Read Online Mistress of Brown Furrows by Susan Barrie - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Barrie
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urged, unexpectedly. “It’s all over now, so forget it, and have a good lunch. I’ m sure you can do with it. ”
Carol’ s surprise must have been given away by her eyes, for he smiled slightly.
“Oh, I know how you feel—I know how you felt all the morning! And I want to see you looking a little less like a lamb being led to the slaughter. We’re married, you and I—for good or ill we’re tied up together, and the sooner we become completely reconciled to that fact the happier we’ll be—or you will be! You won’ t feel so strange when you get used to the idea, and the way to get used to it is to forget it. ”
He beckoned a passing waiter with his hand, and Carol stared at him, repressing a slightly hysterical desire to laugh. How funny, she thought—how completely and unromantically funny! And yet—how comfortable! How soothing to the wrought-up state of her nerves was that intensely masculine speech, delivered with such calm and everyday coolness, such blunt, cold sanity. Already she felt slightly better—very much less agitated—as if she were coming up for the second time after sinking in an unknown strip of water, and someone had thrown her a life-line. She drew a deep breath. She looked at the menu placed in front of her by the waiter. She even began to feel slightly hungry....
Soup, roast chicken and garden peas, ice cream and fruit salad....
“And a couple of cocktails to begin with,” Timothy said. “Today you shall try a martini, Carol, and see how you like it! ”
Carol smiled at him with less uncertainty. His eyes were as blue as the day when he first came down to Selbourne to rescue her from being a schoolgirl, and once again she noticed how unusually long and thick and black for a man’s were his eyelashes. And she liked the way he smiled, and the way his teeth gleamed in contrast with his bronzed skin, and that shadow of dark moustache on his upper lip. And most of all she liked the way he looked at her—as if he thought she was very young, and rather foolish, and that although she needed a certain amount of protection she also needed a great deal of encouragement.
In short, she liked him altogether, and she hoped one day that she would find the courage to let him know that she did.
Unless, perhaps, he already guessed...?
After lunch a kind of mental exhaustion came over her, combined with the effects of the excellent meal she had so recently consumed—with a great deal of unromantic relish, she had to admit to herself! — and when they returned to their first-class compartment she found herself growing rapidly drowsy, and inclined to nod in her corner. The train was not due in at Albrington Junction until close upon seven o’clock, and there were several hours yet to go before that time was reached. And in the meanwhile it was a very warm afternoon, they were running monotonously through a somewhat unchanging landscape, and the steady rhythm of the train was like the rhythm of a piece of music running through her head....
Her eyelids felt weighted, and every now and then her chin jerked down on to the white collar of her blouse. She started up and grabbed at the pile of magazines on her lap, for people who fell asleep in railway-carriages always looked so completely and ridiculously funny, with their mouths wide open and their heads wobbling uncertainly from side to side; and sometimes they were inclined to snore a little....
And Timothy, her husband, although ensconced behind his newspaper, and apparently lost in its contents, might notice her....
He knew, as a matter of fact, the instant she fell asleep— having given up the unequal struggle—and he laid down his newspaper and looked across at her, and a little smile touched the corners of his lips.
“She’ s had about enough for one day! ” he thought.
He knew that in her heart she was confused and utterly bewildered by all that had happened to her in such a short space of time, and that her reactions to those
Carol’ s surprise must have been given away by her eyes, for he smiled slightly.
“Oh, I know how you feel—I know how you felt all the morning! And I want to see you looking a little less like a lamb being led to the slaughter. We’re married, you and I—for good or ill we’re tied up together, and the sooner we become completely reconciled to that fact the happier we’ll be—or you will be! You won’ t feel so strange when you get used to the idea, and the way to get used to it is to forget it. ”
He beckoned a passing waiter with his hand, and Carol stared at him, repressing a slightly hysterical desire to laugh. How funny, she thought—how completely and unromantically funny! And yet—how comfortable! How soothing to the wrought-up state of her nerves was that intensely masculine speech, delivered with such calm and everyday coolness, such blunt, cold sanity. Already she felt slightly better—very much less agitated—as if she were coming up for the second time after sinking in an unknown strip of water, and someone had thrown her a life-line. She drew a deep breath. She looked at the menu placed in front of her by the waiter. She even began to feel slightly hungry....
Soup, roast chicken and garden peas, ice cream and fruit salad....
“And a couple of cocktails to begin with,” Timothy said. “Today you shall try a martini, Carol, and see how you like it! ”
Carol smiled at him with less uncertainty. His eyes were as blue as the day when he first came down to Selbourne to rescue her from being a schoolgirl, and once again she noticed how unusually long and thick and black for a man’s were his eyelashes. And she liked the way he smiled, and the way his teeth gleamed in contrast with his bronzed skin, and that shadow of dark moustache on his upper lip. And most of all she liked the way he looked at her—as if he thought she was very young, and rather foolish, and that although she needed a certain amount of protection she also needed a great deal of encouragement.
In short, she liked him altogether, and she hoped one day that she would find the courage to let him know that she did.
Unless, perhaps, he already guessed...?
After lunch a kind of mental exhaustion came over her, combined with the effects of the excellent meal she had so recently consumed—with a great deal of unromantic relish, she had to admit to herself! — and when they returned to their first-class compartment she found herself growing rapidly drowsy, and inclined to nod in her corner. The train was not due in at Albrington Junction until close upon seven o’clock, and there were several hours yet to go before that time was reached. And in the meanwhile it was a very warm afternoon, they were running monotonously through a somewhat unchanging landscape, and the steady rhythm of the train was like the rhythm of a piece of music running through her head....
Her eyelids felt weighted, and every now and then her chin jerked down on to the white collar of her blouse. She started up and grabbed at the pile of magazines on her lap, for people who fell asleep in railway-carriages always looked so completely and ridiculously funny, with their mouths wide open and their heads wobbling uncertainly from side to side; and sometimes they were inclined to snore a little....
And Timothy, her husband, although ensconced behind his newspaper, and apparently lost in its contents, might notice her....
He knew, as a matter of fact, the instant she fell asleep— having given up the unequal struggle—and he laid down his newspaper and looked across at her, and a little smile touched the corners of his lips.
“She’ s had about enough for one day! ” he thought.
He knew that in her heart she was confused and utterly bewildered by all that had happened to her in such a short space of time, and that her reactions to those
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