Part 9 (1/2)

'You--- !' It was Carl's turn to be startled. 'Well, that's forthright enough! So I'm a liar, am I?' He seemed angry but was suppressing his feelings admirably. Sara suspected that no one had ever called him a liar in his life before.

'Mr van der Linden,' she said earnestly, 'I happen to know without any doubt at all that your opinion of me is low. Don't ask me how I know, because I can't tell you. It's enough to say that I've had proof '

'Proof?' he snapped. 'When?'

'Today.' Sara felt she was gradually getting herself into a trap of her own making. 'But I've no intention of going into details, so please let the matter drop.' Her voice had fallen into a pleading note. She fervently wished she could take back the words that had led to this situation.

'You ask me to allow a thing like this to drop?' Carl looked at her with incredulity not unmingled with arrogance. 'No, my girl! You'll explain yourself-and at once!'

Sara went hot at the thought of having to confess that she had listened, and for a moment she contemplated defying him. But a covert glance at his stern implacable countenance convinced her that he was determined to have an explanation from her and- as he had said-at once. She swallowed, aware that his eyes were dark with anger but bewildered also. Obviously he had no idea at all what form her explanation was going to take. She heaved a sigh of resignation, becoming hotter still as she told him, in a quiet, self- deprecating tone, that she had overheard him telling his mother that Irma had had a raw deal from her sister.

'So you's-see,' she added, avoiding his dark scrutiny, 'I have had the proof I mentioned.'

Silence, deep and profound. A breeze came in from the sea, fanning Sara's burning cheeks and tousling her hair. The silence continued and her nerves began to stretch. She lifted her head and looked into eyes so hard and stern that she instantly glanced away again. She began to fumble with a handful of golden sand, letting it trickle through her fingers. At last he spoke, and to her great astonishment his voice was kinder and more human than she had ever heard it before.

'I must congratulate you, Sara, on your superb control. Any other woman would have had to come out with it and tell me what she thought about me. You, though, kept it to yourself. For my mother's sake, I a.s.sume?'

Sara nodded, her eyes wide and questioning.

'Aren't you contemptuous, because I listened?'

The amber eyes held the trace of a smile in their depths.

'I'm glad you did, in a way. It means that some plain speaking can now be done. However, the first thing is to inform you, little Miss Clever, that if you must listen, then make sure you put the correct interpretation on what you hear. It's obvious that you missed a word or two of what I was saying. And those words altered the sense. You've just said that you heard me say that in my opinion Irma's getting a raw deal from you.'

'Yes, that's exactly what you did say,' returned Sara defensively, but Carl was shaking his head even before she had finished speaking.

'What I said was: ”In the beginning it was my opinion that Irma was getting a raw deal from her sister,” and after that I added that it was now my opinion that Irma was fortunate in having you to take care of her.'

Sara could only stare, going over in her mind what Carl had just said.

'I-I didn't hear aright, did I?' she faltered at last.

'No, my dear, you didn't.'

'I'm sorry-er-I ought not to have been so hasty in coming to a conclusion.'

'No,' he agreed, 'you ought not.'

Sara swallowed saliva collecting on her tongue; she looked at him across the small expanse of sand that separated them. She might not have heard aright before, but she had certainly heard aright now... when he had said, 'my dear'. She had also heard aright when he told her that his opinion of her was exceedingly high... He had spoken the truth, too, but she had all but called him a liar.

'I don't know what to say. I feel rather foolish,' she was forced to admit.

He opened his mouth and she waited for the caustic rejoinder which obviously hovered on his lips. To her surprise he smiled instead of voicing the words, and when presently he did speak it was to say, in that quiet, kindly voice he had so recently used to her, 'Shall we forget it, Sara?' The expression in his eyes matched the tone of his voice as he added, 'Embarra.s.sing moments are best forgotten, aren't they?'

Sara nodded, wondering if he were subtly referring to that other embarra.s.sing time she had had with him. Perhaps, but it was obvious that he was not going to mention it specifically. He was waiting for her answer, that kindly expression still lingering in his eyes. She nodded again, and a smile fluttered to her lips.

'Yes, indeed, Mr van der Linden, embarra.s.sing moments are best forgotten.'

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Carl was dressed and waiting by the car as Sara came from the changing hut. She saw his appreciative eyes take in her appearance in one sweeping glance and was glad she had chosen the white cotton dress with the wide blue belt of plaited moire ribbon, since it suited her to perfection even before she had acquired the lovely suntan which now contrasted so strikingly with it. She was happy and it showed; she had vague glimpses of another life-of treacherous burdens and mental discomforts, a life peopled by Ray and Irma and Sadie and Makau, but this was the life she was living now, this ever-precious moment. And she still had more precious moments, days, even, before the return to reality.

Carl saw her into the car, closed the door on her and went round to the other side. She watched with interest as he tucked his long frame into the driver's seat and thumbed the starter. Relaxed, she pressed luxuriously against the upholstery and gave a contented little sigh.

'You sound like puss when she's been stroked,' said Carl, and she gasped at the unexpectedness of words like those. But after the shock had worn off she entered into his mood, saying, with a hint of tartness in her voice, 'First I'm a scarecrow, and then I'm a cat! I wonder what I shall be next!'

He laughed and something tingled pleasantly beneath her skin.

'You're improving; what more do you want? With luck-and time-you might become something quite attractive.'

She just had to say-because, womanlike, she was fis.h.i.+ng, 'I wish I understood you, Mr van der Linden.'

'You do?' He slanted her a glance, then returned his attention to the road again. They were traversing an avenue of blue gum trees whose foliage met overhead so that the sunlight was obscured and the whole scene became dramatic, with blue-black shadows forming great pools which seemed to close in on Sara as she sat there, mystified by the incredible change in Carl's att.i.tude towards her. 'Perhaps,' he said after a small silence, 'you will soon understand me, Sara. I did say, you'll remember, that some plain speaking can now be done. You and I shall have a talk later, after dinner, maybe, when Mother's retired with her book and her thimbleful of brandy which she chooses to call her nightcap. Meanwhile,' continued Carl as they emerged into the sunlight again, 'I do feel that Mother's right in saying you ought to drop the formalities and use my given name.'

'It's so... difficult----- ' She shook her head. 'No, I can't call you Carl...' Sara's voice drifted off to silence as she saw the twitching of Carl's lips. 'You and I haven't yet-what I mean is, we've always been so aloof up till now. We can't suddenly become intimate-----'

'My dear girl,' broke in Carl, seriously enough but with an undertone of amus.e.m.e.nt which could not possibly be missed, 'I have no intention of becoming intimate with you.'

She coloured enchantingly. Carl shot her a swift sideways glance and laughed.

'It isn't funny, Mr----- ' She stopped abruptly, realising just how amusing the whole thing was. 'Yes, it is funny, when you come to think of it.'

'I'm glad you agree, and I hope you'll agree that as I found no difficulty in using your name you ought not to have difficulty in using mine.'

'It's different for a man.'

'Rubbis.h.!.+ I shall stop the car in a moment if you continue to be so stubborn.'

'I can't see what good that will do,' she retorted.

'I shan't continue our journey until you've done as you're told.' Firm decisive tones which she would have resented not so long ago, but not now. The car slid to a standstill unexpectedly at the side of the road; Carl switched off the engine and turned towards her. 'You've managed to use my name once,' he reminded her, 'and very easily it slipped out. Now, let's have no more nonsense. I'm waiting,' he added when she failed to obey him at once.

'Is it so important?' she could not help asking, faintly puzzled by his insistence.

A small silence followed, the kind of silence which could only add to her puzzlement.

'Yes, it is important,' he answered, and there was the most odd inflection in his tone. 'Don't ask any more questions, Sara,' he went on swiftly as she opened her mouth to speak. 'I've said we shall talk later. When we do you'll have all your questions answered automatically.'

'But, Carl, I----- ' She stopped; they looked at one another and burst out laughing.

'And now,' decided Carl as he pressed the starter, 'we can continue with our journey.'

Sara was glad she had decided to bring the wild silk evening dress. It was originally Irma's and had, as Irma said with a wry grimace, cost a small fortune. But she had never even worn it, deciding it did not suit her after all. Sara loved it and had immediately offered to buy it, which she did, but for half the price which her sister had paid for it, Irma's having insisted on this even though Sara would have been quite willing to pay the cost price in full.

She had bathed and was now holding the dress against her; she was filled with a sort of nervous excitement, as if something of vital importance was going to be conveyed to her this evening when that 'plain speaking' took place between Carl and herself. She had quite naturally pondered the matter, but then had dismissed it as being far too troublesome; in any case, the answers would come to her soon enough-this evening after dinner and when Carl's mother had gone to bed.