Do Evil In Return by Margaret Millar Read Free Book Online Page B

estrogenic hormones, but Gwen wasn’t the kind of patient you could tell these things to. She would certainly misinterpret the hormones, Charlotte thought grimly.
    Gwen looked vague, and a little hurt. “I try. I take them when I can remember. But I have so much on my mind. Winkie’s having pups again in six days. It’s going to be a huge litter, perhaps a dozen. She’s so heavy she can hardly…”
    “You should be especially careful to remember the capsules. After all, you’re more important than Winkie or her pups.”
    Gwen let out a little cry. “Why, that’s just what Lewis says! He’s always telling me, look after yourself, darling. Remember you’re much more precious than any dogs.”
    Precious. Darling. The words stung Charlotte’s ears. She’s lying. He wouldn’t call her… But why not? They were married: they lived together day after day; there must be some tender moments. Perhaps some very tender ones, though Lewis claimed there weren’t.
    She said, without expression, “It might be a good idea to cut down on stimulants like tea and coffee and coke.”
    “I try, I really do. But then I love my tea so much… It’s ready now if you’d like some, doctor…”
    “Thanks, I would.”
    The tea was lukewarm and so strong it coated Charlotte’s tongue and the roof of her mouth. She drank it fast and put the empty cup on the table.
    Gwen’s hands had a bad tremor. Because she fluttered and fussed so much by nature the tremor wasn’t noticeable until she picked up the empty cup to refill it. The cup rattled in the saucer like hail against a window.
    “Are you still dieting?” Charlotte asked.
    “Well, not very much. I have to, a little bit. I’m so tiny every pound shows. I mean, one avocado and there’s an inch around my hips.”
    “You’re underweight I advise you to skip the diet for a while.”
    “I’ll try.”
    “I can’t do anything for you, Mrs. Ballard, if you won’t help yourself. There’s not much use in paying me five dollars for a prescription and then leaving it to gather dust on the bathroom shelf.”
    Gwen clapped her hands with delight like a child. “Oh, that’s what I like about you, doctor. You’re so outspoken and so honest .”
    “Am I? Thanks.”
    The dogs sensed something, a tension, an excitement in Gwen’s laugh. They crowded her, raising their noses for attention, their wagging tails sweeping across the teacups and the ash tray. They were more than Gwen’s dogs, Charlotte thought. They were part of Gwen herself—each of them like a separate sympathetic nervous system, feeling everything that Gwen felt.
    “Mollie, you bad girl,” Gwen said. “You’ve spilled the ashes. Settle down, now, all of you, and behave yourselves, or I’ll put you out in your dog run.”
    The dogs quieted but they wouldn’t leave her. They followed her around the room as she turned on the lamps, as if they were expecting something out of the ordinary.
    Charlotte rose, too, and began brushing the silky white collie hairs from the front of her dress. “Though it sounds pretty hackneyed, I think your real trouble may be nerves, Mrs. Ballard.”
    “Oh, please call me Gwen. After all, we’ve known each other nearly a year now.”
    “Nervous disorders aren’t really in my field and I suggest that you consult someone else.”
    “I won’t be shunted off to some so-called specialist. You’re too modest, doctor. You don’t realize how much good you do me. Why, after one of your visits I feel just wonderful. Lewis notices it too. He said one day, Dr. Keating’s a regular tonic for you, Gwen darling.”
    Gwen darling. “That only proves my point. I don’t actually do anything for you. I’m a kind of emotional sedative, a reassurance.”
    “Why, I believe you’re right.”
    “That’s why I recommend a—nerve specialist.”
    “You mean a psychiatrist?”
    “Yes.”
    Gwen smiled. But the smile wasn’t real and the dogs knew it; they stood with their plumed tails between