Away Went Love Read Online Free PDF

about all there is to it. Many people would say he had no right to risk the private interests of his family, in order to pay for his public work. But the risk was really small. It’s only when the unfortunate hundredth chance happens that people say—”
    “It’s all right, Doctor Tamberly. If he thought that was the right thing to do with his money—well, it was.”
    “I think so too. That’s why I wanted to take on the responsibility of the children until they’re older. You should be able to stand on your own feet by now, of course”—he dismissed her cavalierly from the discussion—“but there is no reason why the twins should suffer.”
    “No. No—I see that.”
    She was really thinking, ‘Of course I can stand on my own feet. One should stand on one’s own feet at my age. But what are Richard and I to do?—We counted—Oh, well, we had no right to count on easy money for nothing. I can go on with my job. We’ll manage somehow. Richard is only joking when he teases me about marrying a rich man’s daughter. He laughs about it. It’s just a joke. It must be a joke. I couldn’t bear it if it were anything else, because that would mean that what Doctor Tamberly’s just said could — could spoil everything.’
    Again she saw that he was watching her.
    “It’s—it’s all right. I’m just trying to adjust myself to things.”
    “Well, don’t let the adjusting process hurt too much.”
    “In—what way?”
    “Lots of ways besides actually doing without things, you know. There’ll be a good many changes. Your fair-weather friends will fall away, for one thing. People like that rather bounderish young architect who was hanging around after you just before I went to the States—What’s his name?—Richard—Richard Fander.”
    “How dare you speak of Richard like that! And what do you know about him, anyway?”
    Errol Tamberly raised his thick eyebrows and smiled in a way she particularly disliked.
    “Nothing much except that he rang you up and left messages for you rather too often, and then seemed to have time to hang about waiting for you when he ought to have been earning his own bread and butter. However, it’s no concern of mine, except that I have occasionally thought I should like to kick him in those nice pale grey pants of his.”
    She stared back coldly at Dr. Tamberly, and in that moment she quite distinctly hated him.
    “Richard Fander is a very good friend of mine,” she said slowly.
    “Oh, is he? Well—I’m sorry—you’ll probably find he’s not quite such a good one now,” was the equable reply.
    “You don’t really know anything about it, do you?” She was so furious that her voice sounded quite silky.
    “Only what my excellent eyesight and moderately good judgment tell me,” he admitted amusedly.
    “Well, then,” Hope said dryly, spurred beyond discretion by her anger, “you might like to exercise your moderately good judgment on this—I’m going to marry Richard Fander. We became engaged last week.”
    If she really wanted to wipe the amused look off his face, she certainly did so. It went so completely that, if she had not known such a thing was impossible, she would have said he even lost color as well as his smile.
    “You can’t mean it.” He got slowly to his feet, and, because he seemed to tower over her in a way she disliked, she stood up too.
    “Certainly I mean it. Is it really any business of yours?”
    “Well—yes. In a way, it is. Your father made me the children’s guardian—asked me to look after you all—and, come to that, you’re not twenty-one yourself for another month or two, are you?”
    Hope gave an incredulous and angry little laugh.
    “And what has that got to do with it? You aren’t by any chance trying to play the heavy guardian with me, are you? It simply won’t work, you know. I can’t exactly imagine myself calling you Uncle Errol.”
    “Good God, I should hope not!” he retorted, and flushed unaccountably.