Wealth of the Islands Read Online Free Page B

the foyer first, and came in after her, burying his naked toes into the deep pile of the carpet.
    “ Gregory! ” a strident female voice reproved him.
    “ Why, Ethel, ” he drawled. “ I have your young friend from England here. I gather you are expe c ting her? ”
    A n English lady of uncertain age came out from behind the desk, her hotel-key chinking in an eager, trembling hand. “ Where is she? ” she screamed in acute pleasure. “ I ’ ve been longing for her to arrive! I knew her father, you know. Such a kind man! ” She advanced across the foyer, her cheeks and dewlap flapping, her pale grey eyes alight with interest and delight. “ My dear! ” she exclaimed, embracing Helen with an awkwardness that betrayed her lack of practice. “ My dear! How like your father you are !”
    “ I ’ m surprised that you can see what she ’ s like in this gloomy place, ” Gregory observed flatly.
    M iss Corrigan shook her head at him. “ You are a naughty boy! ” she informed him roundly. “ Helen has come here as my guest, so you can just mind your own business! ”
    Gregory grinned. “ I can ’ t very well do that, ” he said. “ She ’ s already asked me for a job. ”
    Miss Corrigan shuddered visibly. “ And are you going to give her one? ”
    Gregory shrugged his shoulders. “ It depends ho w good she is, ” he said cagily.
    “ There ’ s no doubt about that, ” Miss Corrigan said roundly, her cheeks quivering with emotion. “ She was taught by her father ! ”
    Gregory ’ s face became serious for an instant. “ I don ’ t care who taught her! I ’ m not having any more amateurs botching up my operations and that ’ s that !” Nor am I having any more conflict with the authorities about unnecessary deaths, or anything at all— ”
    “ Ssh, dear, ” Miss Corrigan interrupted him, shocked. “ Michael was this girl ’ s husband! ”
    Gregory looked at Helen, his face hardening. “ So he was, ” he said at last. “ I ’ d forgotten that. ”
    He turned on his heel and walked quickly out of the hotel, the bottoms of his to rn jeans flapping round his bare feet. Even from his back view it was possible to tell how close his suppressed anger was to erupting like a geyser all round them. “ I ’ ll call for you in the morning, ” he said from the entrance, and added by way of an afterthought, “ And wear something sensible, will you? ”
    Helen watched his departure, her eyes wide with indignation. “ And just who does he think he is? ” she demanded.
    Miss Corrigan shook her head sadly. “ He ’ s a fine boy really, ” she said pacifically. Her eyes met Helen ’ s, steely grey and twinkling. “ It ’ s a pity, dear, you ’ re any connection of Michael ’ s— ”
    “ I ’ m not just a connection, I ’ m his widow ! ” Helen pointed out.
    “ Yes, dear, I know. Very sad. I feel for you. I ’ m sure Gregory does too underneath. Only Michael ’ s death was a teeny bit inconvenient, if you don ’ t mind my saying so. Everything was held up for so long while they held endless investigations that got absolutely nowhere. So you can ’ t be surprised if Gregory prefers to forget all about him, can you? ”
    “ Yes, ” said Helen loudly, “ I can. I ’ m sorry he was inconvenienced, but Michael died. Doesn ’ t anyone care about that ?”
    Miss Corrigan patted her hand with awkward sympathy. “ You do, it would seem, ” she observed dryly. “ You can ’ t expect the rest of us to be so involved emotionally, my dear. Michael was a loner all the time he was here. None of us really knew him at all well. ”
    “ Nevertheless, he was a man and he died, ” Helen insisted, swallowing a painful lump in her throat.
    “ Quite right, my dear, ” Miss Corrigan agreed. “ But although one mourns the dead, life does go on. You ’ ll find that out. Now, I must find young Peter Harmon and he can take you to your room. You ’ ll dine with me tonight, of course? ”
    Helen licked