Kit Cavendish-Private Nurse by Margaret Malcolm Page B

as this would give her an excuse to postpone any visits until then without hurting anyone’s feelings. She would also be able to tell her parents what she proposed doing, thus relieving their minds of the fear that she might be giving offense, as, she had picked up from their letters, they felt she might be.
    Having made up her mind about this, she spent as little time in the village as possible, going either for walks locally in the direction away from town, or else going into Minsterbury.
    In the back of her mind, was the feeling that in Minsterbury there was the possibility of a chance meeting with Jason, but in this she was disappointed. She thought she saw his retreating back on one occasion, but he was too far away for a meeting to be possible.
    Jason had not been to Moneyhill again, and it seemed unlikely that he would be, for Mr. Baylis’s condition was now steadily improving. He seemed to be taking life far more easily now, and, in fact seemed happier than he had been since she’d arrived, though he gave no reason to Kit for this state of affairs.
    All the same, Kit could not feel entirely at ease. Perhaps she never would in this house simply because of what had already happened, but she had an uncomfortable feeling that the undoubted calm was simply the forerunner of a storm. Certainly Mrs. Baylis seemed to have something on her mind, and to Kit there was always the possibility that she and Noel would sooner or later meet in headlong collision. Consequently, it was something of a relief that Noel was spending most of his time out of the house, though when he was present, he seemed to be in a particularly elated frame of mind—something, Kit was sure, that annoyed Mrs. Baylis, absurd though that seemed.
    Of Sue, Kit saw even less than usual. Victor, too, was completely out of the picture. He did not come again to Moneyhill, and since he lived in Minsterbury in his old home, and made the journey to work by car, there was little possibility of a chance meeting. This, Kit felt, ought to have helped to set her mind at rest. Actually, it did nothing of the sort. It was that remark of Noel’s that Victor and Mrs. Baylis were hand in glove that she found so disturbing. It gave her the feeling that though he never put in an appearance he was very much a force to be reckoned with. He was clever—she had always acknowledged that—and so quite equal to playing a waiting game if he thought it would be to his advantage. And that could apply equally to his personal affairs.
    And it was in this mood of indecision that she decided, one bright, frosty day, that she would go for a long walk in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from her mind.
    Suffolk was mainly a flat country, and there was little in the way of hills in the neighborhood, but such as there were assumed a greater importance than they otherwise would have in comparison with the surrounding flatness. So she decided to walk to Flack Hill, although it meant a total of about eight miles, with no chance of a shortcut back if the weather altered.
    However, she dressed in clothes that would stand up to most things—an old tweed suit, a lightweight raincoat and sturdy shoes. She tucked her wallet into her pocket so that she could leave her handbag behind. She slung a small satchel over her shoulder as she wanted to buy food in the village so that she could lunch in the shadow of the old null at the top of the hill.
    Her spirits rose as the walk progressed. The sun was shining, the air was clear, and Ravenslea, particularly Moneyhill, was behind her. In fact, as she reached the top of the hill, she was singing happily to herself.
    “Oh, who will o’er the downs so free—” she caroled gaily, sitting down on a convenient stone and unpacking her satchel.
    “Oh, who will with me ride—” chimed in another voice—a man’s voice.
    And Jason came around from the other side of the hill, dressed, as Kit was, for a country ramble and smiling in the old, infectious