Time for Silence by Philippa Carr Read Free Book Online

of a joke,” said Anna B. “And I think you are very brave to do it, Carl.”
    “Oh…but it does not require bravery…just work.” He looked ruefully at his hands. “It is work to which I am not accustomed.”
    “You are doing very well,” said Anna B. “I am sure they are very pleased with you. How marvelous it will be when you have won your wager! You will be rightly proud of yourself. How much is it, Carl?”
    “Twenty thousand francs.”
    Anna B pursed her lips and looked impressed.
    “Oh, but it is not the money,” he said.
    “The honor of Switzerland, eh?” said Anna B jocularly.
    “Something like that.”
    “Do you live here?” I asked.
    “Over there.” He waved his hand. “There are some little cottages…more like huts really. But I manage…for my wager. The gardeners all live there together with others employed here. It is adequate.”
    “I see.”
    “Well…I should not be speaking to young ladies from the school, of course.”
    “We can’t be seen here among all these trees,” said Anna B. “At least, I hope not.”
    We walked through the shrubbery and Carl pointed out his living quarters in the distance.
    “There you see my dwelling,” he said. “And now I take my leave.”
    With that he bowed and left us.
    Anna B looked a little cross, and I gathered it was with me. I was about to mention this when she said, “I wouldn’t say anything about meeting Carl if I were you.”
    “Why not?”
    “Well, it’s a bit secret, isn’t it? I don’t know what old Rochère’s reaction would be—the old snob. She wouldn’t want people coming to work here to settle wagers, would she? She would expect a properly trained gardener.”
    “Well, he is only here for a little while.”
    “She does not know that. So don’t say anything, will you?”
    “You didn’t say you’d seen him.”
    “It was only the other day I did. Then I came upon him accidentally…like now.”
    “I suppose we might never have seen him if you hadn’t come across him by chance.”
    “No, we wouldn’t.”
    “Do you think he was a bit put out because we have discovered him?”
    “Perhaps. He wouldn’t want it generally known about the wager, would he?”
    “He told you.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t mention it to Caroline or any of them. It would be all over the school if you did.”
    “I won’t.”
    “What are you supposed to be doing now?”
    “Just taking a little walk before I go back. It’s conversazione at six. I don’t know what we are going to talk about.”
    “Let’s wait and see, eh?”
    She walked with me a little, and after that we went in.
    It was a few days after my encounter with Carl and I had ceased to marvel at the coincidence of his choosing our school in which to work out his wager.
    I said to Anna B, “He seems to be one of those people who turns up in odd places.”
    She smiled to herself.
    “Well,” I went on, “he was there at our house…outside the cubbyhole…and then to find him here. It’s odd.”
    “He’s a diplomat, of course.”
    “He gets long holidays at that, I suppose. How strange for a diplomat suddenly to become a gardener!”
    “He explained. I suppose he has an exciting time.”
    She was smiling. She looked different and had for some time. I thought it was because she was enjoying school. She and Lucia were always whispering together; there was a touch of superiority about them both, as though they knew something that the rest of us didn’t.
    That night, when I had been fast asleep, I was abruptly awakened by someone calling. “Lucinda…Lucinda!” It was insistent, dragging me out of a pleasant dream.
    Caroline was standing by my bed. She was wearing her dressing gown.
    “Wake up,” she said. “I can hear something. Listen.”
    I sat up in bed, trying to shake off my drowsiness.
    “What…?” I mumbled.
    “Footsteps,” whispered Caroline. “I heard them go along the corridor and down to the hall.”
    “The ghost!” I cried.
    “Get up. I’m