excerpt
She nodded her head mutely but he didn’t look at her. As quickly
as he had appeared he left. She retrieved her hand luggage from the
floor and hastened to follow him. In the open doorway she stopped
and turned around.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Andrews.” The door closed gently
behind her.
Will got up and slammed the cover down over the wicket. “You’re
an ignorant beggar, Ben Fielding,” he growled. O
Ten minutes later Will sat ensconced in his favourite armchair,
his stockinged feet propped on a footstool. A small table at his elbow
held a plate of buttered scones and a glass of lemonade from
which he took an occasional drink. Through half closed eyes he
regarded the gray-haired woman on the settee across from him.
“Who could she be, do you think?” Molly Andrews said for the
third time in five minutes. “Didn’t you even ask where she was
from?”
“I’ve told you, Molly, I didn’t ask her anythin’. But if I’d known
you was goin’ to be so dashed inquisitive, I might have done.”
“Now Will, there’s no need to be sharp with me. But it’s strange.
I’ve never heard tell of Ben Fielding having relatives in the east, or
anywhere else for that matter, since his aunt in Winnipeg died. Do
you suppose he could have hired a housekeeper?”
“Now it’s hardly likely he’d have to go far afield to find a housekeeper,
is it? There’s enough women round these parts who’d be
glad of a few extra dollars even if it meant working for Ben Fielding.”
Molly nodded absently. She had been sipping her lemonade
thoughtfully but suddenly the glass stopped halfway to her mouth.
Her eyes stretched wide.
“You don’t suppose Ben’s getting married, do you?”
Will let out a guffaw. “No, I don’t suppose anything so ridiculous.
Who’d have him? Sure wouldn’t be a lady such as she seemed to be,
I can tell you that.”
But Molly did not hear. She almost spilled the contents of her
glass in her rush to get up. Hurrying towards the kitchen, she called
over her shoulder, “Well, there’s someone who might know what’s
going on. You know Bertha Johnson is a friend of the young Mc-
Neills who are Ben’s neighbours. I’m going to call Bertha.”
Will rolled his eyes, reached out and helped himself to another
scone.
Libros Libertad 