Ship's Surgeon Read Free Page B

I’ve met his family in Australia.”
    “Is he the ... the big man?”
    “You’ve seen him? Yes,” with a humorous smile, “he’s the big man—big in every way. He and his mother own a dozen huge cattle stations but live a civilized life on the warm coast, near Brisbane. I’ve no intention of settling permanently in Australia, of course, but I shall have to live down-under for quite a while, to keep the old lady sweet.”
    In strained tones, Pat said, “You were afraid to let the man sail alone, is that it? Do you think it’s at all likely that he and I would have ... mixed? That must have been what worried you.”
    “By sea, it’s a long way to Ceylon,” said Kristin with a graceful shrug. “The ship stops half a dozen times on the way and there would have been every chance of your finding yourself alongside Vernon either on deck or ashore. He’s the chivalrous kind, and you’re still a bit large-eyed and dewy-looking in spite of your profession; you might easily have confided in him. By the way, there must be sweet pickings to that assignment of yours. The Wadias are rich and influential, I believe.”
    “I’m getting a good salary,” Pat agreed briefly. “What does Mr. Corey know about us—the boys and me?”
    Kristin’s glance flickered once, her expression remained smiling and remote. “That’s why I came to see you before you met the other passengers. Vernon knows nothing. To him, I’m thirty-two and a widow, without encumbrances.”
    Pat’s throat contracted. “You can’t do that,” she whispered, aghast. “The twins are your own sons. The chances are that Mr. Corey would be proud of them!”
    “It’s too late to tell him. When we first met he was even jealous of my dead husband, and I daren’t mention the boys. I told him I was married at twenty-seven, that I was widowed after only a couple of years. I can’t produce eleven-year-old sons even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. The boys were always more their father’s than mine—more yours than mine, come to that.”
    “But if you’re going to marry Mr. Corey he has a right to know all about you!”
    Kristin stood up, quickly for her. “Leave the ethical aspect to me. I’ll have to go now—Vernon’s expecting me to join him for tea. We’ll talk again, you and I. I came in as soon as I could to make contact and to let you know that on the Walhara you and I have no relationship except the coincidence of bearing the same surname. I dare say you’ll be fully occupied till you reach Ceylon, so you won’t find it difficult to keep your distance from Vernon ... and me.”
    Kristin came towards the door, and Pat shrank back as the other passed. With difficulty she said, “You’re expecting rather a lot from me, aren’t you? Why should I help you to deceive that man?”
    “Why?” With her long slender fingers on the door handle, Kristin turned and looked straight into Pat’s hurt green eyes. “For a simple reason, my dear. You’re determined that the twins shall miss their parents as little as possible, and have an ordinary life among their own kind. But I’ve discovered something. There’s a society that will take them on till they’re sixteen, give them a home in an institution and teach them a trade. I’ve only to prove that I can’t afford to keep them, and sign a paper or two.”
    Pat’s mouth was dry. “You wouldn’t do that, Kristin. I can’t believe it.”
    “Don’t try me. If I lost Vernon through you,” said Kristin steadily, “I’d do anything.”
    She was gone, and Pat was left alone in the small cabin, leaning against shiny white paint and gazing at a face she saw in the mirror. A young face that was pale and bewildered and frightened. Not a pretty face, but it was small-boned and the skin was delicately pink over the cheekbones; at least, it was normally pink, though just now even her lips were pale. For a long time she blankly took in her reflection. Then it receded, darkly, and she knew it was