Read Online The Quiet Heart by Susan Barrie - Free Book Online

said.
    Dr. Geddes said he would let himself out, to save her descending the stairs and returning up them again—to say nothing of all those corridors that separated her from her own flat.
    “You’ll be worn out before our man is on his feet again,” he remarked frowningly, before he left the room. “I’ll have to see what I can do about that nurse!”
    As soon as they were alone, Leydon opened both eyes wide. They were disturbingly bright, but the expression in them was quite rational. The ghost of a smile touched his lips.
    “So it’s all right because you’re a married woman, Mrs. Fairlie,” he observed. “Otherwise it would be embarrassing. But you’re not a married woman, are you? Not really!”
    And despite the fact that his temperature was climbing again his eyes mocked her. Mocked her openly.
    Alison decided to enlist the support of Mrs. Davenport. Not merely was she a married woman, but she was very much married. She had a couple of very young children, a couple of in-betweens, and two daughters and one son married. There was nothing she didn’t know about ‘coping’ when someone—particularly a man—was ill.
    “Of course I’ll pay you extra, Mrs. Davenport,” Alison told her. “And I’m sure that when he’s better Mr. Leydon himself will reward your services generously. But I must have someone, apart from the girls, to—to sit with him and so on—”
    “I know.” Mrs. Davenport rolled up her sleeves metaphorically. “He won’t be able to walk all that way to the bathroom in his weak state, and he’ll have to have a bed-pan, and I’ll see to it. Then I don’t suppose you want to sponge him down...?”
    “Oh, no!” Alison exclaimed. They were in the corridor, and well out of earshot of the patient. “Nothing like that! Although I’ll do anything else...”
    “I know you will, dearie.” Mrs. Davenport smiled at her. She had known her for a good many years. “It would be different if you and the late Mr. F. had been a little closer to one another, wouldn’t it? I mean, you having one room, and him having another! And one has only got to look at you to know that you ... well, it was what you call a marriage in name only, wasn’t it?”
    Alison nodded. Somehow Mrs. Davenport didn’t make her feel embarrassed.
    “Yes,” she admitted. “You see, Mr. Fairlie wasn’t—Well, he was much older than me-—old when he married his first wife, and although we were great friends, we—”
    Mrs. Davenport patted her shoulder comfortingly.
    “Don’t worry, love,” she said. “I don’t have to have my i’s dotted and my t’s crossed. I’ve seen a lot of life, and I sorted you out right from the beginning. I don’t mind admitting I’ve been sorry for you ... Well, I mean, it wasn’t fair of Mr. F. to marry you and let you lead a life like that, was it?” There was strong criticism of the departed Mr. F. in her face. “A pretty young thing like you! Prettier than either of those two elder stepdaughters of yours, or so I always say!”
    Alison was overwhelmed.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Davenport,” she said. “It’s very kind of you to flatter me, but I don’t think anyone could be as pretty as Marianne. And I haven’t had such a bad time, you know. For one thing, I got a readymade family when I married, and although you mightn’t guess it sometimes we’re all quite fond of one another.”
    “I know that.” But the tough jaw opposite her set obstinately. “But that Miss Marianne, she doesn’t help you as much as she should. And she doesn’t have a job, or anything like that. It wouldn’t hurt her to earn a little to make things easier for you. But I wasn’t thinking of the girls. I was thinking you haven’t got any of your own, and it doesn’t seem you’re likely to have. You ought to be married to a man who would appreciate you ... a proper marriage!”
    Alison flushed faintly, but smiled.
    “I’m quite happy as I am, Mrs. Davenport.”
    Mrs. Davenport rolled up her