The Quiet Heart Read Online Free

here, and a room will have to be got ready for me. I’ve no doubt your Mrs. Davenport will be willing to help you make up the bed, and whatever else you might find it necessary to do to render one of those state apartments upstairs habitable.”
    Alison felt certain she couldn’t be hearing aright.
    “Spend the night here ?” she echoed, staring at him.
    He gazed back at her complacently.
    “But of course. That was my intention from the beginning. After all, why should I pay for a room at the Leydon Arms when there are so many bedrooms here that we could accommodate everyone in the village?”
    There was something in that, Alison realised. But she was appalled because she had never even thought of him staying the night.
    “But your meals...?” she protested. “Your breakfast!”
    “Surely you can provide me with a simple meal like breakfast?” The beautifully cut masculine mouth continued to smile faintly in mild amazement. “And dinner, too? I should like to ask Mr. Minty to dine with me, so it will be necessary to cater for two. You’ll have to get a fire lighted in the dining-room, and build it up well with a lot of the wood I see lying about here. No doubt your daughters will help you.”
    “Y-yes,” Alison stammered.
    Mr. Minty looked even more appalled than she did. He protested that he really ought to return to Murchester, where he had arranged to see an important client that afternoon, and he couldn’t really see how he could avoid granting the interview to the important client without giving offence. But Charles Leydon merely elevated his eyebrows.
    It was obvious he considered he was probably the most important client whose affairs were handled by Mr. Minty and his various partners.
    “Of course,” the solicitor suggested diffidently, realising he couldn’t get out of it altogether, “I could—if you’ll excuse me lunching with you, or even waiting for coffee—return to Murchester and see my client, and then return here this evening, in time for dinner.”
    But his expression indicated that he had grave doubts about it being a very comfortable dinner. Leydon shrugged almost indifferently.
    “Do that,” he agreed. “But I shall be returning to Murchester myself after lunch, so naturally I can give you a lift.”
    Mr. Minty reminded him:
    “I have my own car.”
    “Oh, yes, of course ... that veteran you arrived in. I hope it’ll get you back to Murchester.”
    Alison made an excuse and left the room. In the kitchen, which she had redecorated with her own hands, and which was bright and comfortable, although small, she found the three girls huddled round the Rayburn. Marianne was heating some soup, Lorne was simply toasting her toes, and Jessamy was looking thoughtful.
    “Gosh!” Lorne exclaimed. “You look as blue as a bilberry! What happened?”
    Alison didn’t bother to explain what had happened, but she informed them of what was likely to happen in the next few hours. Each one reacted differently, although the combined shock was considerable.
    Marianne, when asked to give as much assistance as possible, remembered that she had an appointment in Murchester that afternoon. A boy-friend was taking her to a dance that evening, and Alison had agreed that she could have her hair washed and set at the town’s leading hairdresser’s. Lorne was having a Spanish lesson—also in Murchester; and only Jessamy appeared to be free. Jessamy was not allowed to undertake heavy tasks, like shifting ponderous articles of furniture, or indulging in an orgy of furniture polishing ... but she could do the flowers, if her stepmother thought flowers would do anything at all to brighten up the forbidding sombreness of the great dining-room at Leydon. She could always get round the head gardener when she wanted something special, and he had some marvellous blooms he was bringing along for Christmas he might let her have. She would tell him Charles Leydon was staying the night.
    Anyway, she would ask him.