Stone Barrington 06-11

for her problem.”
    “Does she know that Vance is dead?”
    “That’s hard to say; I haven’t asked her that, directly, and when the police came here, I refused to allow her to be questioned.”
    “You did the right thing,” Stone said.
    “Arrington seems to have an idea that something may be wrong, but she tends to divert the conversation if it heads in a direction she doesn’t want it to go. She may very well be, unconsciously, protecting herself emotionally from a situation that she is not yet ready to confront.”
    “I see. Perhaps it’s time to explain to her what has happened.”
    “Perhaps it is. She’ll have to be told sooner or later, and since she seems to have an emotional attachment to you, it might be best that she hear it from you.”
    “All right. Jim, I should tell you that, for the moment, I am acting as Arrington’s attorney, as well as her friend, and that, given the circumstances, you may be asked questions by the police. Should that occur, I advise you to rest on doctor-patient confidentiality and decline to answer. At a later date, with Arrington’s concurrence, I may ask you to give a statement to the police or the district attorney.”
    “I understand completely.”
    “Shall we go and see Arrington, then?”
    “Please follow me.” Judson led the way from his office, down a hallway to the last door on the right-hand side. He knocked softly.
    “Come in,” a woman’s voice replied.
    Judson opened the door. “Arrington, I’ve brought someone to see you,” he said. He stepped aside and ushered Stone into the room.
    The room appeared much like a guest room in a sumptuous home, except for the elevated hospital bed. On the far side of the room, a cabinet had, apparently, once held a television set, which had been removed. Sunlight streamed through the windows, which were open above a garden at the rear of the house. Arrington sat up in bed and held out her arms. “Stone!” she cried.
    Stone went to her and took her in his arms, kissing her on the cheek. To his surprise, she turned his head and gave him a wet kiss on the mouth. Stone glanced at the doctor, who evinced surprise.
    “How are you feeling?” he asked.
    “Much better. For a while, all I was doing was sleeping. What took you so long to get here?”
    “I had to come a great distance,” he replied. “Do you feel well enough to talk for a while?”
    “Yes, I do; I feel very well, actually. I’m not quite sure why Dr. Judson is keeping me here.”
    “Your mother came to see you yesterday, remember?”
    “Of course. We had a very nice visit. I’m sorry to have alarmed her; it was a long way for her to come, to find me perfectly well.”
    “She wanted to be sure Peter was all right without you.”
    Arrington’s face clouded slightly. “Yes, she told me. I’m a little confused about that.”
    “How so?”
    “Well, apparently—this is very embarrassing—I had forgotten that I’m his mother.”
    “That’s all right,” the doctor interjected. “Don’t worry about that.”
    “Did you remember who Peter’s father is?”
    “Yes, after I was prompted, I’m ashamed to say. Stone, I’m so sorry; I wanted a chance to explain to you about Vance and me. I wrote to you in St. Mark’s, but I suppose you must have already left there by the time the letter arrived. Can I explain?”
    “Yes, go ahead,” Stone said, sitting on the side of the bed.
    She took his hand in both of hers. “Stone, I think I knew that you were going to ask me to marry you when I arrived in St. Mark’s. Am I right, or am I being presumptuous?”
    “You’re right; I was going to ask you. I had a ring, even.”
    “I think I felt … a little panic about that, as if I weren’t really ready to be your wife. I think that may be why I missed the first flight. The snowstorm was something of a relief, I’m afraid.”
    “You were a free woman,” Stone said. “You didn’t have to marry me.”
    “Then Vance arrived in town, and although we’d known each other before, something was different this time.”
    Stone recalled that Arrington had been with Vance, at a dinner party, when they had first been introduced.
    “We spent all our time together, working on the interview, which turned into a very long conversation about everything in the world, and before I knew it, we were in love. I can’t explain it; it just happened.”
    “It’s like that, sometimes,” Stone said.
    “Do you hate me for it?”
    “I could never hate