Never Too Late Page 3

  He squeezed her shoulder with an enormous hand and she felt strangely comforted.

  She hadn’t expected to sleep, but she did, and woke feeling such relief that everything was all over and done with that it quite washed out any other feeling. Nancy and James, prepared to treat her with cautious sympathy, were surprised to see her eat a good breakfast and listen to her cheerful comments about the party. ‘And you don’t have to worry about me,’ she assured them. ‘I ought to have done it ages ago—I’m sure that Tony’s as relieved as I am—he’ll find himself an American heiress, I’ve no doubt.’ She looked at her sister. ‘Was he very upset when he went?’ Her voice faltered a little. ‘I should have stayed, but I just couldn’t.’

  ‘Of course you couldn’t,’ said Nancy warmly. ‘If you mean was he unhappy about it—no, I don’t think he was; his pride had had a nasty jolt and he was worried about people talking. Are you really going to work for Benedict?’

  ‘Oh, yes, it sounds the kind of job I can manage without falling flat on my face, he said he’d tell me about it when he comes this morning.’

  ‘He’d better stay to lunch,’ said Nancy.

  Benedict arrived at ten o’clock, declined coffee, enquired if Prudence was ready and when she had got a jacket to cover her jersey dress, walked her briskly to Highgate Ponds, across Parliament Hill and so on to Hampstead Heath. He didn’t talk about anything much until they were turning back in the direction of Highgate Ponds once more, and as for Prudence, she was happy to walk and enjoy her surroundings and not think too much.

  They had been silent in a comfortable companionship way for a minute or two when he asked to surprise her: ‘Do you have any money of your own?’

  She stared at Mm in surprise. ‘Me? Yes, a small income from some money my godmother left me. Why?’

  ‘It makes it so much easier,’ he explained. ‘If you don’t like the job you won’t feel that you must stay because you need the money.’

  ‘I hadn’t thought of that. But I’m sure I’ll like it; I do want to do something, not just stay at home. Mother and Father don’t actually need me there, in fact Mother has been hinting for months that it would be nice when Tony and I got married.’

  He made no comment, but asked: ‘You’re sure it is what you want? It’s not in the least exciting and there will be no regular hours—though I’ll see that you get a day to yourself each week. Bring your car over if you like so that you can get around.’

  ‘Thank you. I can’t speak a word of Dutch.’

  ‘You’ll soon pick it up,’ he dismissed that airily, ‘and you’ll be dealing with my English correspondence.’ ‘Yes, but does your little girl speak English?’ ‘After a fashion. I’d be glad if you’d speak nothing but your own language with her.’

  ‘And what else would you want me to do?’ ‘Be a Girl Friday, or if that’s too frivolous for you, a Universal Aunt.’

  Prudence frowned; she might be removed from her first youth, but she felt that she was hardly eligible to be something as staid as a Universal Aunt. ‘I think a household assistant sounds better,’ she observed coldly.

  ‘Whatever you like,’ agreed Benedict suavely, ‘but I shall continue to call you Prudence.’

  ‘Shall I have to call you Dr van Vinke?’

  ‘I think it might be a good idea if you’re taking letters or if there are patients present, don’t you?’

  They were almost back at the flat and he slowed his steps. ‘Would you like me to come down and see your parents? They don’t know me, only as James’ friend...’

  ‘That would be kind if you can spare the time.’

  ‘I’ll give you a ring. Now as to salary—how about seventy pounds a week—or the equivalent in gulden?’

  ‘That’s far too much!’ Prudence was quite shocked.

  ‘Wait until you’ve worked for a couple of weeks before you say that,’ he counselled. ‘I shall expect value for my money.’

  She wasn’t sure if she liked that. She said stiffly: ‘I shall do my best.’

  And that seemed to be the end of it, for the time being at least. Over lunch he and James argued good-naturedly as to the best route for her to take and before he went he remarked casually that he would let her know more when he next saw her at Little Amwell. His goodbye was casual in the extreme.

  He arrived at Little Amwell four days later, which gave Prudence time to tell her parents what she intended doing and allowed them to recover from the shock, although she rather suspected that they weren’t unduly upset about her broken engagement. It was, of course, a little awkward having to tell people, but luckily in a village the size of Little Amwell news travelled fast if not always with accuracy. Mabel was told as befitted an old friend, but it wasn’t until Mrs Pett, who ran the general stores and Post Office, made a coy reference to Tony’s absence that Prudence observed flatly that she was no longer engaged and was on the point of taking a job. Mrs Pett’s rather bulbous eyes almost popped from her head. ‘My dear soul— and after all this long time, too!’

  ‘Almost four years,’ Prudence reminded her, and looked pointedly at the list of groceries she had to buy. Td better have tasty cheese, Mrs Pett,’—she only sold two kinds, tasty and mild, ‘I should think half a pound would do.’

  Mrs Pett dealt with the cheese. ‘So you’re going away, Miss Prudence—you’ll be missed.’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Pett.’ Prudence wasn’t going to be drawn into details; no doubt Mrs Pett would invent those when she passed on the news. She finished her shopping and went back home and spent the rest of the morning going through her wardrobe, deciding what she should take with her. She must remember to ask Benedict what the weather was like in Holland and should she take winter clothes as well or would she be able to come home and collect them later, if she stayed. She might not be suitable—his small daughter might not like her, her shorthand might not stand up to dictation. She had the sneaking feeling that Benedict, placid and friendly as he was, might present quite a different aspect once he got back to his own home and took up a busy routine again. It was a sobering thought, and she spent most of the next day taking down imaginary letters and typing them back not always as successfully as she could wish. Still, she told herself, if she was to look after the little girl and help around the house, there wouldn’t be all that time to do his correspondence, and anyway, he couldn’t have all that much in English. The thought cheered her so that she flung her notebook down and took Podge the elderly spaniel for an extra long walk.

  When she got home there was an Aston Martin Volante outside the front door, dark blue, elegant and powerful. She and Podge circled it slowly before she went indoors, admiring it. ‘Very expensive,’ said Prudence to the dog, ‘and fast—it must drink petrol like I drink tea!’

  In the sitting room her mother and father were entertaining Benedict, but they stopped talking as she went in. She greeted him unselfconsciously, adding: ‘What a nice car you’ve got—I didn’t know that you had one over here.’

  ‘James drove me down for the wedding and I don’t always use it in London. It gets me around, though.’

  ‘So I should imagine.’ Prudence looked at her mother. Til help Mabel with tea, shall I?’ She turned to Benedict. ‘Are you staying the night?’

  ‘Your mother kindly suggested it, but I can’t—I’m on my way to Bristol. But tea would be delightful.’ He smiled as he spoke and she remembered the last time they had had tea together and went a little pink.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ she said to no one in particular.

  Over tea Benedict enlarged upon her duties, more for the benefit of her parents than herself, she suspected; he also detailed her journey. ‘I’m going home in a couple of days’ time, perhaps you could follow— let’s see—would Friday suit you? That gets you to Appeldoorn on Saturday, which will give you the weekend in which to find your way around and get to know Sitske, my housekeeper—her husband’s the gardener and odd job man. I believe they’re known as married couples over here—and of course
Sibella, she knows you’re coming to live with us, but I warn you she’s quite a handful. I spend as much time with her as I can, but not as much as I should like. I’m sure you’ll fill a much-needed gap for her.’

  ‘Prudence has a way with children,’ declared Mrs Trent comfortably. ‘If she can keep the Sunday School class in order she can certainly cope with one little girl. I think—we both think—that it will be very nice for Prudence to go away for a while and earn her living—it’s quiet here; that didn’t matter when she expected to marry, but now it’s a chance for her to be independent. How providential that you happened to need someone, Benedict.’

  He agreed gravely. ‘And how fortunate that I have found Prudence.’

  He got up to go presently, bidding them quiet goodbyes, adding that he would see Prudence on the following Saturday.

  She went with him to the door, where he paused for a moment. Til see you get your tickets in good time,’ he promised, and before she could say anything, had got into the Aston Martin and zoomed away.

  Prudence watched the car turn out of the short drive and go down the village street. She was a good driver herself; she thoroughly approved of the lack of fuss with which he had handled the big car. Tony, she remembered, could never just get in and drive off; things had to be adjusted, knobs turned, lights tested, windows wound up or down, she hadn’t realised until now how that had irritated her. She thought that on the whole she was going to like working for Benedict. Of course, she didn’t know him; he might be a tyrant in his own home, although she didn’t think so.

  She wandered back to the sitting room, wishing vaguely that he had told her more about himself, for in fact he had told her very little. He was a widower, she knew that, and she wondered how long he had been without a wife. Perhaps he had told her father. She found the chance to ask him during the evening, and for some reason felt relief when she heard that his wife had died soon after his daughter was born. ‘Very sad,’ observed her father, and she agreed sincerely; it was very sad.

  ‘He should marry again,’ she observed. ‘It would be so much nicer for his little daughter too.’

  ‘And for him,’ observed her mother quietly. ‘It must be difficult for him, especially with a child. But you won’t be looking after her all the time, will you, dear? He said something about dealing with his English correspondence and giving a hand where it was needed most. How very fortunate that you have your St John Ambulance certificate.’

  ‘I hardly think that I’ll be expected to help out in the surgery.’ Prudence looked up from the letter she was writing to Nancy. ‘Heaven help the patients if I do!’

  She had forgotten to ask about the weather in Holland, but surely Benedict would be biddable about her coming back home to collect more clothes? She packed skirts and blouses and a few woollies and a couple of pretty dresses, and planned to travel in the Jaeger suit she had just bought. Someone had told her that it rained a lot in Holland and was almost always windy, so she stowed her elderly Burberry in the boot and added a handful of headscarves.

  ‘Nothing for the evening, dear?’ enquired her mother. Prudence looked doubtful. ‘Well, I didn’t think so— I mean, I’m not a guest, you know.’

  ‘But you’re bound to meet some people.’ Her mother meant young men, of course. ‘Why not take a couple of those pretty chiffon blouses and your black moire skirt?’

  The tickets arrived two days later—first class, she noticed, and wondered if she was supposed to pay Benedict back out of her salary. There was no note with them, just a slip from a travel agency, but then he had no reason to write.

  She left home early in the morning to call first at Highgate and say goodbye to Nancy and have an early lunch with her before driving on to Harwich. It was raining, a fine drizzle which dulled the countryside to an overall mud colour, but Prudence didn’t allow that to worry her. True, she had hated saying goodbye to her mother and father and Mabel, and Podge, uncannily aware that he would no longer get the long walks she took him each day, looked so forlorn that she felt like throwing the whole thing up and staying at home. But she didn’t—after all, it wasn’t for ever.

  By the time she reached Nancy’s flat the sun, rather on the watery side, had broken through the clouds, which somehow made all the difference, and Nancy made her feel even better.

  ‘You know, Prudence, I’d envy you if I weren’t married and perfectly happy. Just think, going to another country and working for someone as nice as Benedict! James says he’s a splendid man.’

  Prudence picked over the fruit in the centre bowl and chose a peach. ‘Well, if he isn’t I can always come back home!’ she said flippantly.

  She drove up to Harwich without haste; in any case the Mini just wasn’t able to get up much of a speed, and once there she went unhurriedly about the business of getting herself and the Mini on board, and that done, had dinner and went to bed. She was a level-headed girl, despite the red hair. A good night’s sleep was essential if she was to be at her best when she arrived in Appeldoorn. She woke early, had tea and toast in her cabin and had another look at the map. The trip didn’t look too difficult and once she had reached that town all she had to do was to look out for the palace, Het Loo, take the left-hand turn at the crossroads and turn left again up a tree-lined avenue bordering the royal park. She dressed and went up on deck and found it raining again and Holland’s coastline, flat and grey as the sky, only a few miles distant.

  She had expected it to be flat, of course, but a few more trees would have improved the skyline. She looked about her with interest as the ferry crept slowly into the quayside and then, obedient to the polite voice requesting drivers to rejoin their cars, went down to the car deck.

  Customs and Passport control were slow but friendly and she found herself on the road, looking for the signpost to Rotterdam. Motorway for almost the whole trip, Benedict had told her, and rather dull, but by far the quickest way to travel.

  He was probably right, decided Prudence, sandwiched between giant transports and very fast Mercedes, but there wasn’t much pleasure in it, and it was a good thing that there wasn’t much scenery, for she didn’t dare take her eyes off the road for more than a few seconds at a time. What with driving on the wrong side of the road and getting used to dark blue signposts and traffic lights twice as high as those at home... But presently, with Rotterdam safely negotiated, she relaxed. The motorway stretched before her and according to her map she would bypass almost every other town en route. The grey skies were getting lighter and presently a thin sunshine filtered through the clouds, turning the fields into a brilliant green and bringing to life the farms and villages. Prudence looked about her and decided that the country was charming in a peaceful, old-fashioned way. Once off the main roads, there might be a great deal to see. Beyond Gouda she remembered that she was hungry and pulled in at the next cafe, where she had coffee and a cheese roll. Probably there would be lunch when she arrived at Benedict’s house.

  Mindful of her instructions, she left the motorway just outside Arnhem and took the road north to Appeldoorn, and the country was delightful. She slowed down so that she could take a good look at the woods and heath on either side of the road, and when she saw a picturesque restaurant standing back from the road, stopped for more coffee. This was where she would come on her free days, she determined; there were countless narrow sandy lanes leading away into the woods, just asking to be explored. She lingered longer than she had intended and was relieved to find that she was almost at the end of her journey.

  She hadn’t been particularly worried about finding Benedict’s house; she wasn’t the worrying kind and since the palace, Het Loo, was on the outskirts of the town, all she had to do was keep her eyes open. The palace stood well back from the road, linked to it by long tree-lined avenues and vast areas of grass, and once past this, she could see where she had to go; another avenue, also tree-lined, with the park on one side and on the other rather grand ornately built houses, each standing in large well kept grounds. T
he third one up from the road, Benedict had told her, and since its wrought iron gate was open she drove up the short sanded drive and stopped before the massive porch. Just for a moment she had a pang of sheer fright, squashed it firmly and got out, rang the ponderous bell beside the door and waited composedly.

  A small round man answered the bell so quickly that she suspected that he might have been on the lookout for her. He was any age between fifty and seventy, quite bald and immensely dignified, but his smile was warm.

  ‘Miss Trent, you will come in, please, and welcome. Dr van Vinke is in his study awaiting you.’

  Thank God he speaks English, thought Prudence and followed him briskly down a long wide hall to a door at the end. Her companion, a few steps ahead of her, had almost reached it when it was opened and Benedict came out.

  His hullo was friendly and casual—just as though, thought Prudence rather peevishly, I’d popped in from next door. ‘No problems?’ he asked, and didn’t wait for her to answer. ‘You’d like coffee while your bags are taken upstairs. Ork will see to them and put the car away.’ He nodded to the round man, who murmured something and trotted off, while Benedict led the way back across the hall to double doors set in the panelled walls, opened them and invited her inside.

  It was an impressive room, furnished with comfortable chairs and sofas. Some quite beautiful cabinets stood along its walls, a satinwood rent table between its two long windows and a very lovely Persian carpet on its polished wood floor. The velvet curtains were elaborately draped and echoed the muted colours of the carpet and the various chairs and sofas.