Love for the Matron Read Online Free PDF

Castleford. She was no longer fighting against or even consciously dreading the possible meeting with Stuart Nichols. Perhaps she was fast absorbing some of the tranquillity that seemed such an essential part of St. Genevieve ’ s, or perhaps now that she was two years older Stuart Nichols no longer had the power to stir her into feeling, or to inflict the pain of his mocking laughter upon her shrinking self.
    At ten to seven she was ready, and the robin ’ s egg blue of her woollen f r ock seemed to heighten the tan she had collected during her ten day ’ s skiing holiday in the Tyrol. The feeling that she knew she was looking her most attractive would armour her against any critical glances that Stuart Nichols might condescend to throw her way. Would he have been told whom he was meeting at dinner, or would Doctor Gregory merely have invited him to meet St. Genevieve ’ s new Matron? Elizabeth laughed at herself unwillingly, and slipped on her coat and found her pe n cil torch. She didn ’ t know how dark it might b e along the castle wall.
    Out of doors it seemed strangely light until she realized that the town fathers had set their st r eet lamps along the parapet at the top of the wall and the gravel path she was to follow was more brightly lit than it would have been in the daytime. There was scarcely need for the young slip of a moon that shimmered in the ar c h of the sky. Because she was so close to the wall the noises of the town seemed muted and she heard only the sound of the g r avel beneath her feet. Had William Gregory said how far? No, she remembered now ... he had only said it was the house at the end of the path. But the name Castleford suggested that it must lie near the river, and she became conscious that as the path followed the curve of the wall it was also sloping gently downwards. Then as she rounded an abrupt turn of the ancient battlement there was the sudden sound of running feet and a girl ’ s voice calling:
    “Don ’ t, Robin! Enough ’ s enough. Anyway, she ’ ll be here any minute now.”
    Before Elizabeth could move aside or make her presence known a warm breathless body collided with hers and she was almost knocked off her feet. She steadied herself with an effort, but before she could say a word the girl was disentangling herself.
    “Oh, I ’ m sorry, Are you Miss Graham? Daddy said to come and meet you as you mightn ’ t be sure of the way, but I didn ’ t mean to send you flying. It ’ s all Robin ’ s fault ... he shouldn ’ t have chased me.”
    Elizabeth found her breath and her voice. “You must be Susan Gregory. I didn ’ t mean to startle you.”
    The girl gave a soft gurgle of laughter. “I don ’ t usually welcome guests this way. Come on and we ’ ll go into the house. Daddy is entertaining Stuart, I expect.”
    “Do you usually call guests by their Christian names?” Elizabeth asked curiously.
    Susan tucked her arm through Elizabeth ’ s. “This bit is rather rough. Robin broke our light with his air rifle and Daddy hasn ’ t got round to fixing it yet. Stuart told us to call him by his first name.” She laughed again. “He said he didn ’ t approve of being called uncle by those who weren ’ t his kin and as far as he knew he hadn ’ t fathered any brats yet. ”
    Elizabeth felt a momentary recoil from the fact that Stuart would say things like that to Susan, and then she realized that the girl ’ s very innocence was protection enough against the deeper implications of the words.
    “What did you call Miss Brown ? ” she asked, and felt the girl move beside her in the semidarkness.
    “ Oh, did you know her too? Wasn ’ t she a wonderful person? I think we called her Matron most of the time ... if we called her anything. She wasn ’ t the kind of person you would address as Miriam even if you knew her very well. Oh, I don ’ t mean that she was strict or forbidding or anything like that, because she wasn ’ t. Perhaps it was because she had