Green for Danger by Christianna Brand Read Free Book Online

free of all responsibility in the matter. Well, you aren’t free, Gervase. Kisses can be promises and—and just looks and silences.… Whatever you may have said about loving me, you let me love you; and now I’m not going to be thrown away because you’ve gone and fallen for a silly little chit like Frederica Linley. I shall go to Barnes and tell him about it. I shall tell him he must put a stop to it, that it’s ruining his life and mine.… I won’t let you go, Gervase. I can’t; it would kill me. I’m not going to.…” She broke off and cried, wretched and helpless: “You can’t be in love with her!”
    â€œI’m not in love with anyone,” he said steadily.
    â€œYou’re in love with Frederica Linley. I suppose you want to marry her.…”
    â€œYou know I’m not in a position to marry anyone, Marion,” he said impatiently. Once, long ago, one of the lovely ladies had been importunate, and he had not then acquired his skill in evading desperate situations. He had not seen her for several years, but she formed a shield against similar assaults upon his liberty.
    â€œBut you don’t love me any more?”
    â€œOh, Marion,” he said wearily, “do let’s not go over this again. Men fall in love and fall out of love, and that’s all there is to it.” You could not explain that you had never even fallen in love, that the worst you had done was to accept attentions flung at your defenceless heart. “I—I want to remember our little affair with affection and gratitude; let me do that, my dear. Don’t spoil it all by trying to hold on to something that’s gone, past recall.”
    But she looked at him with blue eyes, stupid with pain and misery, defeating her own hopes by her uncontrollable need to put those hopes into words. “All the same, Gervase, I won’t let you go; I’ll tell everybody how you’ve treated me, I’ll tell everybody how you’re letting me down for that Linley girl, I’ll make you stay with me.…”
    He caught her by the wrist, staring down, grim and angry into her frightened face. “Don’t you dare !” he said.
    â€œI will, Gervase, I swear I will. I’ll—I’ll sue you for breach of promise.… I’ll make it so that everyone thinks what a rotter you are.… All those women in Harley Street.…”
    He flung her away from him in disgust and marched off out of the bunk and into the hall; she stayed for a moment, leaning against the wall, sick with realisation of her own behaviour; and then crept out after him; neither of them gave a backward glance towards the ward.
    Frederica had retreated into the dark recess of the screens round the newcomer’s bed; she came to the door and stood there, staring after them. “My God—supposing she does tell Barney!” Their unconsciously raised voices had reached her clearly through the thin partition. “Supposing she tells Barney—he’d never speak to me again; he’d never love me again! I should lose him, and all for a man like Gervase Eden.… Gervase would love me for a week or a month, and then just let me go. ‘I want to remember our little affair with affection and gratitude, Freddi; be a little darling, my pet, and let me go!’ He has every woman in the place running after him, and he doesn’t want any of them … any of the others. But he does want me! It was only because of Barney.… Oh, my God! Barney, why don’t I just stick to you, when you’re so decent and sweet and you love me so much more than I deserve … but the moment Gervase comes along—he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t do anything, he never even touched me before to-night … but my heart turns over and my knees go to water … it’s disgusting, really it is, it’s nothing but sex, that’s all! It’s