The Marriage Wheel by Susan Barrie Page A

something that could have been admiration, and could have been largely compounded of mockery. But his eyes did undoubtedly dwell on her slim and shapely legs, encased in her best pair of sheer stockings.
    “ Oh, can ’ t we all come along! ...” Rosaleen began; but Lestrode had an answer that left her without the option of pressing the matter.
    “ Not tonight, my dear. For one thing I wouldn ’ t like to risk ruination for that dress, and for another Dr. Wilmslow is simply longing to get to know you, and I ’ d be a brute if I snatched you away just as he ’ s about to sink his tentacles into you! ”
    Rosaleen laughed, but in a faintly annoyed manner ... and the doctor seized an opportunity that had unexpectedly come his way.
    On the terrace outside the french window Frederica spoke a little peevishly to the man who employed her.
    “ I suppose you think it doesn ’ t matter if I ruin my frock! ”
    She saw his excellent white teeth as he smiled at her under cover of the darkness, for as yet the moon was only slipping into the sky.
    “ Didn ’ t I promise to protect your stockings? ” he responded. “ And I give you my word that I will, even if I have to carry you through the denser parts of the undergrowth! ”
    She stood at the edge of the terrace and shivered in the sharpness of the night air.
    “ It ’ s cold, ” she protested. “ Can ’ t we inspect your favourite corner of the grounds on a rather warmer night? ”
    He put his hand beneath her elbow and forced her to walk the length of the terrace at his side.
    “ As a matter of fact, I ’ m not going to subject you to any such ordeal, ” he admitted. “ I wanted to get you away to the library where we could talk for a few minutes, and as Lucille lit a fire in there after tea there ’ s little or no danger that you ’ ll freeze to death in there. ”
    He held open the french window of the library as he spoke, and she passed inside. He followed her, pressed the switch of the electric light and pulled the curtains across the window.
    “ There! ” he said. “ This is better than fighting brambles, isn ’ t it? And I must say in that dress it would have been more than inconsiderate of me to expect you to do anything of the kind. ”
    He stood looking her up and down, and she received the impression that he was still deliberately amusing himself at her expense. The library was certainly very cosy with the curtains drawn and a bright fire leaping on the wide stone hearth, but she felt vaguely uneasy that they were shut away from the rest of his guests, and if he wanted to talk to her as employer and employee he could still have done so in the presence of the others. He did, after all, pay her her salary, and chauffeurs were accustomed to taking orders in front of other people.
    But it became increasingly obvious he had no orders to give her. He simply wanted to talk to her.
    “ You are a very attractive young woman, ” he remarked. “ Almost, but not quite, as attractive as your sister. ”
    “ Thank you— sir !” she replied, with a somewhat bleak upwards glance at him that showed him the way the firelight danced on her long eyelashes.
    “ I mean it. ”
    Her voice this time was thick with sarcasm. “ It is always a great comfort to a girl when a man thinks she is attractive—and when he mentions her in the same breath as her beautiful sister she begins to feel she owes him something! ”
    But Lestrode ignored the sarcasm.
    “ In that dress, ” he told her, “ you have a quality all your own. I don ’ t quite know what it is, but you should devote a little more time to your appearance and less to grubbing about under cars if you want the world to notice you. ”
    “ I don ’ t want the world to notice me, ” she assured him coldly. “ And you must remember, Mr. Lestrode, that they are your cars I grub about under. ”
    He frowned as he kicked a log into place in the fire-basket.
    “ Talking about cars, I shall want you tomorrow