Heaven Around the Corner

His laugh wasn’t nice and she flushed angrily. ‘Probably you’re a good nurse,’ he observed in a voice which gave the lie to the statement, ‘but you’re inexperienced—just what Claudia was looking for.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘No? I suggest that you put Claudia to bed—she must be exhausted after such a display of emotion. Tell Eva to give her some tea and then come back here. I want to talk to you.’

‘I don’t think there’s much point in that.’

His voice was soft. ‘Probably not, but I must point out that I employ you, even if it was my sister who engaged you.’ He went to the door and opened it and stood waiting. He had his temper under control by now, and he looked dangerous. Louisa helped Miss Savage on to her feet and walked her out of the room. She said in a voice which shook only very slightly: ‘You’re despicable, Mr Savage.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘Shall we say half an hour, Nurse?’

She didn’t answer.

CHAPTER THREE

HALF AN HOUR wasn’t nearly long enough in which to regain her cool, thought Louisa, and walked, outwardly composed and inwardly quaking, into the sitting room. Mr Savage was standing at the window, looking out and jingling the loose change in his pockets, and she brightened a little. Perhaps he had recovered from his nasty temper—but when he turned round she saw with regret that she was mistaken; his mood was as black as ever although at the moment he had it under control. She didn’t much care for the iciness of his voice when he spoke, though.

‘Ah, Nurse, I was beginning to wonder if your courage had deserted you.’

Louisa was, for the most part, a mild-tempered girl, prepared to give rather more than she took, but only up to a point. ‘I can’t quite see,’ she observed in a reasonable voice, ‘what I have to be courageous about. True, I dislike being bullied, but a loud voice and a nasty temper don’t count for much, when all’s said and done.’

She crossed the room and sat down on a small hard chair because it was easier to be dignified like that. Her companion’s eyes narrowed. ‘Clever, are you?’ he wanted to know. ‘I’ve a few questions to ask, and I want truthful answers.’

She stared back at him. ‘I can lie with the best of them,’ she assured him, ‘but never about patients.’

He laughed unpleasantly. ‘I’ll have to take your word for that. Tell me, why did my sister engage you?’

Her eyes widened. ‘Well, she wanted a nurse to accompany her here.’

‘There were other applicants?’

‘Oh, yes—she told me, but they were all older and she wanted someone younger.’

‘Ah, and inexperienced.’

She let that pass. ‘Why?’

‘I’m asking the questions, Nurse. What’s your name?’

‘Evans—Louisa Evans.’

‘Well, Nurse Evans, presumably you saw my sister’s doctor?’

‘Naturally, and he gave me my instructions and informed me as to the nature of Miss Savage’s illness.’

He gave her a sharp look, eyebrows lifted in faint surprise. ‘So you know all there is to know about her?’

She surveyed him coolly. So he thought her incapable of doing her job just because she was young and not greatly experienced, did he? She drew a breath and recited the details of her patient’s condition, adding kindly, ‘If you don’t understand the medical terms I’ll explain…’

He turned a fulminating look upon her. ‘It would be unwise of you to be frivolous, Nurse Evans. I shouldn’t try if I were you.’

‘I’m not. You’re not a doctor, are you?’

‘I’m a civil engineer, I build bridges. The reason I asked you that question may not be apparent to you at the moment.’

‘It’s not.’ She got to her feet. ‘At least, I daresay you think I’m not old or wise enough to look after your sister. I hope you feel better about it now. She’s making a little progress, or was… I don’t know why you had to upset her, Mr Savage, and I don’t want to be impertinent, but your visit hasn’t helped much, has it?’ Her tongue tripped on, speaking the thoughts she had no intention of uttering. ‘I can’t for the life of me think why she had to come to Norway. She must have a home somewhere in England; I don’t believe she lives in a London hotel; she told me that she came because you made her…but there’s no reason for that, surely? You work miles away, don’t you?’

He had come to stand close to her, his face expressionless, but all the same Louisa had an urge to retreat behind the nearest chair, sternly suppressed. She had the extraordinary feeling that he was on the point of telling her something and at the last minute changed his mind. When he did speak it was to say: ‘I wanted her to be nearer to me so that I could visit her easily. I should perhaps explain that we’re not the best of friends, Nurse Evans. Claudia is my stepsister, she’s only a little younger than I, and we met for the first time when my father married her mother, who had been a widow for some years. We are, in fact, not related—all the same, as we bear the same name I feel some responsibility towards her.’ He looked down at her and actually smiled—a thin smile. ‘She’s been seen by a doctor since you arrived here? I did arrange…’

Louisa said impatiently: ‘Yes, the doctor came. I have his phone number and he’ll call again in a week’s time.’

‘He gave you no further instructions?’ Mr Savage’s deep voice sounded curt.

‘No, none at all. He told me to carry on as before and to call him if I was worried about anything.’

He moved away from her at last and went to stand at the window again, half turned away from her. ‘There seems little point in staying,’ he said at length, and turned to look at her, frowning. ‘I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing…’