Then She Fled Me Read Free Page B

there ’ d be warm fires in all the rooms, and no one could call me genteel. ”
    And no rule against cooking in your bedroom, Sarah, ” said Aunt Em anxiously. “ It ’ s such a comfort to be able to make one ’ s own pot of tea when one wants it. ”
    “ They can cook a five-course dinner if they want to , ” said Sarah cheerfully.
    Brian Kavanagh cocked an eyebrow.
    “ You seem to have come round to Sarah ’ s way of think i ng, Emma, ” he said slyly.
    “ Oh, well, I —” Aunt Em looked from one to the other of them in confusion. She was so often overruled without realising it until it was too late. “ Perhaps there is something to be said for the idea, if you approve, Brian. But what about Nonie? ”
    “ Nonie? ”
    “ Nonie says she won ’ t cook for heathens from over the water, ” said Danny, breaking the protective silence which had descended on him for fear that someone would remember his bed time.
    Brian laughed.
    “ Oh, I ’ ll talk Nonie round, ” he said. “ Nothing, I know, would induce her to leave Dun Rury until she ’ s carried out in her coffin. ”
    “ I suppose, ” said Kathy in her gentle voice, “ since it ’ s all settled, I must just give in. ”
    “ Nothing ’ s settled, dear, ” her aunt said reassuringly. “ You have a right to your opinions. After all, you ’ re the eldest. ”
    “ But the house is Sarah ’ s. ”
    “ Only legally, ” said Sarah quickly. “ It belongs to all of us. Kathy—it ’ s the only way. We mustn ’ t lose our home.”
    “ What are your objections, Kathy? ” asked Brian gently .
    It was unusual for the girl to be so definite.
    “ I—I hate the thought of strangers, ” she said, but already she sounded a little helpless and unsure.
    “ But strangers sometimes mean fresh ideas, pleasant associations. You ’ ve had too few outside contacts, you and Sarah. You ’ ve so often said you feel imprisoned at Dun Rury. ”
    “ Y-yes, ” she said uneasily. “ Oh, well—I don ’ t like it, Uncle B., but perhaps you ’ re right. How does one get a lodger? ”
    “ You put an advertisement in the paper, ” said Sarah promptly. “ ‘ Family will receive in its bosom lonely bachelor for small consideration. ’ ”
    They began to giggle and Aunt Em asked quite seriously:
    “ Why are you so insistent on gentlemen, Sarah? ”
    “ They ’ re less trouble, ” said Sarah, searching through the advertisement columns of the daily paper. “ They won ’ t notice damp and a bit of dust and things like that. Here ’ s a specimen one. ‘ Comfortable board lodging offered to single gentleman . Live as family — every comfort; attractive terms. ’ I like ‘ attractive terms, ’ ” don ’ t you? It sounds sort of Christmassy. And we ’ ll put in fishing, rough shooting, magnificent mountain ‘ scenery and lashings of eggs and whisky, because, of course, our advertisement will appear in the English papers. ”
    Joe and his father were both laughing.
    “ You ’ d better leave the drafting of your advertisement to me, Sarah, ” Brian said. “ And I don ’ t really think you can afford to limit yourself to lonely bachelors. ”
    Aunt Em ’ s eyes began to shine. Lonely bachelors had other possibilities besides not noticing damp or dust. A rich banker might fancy the inducements of Dun Rury for a time, or a tired business man with artistic tastes, even a tilted frequenter of London society, weary of the social whirl, and Kathy—Kathy with her unawakened freshness, her typical Irish beauty ... Aunt Em ’ s imagination ran away with her, and she glanced guiltily and a little apologetically at Joe sitting there so peacefully, his quiet eyes resting on the girl with such loving assurance.
    “ Danny, ” she said quite sharply, “ it ’ s long past your bedtime. Run along, dear. ”
    “ Let ’ s go and look at the rooms, ” Sarah suggested, when the door had closed on a reluctant Danny. “ Let ’ s start planning right away.