urself suddenly in the employ of someone who prefers to look upon you as a member of her family! ”
“ But you have a family of your own? ” he suggested. “ You can ’ t be without relatives. ”
“ I have no close relatives, one or two cousins scattered around here and there, but we don ’ t really know one another. ”
“ Your father and mother? ”
“ Both dead, ” she told him. The main course had arrived—chicken breast immersed in a succulent sauce and garnished with mushrooms—but she didn ’ t seem to have any appetite for it. “ My father was a doctor—a general practitioner—and he died because he overworked himself in an epidemic. My mother, who left him three or four years before that, died in a hotel fire. It wasn ’ t in England—she was abroad at the time. ”
“ And you? ” Dr. Daudet asked quietly.
“ Oh, I was in a boarding school on the south coast of England. ” She tried to make a start on the chicken breast. “ You see, I hadn ’ t any brothers or sisters, and my father was never any good at keeping a housekeeper, or keeping a home together for any length of time, the sort of home where I could have lived, anyway! I was better off in a school in the care of a housemother who knew when my clothes were in danger of coming apart and had to be renewed. ” She smiled slightly, rather tenderly. “ My father was a darling, but the poor pet would have been happiest of all in a leper colony—somewhere where he could have really sacrificed himself! He was not the sort of man to marry and have children. But I loved him, ” she added.
“ I ’ m sure you did, ” Dr. Daudet said with very little real expression in his voice.
She peeped at him a trifle uncertainly.
“ I don ’ t know why I ’ m telling you all this. I ’ m afraid I ’ m boring you. ”
“ On the contrary, ” he assured her, “ you interest me very much! ”
She tried to swallow another mouthful of chicken.
“ So you see, I ... I ’ m not very impressed with marriage. My own parents made such a hash of it that I always vowed I ’ d never marry at all, and in the years I ’ ve been looking after myself I think that resolution has become stronger than ever. Marriage is all right if you ’ re the sort of person who likes things to be impermanent and doesn ’ t mind when they come adrift. But perhaps because I ’ ve never really known even a permanent home I do value things that are likely to last, and I ’ m not going to take any risks. Certainly not to secure a large sum of money. ”
He poured a little more wine into her glass.
“ You ’ re not eating anything, ” he said, “ and you ’ ll never get fat if you don ’ t eat! If anything you ’ re a trifle too slim. ” He regarded her critically.
She felt herself flushing.
“ Now I know I ’ m boring you! But I only wanted you to ... feel happier in your mind about Miss Constantia ’ s money. I shall use very little of it in the year I have been given, and when it reverts to you you can do what you like with it. Possibly Miss Constantia ’ s relatives ... ”
“ Not another word about Miss Constantia ’ s relatives until you ’ ve finished that chicken, ” he said sternly. “ And after that you ’ ve to polish off a dessert, and I ’ d like to force a few other courses down you besides! Doesn ’ t Martine feed you? I thought she was supposed to be a marvelous cook. ”
“ Oh, she is! ” she assured him. And then the conversation took on an entirely different turn, and she found herself obviously entertaining him with her accounts of Martine ’ s plans for her future and the money that had been left to her when her time of service with Valentine came to an end. “ She says she ’ s going to open a restaurant, and if she can ’ t get her sister to join her she ’ s going to try and persuade me! She thinks by that time I might have saved a little money—or she wouldn ’ t consider it unscrupulous to keep back a
“ But you have a family of your own? ” he suggested. “ You can ’ t be without relatives. ”
“ I have no close relatives, one or two cousins scattered around here and there, but we don ’ t really know one another. ”
“ Your father and mother? ”
“ Both dead, ” she told him. The main course had arrived—chicken breast immersed in a succulent sauce and garnished with mushrooms—but she didn ’ t seem to have any appetite for it. “ My father was a doctor—a general practitioner—and he died because he overworked himself in an epidemic. My mother, who left him three or four years before that, died in a hotel fire. It wasn ’ t in England—she was abroad at the time. ”
“ And you? ” Dr. Daudet asked quietly.
“ Oh, I was in a boarding school on the south coast of England. ” She tried to make a start on the chicken breast. “ You see, I hadn ’ t any brothers or sisters, and my father was never any good at keeping a housekeeper, or keeping a home together for any length of time, the sort of home where I could have lived, anyway! I was better off in a school in the care of a housemother who knew when my clothes were in danger of coming apart and had to be renewed. ” She smiled slightly, rather tenderly. “ My father was a darling, but the poor pet would have been happiest of all in a leper colony—somewhere where he could have really sacrificed himself! He was not the sort of man to marry and have children. But I loved him, ” she added.
“ I ’ m sure you did, ” Dr. Daudet said with very little real expression in his voice.
She peeped at him a trifle uncertainly.
“ I don ’ t know why I ’ m telling you all this. I ’ m afraid I ’ m boring you. ”
“ On the contrary, ” he assured her, “ you interest me very much! ”
She tried to swallow another mouthful of chicken.
“ So you see, I ... I ’ m not very impressed with marriage. My own parents made such a hash of it that I always vowed I ’ d never marry at all, and in the years I ’ ve been looking after myself I think that resolution has become stronger than ever. Marriage is all right if you ’ re the sort of person who likes things to be impermanent and doesn ’ t mind when they come adrift. But perhaps because I ’ ve never really known even a permanent home I do value things that are likely to last, and I ’ m not going to take any risks. Certainly not to secure a large sum of money. ”
He poured a little more wine into her glass.
“ You ’ re not eating anything, ” he said, “ and you ’ ll never get fat if you don ’ t eat! If anything you ’ re a trifle too slim. ” He regarded her critically.
She felt herself flushing.
“ Now I know I ’ m boring you! But I only wanted you to ... feel happier in your mind about Miss Constantia ’ s money. I shall use very little of it in the year I have been given, and when it reverts to you you can do what you like with it. Possibly Miss Constantia ’ s relatives ... ”
“ Not another word about Miss Constantia ’ s relatives until you ’ ve finished that chicken, ” he said sternly. “ And after that you ’ ve to polish off a dessert, and I ’ d like to force a few other courses down you besides! Doesn ’ t Martine feed you? I thought she was supposed to be a marvelous cook. ”
“ Oh, she is! ” she assured him. And then the conversation took on an entirely different turn, and she found herself obviously entertaining him with her accounts of Martine ’ s plans for her future and the money that had been left to her when her time of service with Valentine came to an end. “ She says she ’ s going to open a restaurant, and if she can ’ t get her sister to join her she ’ s going to try and persuade me! She thinks by that time I might have saved a little money—or she wouldn ’ t consider it unscrupulous to keep back a
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