Read Online Heart Specialist by Susan Barrie - Free Book Online Page B

must have someone other than Martine to be with you all the time; you are very young really, you know— ” his smile surprised her afresh with its gentleness “ —and although, to your English ears, this may sound old - fashioned, you need a chaperon! Especially in your new circumstances! Whatever you plan to do with your life eventually, you have now become a well-to-do young woman, particularly well-to-do if one takes into consideration Chaumont and its contents. And in view of what you have become, allied to what you are ... ”
    She looked at him very levelly as he paused.
    “ Is it in your mind, Dr. Daudet, that I might ask ... people I know ... to the apartment, and that that would not be correct according to your views? ”
    One of his dark eyebrows ascended a little, and it lent him a slightly puckish appearance, particularly as his eyes held a mildly mischievous gleam and the tips of his ears were slightly pointed.
    “ You mean ... the young man? ”
    “ I have only met him twice, ” she confessed impatiently, “ and so far I haven ’ t asked him to the apartment. I may be English and a lot of other things you don ’ t approve of, but I am not madly impulsive! And I’ m a little bit old-fashioned, too! ”
    “ I am vastly relieved to hear that, ” he assured her , but she thought that his sigh of relief was extravagant, and the gleam in his eyes seemed to make fun of her gently. He had exchanged a derisive mockery for a more subtle humoring. “ I am also intrigued because it has obviously crossed your mind that this young man you have met only twice could be invited to the apartment! Would it be indiscreet to make any further inquiries about him? Is he, for instance, a compatriot? ”
    “ Yes, ” she admitted.
    “ I thought he might be, because you have apparently b een quite drawn to him! ”
    She hesitated.
    “ I don ’ t mind telling you about him. ” After all. she thought, he had known Miss Constantia for a number of years, and somehow she felt a desire just then to talk to someone about Peter Fairfield. “ He is the nephew of Sir David Fairfield, of Fairfield House. Norfolk, and he ’ s been over here in Paris for about six months. He has an allowance from his uncle, and he ... writes. We met at a restaurant where we were lunching one day , and we met there again the next day.
    “ And you had lunch with him? ”
    “ Yes. ”
    “ Does he know what has happened to you recently? ”
    She felt herself flushing.
    “ I told him about Miss Constantia—yes! ”
    “ And the terms of her will? ”
    “ Y-yes! ”
    Suddenly he reached out and covered both her slim hands, which were nervously clasping her handbag, with one of his own. He gave them a most unexpected little squeeze.
    “ You really are young! ” he said. “ And of course this heir to a baronetcy—or isn ’ t he the heir to the baronetcy—wants to see you again? To go on seeing you? ”
    “ He does want to see me again, but if you think that ... ” She was suddenly aghast. “ If you think that Peter—and I don ’ t know whether he ’ s his uncle ’ s heir or not—wants to go on seeing me just because ...! ”
    “ No, no, ” the doctor said soothingly. “ I don ’ t think anything of the kind, and it is perfectly natural he should want to go on seeing you. He is very likely a very charming young man with the right sort of appeal for you, but I still feel that you should not continue to live alone, and I want you to try and think if there isn ’ t someone you can invite to stay with you for a bit. A woman older than yourself, for preference, though for companionship you wouldn ’ t want her to be too old ... ” And all in a flash Valentine thought of Jane—Jane Beverley! In her last letter, just before Miss Constantia ’ s death, Jane seemed to have been heavily sunk in the doldrums. It appeared that a new boss had superseded her old one, and she didn ’ t think she was ever going to get to like him. In