My True Companion Read Online Free Page A

they’ll take me on, under the
circumstances. I had thought of attending secretarial school. Unfortunately
that too costs money, and I’d need somewhere to live.”
    “Why didn’t you say, dear girl? I could …”
    “Thank you, Uncle Alex, but I can’t take your charity.”
Millie stuck her chin out proudly.
    “How many Christmas and birthday presents have I bought you
over the years? How many times have I taken you out to lunch?”
    “I can’t remember.”
    “That’s because I’ve hardly ever done it. I’m the worst godfather
in the world. I am sure I owe you rather a lot in terms of gifts and lunches.
I’ll give you the money you need to go to secretarial school and enough for
living expenses.”
    “I will have to think about it,” she said. “It’s just … well
people might think there was something improper going on, now that Papa isn’t
here.”
    Alex looked shocked. “Dear girl, I hope you don’t think that
I was suggesting …”
    “No, no, of course not.” Millie reached out and touched his
arm. “Only that, well, you know how people talk.”
    “Of course,” said Alex, keeping his eyes firmly on the road
ahead, “we could get over all that if you were to marry me.”
    “What?” Millie was shocked. Her godfather’s proposal had
come from nowhere, and even though they weren’t related in any sense of the
world, it somehow felt wrong. “I  … Uncle Alex …”
    “That was rather silly of me, wasn’t it?” he said, laughing,
as though the idea really meant nothing to him. But Millie sensed it did, and
that the proposal had come from the heart. It was both flattering and
disturbing. “Let’s pretend I never said it. However, if you do ever find
yourself in dire straits, I hope you will at least consider my offer, rather
than starve to death.”
    “Thank you,” said Millie, gazing out of the window, trying
to quell the unease in her heart.
    They could have taken the tram up Masson Hill, but as it was
a beautiful morning, they decided a stroll would be more pleasant. Halfway up,
Millie sensed that more than one of the party regretted turning down the tram.
Count Chlomsky and Arthur Parker-Trent, neither in the peak of physical
fitness, struggled with the climb. Hortense strode up the hill as if it were
all flat, whilst Cynthia, Barbara and Millie tried hard to keep up with her. Alex
Markham, though not struggling as much as Chlomsky and Parker-Trent, brought up
the rear. When Millie looked back at him, he was deep in thought.
    “Is your godfather well this morning, Millie?” asked Barbara
Conrad. Cynthia and Hortense had gone on a little further.
    “Yes, he’s … I think I might have offended him,” said
Millie.
    “I find that hard to believe? What did you do?”
    Millie hesitated, feeling she did not really know Barbara
well enough to tell all her secrets. Yet the lady had shown nothing but
kindness to her. “He asked me to marry him, and I refused,” said Millie.
    Barbara looked taken aback. “Well … yes, it’s rather a
surprise isn’t it? I don’t mean it’s a surprise that anyone would want to marry
you, dear child. Only…well …” She floundered and stared ahead.
    “I know. He’s much older than I am, and I almost think of
him as a second father,” said Millie. “So I was rather disturbed by the
proposal. Not that I think anything untoward. I’m sure Uncle Alex only means to
try and care for me, now that Papa is gone, and it was his clumsy way of doing
that. He’s not in love with me, nor I with him.”
    “Yes, I’m sure that’s it,” said Barbara. She turned her head
to Millie and smiled. “Be careful, Millie. With that lovely face, you’ll be a
target for many men in the future.”
    “I seriously doubt that,” Millie said, blushing. Before her
father was arrested a few young men had called to their house, and one of them
had even taken Millie out to see a moving picture. He disappeared from their
lives the moment her father was sent to trial,