Part 5 (1/2)

but they'll need another lot to settle them.

They're written up PRN and Mr Tim ms will be down before eight o'clock, so let him know if you're not happy.

As for the rest.

' She plunged into a quick account of what had happened since Sue had gone off duty at dinner time, put her desk tidy and stood up to go off duty herself.

It had been a horrid day, thank heaven it was over.

Not quite over, though; she still had the evening to get through, but perhaps in Mr van Diederijk's restful company it would go swiftly.

She sighed as she made her way through the hospital; she was sure that he was a very nice man, but he wasn't Nick.

Nick whom she ought to hate and despise instead of loving.

CHAPTER TWO.

alethea inspected her wardrobe in a dispirited fas.h.i.+on, only too conscious of the fact that on the previous evening she had been wild with excitement at the idea of dining with Nick.

She wondered what kind of a place they would go to and played safe with a silk jersey dress under the rather nice mohair coat she had treated herself to only a few weeks ago.

She was such a pretty girl that even her miserable feelings couldn't do more than dim her beauty.

Just as she was ready she very nearly decided not to go; she wasn't being quite fair, for she would be dull company and Mr van Diederijk was too nice to treat badly.

Then she remembered that she still owed him the money for last night's dinner; Nick wasn't going to pay, so she would have to.

She popped her cheque book into her bag and went downstairs.

Mr van Diederijk, standing with his back to her by the big gla.s.s doors of the hospital entrance, looked enormous.

He would have to have everything made for him, she reflected foolishly as she crossed the hall, and what a frightful expense!

He was wearing a grey suit, beautifully tailored, and his shoes were the sort that one didn't notice, but when one did, one could see that they were wildly expensive, too.

He turned as she reached him and she realised that he had seen her reflected in the gla.s.s of the doors.

His greeting was pleasantly matter-of-fact and his glance friendly but quite impersonal.

”Delightfully punctual,” he murmured, and opened the door for her to go through.

There was a car parked close by, a Jaguar XJ-S, gun-metal grey and upholstered in a pearl grey leather.

He ushered her into it, got in beside her and drove out of the hospital forecourt.

”Do you know Le Franca is?

' he asked as he turned the car's elegant nose into the evening traffic.

”T had wondered if we might go out of town, but you look tired--it's been rather a day, hasn't it?

Perhaps another time--You like French cooking?

' He rambled on in his quiet deep voice so that all she had to do was murmur from time to time.

Alethea felt herself relaxing; she had been right, he was a delightful, undemanding companion.

She found herself wondering if she was dressed to suit the occasion; she hadn't taken very great pains and he had said that she looked tired, which meant, in all probability, that she looked plain.

He cleared up the little problem for her by observing: ”You look very nice, but then of course you are a beautiful girl, even when you're tired.

' He spoke in such a matter-of-fact way that she wasn't sure if it was a compliment or a statement of fact.

She said ”Thank you,” and then: ”It has been a busy day.

' They discussed it easily and at some length without being too serious about it until he parked and walked her across the pavement into the restaurant.

It seemed that he was known there; they were greeted with a warm civility and when she had left her coat and taken a dissatisfied look at herself in the cloakroom, she found him waiting for her in the tiny foyer, talking with a man who she guessed might be the proprietor.

The bar was small but cosy and she was given time to choose her drink; she had become so accustomed to Nick ordering a dry sherry that for a moment she had to think.

”T don't really care for dry sherry,” she told her companion.

”What else is there?

' ”Dubonnet?

' he enquired placidly, 'or how about a Madeira?

' She chose the latter and when the barman had served Mr van Diederijk with a gin and tonic, she took a sip of her own drink.

It was nice, and even nicer because she had been asked what she would like and not just had a gla.s.s handed to her.