Mistress of Elvan Hall Read Free

foolish enough to lose Graham because of someone like Francis Wyatt ... someone beyond her reach?
    “Have you written to ask for your job back?” she asked, as casually as she could. “I know you hadn’t intended to.”
    “I told you it had been filled,” said Anne, trying to keep patient. “You know I couldn’t ask to go back, Mother.”
    “Well, he seems determined to see you, because he said he would wait until you came home, however long you were away. Your father is entertaining him in the drawing room, showing him some of his published books.” Mrs. Drummond’s face suddenly softened into a smile. “He’s rather a charming man, really. He was genuinely delighted to look at those books, as though he had missed reading that sort of thing as a boy. I always find it rather touching to see a boy peeping out of a strong, dignified type of man. Look, dear, if you want to clean up, I'll hold the fort, only don’t be long.”
    “Thanks, Mummy. I only want to wash my face and change my skirt and shoes.”
    Anne looked fresh and lovely when she appeared a few minutes later in the drawing room, and Francis Wyatt leapt to his feet as he shook her hand.
    “I ... er ... I was sorry to have news of your ... er ... your broken engagement,” he told her, the colour suddenly high in his cheeks.
    Anne nodded briefly, and made little comment. Mr. Wyatt wasn’t very good at discussing personal affairs. He was much more sure of himself rapping out business letters which were always very lucid.
    “It was by mutual consent,” she said. “Graham and I are very fond of one another, but not enough to marry. We’re like... ” she glanced at her parents, “ brother and sister, to coin a phrase.”
    Stephen Drummond frowned.
    “But you aren’t related, and it was always understood...”
    “I know, but that was before we were old enough to fall in love...”
    She broke off, her cheeks colouring, aware of Francis Wyatt’s eyes on her.
    “Graham is too young to be tied down yet, anyway. He wants to enjoy his freedom a while,” she said, tossing her pale honey-coloured hair. “We understand each other perfectly.”
    “It’s better to back out, then, before it’s too late,” put in Nell Drummond, trying to be helpful, and her husband sighed deeply.
    “I suppose so. Young people please themselves these days, anyway. I think we had a more stable society when everyone obeyed the rules. Don’t you agree, Mr. Wyatt?”
    “Oh, certainly, certainly,” said Francis, though Anne was glancing at him rather curiously. Had her successor, Louise Dalton, proved to be unsuitable after all? He was not the easiest of employers, but Louise had seemed the very soul of efficiency, one of those girls who really loved secretarial work.
    Anne had often thought that she had chosen that for herself because it seemed the more suitable from an earning point of view. She had been good at it because it was in her nature to do things well, but she had not really loved the job. This crossroads in her life had made her wonder if she couldn’t take a different path.
    Yet here was Francis Wyatt seeking her out again, and it was more than possible that he would ask her to come back.
    What should she say? she asked herself, trying to merge into the background and view him dispassionately as he discussed present-day trends with her parents. She loved him. She loved his lean dark face and long slender fingers with bony wrists appearing from under his immaculate cuffs. She loved the straight look he often gave her from his dark eyes which could sometimes gleam with humour, but were more often full of thought. His father had died when he was barely out of his teens and his youngest sister a small child. He’d had precious little time to be a boy. He’d had to grow up too soon, thought Anne sadly. He hadn’t had enough fun in his life.
    “You can talk in here, then,” her mother was saying. “Is that all right, Anne?”
    She came out of her dreams