Unknown by Unknown Read Free Book Online

met his eyes. There was a hint of mockery there she felt sure and the knowledge did nothing to ease her nervousness. She realized again, too, how completely black they were; black and impenetrable and it was impossible in that brief meeting to tell just what the expression in them was.
    ' I wasn't sure,' she ventured a little hesitantly, 'whether I should change for dinner or not, whether I should stay in uniform; I hope I'm in order.'
    'The choice is entirely yours,' he said, 'but you needn't have bothered to dress to please me.' She remembered his son's joking reference to her dressing up to impress him and wished now that she had not changed. She would have felt more self-confident and less suspect in the trim efficiency of her uniform.
    'I see; then I won't trouble on future occasions,' she assured him, only to see the black brows draw together in the beginnings of a frown.
    ' Oh, but I'm sure you must find it a pleasant relief after being in uniform all day,' he observed coolly. 'And I have no objections at all; in fact I'm not sure that I don't prefer it.' It must have been her imagination, she decided, that made her see again that glimpse of approval in the brief glance he gave her. He really was a most difficult man to keep pace with, but at least he seemed to have recovered some of his temper, and she wondered how far Doctor Neath's parting 'brief word' had been responsible for the change.
    Mrs Beeley served their dinner with the skill of long practice and Helen wondered just what this bright-faced, busy little woman really thought of her employer. She said very little as she moved softly about the table, but Helen suspected that she missed little and could probably regale the neighbourhood with tales if she was so inclined. The meal was eaten in an atmosphere of uneasy good manners, and once or twice Mrs Beeley gave Helen a smile of encouragement from behind Evan Davies' chair, but she longed to escape from the room and the company of her dour companion, vowing to do so as soon as she politely could.
    When the dishes had at last been removed and the two of them left to themselves she prepared to excuse herself on any grounds that came into her head. He moved from the table and sat himself in one of the armchairs, after indicating that she should take one of the others, and began to fill a pipe with tobacco. Looking at him from under her lashes, she thought he looked more relaxed than she had seen him yet, but the thought of spending any length of time in his company made her uneasy and she shivered slightly, almost without realizing it.
    The black eyes looked at her through a haze of tobacco smoke. 'Are you cold?' he asked, though she suspected that it must have been politeness and not interest that prompted the question and she shook her head.
    ' No—no, I'm fine, thank you, Mr Davies.'
    ' Perhaps you should cover your arms,' he said as if she had not spoken. ‘I find it quite warm tonight, but of course I am a little better covered than you are.'
    She took the reference to her uncovered arms for the reproof she felt sure it was meant to be and she flushed her embarrassment. 'I'm not cold, thank you,' she repeated. 'I'm quite warm, there's really no need for you to concern yourself about me.' He regarded her with surprise as if concern for her welfare had been the furthest thing from his mind.
    ‘You know best, of course,' he conceded with a shrug that dismissed the whole matter as unimportant, and sat back to smoke the pipe with every appearance of enjoyment. She endured the silence for as long as she could and then rose from the chair, where she had been perched on the edge.
    ‘I would like some air,' she said, her voice more sharp than usual with her nervousness. ‘May I walk in the garden ?'
    She had the doubtful pleasure of seeing the black scowl settle swiftly across his face before she turned her back on him and walked from the room, knowing full well that her behaviour was inexcusable, but caring only