The Reluctant Guest by Rosalind Brett Read Free Book Online

I’ll make the room blue and grey, with a touch of scarlet. All right?”
    “Sounds magnificent,” said Elva with irony. “I think something must have been left out of my composition — I have a man’s aversion for renovations in the home. I’ll get moving. See you at about five.”
    Elva went out, the horse cantered away and Ann sat down to write out a lis t of necessities for which she would shop tomorrow morning. After that she planned the stages, so that the room would be habitable while the changes were taking place. First, she would push the surplus furniture into her own bedroom, then cover what was left and clean down the walls. Once the room was clear of dust she could work at several jobs concurrently.
    She found a scarf and bound up her hair, changed her dark slacks for a pair of disreputable denims borrowed from Elva’s room and her blouse for one of the faded check shirts. In the shed she found an old step-ladder, a bucket and a few tools, and thus armed she returned to the living room and got busy. She had cleaned the cobwebs from the ceiling corner s, brushed down the walls and window-frame and stacked the moth-eaten books from the case ready for carting into the kitchen for overhaul, when Storr Peterson’s estate car drew up on the path.
    Ann stopped dead with her arms full of books, thought for a mad moment that she could drop the lot and lock the door but somehow could not move fast enough to do anything at all. Consequently, when he gave his usual light rap and opened the door, Storr was confronted with a scene of dire disorder and a girl who looked like a column of dog-eared literature with a thin startled face on top and worn denims rolled up at the ankles with flat black slippers to finish off the effect below.
    “Miss Calvert?” he said, heavily polite. “I hardly recognized you.” He took the books. “Where do you want them?”
    “Since you’re here you may take them to the kitchen for me,” she said coolly. “You might put them on the table in there. Elva said I could repair them for her — it’s one of the few things I do rather well.”
    “Really?” — still with satire in his tones. “Aren’t you being a trifle modest? I’m sure you do artistic embroidery and play the piano.”
    Ann ignored this. He dumped the books and came back for the second stack. She heard him turn on a tap, presumably to wash his hands, and took care to appear idle when he returned to the room.
    He pushed his hands into his breeches pockets, looked about him. “What’s going on?”
    “Elva’s re-planning the room.”
    “Glad to hear it. Where is she?”
    “She had to go out for a while. I thought I’d get on with the books.”
    His dark lean face quizzed her. He nodded at her get-up. “Trying to get the feel of things?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Clothes don’t make the farming type, you know, and I should imagine the little housewife in your circle wears flowery overalls. What are you trying to prove?”
    “Nothing.” She paused pointedly. “Did you want Elva, particularly?”
    Just slightly, his eyes narrowed. “I came for two reasons, and one of them concerns you. I’ve had another call from Theo. He’s been advised to have his wrist X-rayed, and is going down to the hospital at Port Elizabeth. I told him it was wise.”
    “I see.” Ann drew in her lip. “It must be rather bad — his wrist”
    “He said not — it was just a routine piece of advice from the doctor and Theo thought he’d better follow it . We haven’t a hospital in this district.”
    “I suppose it means he’ll be away for longer than we thought?”
    “Four more days, he said. I was to tell you how terribly sorry he is.”
    “Thank you.”
    His regard was speculative. “That’s a pretty good poker - face you put on, but it doesn’t suit your age. I don’t think I’ve ever known two girls so different from each other as you and Elva. I can see what it was that got Theo.”
    “I should imagine that you could