Magnificent Folly - Iris Johansen [52]
Mrs. Muggins glided into the room and set a goblet of fresh-squeezed orange juice and a plate of toast on the table before Mariana. “There you are, Miss Mariana. Now, you eat a fine breakfast, so you can go back to work and make me lots of kinfolk.”
Mariana stiffened with surprise. “Muggins, what—”
But Muggins had turned and rolled from the room.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
Mariana was gazing bemusedly at the doorway through which Muggins had vanished. “Nothing, probably. I just don’t remember programming her with a desire for others of her kind.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “But I must have done it. Right?” She picked up a triangle of toast and bit into it. “Now, where was I?”
Lily’s eyes were twinkling. “Doing the bulldozing you said Andrew was too honorable to do.”
“Oh, yes. Well, I’ve said enough to give you food for thought. I’ve never believed in overkill.” She picked up her orange juice and sipped it. “Now tell me all about Cassie. I’ve never had a niece before.”
Lily chuckled. “You march in here, accuse me of lollygagging, scare me half to death, and then rush on to something else. I’m beginning to believe there’s a lot of you in Mrs. Muggins’s programming.”
“Maybe.” Mariana grinned. “I tried to make her as near human as possible, and no one can say I’m not riddled with human idiosyncracies.” She gazed down into the orange juice in her goblet before asking, with a touch of belligerence, “Do you like me?”
“Yes.” Lily found she liked Andrew’s sister very much indeed. She sensed something very appealing and vulnerable beneath the girl’s dynamic, eccentric surface. “I do like you.”
Relief flickered on Mariana’s face before she lowered her lids to hide it. “That’s good,” she said offhandedly. “Not everybody does. Sometimes I’m pretty hard to swallow.”
Lily nodded. “Like a shot of straight vodka.”
Mariana nodded. “You’re honest. That’s super. I hate hypocrites.” She took another swallow of orange juice, set it down, and rose abruptly to her feet. “I have to go.”
Lily was startled. “Right now?”
“I have to get back to the laboratory to work on Mr. Muggins, since we’re through talking.” She frowned uncertainly. “Aren’t we?”
She looked so like an anxious little girl that Lily smothered a smile. “I believe you’ve covered the major points.”
Mariana moved toward the door. “I thought I had. You just do what I’ve said, and everything will work out.” She left the room with neither a backward glance nor a farewell.
The dining room seemed darker, as if a light had gone out.
Mrs. Muggins rolled into the room and began to clear Mariana’s place, clucking reprovingly. “The lass didn’t even eat her toast. How can she expect to go on working the way she does, when she never eats? Oh, well, Miss Mariana always knows best.” She whirled and glided toward the door. “Still, perhaps something should be done.…”
Lily shook her head in amusement as she placed her napkin on the table and stood up. Mariana might be in for a shock in the near future. Mrs. Muggins’s programming seemed to be going awry, and off onto its own tangents.
Lily’s smile vanished as she moved toward the door. She had a sudden desire to see Andrew, to touch him, to assure herself that he was well and safe. What Mariana had told her had frightened her badly. Andrew had been right when he had said that the night before had been a giant step forward in their relationship, but there was still a long way to go. She wasn’t even sure she could maintain a permanent relationship, and she knew Andrew would accept nothing else.
Give him something to come back for, Mariana had said.
But that meant a commitment Lily wasn’t ready to make.
Still, there was no hurry, she thought with relief. Andrew would be patient, and had told her he wasn’t involved in any therapy at present. They would have time to work out their problems and come to a decision.