moment she was any wild wood creature. She had an instinct to stay quite still where she was and let the silence cover, her, but when he said her name again, she was Rosamond and he was Craig. She moved and went to meet him.
“Je
There was a roughness in his voice. He had had the unreasoned thought that she might have just walked out of his world and been lost. His arm came round her.
“Why on earth do you go off by yourself like this? I don’t like it.”
She said, “I must-have somewhere-”
“That barrack of a house has rooms enough!”
She shook her head. He could see the movement, but not how she looked.
“I have to get-right away-sometimes-”
“And this was one of the times?”
“Yes.”
“Rosamond, what has been happening?”
He was too close to her not to know when she was in trouble. He felt the trouble now, but he didn’t know what it was. He had to know. He spoke her name again insistently,
“Rosamond-”
She said on a quick uneven breath,
“She’s sending Je
“Where?”
“A school at Brinton. She’s got it all fixed up.”
“Without telling you?”
“She never said a word. Craig, I knew she would have to go sometime. But not like this. Even if she hadn’t been ill, I ought to see the place first. No one has seen it. A woman she knows sent some orphan cousins there-that’s how she heard of it. It’s just any place to send Je
He said in a controlled voice,
“You must certainly see any place she suggests before Je
He felt the tremor that went over her.
“There isn’t time-she’s pla
He said in his strong voice,
“Well, it’s not going to work out that way, so don’t worry. Even Miss Crewe can be made to see that she can’t just bundle Je
He felt her stiffen.
“You think I’m afraid. Well, I am, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. If I were on my own I’d just walk out. I’d have done it long ago. In fact I wouldn’t ever have come. It’s like being in prison. But what can I do with Je
“How does she know?”
“She didn’t tell me, but she does. And you see, it justifies her. She said how dangerous it was, and it couldn’t possibly be allowed to go on. Everything she said was reasonable and just what anyone would say. But that wasn’t why she said it. It was just something she’d got to make me come to heel and do what she wanted. Do you see now why I had to get out of the house? I couldn’t see Je
He had had his arm round her all this time, and she had let it stay. It crossed his mind to wonder if she so much as knew that it was there. He put both hands on her shoulders now and let her feel their weight.
“Rosamond, stop talking! If you go on saying there isn’t anything to be done, there won’t be. It’s quite futile. If you’ll stop panicking and listen to me, there’s a perfectly simple way out of all this. I should just like to feel that you are going to listen before I tell you about it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, to start with, I don’t know whether you happen to remember that I’ve asked you to marry me. You didn’t say yes, and you didn’t say no, and I didn’t want to rush you. I still don’t want to-I’d like you to believe that. But events seem to be taking charge, and that would be one way of getting the better of them. If we were married there wouldn’t be any problem to settle-we could just take Je
Rosamond found it hard to believe that she could be shaking on the edge of laughter, but right from the begi
He bent suddenly and laid his cheek against hers, not kissing her but just staying like that for a moment. When he said her name on a quick shaken breath, she pushed him away.