Lord of the Far Island by Victoria Holt (free e novels .TXT) 📕

he made me feel helpless. Moreover, somehow I didn't quite believe he had come to see the house, and why should the house agent have given him the key when he knew the Carringtons were buying the house? It was all rather mystifying.

"A pleasant house," he was saying.

"My fiance thinks so," I replied.

"And you don't?"

"I think it's adequate."

"Just look at this banister. It's rather elegant, don't you think?"

"Yes, it's well carved."

I took a few steps down. I had rarely been so frightened in my life.

Is he mad? I asked myself. Why is he here? I know it is not to see the house. Why did he follow me upstairs?

I prayed as I stood there on the stairs. Oh God, let me get away.

I'll never want to come to this house again. But let me get away from this man.

"Did you say something?" he asked.

"Pleasant carving," I repeated.

"Oh yes, yes. And you are appreciative of that. Like you, I am appreciative of beautiful things."

I wondered whether I would dash down the stairs now. If I did he would follow me. Perhaps I could make it sound normal, something like: "Good gracious, look at the time. I had no idea. I have to hurry away. To meet my fiance."

Why had he come here? He must have seen me come in. Had he been lurking in the square? The agent had no right to give him a key. He had some motive for coming here and I could not think what.

Get down the stairs, I told myself. When you are in the hall make a dash for it. They say that when you are in danger you conjure up extra powers. You can run faster than you ever did before. It's nature's provision.

Could I open the door quickly enough? I tried to remember what the catch was like. Some doors were difficult. . . they had their little idiosyncrasies.

How frightened I was, and he sensed my fear I was sure. It amused him. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the curl of his lips, the glitter of his eyes.

I prayed again: Oh God, please help me.

And then my prayer was answered. We were on the stairs looking down onto the hall when I saw a dark shadow before the glass panel of the door. He saw it too. I heard his quick intake of breath as the door opened and Rollo stepped into the hall.

He could not have been more surprised to see us than we were to see him. He gazed at us in astonishment; then I saw his expression change as his eyes went from me to the dark man.

I had stood as though rooted to the stair. I heard myself explaining: "There's been a misunderstanding. This gentleman didn't know the house was sold. He came to look over it."

Rollo frowned. "Didn't the agent explain?"

"I think he wasn't completely sure," said the dark man. "There didn't seem to be any reason why I shouldn't look it over."

"He had no right to give you a false impression," said Rollo.

The dark man smiled. "I suppose he thought there was no harm in having a second string to his bow in case the first one broke. I shall have a word with him. I didn't realize negotiations had gone so far. There seems to be no point in my continuing my investigations."

He bowed to me and went to the door. There he turned and looked straight at me before the door shut on him.

"What an extraordinary thing!" cried Rollo. "I can't understand the agent's allowing him to have a key when things have gone as far as they have, with the deal on the verge of completion."

"Who is he?" I asked. "He said he was some connection of yours."

"Of mine! I don't know him. A connection, he said?"

"Yes, he was at the recital. He told me then."

"So you'd met him before. I've no notion who he is. My father may know him. What's his name?"

"I never heard it. We weren't introduced at the recital. He was just beside me and addressed a few words to me. The next time I saw him was here."

"How very strange, and you seem a little upset."

"It was finding someone here . . . looking at the house."

Rollo nodded. "Oh well, we'll find out who he is. I am a little concerned about the dining-room ceiling. There's a certain amount of damp there. The surveyor pointed it out. I thought I'd come and take a look at it."

I was still feeling dazed as I followed him into the dining room. Rollo looked at the ceiling and said he would consult the builders and after that we went into the garden. He was very precise. "You should employ a professional gardener although it's small," he said. "Philip will be no good at it. Are you?"

"I doubt it," I said.

"Then a good gardener is definitely the answer. Get someone to plan it for you and keep it trim. It could be quite charming then."

We went through the house and out into the square.

"It's good of you to take so much trouble," I told him.

"For my own brother and his wife!" He turned to look at me, his eyes were appraising but warm. "I want you to know, Ellen, how very much we welcome you into the family."

I still felt uneasy. I just could not shake off the feeling.

Rollo called a cab. Clop-clop went the horse's hoofs, and Rollo sat beside me upright, looking satisfied as though something he had undertaken had succeeded very well.

As we turned into the square my heart gave a leap of terror, for standing on the pavement looking straight into the cab was the dark man.

He lifted his hat and bowed to me.

I glanced at Rollo. He had not noticed.

I could not get that morning's events out of my mind. I did not go into the house in Finlay Square again. I couldn't bring myself to. I did walk past it once or