A Christmas Romance by Betty Neels Read Free Book Online

supper …’
    She bade Meg goodbye and thanked her, too, and with Gustavus stowed in the back of the car she was driven back to Mrs Towzer’s.
    The contrast was cruel as she got out of the car: the professor’s house, so dignified and elegant, and Mrs Towzer’s, so shabby and unwelcoming. But she wasn’t a girl to whinge or complain. She had a roof over her head and a job and the added bonus of knowing the professor.
    He took the key from her and went up the four flights of stairs, carrying her bag and Gustavus in his basket. Then he opened her door and switched on the light and went to light the gas fire. He put the pills on the table and then said, ‘Go straight to bed, Theodosia.’ He sounded like an uncle or a big brother.
    She thanked him again and wished him goodnight and he went to the door. He turned round and came back to where she was standing, studying her face in a manner whichdisconcerted her. She knew that her nose was red and her eyes puffy; she must look a sight …
    He bent and kissed her then, a gentle kiss on her mouth and quite unhurried. Then he was gone, the door shut quietly behind him.
    ‘He’ll catch my cold,’ said Theodosia. ‘Why ever did he do that? I’ll never forgive myself if he does; I should have stopped him.’
    Only she hadn’t wanted to. She took Gustavus out of his basket and gave him his bedtime snack, put on the kettle for her hot-water bottle and turned the divan into a bed, doing all these things without noticing what she was doing.
    ‘I should like him to kiss me again,’ said Theodosia loudly. ‘I liked it. I like him—no, I’m in love with him, aren’t I? Which is very silly of me. I expect it’s because I don’t see many men and somehow we seem to come across each other quite often. I must stop thinking about him and feeling happy when I see him.’
    After which praiseworthy speech she tookher pills and, warmed by Gustavus and the hot-water bottle, presently went to sleep—but not before she had had a little weep for what might have been if life had allowed her to tread the same path as the professor.

CHAPTER THREE
    T HEODOSIA felt better in the morning; she had a cold, but she no longer felt—or looked—like a wet hen. She took the pills she had been given, ate her breakfast, saw to Gustavus and went to work. Miss Prescott greeted her sourly, expressed the hope that she would take care not to pass her cold on to her and gave her enough work to keep her busy for the rest of the day. Which suited Theodosia very well for she had no time to think about the professor. Something, she told herself sternly, she must stop doing at once—which didn’t prevent her from hoping that she might see him as she went around the hospital. But she didn’t, nor was his car in the forecourt when she went home later that day.
    He must have gone away; she had heard thathe was frequently asked to other hospitals for consultations, and there was no reason why he should have told her. It was during the following morning, on her rounds, that she overhead the ward sister remark to her staff nurse that he would be back for his rounds at the end of the week. It seemed that he was in Austria.
    Theodosia dropped her diet sheets deliberately and took a long time picking them up so that she could hear more.
    ‘In Vienna,’ said Sister, ‘and probably Rome. Let’s hope he gets back before Christmas.’
    A wish Theodosia heartily endorsed; the idea of him spending Christmas anywhere but at his lovely home filled her with unease.
    She was quite herself by the end of the week; happy to be free from Miss Prescott’s iron hand, she did her shopping on Saturday and, since the weather was fine and cold, decided to go to Sunday’s early-morning service and then go for a walk in one of the parks.
    It was still not quite light when she left thehouse the next morning and there was a sparkle of frost on the walls and rooftops. The church was warm, though, and fragrant with the scent of