Away Went Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

“It’s only that—naturally I feel a little — oh, responsible for you, and—”
    “It isn’t natural in the least. Nor is it in the slightest degree necessary,” Hope told him crisply. “My affairs are not your concern at all. I only mentioned my engagement because—well, because of the way you were speaking. Otherwise, I shouldn’t have thought it either your business or a matter of any interest to you.”
    He frowned at that, standing there with his legs apart and his hands thrust into his pockets—a big, rather overwhelming figure against the background of the firelight.
    But Hope refused to be overwhelmed. And after a moment it seemed that it was he, rather than she, who was put out.
    “Hang it, I didn’t mean to antagonize you like this from the beginning,” he said, half ruefully, half impatiently, and Hope thought how unreasonable he was to suppose he would do anything else with such talk about her friends.
    It was so much easier not to feel slightly in awe of him here, as she did at the Laboratory. Here, in this charming, elegant house he was simply the son of her hostess. At the Laboratory he was very much one of the heads of the place. And, without thinking twice about it, she said what was really in her mind—
    “It’s not just a case of antagonizing me, is it? We should never get on very smoothly together, you and I.”
    To her surprise, he looked up quickly at that and said sharply:
    “I shouldn’t want to put it that way exactly.”
    It was Hope who shrugged that time, and the gesture said quite plainly that, whether he wanted it put that way or not, that was the way it was.
    He took a step towards her, and she saw he was going to start some sort of rather dogged argument, but, to her relief, Mrs. Tamberly came half-way down the stairs again just then, and said in her clear, sweet voice which could somehow sound peremptory too:
    “Would you like to come up and see your room, Hope? The children seem very well satisfied with theirs.”
    With a word of apology for having kept her hostess waiting, Hope caught up her hat and gloves from the table where she had put them, and ran up the stairs to Mrs. Tamberly.
    She was glad to escape further argument, and her smile and manner were both conciliatory as she said:
    “Do forgive me for being so rude. I’m afraid I didn’t think of anything but asking Doctor Tamberly about—about the guardianship of the children and all that. There — there was rather a lot to say.”
    “Yes, I suppose so.” Mrs. Tamberly gave the impression of being only slightly—though very politely—interested, and, not for the first time, Hope had the conviction that she only concerned herself with her own immediate interests. Even the fact that her son had suddenly become the guardian of two children only mildly interested her, and Hope felt sure that this was because she felt perfectly certain of her ability to see that the new arrangement made no alteration to her personal affairs beyond what she was agreeably willing to permit.
    The room into which she led Hope was, like the hall downstairs, reminiscent of a beautiful stage setting rather than a lived-in room, but Hope felt it was impossible to be anything but charmed by the dull blue and cream chintz, the pale walnut furniture and the wonderful hand-quilted bedspread on the bed.
    “I know you won’t actually be living here, as the children will in the holidays,” Mrs. Tamberly explained, “but any time you do come down, you must regard this as your room.”
    Hope thanked her, and wondered amusedly how it was that, by her regretful tone, Mrs. Tamberly had somehow managed to convey that of course Hope wouldn’t be inflicting herself on them too often. One felt that circumstances quite outside Mrs. Tamberley’s control would keep Hope away most of the time—but, quite definitely, they would keep her away.
    While she quickly ran a comb through her hair and powdered her nose, Hope asked Mrs. Tamberly with frank