The Secret House of Death Read Free Page B

hands clenched, but she relaxed them deliberately. ‘I’ve got over it now,’ she said shortly.
    â€˜But at the time, immediately afterwards,’ he persisted.
    The first night had been the worst. Not the first night she and Julian had slept apart but the night after the day when he had gone for good. She had stood at the window for hours, watching the people come and go. It had seemed to her then that no one but herself in the whole of her little world was alone. Everyone had an ally, a partner, a lover. Those married couples she could see had never seemed so affectionate, so bound together, before. Now she could remember quite distinctly how Bob and Louise had come home late from some dance or party, had laughed together in their front garden and gone into the house hand in hand.
    She wasn’t going to tell him any of that. ‘Of course, I had a lot of adjusting to do,’ she said, ‘but lots of women get deserted by their husbands. I wasn’t unique.’
    Plainly he had no intention of wasting sympathy on her case. ‘And husbands by their wives,’ he said. Here we go, Susan thought. Surely it couldn’t take more than ten minutes before they got into Harrow? ‘We’re in the same boat, Susan.’
    â€˜Are we?’ She didn’t raise her eyebrows; she gave him no cue.
    â€˜Louise is in love with someone else.’ The words sounded cold, deliberate, matter-of-fact. But when Susan made no reply, he suddenly burst out raggedly, ‘You’re a discreet, cagey one, aren’t you? Louise ought to thank you. Or maybe you’re on her side. Yes, I suppose that’s what it is. You’ve got a big anti-men thing because of what happened to you. It would be different, wouldn’t it, if some girl came calling on me while Louise was out of the house?’
    Susan said quietly, although her hands were shaking, ‘It was kind of you to give me a lift. I didn’t know I was expected to show my gratitude by telling you what your wife does while you’re out.’
    He caught his breath. ‘Perhaps that’s what I did expect.’
    â€˜I don’t want to have any part in your private life, yours and Louise’s. Now I’d like to get out, please.’
    He reacted peculiarly to this. Susan had thought refusal impossible, but instead of slowing the car down, he swung with hardly any warning into the fast lane. A car immediately behind them braked and hooted. Bob cut into the roundabout, making the tyres screech, and moved on a skid into the straight stretch. His foot went down hard on the accelerator and Susan saw his mouth ease into the smile of triumph. Indignant as she was, for a moment she was also genuinely afraid. There was something wild and ungoverned in his face that some women might have found attractive, but to Susan he simply looked very young, a reckless child.
    The needle on the speedometer climbed. There were men who thought fast dangerous driving a sign of virility and this perhaps was what he wanted to demonstrate. His pride had been hurt and she mustn’t hurt it further. So instead of protesting, she only said dryly, although her palms were wet, ‘I should hardly have thought your car was in need of a service.’
    He gave a low unhappy chuckle. ‘You’re a nice girl, Susan. Why didn’t I have the sense to marry someone like you?’ Then he put out the indicator, slowed and took the turn. ‘Did I frighten you? I’m sorry.’ He bit his lip. ‘I’m so damned unhappy.’ He sighed and put his left hand up to his forehead. The dark lock fell across it and once more Susan saw the bewildered boy. ‘I suppose he’s with her now, leaving his car outside for everyone to see. I can picture it all. That ghastly dog barks and they all go to their windows. Don’t they? Don’t they, Susan?’
    â€˜I suppose so.’
    â€˜For two pins I’d drop back to lunch one