Read Online The India Fan by Victoria Holt - Free Book Online Page B

girl courting trouble, that what. And a nice thing thatl be.
    When I was alone with Polly I said, hat Holly doing?
    h just being silly.
    t sounded as if it was rather dangerous.
    h, it dangerous all right with one like that.
    ho like Holly?
    o him.
    ell me about it.
    oue been listening again. Little pitchers have long ears.
    olly. I quite a sizeable pitcher and my ears are normal size, but they work as well as anyone else. Stop treating me like a child.
    Polly folded her arms and looked at me intently.
    rowing up fast,she said, with a hint of sadness.
    not going to be a child forever, Polly. It time I learned something about the world.
    She regarded me shrewdly. here might be some truth in that,she said. oung girls have to watch out. Not that I worried about you. Youe sensible. Been brought up right, you have. Ie seen to that. It that Jos He one of that kind
    hat kind?
    e got a way with him. Hel always have girls after him, and it seems to me that about all he thinks of. Perhaps that why he gets what he wants.
    I was thinking of the way he looked at Lavinia and how she accepted familiarities from him which, I am sure, as Lady Harriet daughter, she should not have done.
    nd Holly?I asked.
    he being silly over him.
    o you mean he courting Holly?
    ourting her! Courting her for one thing and that won involve a wedding ring. I reckon the silly girl has given what he after already and that no clever thing for any girl to do, I can tell you.
    hat are you going to do about it?
    Polly shrugged her shoulders. e! What can I do? I could speak to the rector. Might just as well speak to a brick wall as speak to him. Mrs. Janson done her best. Well, we shall see. Perhaps shel find him out before it too late.
    Ignorant as I was, I did not realize the implications of the situation. Holly might dally with Jos as Jos mother had with the gypsy and there could be a similar result.
    But Jos was not a wandering gypsy; he could hardly wander off and shirk his responsibilities.
    I wished I had not been the one to find them.
    The grounds surrounding the House were large and in some places wild and uncultivated. Beyond the shrubbery was a part that was somewhat isolated. There was an old summer house there, which I had discovered by accident. When I asked Lavinia about it she had said, obody goes there nowadays. It locked. There a key somewhere. One day Il find it.But that was a long time ago and she had never done anything about it.
    On this particular day I went over to join Lavinia. It was early afternoon rest period for Miss Yorknd I knew that Mrs. Janson ut her feet up for an hourat that time; I suspect Mrs. Bright of the House did the same.
    A somnolent atmosphere hung over the house. It was very quiet. Lavinia was nowhere about. She should have met me at the stables, but she was not there. Her horse was, so I knew she had not gone without me.
    I thought she must be somewhere in the gardens, so I decided to look round before going into the House.
    I could not find her and my steps eventually led me to the shrubbery. Thus it was that I came on the old summer house. The place had always attracted me in a morbid way. I believe it was said to be haunted and that was why people did not go there often.
    I paused at the door and thought I heard a sound within. It was a long, low chuckle which made me shiver. It sounded ghostly. I turned the handle of the door and to my surprise it opened. Then I saw who was there. It was no ghost. It was Jos and Lavinia. They were laying on the floor together.
    I did not want to notice details. I felt myself get very hot. I shut the door and ran and did not stop running until I reached the rectory. I felt sick. I glanced at my face in a mirror. It was scarlet.
    I could not believe what I had seen. Lavinia proud, haughty Lavinia doing that with a servant!
    I sat down on my bed. What should I do? Lavinia may have seen me. She would have heard the door open. What ought I to do? How could I tell anyonend yet how could I