The Andre Norton Megapack - 15 Classic Novels and Short Stories

suddenly flicked her towel furiously. Why did she have to care whether or not Peter Mohun was dedicated heart and soul to his spy-catching? Why did it matter if he didn’t come to see her?
    “As if I wanted him to…” she heard herself say out loud to the tall glass that she had been absently polishing for all of ten minutes.
    “Wanted who to do what?” A voice directly behind her spoke suddenly.
    The glass crashed to the floor and broke into tiny fragments as Fredericka swung round.
    “Oh, Fredericka, my dear, I am sorry.” This time Peter Mohun’s voice was wholly solicitous. He reached out his hand as if to give her reassurance, but she shrank away from him and leant back against the sink. “I am an unregenerate fool, a demon, a beast—whatever you like to call me, I shall accept with bowed and penitent head.”
    When Fredericka still made no reply, he blundered on helplessly: “It’s these crêpe soles. It’s useful sometimes to silence one’s approach, I confess it. But I should have knocked. That’s another thing. Lucy objected to the racket, so I and all the rest of the town, I expect, have developed the habit of walking straight in.”
    “It’s, it’s quite all right. Silly of me to be such a fool.” She felt an urgent need to make some move. “I’ll just get the dustpan and sweep up this mess and then—”
    “Then I hope you can spare me a little while to talk, to gossip, and maybe even to laugh.” He watched her intently as she walked across the room to the cupboard and fumbled nervously with the catch. When she came back he took the brush and dustpan from her and said: “My job. You go and set yourself down. It’s so hot, I suggest the porch. O.K.?”
    “O.K.” Frederick agreed gratefully. Anyway he seemed to have forgotten what she had been muttering when he came in. She must get over this trick of talking to herself. It came from living too much alone.
    “And now,” Peter said at once when he joined her, “who has failed to do what that he should do?”
    “Oh, Peter, I was just muttering away to myself about nothing.”
    “Oh no, you weren’t. You were making a solemn and serious pronouncement and I have a hunch, though perhaps it’s a little conceited of me, that the guy referred to was Peter Mohun.”
    “Well, I did think you’d have looked in to see how I was before now.” Fredericka was grateful for the half-darkness that hid her hot and flaming face.
    “I meant to, as a matter of fact, but I’ve been on the go every moment since I left this place so early of a morning—” He hesitated and then said slowly, “I tried to warn you that I’m an unreliable guy—”
    Suddenly Fredericka’S pent up anxiety and annoyance poured out in a quick rush of words: “Oh, you don’t need to tell me all that again. I read your bible, and I’m not stupid—”
    “Of course you aren’t stupid. But I am,” Peter said quietly. He reached across the space between them and took her thin hand in his large one.
    For a moment neither of them spoke and then Peter said slowly, “I’m a mug, and I’ve behaved like one. The trouble is that my marriage was a mess—my fault probably, but anyway it was; and when at last I got free of it, I took a deep breath and decided to stay free. The dedication to work is what I’ve put in place of love and marriage and I just wanted you to know that—I suppose because I—well—I like you so much, Fredericka, and I was scared something would happen to our friendship.”
    Fredericka sat up a little more stiffly but she did not take away her hand. “If I’m to be honest, I might as well confess that I—I like you, too, Peter, and perhaps I might have, well, come to like you too much. So really I’m glad you’ve been honest with me. It’s been a tough two days and I was peeved because I thought you’d abandoned me. So let’s call it quits and—and—well, carry on as Holmes and Watson, both dedicated to the case in hand.”
    She laughed shyly and Peter joined her. Then he said: “Yes, the case in hand. That’s the trouble. That’s why I’ve left you so severely alone. I knew Thane’s bodyguard was watching over you and I simply had to get to work. Frankly, Fredericka, I’m scared stiff. Even the air in this town is unhealthy, and on all sides I don’t like what I see.”
    “Could you be a little more explicit?”
    “I’ll try, and perhaps you can help me to think out loud. The obvious suspects start with the family—or