Read First: White Rose of Winter---Complete - Page 8

Things settled down to something like normal the following week , but then anything would have seemed like normal after the unpleasant tensions of Sunday . Only Emma had seemed unaware of the atmosphere, and perhaps Sara ,for she had accepted Asher's explanations without question .

But Maya had found it terrible difficult to behave normally . Her nerves were stretched unbearably , and although Sandra behaved with admirable restraint , Maya could not relax.

After lunch , a meal throughout which Sara has done most of the talking , Sandra suggested they might all go for a walk round the village, but Asher declined , So Sara had asked Maya whether they might use the lounge for a while .

Maya had been only too pleased to agree, but later as she sat with Mrs. Hudson in the kitchen , drinking her coffee, she saw Asher in the garden with Emma and realized the two women were alone .

Not that Asher was concerned . The ground was still diamond hard with frost and he and Emma were sliding down the path with apparently carefree abandon . But then Asher lost his balance and crashed to the ground with thump.

Maya jumped to her feet , a hand on her mouth, and Mrs. Hudson looked out knowingly," He will be alright ," she assured her ,and as though to prove the point Emma straddled him excitedly , pressing his chest back against the path and sitting on it , while he protested laughingly ." You see!" said Mrs. Hudson. " You worry too much ." she shook her head cheerfully ." She needs a father , and no mistake ,"

Maya sighed," I expect she misses Mike ."

Mrs. Hudson hunched her shoulders." Happen she does ," she said , but she did not sound convinced.

Sara and Asher left soon afterwards, driving away in their separate cars , bound for Sara's parents house . Sandra waved them off , but Maya kept out of the way . She wondered how Asher will react to Francis now.

During the next few days , Emma started her lessons with Sandra. The girl had brought some text books and paper with her , sufficient to last them for first couple of weeks , and she told Maya indifferently if Emma progressed satisfactory she would send to London for more .

But Emma did not progress satisfactory . From being a good -natured , mild- tempered little girl , she became a stormy , tearful tyrant and even Maya had to reprove her .

" I can not understand it ," she said to Mrs. Hudson one afternoon." She used to say she wanted to go to school."

" Having a governess is not the same as going to the school ," said Mrs. Hudson in her calm , practical way ." The little one has no friends . She does not get a chance to meet other children , and she is lonely .And she knows as long as Miss Lawson stays here , she will stay that way ."

" But Asher won't agree to anything else!" exclaimed Maya exasperatedly , her own troubles swamped by her anxiety over her daughter .

" What about Mrs. Pemberton ?" suggested Mrs. Hudson , frowning .

" Oh, she would never agree with me ! Besides , Sandra is a family friend ,"

Mrs. Hudson shook her head ," So what are you going to do ?"

" I do not know . I honestly don't know."

" What about Mr. Hillingdon? Couldn't he talk to Mr. Asher ? May be he would listen to him ."

Maya grimaced ," I doubt that . I doubt that very much ."

The housekeeper sighed," Well, I don't know what else you can do . But something have to be done ,for the lassie is crying herself to sleep nights ,"

" I know ." Maya said ." And Sandra keeps coming to me about her rudeness in lessons. I am sure she would like to slap her ,"

" Yes, I am sure feeling's mutual." Remarked Mrs. Hudson.

" I am sure it is ," Maya tugged worriedly at a strand of her hair . " All right , I will ring Francis."

She got through to him at the office. He sounded delighted to hear from her as usual. " When am I going to see you again ?"

Maya lifted her shoulders helplessly. "Actually, Francis, Its your help I want ."

" Help? In what way ?" Francis sounded surprised.

" I want you to speak to Asher . To ask him whether he would reconsider his decision concerning Emma's schooling. She wants to go to the village school , and she simply won't behave . Sandra is marvelously patient with her in the circumstances. "

" I see."Francis said . " Would you like me t come and talk to Emma herself ?"

" I do not think that would do any good . She would be delighted to see you , of course , but after you are gone...' Her voice tailed away .

" Yes , I see what you mean ." Francis sounded thoughtful." But I ought to tell you that Asher and I don't seem on the best of terms at the moment . He - wall, last Sunday when he came over , he made some petty rough remarks to me when we were having a drink together before the dinner ."

Maya gasped," What about ?"

" Can't you guess? You , of course. He told me to leave you alone - that he found behavior disgusting - and that he is not going to stand by let you ruin your life . You know the sort of thing."

Maya was horrified . " Oh, I am sorry ."

Francis made an amused snort ," Yes , well. I was pretty mad myself at the time , but then afterwards I realized he was only talking in your best interests .He seems to feel a strong sense of responsibility for you - for you both . I don't know how his marriage to Sara is going to stand up in the face of such circumstances ."

" What do you mean ?" Maya was trembling .

" Well , If I did not know him better , I would say he felt more than a moral obligation towards you . But that's ridiculous, isn't it ?"

" Y-e-s.' Maya bit her lower lip, finding it difficult to concentrate on the real reason she had rung Francis in the first place ." But - will you speak to him ?"

Francis hesitated ," If it's what you want ," he said ,at last .

" It is ."

" Right . He is coming to lunch tomorrow . I'll try and have a word with him then ."

" Oh, thank you , Francis . Thank you ."

" Do not thank me yet . I haven't achieved anything ."

Mrs. Hudson was pleased when Maya told her what she had done . " Mr. Hillingdon has a persuasive way with him , as you should know ," she commented dryly.

Maya smiled slightly ." Yes, but apparently Asher has taken him to task for taking me out last week-end and they are not on such good terms as they were ."

The house keeper raised her eyebrows." Oh indeed?" she smiled . " Well, well."

Maya looked at her sharply ." What do you mean ? Well, well?"

Mrs. Hudson shook her head , studying the balance of the scales as he weighed out the ingredients for the cake she was going to bake ." Its nothing to do with me ,Mrs. Pemberton ."

" You can't say that , having already commented ." Maya perched on the high stool ," Oh , if only Asher will agree to Emma attending the village school. She will make some friends of her own age ...'

" And your governess will be out of the house !"

" That , of course, " agreed Maya , sighing ," I can't understand Emma . She's always been so good before ."

Mrs. Hudson said ," I expect having her grand mother and Mr. Asher and that , Mr Hillingdon making a fuss of her gone to her head . She is only five years old ,Mrs. Pemberton . And just think of the changes of circumstances she's had to adapt to during the last few months."

" Do you think she's spoilt , then ?" Maya was concerned .

" Bless you, no! She could do with little bit of spoiling , if you ask me .No, it's just she is trying to find her feet and there've been so many people around ."

" Do you think that's why she makes such a fuss of Asher when he comes ?"

Mrs. Hudson pulled a wry face ," Not altogether . I think she sees him as a kind of security , of course , but its more than that I think . she seems - well , attached to him . She is always talking about him , you know . She talks about Mr. Hillingdon , too, of course , But Mr. Asher is her favorite."

Maya pressed her palms to her cheeks , feeling the unwelcome prick of tears behind her eyes . I see."

" He would be , wouldn't he, Mrs. Pemberton ?" Mrs. Hudson spoke in such a low voice that Maya scarcely heard what she said .

" What was that ?" She asked .

Mrs. Hudson colored now ." I said - well, he would be her favorite , wouldn't he?"

" Why?" Maya's voice was jerky.

" Well, being Mr. Mike's brother and all , and looking like him ."

" Oh, I see what you mean." Maya sounded relieved .

"What did you think I meant ?"

Maya made a helpless movement of her shoulder ." Why- nothing ."

Mrs. Hudson wiped her hands with her apron." You should have married Mr. Asher ma'am. Then he'd have been Emma's father ,wouldn't he ?"

Maya stared at her ." It wasn't to be ," she said tightly .

" No. Because you would not marry him before he left for Venezuela , would you ma'am?"

" How do you know that ?"

Mrs. Hudson sighed ," Mr. Asher told me , the other evening . We were talking about the days when he used to go on those assignments ."

" I see" Maya slid off the stool . " What - what else did he say ?"

" Nothing much ,just that you'd been upset about him going ,"

Maya bent her head ,: That was not unnatural !"

" You could have gone with him , as his wife ."

" I know. " Maya felt frozen inside ." But we had a row..."

" About him going just a week before the wedding ?"

" Yes, Oh , I realize it was stupid now, but at the time it seemed important ." She sighed . " I was only nineteen."

Mrs. Hudson," And afterwards?"

Maya made an impatient gesture. " What's the use of dredging it up now ? No good can come of talking about it ,"

" It sometimes does you good to talk ." remarked Mrs. Hudson quietly, and from the way you are acting now, I shouldn't think you've talked about this much ,"

" Only to Mike ."murmured Maya reminiscently.

Mrs. Hudson nodded ," I see."

Maya heaved a sigh ." Did Asher tell you what happened the night we split up ?"

" No.' Mrs. Hudson said ," Can you imagine Mr. Asher confiding his troubles to me ?'

Maya tugged at a strand of her hair ," Not really ."

" Tell me how you got to know him ."

Maya shrugged ," I worked for the company . My boss introduced us , actually . I had heard about Asher , of course . He had a quite reputation ."

" And?"

" I wanted nothing to do with him . I wasn't - well , that kind of girl , to coin an old fashioned phrase.'

" I see." Mrs. Hudson smile was gentle ," Go on."

Maya grimaced , " Oh, well, Asher was very insistent . He used to make excuses to come to Mr. Harvey's office where I worked ; he'd offer to drive me home , take me out to lunch , that sort of things. The other girls used to warn me about him , but it was not necessary . I already knew what he was like . He was used to getting his own way . But he did not try anything after the first time ,' she sighed ." I thought that would be that , but it wasn't . He asked me to marry him ! she shook her head helplessly . " I could not believe it . I thought it was some kind of elaborate ploy to get me to go to bed with him. But it wasn't ."

" And then what happened ?"

"The usual things . He took me to meet his mother . She had a house in Richmond in those days - oh, of course , you would know that . Well- anyway , she never liked me , but I think she realized that Asher was serious and therefore she'd have to make the best of it . And all the arrangements for wedding were made . I was brought up in children's home . My parents were killed in car accident and I was an orphan , so I had nobody to arrange things. Mrs. Pemberton dealt with everything . And then the Venezuela job exploded !"

" And it was all off?"

" Yes."

Maya turned away . She did not want to talk about it anymore. It was all too painful to remember even now . Mrs. Hudson , with her innate perceptiveness realized Maya's dilemma and changed the subject , and Maya was grateful to her .

continued ...