The supercilious tone to her voice thoroughly riled him. ‘It’s Christmas,’ he said, tossing her his coat to hang up, ‘of course I’m expected! I’ll have a whisky to warm me up, please. Make it a large one, that way I won’t have to ring for you to bring me a second.’
The woman hesitated before saying, ‘Where will you be?’
‘I’ll be with my stepmother and youngCharlie-Boy. Wherever they are.’
‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘It’s nearly ten o’clock and master Charles has been in bed for some hours.’
‘In that case I shall see Julia on her own.’
‘Again, I’m afraid that’s also out of the question. Mrs Devereux is in her parlour. She’s not receiving guests.’
He laughed. ‘I’m not a guest; I’m her stepson.’
The woman was not to be put off. ‘Mrs Devereux left instructions that she wasn’t to be disturbed.’
You mean Mr Devereux left instructions, more like it, thought Ralph.
Determined to have his way, he moved towards the stairs. ‘I’m sure Julia will make an exception for me,’ he said. ‘You can bring my whisky up there, Miss Casey. Oh, and I’ll have a sandwich too. Ham, cheese, or whatever else is to hand. I’ll have my usual room, please.’
He took the stairs swiftly, two at a time. When he was on the landing, he looked back the way he’d come and saw Miss Casey down in the hall picking up the telephone receiver. The telephone hadn’t rung, so who was she ringing? His father? Alerting the old man that Ralph had shown up unexpectedly?
Having earlier thought the house would make an ideal set for a horror film, Ralph suddenly felt like he was in one of Hitchcock’s psychological thrillers. His stepmother certainly had all the makings of a victim at the mercy of a cruel husband and a scheming housekeeper.
He knocked on her door. There was no reply, so he knocked again, this time louder.
‘Julia. It’s me, Ralph.’
‘Ralph?’
‘May I come in?’
‘Is Arthur with you?’
‘No. It’s just me.’
He heard the handle turn and then the door slowly opened, but for no more than a couple of inches. Julia’s eyes darted over his shoulder, then back to his face. ‘Has your father sent you?’
‘No. Why would he?’
She put a hand to her mouth. ‘I’ve ... I’ve done something which he won’t like. He’ll be furious with me. I had to do it, though. It was only right. But now I’m scared.’
With no idea what she was talking about, but seeing how anxious she was, Ralph looked over his shoulder to see if Miss Casey was on the warpath. She wasn’t. ‘Julia,’ he then said, ‘why don’t you let me in and tell me what you’ve done. It can’t be all that bad, surely?’
He had never before seen himself in the role of knight in shining armour, but there was something about the desperation in Julia’s voice that stirred him to help. For once in his life he was compelled to do something good. Perhaps it was a guilty conscience from what he’d done the night of the Meadow Lodge party. Or maybe it wasn’t so much an act of kindness he wanted to perform, but an act of revenge on his father?
She opened the door just enough to let him in, then quickly shut it.
‘What are you so scared of?’ he asked. ‘And why the hell is it so cold in here?’ He looked at the empty grate where a fire should have been burning.
‘I’m used to the cold,’ she said.
‘Well, I’m not. I shall insist that Miss Casey provides you with some coal and logs. Now sit down and tell me what’s going on.’
With the blind obedience of a dutiful child, she sat in an armchair to one side of a table on which stood an open sewing box. He sat opposite and gave her an encouraging smile.
