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Authors: Barbara Perkins
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me I will. Kev said he’d break every bone in my body if I did. As if that’d stop me!’ She glanced at me as I swabbed her arm.
‘Are you sure you’re all right to do this? You seem to know what you’re doing. I didn’t think you would, looking at you. What weight are you?’
‘What?’ I had been concentrating on her arm at the same time as trying to take in the mixture of information her husky little voice was throwing at me, and the question seemed peculiarly irrelevant.
‘Weight. You’re pretty tall. Not all that heavy, though, I shouldn’t think, are you? Still, you’d need something more than a pony, and Thunder’s the only sizeable beast in the place and he’s Kev’s private preserve. Besides, I shouldn’t think you’d hold him. Bet I could, though, if I got the chance. The Laidlaws might have something we could put you up on—’
‘I don’t ride,’ I said hastily.
‘You’ll need a quiet hack to start on, then,’ Esther said amiably, as if the flat statement was quite impossible to accept. ‘There’s—’
‘I don’t want to ride, thanks. I—I’ve come here to work,’ I added, seeing the amazement in her face and feeling lamely that some excuse was needed.
‘Oh, yes, but Pa won’t keep you hard at it all the time! I can’t think what he wants a secretary for, anyway. And surely he wouldn’t be nutty enough to bring a towny out here —’She broke off, and with a sinking feeling I saw that she was reassessing me. So much for Henry’s calm assumption that I might be able to have some influence over his daughter: she was already writing me off as a ‘towny ‘and that was that. She said doubtfully, ‘I suppose you could learn. But lord knows what we’re going to do with you if—if—’
‘You don’t have to do anything with me.’ I found myself saying it snappishly as I split the ends of the bandage and tied them in a neat knot. ‘There. Keep your arm fairly still for this evening, will you? Otherwise it might start to bleed again.’
‘All right. Sorry. Was I rude? I didn’t mean—well, yes, I suppose I did, really.’ Esther, examining the neat job I had made of her bandage, suddenly shot me a quick and disarming grin. ‘You can’t help it, after all, can you? I suppose you just haven’t had the chance. But Pa said you’d fit in, and I’m afraid you’ll be terribly bored.’
Despite her devastating habit of saying exactly what she thought, Henry was wrong about his daughter’s not having any social graces. She was smiling at me now in a way which took the sting out of her words, and showing a lot more poise than I felt. She went on, though with a shade of doubt in her voice, ‘You may find you like living in the country, of course. I must say though, it was a bit silly of Pa to bring you here for the hunting season, wasn’t it? And if he wanted some typing done I don’t know why he didn’t get one of the girls to come up from the village and do it.’ She looked at me again, looked at her bandage, and added, ‘You’re quite good at this. And you didn’t faint, either.’
It was startling, after all my years in hospitals, to be looked on as someone who might—until I remembered abruptly that this was supposed to be the New Glamorous Me. A more elaborate make-up and frivolous clothes instead of a nurse’s uniform obviously changed me a great deal. I said, with as much gravity I could muster against a sudden inclination to laugh, ‘It must be watching television. You know, all those hospital programmes th-they used to put on, like Emergency Ward Ten.’
‘Haven’t ever watched ‘em. P’raps I’d better, but they’re always so blasted romantic,’ Esther said, with a fine disregard for ladylike language. ‘How old are you?’
‘Twenty-five.’ She seemed to have a habit of shooting direct questions.
‘And you’ve never been up on a horse? Phew! I’ve been riding since I was three. I s’pose I’d better not have a bath with this
‘Are you sure you’re all right to do this? You seem to know what you’re doing. I didn’t think you would, looking at you. What weight are you?’
‘What?’ I had been concentrating on her arm at the same time as trying to take in the mixture of information her husky little voice was throwing at me, and the question seemed peculiarly irrelevant.
‘Weight. You’re pretty tall. Not all that heavy, though, I shouldn’t think, are you? Still, you’d need something more than a pony, and Thunder’s the only sizeable beast in the place and he’s Kev’s private preserve. Besides, I shouldn’t think you’d hold him. Bet I could, though, if I got the chance. The Laidlaws might have something we could put you up on—’
‘I don’t ride,’ I said hastily.
‘You’ll need a quiet hack to start on, then,’ Esther said amiably, as if the flat statement was quite impossible to accept. ‘There’s—’
‘I don’t want to ride, thanks. I—I’ve come here to work,’ I added, seeing the amazement in her face and feeling lamely that some excuse was needed.
‘Oh, yes, but Pa won’t keep you hard at it all the time! I can’t think what he wants a secretary for, anyway. And surely he wouldn’t be nutty enough to bring a towny out here —’She broke off, and with a sinking feeling I saw that she was reassessing me. So much for Henry’s calm assumption that I might be able to have some influence over his daughter: she was already writing me off as a ‘towny ‘and that was that. She said doubtfully, ‘I suppose you could learn. But lord knows what we’re going to do with you if—if—’
‘You don’t have to do anything with me.’ I found myself saying it snappishly as I split the ends of the bandage and tied them in a neat knot. ‘There. Keep your arm fairly still for this evening, will you? Otherwise it might start to bleed again.’
‘All right. Sorry. Was I rude? I didn’t mean—well, yes, I suppose I did, really.’ Esther, examining the neat job I had made of her bandage, suddenly shot me a quick and disarming grin. ‘You can’t help it, after all, can you? I suppose you just haven’t had the chance. But Pa said you’d fit in, and I’m afraid you’ll be terribly bored.’
Despite her devastating habit of saying exactly what she thought, Henry was wrong about his daughter’s not having any social graces. She was smiling at me now in a way which took the sting out of her words, and showing a lot more poise than I felt. She went on, though with a shade of doubt in her voice, ‘You may find you like living in the country, of course. I must say though, it was a bit silly of Pa to bring you here for the hunting season, wasn’t it? And if he wanted some typing done I don’t know why he didn’t get one of the girls to come up from the village and do it.’ She looked at me again, looked at her bandage, and added, ‘You’re quite good at this. And you didn’t faint, either.’
It was startling, after all my years in hospitals, to be looked on as someone who might—until I remembered abruptly that this was supposed to be the New Glamorous Me. A more elaborate make-up and frivolous clothes instead of a nurse’s uniform obviously changed me a great deal. I said, with as much gravity I could muster against a sudden inclination to laugh, ‘It must be watching television. You know, all those hospital programmes th-they used to put on, like Emergency Ward Ten.’
‘Haven’t ever watched ‘em. P’raps I’d better, but they’re always so blasted romantic,’ Esther said, with a fine disregard for ladylike language. ‘How old are you?’
‘Twenty-five.’ She seemed to have a habit of shooting direct questions.
‘And you’ve never been up on a horse? Phew! I’ve been riding since I was three. I s’pose I’d better not have a bath with this
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