A Lesson in Secrets_ A Maisie Dobbs Novel - Jacqueline Winspear [100]
Maisie felt the first large drops of rain splatter across her face and arms. She stood up, and looked at the dark clouds lumbering towards them. “Come on, we’d better be off, and at a clip—look at those clouds!”
As they walked back towards the house, Maisie asked another question, though she knew she would doubtless have more later. It was clear that, as Rosemary Linden, the woman who strode alongside her had seen a lot more than she might have imagined while working as Greville Liddicote’s secretary.
“Alice, what do you think of Dr. Thomas?”
“Ah, the woman with the best-cut costumes in the college!” She smiled, and looked at Maisie. They had both broken into a run as the sky lit up with lightning. Alice began to count. “One, two, three, four—” The clap of thunder followed, loud enough, Maisie thought, to crack the heavens. “Oh dear,” said Alice, “It’s less than a mile behind us. Come on!”
As they ran into the house through the back door, Alice called out to her sister to ensure all their mother’s belongings had been brought in. Ursula Thurlow was now sitting in an armchair in the low-beamed kitchen, and a kettle had been put on to boil. Maisie was thankful she had not pulled down the MG’s cloth roof for the drive, for the motor car would have been drenched by now.
“There are warm towels hanging up there, Alice. Make sure you and Maisie dry your hair properly. We don’t want you catching a cold this time of year, or you’ll never shake it.”
They each took a towel to their wet hair and rubbed the rain away.
“Now you’ll have to stay a while, Miss Dobbs. You can’t be driving along our lanes in that little motor of yours.”
“Thank you, I would love to stay. In fact, I wanted to talk to you, Ursula, on two matters, actually. I have a very dear friend—Andrew Dene—he’s an orthopedic surgeon of some note and works closely with neurologists, given his standing and the nature of his specialty. I know he would be more than happy to see you. It would not cost a penny. I could arrange for you to go to London, it would be my pleasure.” Before Ursula could reply, Maisie added, “I know it would take valuable energy, but we could make it a family affair, a trip to London for you and your children, perhaps a few days away to remember.”
The chair-bound woman looked at Maisie with her open face and wide deep brown eyes. “What is it that you do, Miss Dobbs?”
Maisie smiled. She had half-expected the question. “I am a teacher, Ursula. And I also work for the government. That is all I can say, and that is between us. Now, perhaps I can ask my second question.”
“You might as well.”
“I’d love to read more of your work—may I?”
When the storm had passed and taken with it the humidity of the previous week, Maisie left the Thurlows’ cottage home. Alice accompanied her to the MG, though she had to answer several questions from Alfie, who had been hanging around, waiting to look inside the motor car. She thanked Alice for being so honest with her, for answering her questions, and they made a pact that each would keep the details of their conversation a secret between them, for she guessed it was now clear to Alice Thurlow that Maisie was not simply the junior lecturer in philosophy.
“Before I go, Alice, I want to remind you about the question I asked, just as the rain came.”
“Oh, yes, about Dr. Thomas. You were asking what I thought of her.”
“That’s right.”
“She’s a dark horse, and I wonder if she doesn’t have a life in London that none of us are aware of—she might be a dancer or something.”
“What makes you say that?”
“As soon as she leaves the college on a Friday, she goes straight to London, generally on the four-o’clock train. She sometimes misses a week here and there.”
“How do you know?”
“By paying attention, Maisie. If you pay attention, everyone has something they want to hide, even if it’s going shopping in London.”
Maisie laughed. “You’re a very dark horse yourself,