The Devil at Archangel Read Free Page A

do not
    yet fully comprehend the way of the world.'
    'If it's the Websters' way, I don't think I want to comprehend it,'
    Christina flashed back, then bit her lip.

    Mrs Brandon laughed and leaned back in her chair, taking a cigarette
    from her bag and fitting it into a silver holder. Bon,' she approved, a
    little mockingly. 'I am glad you are not wholly lacking in spirit. You
    are such a little pale thing. I did riot expect ...' She broke off and lit
    her cigarette. Blowing out a cloud of fragrant smoke, she regarded
    Christina through half-closed eyes. 'Tell me, ma chere, what plans
    have you made? You cannot, one would imagine, intend to stay here?'
    'Oh, no.' Christina shook her head. 'That—that would be out of the
    question, even if I wanted to. I have to get a job.'
    'Very commendable. Have you anything in mind?'
    Christina hesitated. It was humiliating to have to admit the
    truth.—that with her lack of qualification she would " have to take
    what she could get and be thankful.
    'Because, if not, I have a plan to put to you,' Mrs Brandon continued
    as if she had not noticed the awkward little pause. 'I myself am
    looking for a secretary/companion and I think you would suit me very
    well, if you were willing.'
    Christina set her tea cup back on the tray with a hand that shook
    slightly.
    'It's very kind of you, madame ,' she said quietly. 'But I'm sure I'll be
    able to find something. I—I don't need charity, however kindly
    meant.'
    'You think I offer charity? Then you do not know me very well. I do
    not offer a sinecure, my child. I suffer from arthritis, as you have
    seen, and I am not a patient sufferer— my temper has never been of
    the sweetest. Also there is the isolation. We have none of the
    entertainments or amusements that young people of your age seem to
    expect nowadays—no discotheques or night clubs.'

    In spite of herself, Christina had to smile. 'I should hardly miss that
    kind of thing,' she returned drily. 'The Swinging Seventies seem to
    have passed me by up to now.' She sent the older woman an inquiring
    glance. 'You say your home is isolated, madame ? Where do you live?
    I gather it's somewhere in France, but...'
    Mrs Brandon shook her head. 'I have never lived in France. I was
    born, as was Madeleine, my sister, on Martinique in the West Indies.
    We both attended a convent school in England, and that was where
    we met your godmother. When I married, I went to live on Ste
    Victoire, another island, though not so large as Martinique and
    belonging to the British. In fact, my husband and his brother, who is
    now dead, owned the greater part of it, and our family still lives at
    Archangel.'
    ^Archangel?'. Christina's face was alive with interest. 'What an
    unusual name for a house,'
    'Yes—and the story behind it is also unusual. It is not merely a house,
    you understand. There is also a plantation. And because so much of it
    is private property, Ste Victoire has not been developed and spoiled
    as so many others have been. I think you would like it there.'
    Christina swallowed hard, trying to hold on to reality. Was this really
    happening to her? Was she actually being offered a job on a
    Caribbean island—something she had never contemplated even in
    her wildest dreams? But in spite of her inner excitement, a small
    voice of sanity still prevailed.
    'But why me? There must be hundreds of people far better qualified
    than I am who would give their eye teeth for a job like that?'
    'Not as many as you would think,' Mrs Brandon returned. 'As I have
    said, the island is very remote and has few of the glamorous trappings
    one associates with such a place. We lead quiet lives in privacy. This

    is not the Caribbean of the travel posters, I assure you. I should warn
    you too that there are many dangerous reefs around our shores, and
    that in stormy weather we are often cut off for weeks on end. We have
    learned to be self-sufficient, because we have had to be.'
    Christina shook her head. 'I still