The Golden Maze Read Online Free PDF Page A

am." She waved her hand vaguely. "Thirty-five and stuck in this dump—a widow looking for a rich husband. Thought I'd found one, but it seems he's not as wealthy as I thought." She laughed. "Nor as interested."
    Cindy stirred her tea slowly. "Why stay here?" she asked.
    Johanna shrugged. "Because I'm a fool. I love him."
    "Oh," said Cindy. She couldn't think of anything else to say. What did one say? A startling frightening thought struck her. Was she in love? In love with a man she'd only met once—no, twice if you could count today's a meeting? If not, why was she so upset? If he was just an ordinary man, would she care?
    "This place does well in the summer, but in the
     
    winter . . . well, you can see for yourself. Every year I swear that next year I'll go to London, but I stay here. I know I'm a fool."
    In the distance the telephone bell shrilled. Johanna Younge quickly drank her tea and stood up. She smiled at Cindy.
    "The village is coming to life, I think. You're the second southerner we've had here in the last week. Both interested in the castle, too. The castle ! What a farce—it's no more a castle than I'm a beauty !" Johanna shrugged as she walked away.
    Cindy drank her tea slowly and ate the delicious scones with jam and cream. She glanced at her watch. The sun was still shining—should she drive around Or . . .
    Johanna joined her again. "Sorry about that. Wrong number as usual. Look, if you want to know anything about the castle—and you'd be very odd if you didn't—I suggest you go along and see old Mrs. Usher. She's lived here all her life. Never been outside the village and, hard as it is to believe, never wants to go anywhere else. She'll tell you about the castle and the Baxters." Her voice was bitter.
    "You don't like them ?"
    Johanna shrugged. "I met Peter once or twice and liked him, but of course David, his cousin, and he never hit it off. I don't know why. The old man I never knew—bit of a recluse, you see. Didn't like visitors—at least, according to his housekeeper." Johanna chuckled. "Now there's a broken heart for you !"
    "Mrs. Stone ?" Cindy was startled.
     
    The phone bell shrilled again. Cindy stood up, hastily paid for her tea and left.
    Outside she looked up and down. There was not a soul in sight. Somehow she didn't feel in the mood for driving round and she had an absurd urge to learn more about the castle. What was the old lady's name ? Usher ! That was it !
    Cindy went into the Post Office, chose two postcards with lovely pictures of Windermere, wrote
    quickly on each to say she was fine, and then got
    stamps. The postmistress, fat and cheerful, beamed.
    "Did Mr. Baxter knock you down ?" she asked.
    "Mr. Baxter ?" Cindy echoed, puzzled. Mr. Baxter
    was dead, she nearly said.
    "I saw it happen. You were coming into the shop now and out he went, stormng like a madman because the telegram he's expecting hasn't arrived. Not my fault, and I told him so—"
    "Was that Mr. Baxter who bumped into me ?" Cindy blinked her eyes, shaking her head, for her mind felt muzzy. "But . . ."
    "Yes, David Baxter, the late Robert Baxter's nephew." The postmistress chuckled. "I bet he's feeling mad. Did you have a cup of tea? I guessed that was where you were now. What do you think of our local beauty queen ?" she chuckled again.
    "I thought she was very beautiful."
    "So she is—but he just doesn't see her."
    "He ?" Cindy said, puzzled.
    "David—David Baxter. Johanna is crazy about him, seems like he prefers to be a bachelor."
    Cindy drew a long deep breath.
    "Mrs. Younge is in love with David Baxter ?"
     
    Cindy said slowly. Gone was her last hope. How could a short ugly girl who wore glasses compete with such a beauty?
    The postmistress gave her the stamps with another chuckle.
    "We all thought once they were going to wed, and then he changed. It's ever since his uncle died that he's been so bitter. Not that I'm surprised, mind." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you Miss Preston ?" she asked, her voice