A Happy Meeting Part 13

At the house, as the doctor helped her out she did her best to thank him.

"I can't remember when I've had such a splendid time," she told him.

"Thank you very much. There must have been so many other things you would have liked to have done--I'm sure you don't get much free time."

She was thinking of Nicola now and wondered if she had minded the doctor spending a whole day away from her.

"It is I who thank you," he told her.

"I'm always happy to come to my home here and it is an added pleasure to show it to someone. I'm glad you liked to see it."

"Oh, I did like it, the horses and that lovely kitchen and the dogs."

She stopped, aware that she was probably boring him.

"Anyway," she went on briskly, 'thank you. "

They were standing on the sweep before the door and although it was really very cold she felt nothing but a warm glow. She lifted a happy face to his and he bent and kissed her.

Charity, who had gone to the window and seen the car's headlights sweep up to the door said, "Tyco, he's kissing her..."

Her husband lowered his newspaper.

"A quite normal thing to do, my love."

"Yes--no, it isn't. He's supposed to be going to marry that Nicola..."

"I hardly think that Aldrik is likely to be firmly influenced by what he is supposed to be doing. I have known him for years--he does what he wants to do."

Charity came away from the window.

"Oh, do you suppose...?"

Tyco abandoned his reading.

"My darling, let us suppose nothing but wait and see."

Then," said Charity.

"You're so different from us."

"What a good thing that is, my love." He pulled her towards him and kissed her soundly.

Dinner was a pleasant meal. Teile and Letizia had been allowed to stay up and the talk was a mixture of childish chatter and light-hearted talk. No one mentioned Nicola, nor did they comment on Cressida's unfortunate stay at Noordwijk-aan-Zee, and when they had had their coffee and she reminded Charity that she would have to go back to the ter Beemstras' the doctor got up as well.

"I'll drop you off," he observed, 'it's on my way. " Which it wasn't, but Cressida, still a little muddled as to the geography of her surroundings, didn't know that. She made her farewells, promising to go shopping with Charity on the following week, and got into the Bentley again. Aldrik hadn't spoken and the drive to the ter Beemstras' was short. She wished very much that he would kiss her again but he didn't, only went into the house with her, exchanged a few courteous remarks with the ter Beemstras, shook her hand and went away again, without expressing a wish to see her again.

"Oh, well," reflected Cressida, getting ready for bed, 'why should he?

I dare say it was his good deed for the day. "

However there had been no need to kiss her, and certainly not with such she sought for a word satisfaction She had enjoyed it, although she reminded herself prudently that she had been kissed so seldom that it had stirred her rather more than it might have stirred any other girl Nicola, for instance. Horrible girl, thought Cressida, as she closed her eyes, and I wonder what he's doing? Ringing her up, most likely, telling her what a boring afternoon he had. She drifted off to sleep.

The doctor was in his study with Mabel and Caesar, making notes for the lecture he was to give in Leiden in a few days' time. Telephoning Nicola hadn't entered his head and when he was interrupted by a phone call from her he frowned impatiently.

"Darling," trilled Nicola, 'are you very lonely up there? Are you coming back tomorrow? There's the van Douws' dinner party you haven't forgotten? I'm just off to have dinner with one or two friends, I'm so lonely without you. " And when he didn't answer, " Aldrik? "

"Enjoy yourself," he told her.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow evening about seven o'clock. I'm not lonely, I'm getting a good deal of work done."

"Oh, work," said Nicola.

"What have you done all day?"

He told her briefly.

"I'm so glad the poor girl has settled down at last," said Nicola softly.

"I feel very badly about her un happy stay at Tante Clotilde's. It was all my fault. I thought she was a working-cla.s.s girl, used to house hold ch.o.r.es. I'm so relieved that she has a more suit able job now. I dare say she'll meet someone of her own sort a farmer or a bank clerk someone like that."

The doctor thought of several replies but he uttered none of them. He said again, "Enjoy your evening, Nicola. I'll see you tomorrow."

He wrote without interruption for a time then he went into the drawing-room. The room looked beautiful in the light of the lamps and the fire welcomed him. He looked at the chair where Cressida had been sitting and wished that she was still there.

He went to sit by the fire, one arm round Mabel's vast shoulders, Caesar sprawled over his feet, and when Wester came in presently he told him to lock up and go to bed. The old house was quiet, he could hear the wind whistling in from the Waddenzee but it was a sound he loved. Cressida would like it too, he reflected; he would bring her here again and drive her to the flat coast to watch the wild sea breaking against the d.y.k.es. He thought that it would be some time before she trusted him completely and it would be necessary to disabuse her of the idea that he and Nicola were to marry. He had never mentioned marriage to Nicola although he had to admit that he had considered her for a wife. She was pretty, amusing, knew how to dress and would run his homes efficiently, although he was aware that no one who worked for him liked her, but he had known for some days now weeks, he amended that he wanted Cressida for his wife. What had begun as an act of kindness on his part had become the most important thing in life. He would need patience and time, but he was a patient man. That she liked him he was sure, but she was wary of him too, and not surprisingly after her miserable time with Jonkvrouw van Germert.

He would have to talk to Nicola. He had known that she wanted to marry him but he was certain that she had no love for him. She enjoyed his company besides, he was a wealthy man and able to give her everything she wanted but he was aware too that she could be just as fond of any man who could give her a secure future. She would have been a very suitable wife, of course, but he marvelled that he had ever considered her as his. With hindsight he saw now that she had been clever enough to adapt to his life and ideals so that he, wrapped up in his profession and heart-whole, had allowed the idea of marrying her to enter his head.

"Something which must be remedied," he observed to the dogs, who c.o.c.ked friendly ears but made no move.

With Christmas barely two weeks away the ter Beemstra household was a hive of activity. The house would be full, Mevrouw ter Beemstra told Cressida: aunts and uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters would be coming.

"There will be four more children." She sounded apologetic. Ten all told! You will man age? Baby's nurse will help out, of course, and we will all a.s.sist you. "

Cressida a.s.sured her that she would manage in a voice which disguised her uncertainty of this. True, it would be for a few days only, and the children would probably amuse themselves for a good deal of the time. She shut her mind to the problem of getting ten children out of bed and washed and dressed and're turning the same number to their beds each evening, but bridges should never be crossed until one reached them.

The following week was largely taken up with the making of paper chains, addressing of Christmas cards and the secret tying up of presents, and her days were filled. She was to go to Charity's again for her day off and drive to Leeuwarden to shop, and if, at the back of her mind, she had hoped to see Aldrik van der Linus or even have news of him, she was to be disappointed.

Tyco came to fetch her after breakfast before going to Leiden for the day, and at his house she got into the Mini, settled Charity beside her and took them to Leeuwarden at a careful pace, still not very happy about driving on the other side of the road. Directed by Charity, she parked the car at a hotel in the centre of the city while Charity reserved a table for lunch before the pair of them made for the shops.

It had been a splendid day, reflected Cressida in her bed that night; Charity was a dear and they had talked about everything under the sun excepting Aldrik and they had done their shopping to their entire satisfaction although Cressida's purse was woe fully empty. Back at the house Tyco had been waiting for them, ready to entertain them with an account of his day at Leiden and then admire the presents Charity had bought. Teile and Letizia had come back then and everything had been bundled away out of sight before tea. Tyco had driven her back to the ter Beemstras' after dinner that evening and gone indoors with her to spend a few minutes with them, and when he left he told her in his kind voice that they looked forward to seeing her again as soon as Christmas was over. No one had mentioned Aldrik; she supposed that he was already in England.

There were flurries of snow from a leaden sky the next day and by the day before Christmas Eve the countryside looked like a Christmas card.

The school holidays had started and Cressida spent a good deal of the time making snowmen in the grounds with the children, going for brisk walks whenever the snow stopped and overseeing the changing of shoes, the drying of parkas and the drinking of hot cocoa the moment they got indoors. It was an energetic life with no time to spare but she enjoyed it and the exercise and the children's cheerful company had put colour into her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. She had taught them a carol too "Good King Wenceslas' badgering them to get the words right while she thumped the piano in the playroom. Even little Lucia joined in and Cressida hoped that it would be proof of her efforts to teach the children English.

They had had a final rehearsal, Lucia had been whisked off to her bed by her nurse and Cressida was helping the children to tidy the room when the door opened and the doctor walked in.

His, "h.e.l.lo," was addressed to everyone in the room.

"I was sent up on my own; everyone's bustling about downstairs."

The children surged round him, for he had known the whole family for some years, all talking at once.

"English," warned Cressida, raising her voice to be heard.

"Just for a minute we speak Fries, dear Cressy," said Willum.

"It is Christmas." He gave her a wide smile.

"And we have not seen Oom Aldrik for some time."

"All right. Ten minutes, then. I'm going to see Nurse about something."

She whisked herself out of the room without looking at the doctor.

She had been so delighted to see him; she supposed it was the unexpectedness of his arrival which had made her feel so excited. She had imagined him to be in England by now perhaps he wasn't going after all. Nicola, she felt sure, had very persuasive powers.

She found Anna, Baby's nurse, in the night nursery. Her small charge already asleep, she was tidying the chest of drawers, but she looked up as Cressida put her head round the door and gave a reluctant smile.

They got on well now, but for the first few days Cressida had been hard put to it to convince the nurse that she had no intention of interfering with little Lucia's routine. For half an hour each day she came to the nursery and taught the moppet simple English but always with Anna there too.

Cressida marshalled her scanty knowledge of Dutch, seeking permission for Lucia to stay up a little later on Christmas Eve so that she might sing the carol with her brothers and sisters. It took a few minutes to make herself understood and another few minutes while they exchanged remarks about the weather, and, having shown willing, as it were, Cressida went back to the playroom.

The doctor was still there.

"Ah, good, Cressy, will you come downstairs with me? There's something I want to give you..."

"It may be for us; is it?" asked Friso.

"That's something you'll know on Christmas morning, and don't tease Cressy to find out what it is, for she won't tell."

The little girls kissed him and the boys shook his hand and screamed, "Happy Christmas!" as he opened the door and ushered Cressida through.

He made no effort to go downstairs but stood looking down at her.

"Do you not wish that you were coming with me to England?" he asked.

She didn't answer at once while she thought about it.

"Well, I'd love to go home, but only if my step mother wasn't there, if you see what I mean, and I'd like to see Moggy, but I'm really happy here. I felt, well, a stranger in Leiden, but here I feel quite at home, which is funny because half the time I don't understand a word of what anyone says."

He laughed, "I'm not surprised, Fries is a strange language, and the Hollanders don't understand it either. Will you be free at Christmas?"

"Heavens, no. The house will be full of family and there are four more children coming."

"I must make it up to you when I get back..."

"Thank you, you're very kind, but there's no need. I mean, you've done such a lot for me already and you don't have much time and when you do you must have friends and things to do..."

"Am I being snubbed, Cressy?" he asked blandly.

"Snubbed?" She was so shocked at the idea that she put a hand on his arm.

"How could I ever snub you? I don't know what I should have done without you."

She stared up into his face, suddenly and blindingly aware that she didn't know what she would do with out him; moreover the prospect of it didn't bear thinking about. She said slowly, "I think you don't need to be concerned about me any longer, I mean you can forget me without feeling you need to bother. I don't think I am explaining myself very well but you've your own life and it's quite different from mine... Oh, dear, I really can't explain..."

"Then don't try," he advised her briskly.

"Enjoy life here and have a happy Christmas." He patted her hand in a big-brotherly way and added, "Come down to the hall and get the parcel I've got for the children. I still have to call on the van der Bronses and then go to Janslum before I drive down to the ferry."

She longed to ask him if Nicola was going with him but all she said was, "I hope you have a lovely Christmas and please remember me to Lady Merrill."

She went downstairs and he gave her a brightly wrapped box.

"I'd be grateful if you'd hide it away for them." She wished very much that he would kiss her but he didn't, he wished her goodbye and went in search of Beatrix ter Beemstra, and within a few minutes he had driven himself away.

Cressida went slowly back upstairs, hid the box under the bed in her room and went back to the children. They were all excited and noisy and she had her hands full for the next twenty minutes or so, calming them down and making sure that they were clean and neat for their supper, a meal everyone was to share for once seeing that the household was involved in getting ready for the guests who were coming in the morning. The meal over, she got them to their beds and then went to Mevrouw ter Beemstra's room to pin up a dress that she had discovered at the last minute was too long.

Mevrouw ter Beemstra stood patiently while Cressida pinned, a little puzzled because Cressida was so quiet and pale.

"You feel well?" she asked anxiously.

"You are to tell me if there is anything? You are not unhappy?"

Cressida a.s.sured her that she had never felt better and there was nothing the matter. She made her voice cheerful, adding, "I'm looking forward to Christmas very much; it's such fun with children, isn't it?"

Mevrouw ter Beemstra had been pursuing her own train of thought.

"Of course, Aldrik came to see you and I think that you wish that you could have gone to England with him? Is that not so? Such a kind man, he brought the children a present he never forgets."

Cressida, her mouth full of pins, was unable to answer He'd forgotten her, hadn't he? Telling her to enjoy life in that brisk manner. At the moment she felt as though she would never enjoy life again as long as she lived and if this was how one felt when one found oneself in love then the quicker one fell out of love again the better.

She sat back on her heels to see the effect of her work and began a bright conversation with her employer which put that kind lady's mind at rest, and then she took the dress along to Anna, who sewed beautifully and was waiting with a needle and thread. Since it was quite late by now Cressida took herself off to bed and had a nice comfortable cry before she went to sleep. She woke up quite early in the morning feeling sensible and clear-headed about the whole thing. It was most unfortunate that she should have fallen in love with the doctor but that wouldn't and mustn't alter the mild friendship he had shown to wards her, and now that she had made it clear that she was nicely settled in a job and perfectly happy he could forget her, and, no doubt, in the course of time, marry Nicola. It was a fate she didn't want for him, but if he loved the woman there was nothing she could do about it. If, on the other hand, he didn't love her, then, Cressida decided, she would do her best to stop him getting married. She had no idea how she was going to do this but it was an uplifting thought and carried her through an extremely busy morning. The four children arrived before lunch and since there were now so many they were to have their meal in the playroom with Cressida presiding. Quite a table ful, she conceded, handing out plates of soup and acting as mediator between the two older boys and their cousins. The little girls were over-excited too and she was relieved when the meal was finished and she could get them into hats and coats and allow them to stream into the garden to fight each other with snow b.a.l.l.s, and, with her help, make a series of snowmen.

It was too cold to stay out for long, so she shepherded them indoors again, saw to their tea and then sent them all to collect the presents they had parcelled up so laboriously. They were to be put under the Christmas tree that evening and handed out in the morning and there was a good deal of stealthy coming and going until all the presents were arranged on a table in the hall ready for Mijnheer ter Beemstra to put under the tree later that evening. Since it was such a special day all the children were to stay up for sup per which meant scrambling into best clothes, and, for the girls, having their hair arranged just so. Cressida barely had time to get into the grey jersey dress, of which she was heartily sick, and do her own face and hair before the gong sounded and she lined up the children and set them in a tidy queue to go down to the drawing-room, bringing up the rear with Anna and little Lucia.

The drawing-room was a large room very full of people. Cressida had been introduced to everyone who had arrived but now they all looked alike to her; moreover, the women were wearing smart, expensive dresses. She stuck out like a sore thumb, and she wished that she had a uniform like Anna. She was a sensible girl, though; she had no intention of spoiling her evening by moaning over her unsuitable clothes. She made the rounds with the children, shaking hands with everyone and exchanging small talk, and found herself presently with a gla.s.s in her hand, talking to a rather fierce old gentleman who reminded her that he was Mevrouw ter Beemstra's father. He spoke English but insisted that she tried out her few words of Dutch.

"If you are going to stay here," he rumbled, 'you'll have to speak the language. " He studied her face.

"I hear the children are doing well. You like teaching?"

"Well, I don't teach much, you know, just speak English all the time and they learn bits of poetry and that sort of thing. They're nice children and very quick."

They were joined by an elderly lady, one of the aunts, Cressida supposed, who asked her how she liked Friesland, and since her English was only a little better than Cressida's Dutch the old gentleman amused himself helping them out until the gong went again and they trooped into the dining-room.