The Marriage Wheel Read Free

was commendably serviceable and trim.
    It had been arranged that she should leave London by the afternoon train, and she arrived in Gloucestershire shortly after darkness clamped down over a rolling countryside. A car driven by a local taxi-man took her to Farthing Hall, and through the open windows of the taxi she could smell the sweetness of the coming of spring ... exciting whiffs of daffodil-starred hedgerows, early primroses hidden in the dusk, and violets. She thought of some lines about the West Country that she had learned as a child: “ Apple orchards blossom there, and the air ’ s like wine ... ”
    The air was certainly like wine, despite the fact that it was also cold. She missed her comfortable old windcheater that she had been wearing for some time, and found the brief collar of her tailored coat a little inadequate.
    They turned in at a pair of gates that could only be vaguely seen in the star-pricked gloom , and moved swiftly up a winding drive. Only one or two lights streamed from the house, and the main bulk of it looked very dark.
    She paid the taxi-man, and he carried her cases to the foot of the short flight of steps that led up to the front door. The latter was opened suddenly, and the housekeeper stood there, young and unusually smart in a tailored silk dress, and with beautifully managed hair coiled elegantly about her head.
    She was unexpectedly friendly, however.
    “ Oh, come in, ” she said. “ You ’ re the new chauffeur, aren ’ t you? I heard from the agency that you ’ re the wrong sex, but apparently your qualifications are so exceptional that we can only hope Mr. Lestrode won ’ t mind your not being a man. ”
    Frederica, who was feeling lost and a little uncertain after her journey, followed her into a hall with beautiful dimensions and uttered a faint sound like alarm.
    “ You don ’ t think he—he really will mind, do you? ” she enquired with travel-weary huskiness.
    The housekeeper—who in addition to being slim and elegant had an amused pair of brown eyes—turned and surveyed her with rather more interest now that they were trader the blaze of a splendid chandelier, and tried not to allow anything like concern to show in her face.
    “ Well—er—you are a bit younger than I expected, ” she admitted, “ and there isn ’ t a great deal of you, is there? But women drove all sorts of heavy vehicles in the last war, and perhaps your appearance is deceptive. ”
    “ I could drive a tank if it was absolutely necessary, ” Frederica assured her. “ And I don ’ t suppose Mr. Lestrode drives about in a tank, does he? ”
    “ Oh, dear me, no! ” the housekeeper laughed. “ Nothing like that ... In fact, our means of transport is the most luxurious thing we ’ ve got at the moment. ” She waved a hand to indicate the slight bareness of the hall. “ Furniture is arriving daily, but we still need masses of it, and Mr. Lestrode is in London at the moment buying up pieces he fancies for the Hall. Of course, it will look marvellous when it ’ s finished ... all the furnishing, I mean, ” with a note of pride in her voice. “ And the grounds are going to look marvellous, too, when the gardener we ’ ve just engaged has had a chance to get to work on them. ”
    “ Then the place has been a little neglected? ” Frederica suggested, thinking that the panelling must be worth a small fortune. “ I ’ ve never been to Gloucestershire before, but this is a gorgeous house, isn ’ t it? ”
    “ Absolutely gorgeous, ” the housekeeper agreed with enthusiasm. She took her coat, and then dived out into the night to bring in her suit-cases. “ We ’ re a little understaffed at the moment, ” she admitted. “ In fact, we ’ re badly understaffed, and as yet we haven ’ t even got a manservant. But that ’ s another little problem Mr. Lestrode is looking after in town. ”
    Frederica followed her along a corridor to a lighted sitting-room, which proved to be the