“Ellie darling, how tired you look. Sit down and tell me about Ronnie. How did you find him?”
Ellie let herself down into the easy chair.
“He’s about the same. He won’t get any better there-Matron says so. I’m going to speak to Jimmy tomorrow.”
“He is so kind,” said Minnie, but she looked away. “I wonder whether-you don’t mind my saying this, do you, dear-I just wonder whether it wouldn’t be better to speak to Mrs. Latter first.”
Lois was “Mrs. Latter” to Minnie Mercer, but Lois called her “Minnie”-a small matter but significant, setting them in their places as Jimmy’s wife and Jimmy’s humble dependent. It was one of those things for which Julia hated Lois. It left Minnie untouched on her own secure ground of humility.
Ellie wrinkled her brow. She was getting into the way of it. She was only twenty-four, but already a faint line marked the fair skin. She said,
“What’s the use?”
“It might be better.”
There was a brief silence. Minnie turned back to the dressing-table and began to put things straight-the comb, the brush, the mirror, which had been presents from Mrs. Vane.
From behind her, Ellie’s voice dragged wearily.
“She’d only say no. But if I got at Jimmy first, he might- he might-” The words petered out. No one who knew Jimmy Latter could really believe that he would hold out against Lois. He would say yes and mean it-it was always much easier for Jimmy to say yes than no. But that cut both ways, and he would find it quite impossible not to say yes to Lois, who would certainly produce a dozen excellent reasons for not giving houseroom to Ronnie Street.
Minnie turned back.
“Don’t worry about it now, dear. There’s a little thing I wondered whether you would do for me-”
“Of course. What is it?”
Minnie was looking troubled.
“Well, dear-it was so stupid of me-but I came over a little faint when I was at the Vicarage work-party this afternoon… Oh, it was nothing-nothing at all, but Mrs. Lethbridge-you know how kind she is-well, she did say something about ringing Mrs. Latter up, and of course, dear, it wouldn’t do at all. I did my very best, but you know how she is-so kind but not very tactful-and I’m really afraid- I wondered, dear, if you would ring her up and beg her not to. She was going over to see Miss Green, but she will be back by now. You could say I was quite myself again.”
“Yes, I’ll do it at once. She mustn’t ring up-it would make the worst sort of fuss.”
Ellie felt quite appalled at the prospect. She ran down the stairs, but as she approached the half-open study door she discovered with a sinking heart that she was already too late. Lois’ sweet, high voice was plainly audible.
“She fainted right away? My dear Mrs. Lethbridge-how trying for you! I’m so sorry… Yes, I know-she will do too much, and then she gets these nervous turns. Nothing to worry about of course, but-it’s most kind of you to let me know… I’ll do what I can-she’s a very obstinate person, you know.” A light laugh to soften this. “I’m afraid you’ll have to let her off these work-parties. I shall have to be strict about that. As you say, good people are scarce-we must take care of her. Thank you so much for letting me know.”
Ellie heard the click of the receiver. She gave a little start, turned round, and ran upstairs again. She was panting when she came into Minnie’s room.
“Ellie, darling!”
“Min, I was too late. Lois was there-talking-”
“To Mrs. Lethbridge?”
Ellie nodded.
Minnie gave a very small sigh.
“Well, it can’t be helped. My dear, you shouldn’t have run-you are quite out of breath.”
“It’s nothing-it doesn’t matter. Min, you should have heard her! ‘Good people are scarce-we must take care of her!’ What Julia calls her honey-snake voice. And-oh, Min, she said Mrs. Lethbridge mustn’t count on you for the work-parties any more. But you’ll fight that, won’t you? It’s just the one pleasure you’ve got.”
Minnie stood quite still. After a moment she said,
“I’m not very good at fighting, my dear. And it upsets the house, and I wouldn’t want to do that.”
Jimmy’s name wasn’t mentioned, but it was there in both their thoughts. It was Jimmy who mustn’t be upset. Minnie would do anything and bear anything to prevent that. They both knew it, but today for the first time Ellie stopped finding it a matter of course. “She feels like I do about Ronnie.” The idea just went through her mind and was gone. She didn’t stop to think about it then, but it had changed something. She wouldn’t ever quite take Minnie for granted again. She had been there for so long, they were all so used to her being devoted to them, that the quality of that devotion had never been questioned. Ellie had begun to question it.
She saw Minnie smile in her patient way.
“You must dress, my dear. I’ll come and help you. We won’t think of anything unpleasant tonight, with Antony and Julia coming. Such a pleasure! Why, we ought to be quite gay-”
As they crossed into Ellie’s room, she went on talking.
“You can’t think how pleased I am that Julia is coming here at last. It has been very, very kind of Mrs. Lethbridge to put her up when she came down to see you, but it has made a good deal of talk-her not staying here, I mean. And I am sure it has distressed your brother and-and Mrs. Latter. You’ll wear your blue-won’t you?”
Ellie said, “Yes.”
She hung up the cotton frock and slipped into the blue crepe-de-chine. It went on only too easily.
“Fluff up your hair and put on a little colour, my dear. You don’t want Julia to see you looking pale.”
Ellie was rubbing cream into her face, with a towel round her shoulders. She ought to have done it first before she put on her dress. She couldn’t bother to take it off now. That was the way it went-you scrambled into your clothes and scrambled out of them again. There was no time to do anything properly. This was the last of her face-cream. She took up the powder puff and said,
“If Julia has a row with Lois-Min, I’m just terrified she will.”
“Oh, my dear, she wouldn’t do that!”
Ellie said in a despairing voice, “She might.”
“Oh, no!”
“She might want to have one.”
Minnie gave a little gasp.
“No one could want to have a quarrel!”
“Julia could.”
“Oh, my dear, why?”
“To blow things up. Julia’s like that-you know she is. And she hates Lois like poison.”
In the mirror she could see Minnie standing there just behind her. She looked almost as if she might be going to faint again. She said in a low, shaken voice,
“Hating is poison.”
CHAPTER 5
The only person who really enjoyed the evening was Jimmy Latter. Everyone else was relieved when it was over, but Jimmy was as pleased as Punch. He was gregarious and sociable to the last degree. It was two years since he had had all his family round him, and it delighted him to see the table full again-Ellie on one side of him, Julia on the other, Antony next to Ellie, Minnie next to Julia, and his beautiful Lois smiling at him from the bottom of the table. It was the old family party, with Lois added. Lois-his wife-his beautiful, wonderful wife! He couldn’t imagine why she had married him, when she might have had anyone, simply anyone. But there it was-she had. And here they all were together- Antony back from abroad, and Julia-he’d felt it very much when Julia wouldn’t come and stay at Latter End, he’d felt it very much indeed. Jealousy over his marriage. Very wrong of her. But that was Julia all over-passionate, headstrong. She’d been like that from a child. But so warmhearted, you couldn’t help being fond of her. He was very fond of her, and Lois had been an angel about the whole thing. Lois was an angel, there was no doubt about that. She had been an angel about Julia-said they must just wait and she would come round. And she had. And here they were.