“So you should be.”
Char moved across the room, seated herself in a chair by the fireplace and fitted a fresh cigarette into her long black holder. Mona watched her in silence, then, throwing the smoked-out stub into the fire, Char said,
“He’s coming over tomorrow for lunch.”
Mona took a deep breath.
“That won’t be convenient.”
Without removing the cigarette holder from her mouth Char asked,
“Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
“Why?” Char shot the question at her as if it were a bullet from a revolver.
Mona looked into the fire.
“I don’t care for Mr. Decker. In fact I see no reason to continue the acquaintance.”
“You’re a fool!”
“Maybe, but that’s my business, isn’t it?”
“On the contrary,” Char said, “it concerns us all.”
Her tone was angry and Mona decided that she must be firm, once and for all.
“I’m sorry Char, if you are disappointed, but after all, we can’t all like the same people. I dare say there are lots of women in London who would be only too pleased to play around with Jarvis Lecker, and I’m sure he would find them far more amusing than I am at the moment. When were you thinking of going back there?”
It was an effort to say the words, but Mona had got them out. Char gave her an inscrutable look that she did not understand and getting up, walked restlessly about the room, her cigarette ash falling on the carpet as she moved. She looked like some kind of animal, gaunt and cadaverous, but with no grandeur or feline grace. It was rather as if she were an ungainly bird, like a vulture, Mona decided, and remembered how once she had seen those monstrous creatures wheeling above a carcass in the desert.
Suddenly Char came back to the chair and sat down abruptly.
“Shall we put our cards on the table?” she asked, and her voice was hoarse and harsh.
“I have no cards to show, but let me see yours Char.”
“This isn’t really a game,” Char replied. “It’s damnably serious to me.”
There was a ring of sincerity in her voice.
“Why?” Mona asked. “Explain! I don’t understand.”
“Then you’re denser than you used to be. Jarvis Lecker’s a millionaire. When I met him, I was on to a good thing. I soon knew that he wanted a wife, the right sort of wife, one who’d give him the background and position that he needs. When I introduced him to you, I had hopes that things might work out smoothly. I knew that Jarvis would admire you. But now he’s in love with you, madly and crazily in love with you. If you turn him down, there’s no hope of my finding him anyone else.”
“I’m sorry Char,” Mona said with a smile “but really you don’t seem to have consulted me in all this.”
“Don’t be such a little fool,” Char said savagely. “You don’t want to spend the rest of your life here in this dump! Oh, 1 know it’s the old family homestead and all that sort of thing, but my dear girl, you’ll be bored stiff in a few months, if you’re not already. Look at the life you’ve led and look at what you’re getting now!”
Mona didn’t answer and Char went on,
“You’ve only got to think of what Jarvis can do for you. He’s rich, perhaps one of the richest men in the country, and he will be richer still. All he wants is a little polish and you could make him very presentable.”
Mona got to her feet, stretching herself.
“I don’t care how presentable he could be,” she said coldly. “I never want to see him again.”
“Have you told him so?”
“No, but I dare say you can do that for me.”
Mona spoke rudely. She was suddenly tired of Char and of her machinations. It was one thing to watch her intriguing over other people and quite another thing to be the one intrigued over.
“It’s no use Char,” she said. “There’s nothing to argue about one way or another. I’ve made up my mind and that’s that. Now I suggest that you ring up Jarvis Lecker in the morning and ask him to give you dinner in London. You can then explain the whole situation to him.”
There was no misunderstanding Mona’s meaning and Char turned towards her with a snarl.
“So, you are turning me out too?”
“Hardly that, but you see that it’s very difficult for me to have my friends to stay for long. Nanny’s getting old and another person in the house makes a lot of extra work.”
“You can’t do this to me, you can’t!” Char cried.
Mona saw that she was gripping the sides of the chair.
“Now do be sensible Char,” she begged. “I’ve come home for a rest and to be with my mother. It’s sweet of you to worry about me at all, but honestly, I don’t want either young men or husbands at the moment. I just want to be left alone to vegetate here in my own home.”
