Dear Tiberius; (aka Nurse Nolan) Read Online Free Page B

s block of apartments when they reached Chelsea, and she thanked him with real gratitude for the comfortable method in which she had been permitted to make a long journey. He rewarded her thanks with the faintest of smiles, told her that if she happened to be traveling back on the day when he himself returned to Ketterings he would be pleased to offer her transport again, provided her with a telephone number where she could contact a secretary, and then signaled to Jennings, his chauffeur, to drive on.
    As Lucy watched the car move off—an impressive car even though it was now enclosed by other impressive cars making for the heart of London—she thought, with the faintest feeling of wonder, that Sir John, in whose company she had passed practically the whole of that day, would now lie back in his corner of his swift-running modern chariot and put her right out of his thoughts. If he had not done so already!
    But at the back of her mind he lingered like something she was not certain of—like something she even mistrusted a little!
     
    Kathleen, her sister, h ad just returned to the apartment after a shopping expedition, and she flung her arms around Lucy and hugged her as if she, at least, was really pleased to see her. She was a couple of years older than Lucy and was completely captivating, with something of Lucy ’ s own dark-haired, blue-eyed attractiveness and a great deal more of her own besides, a husband who was a barrister beginning to receive quite a lot of briefs, and her apartment, although small, was charming.
    “ Well, darling, and how ’ s Tiberius? ” she inquired, when they were having tea. “ I ’ m surprised that he let you come away like this, especially if he wants you to return. ”
    “ Tiberius? ” Lucy wrinkled her brows.
    “ Yes, your Sir John Ash! From the remarks you let drop about him in your letters he ’ s wallowing in money, but has quite a lot in common with that nasty Roman emperor. He orders the lives of everyone with whom he comes in contact, has no pity to waste on his invalid daughter, and no mercy, I should imagine, for anyone! I don ’ t know why I think of him as Tiberius, but I do. ”
    Lucy turned the name over in her mind and decided that in a way it could fit. But was Sir John merciless? How would he react if anyone definitely tried to oppose him in any one thing that affected him closely?
    “ But let ’ s not talk about him, ” Kathleen continued, with a habit she had of sweeping from one subject to another. “ I ’ m so glad you ’ ve arrived tonight, darling, because Clifford has tickets for the new show at the Colossus, and he was wondering what to do with the spare one. They were presented to him by a grateful client. ” She grinned wickedly. “ His clients are usually grateful, which is all to the good, isn ’ t it? ”
    “ But don ’ t you think you ’ d rather be alone—just the two of you? ” Lucy demurred, feeling rather too tired after her journey to view the prospect of an evening ’ s entertainment with unalloyed pleasure. “ I ’ m sure you ’ d rather leave me behind. ”
    “ Certainly not! ” Kathleen declared firmly. “ And after your prolonged period of incarceration in the benighted north , I ’ m quite sure that what you need is something to take you out of yourself, something to get you right away from your everlasting invalids! ”
    “ A book and a good radio program— ” Lucy was beginning. But Kathleen wouldn ’ t hear of it.
    “ Nonsense! You ’ re coming with us. ”
    “ But I haven ’ t got a really suitable dress. My clothes are practically at their last gasp, and that ’ s why tomorrow I ’ ll have to whip around and do some shopping— ”
    “ Then I ’ ll lend you a dress! I ’ ve got a heavenly blue organza that was simply made to throw up the color of your eyes, and there ’ s an adorable sequin-studded stole to go with it that is absolutely the last word! Come with me to the bathroom now, and I ’ ll