Read Online The Silver Dragon by Jean S. Macleod - Free Book Online
Authors: Jean S. Macleod
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here?” He shook her a little. “Answer me! Why have you come? We no longer have an audience. Dr. Ordley should be halfway to Nice by now, so we can dispense with the trimmings. There’s no longer any need for pretense. We can speak freely.”
Adele pressed her hands to her face.
“I wish I could!” she cried. “I would give everything I possess to be able to look back—to see the past as it really was, as you know it to be. But I can’t! I’m trapped. Trapped by my own mind. You can’t know what that means, can you? I can’t make you understand and I can’t stay here. Even if I do belong, you don’t want me to stay.” Her eyes were suddenly full and accusing on his. “I have no place in your scheme of things. I’ve felt it right from the beginning. I’ve seen it in your eyes dozens of times in this past hour. I’ve seen your anger and your suspicion and your contempt—even your hatred, in a way. I’ve done something to you, something I can’t hope to know about till my memory returns.”
She gazed at him helplessly, aware of a strange expression in the eyes that looked steadily back at her. It was calculating, yet somehow he seemed vaguely puzzled.
He released her, turning toward the door.
“You needn’t worry unduly about the situation between us,” he assured her stiffly. “You have a most faithful watchdog in Dr. Ordley.”
But John Ordley, Adele was forced to remind herself, wouldn’t be able to stay at the villa forever.
CHAPTER FOUR
Their first meal together h ad been a farce. Dixon, as befitted a diligent host, had worked hard at the conversation, but he had not quite been able to erase the suggestion of hostility that flowed beneath the surface. They were like boxers sparring in a seemingly friendly bout with a good deal of earnestness in their punches, Adele thought unhappily, and always her husband seemed to emerge the victor.
She was glad when Maria brought in the coffee and they could get up from the table to settle in the deep velvet divans surrounding the fireplace.
Dixon did not sit down. He drank his coffee standing on the hearthrug, saying as he returned his empty cup to the tray, “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to put in an hour at my desk. I have two rather important letters to send off to London first thing in the morning.”
Relief hit Adele like an enveloping wave, and John’s eagerness to assure him that he must not consider them at all was almost indecent. They sat drinking coffee in silence for several minutes after he had closed the door behind him.
“Well,” John said at last, “how do you feel?”
The kindness in his tone broke down the last barrier of her reserve.
“I feel awful!” Her voice had trembled and there were tears in her eyes, of which she was immediately ashamed. “I just can’t feel that I belong here, John,” she hurried on in order to hide her embarrassment. “I know that I should. I ought to be convinced, but I’m not. There’s a thick gray wall everywhere, even between me and ... Dixon Cabot.”
“He’s the famous yachtsman, of course,” John remarked gruffly. “And a successful author to boot. Round the World With Jelida and Rhino Country. I’ve read ’em both. There isn’t much he hasn’t done.” There was a certain amount of envy in the doctor’s pleasant young voice. “Maybe you develop that arrogant look when you’ve been around the world a couple of times and are a literary lion into the bargain.” He got to his feet. “Dash it all, I’m sorry!” he apologized. “I ought not to be talking like this to you, but somehow I can’t imagine you being married to him. I can’t imagine you married to anyone, come to that,” he added.
There was a small awkward silence.
“I wish I knew what to do,” Adele said at last.
He paced to the far side of the room, knowing how impossible it was to do anything.
“Adele,” he asked, “would you consider going back to the clinic? Trying to force yourself to
Adele pressed her hands to her face.
“I wish I could!” she cried. “I would give everything I possess to be able to look back—to see the past as it really was, as you know it to be. But I can’t! I’m trapped. Trapped by my own mind. You can’t know what that means, can you? I can’t make you understand and I can’t stay here. Even if I do belong, you don’t want me to stay.” Her eyes were suddenly full and accusing on his. “I have no place in your scheme of things. I’ve felt it right from the beginning. I’ve seen it in your eyes dozens of times in this past hour. I’ve seen your anger and your suspicion and your contempt—even your hatred, in a way. I’ve done something to you, something I can’t hope to know about till my memory returns.”
She gazed at him helplessly, aware of a strange expression in the eyes that looked steadily back at her. It was calculating, yet somehow he seemed vaguely puzzled.
He released her, turning toward the door.
“You needn’t worry unduly about the situation between us,” he assured her stiffly. “You have a most faithful watchdog in Dr. Ordley.”
But John Ordley, Adele was forced to remind herself, wouldn’t be able to stay at the villa forever.
CHAPTER FOUR
Their first meal together h ad been a farce. Dixon, as befitted a diligent host, had worked hard at the conversation, but he had not quite been able to erase the suggestion of hostility that flowed beneath the surface. They were like boxers sparring in a seemingly friendly bout with a good deal of earnestness in their punches, Adele thought unhappily, and always her husband seemed to emerge the victor.
She was glad when Maria brought in the coffee and they could get up from the table to settle in the deep velvet divans surrounding the fireplace.
Dixon did not sit down. He drank his coffee standing on the hearthrug, saying as he returned his empty cup to the tray, “If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to put in an hour at my desk. I have two rather important letters to send off to London first thing in the morning.”
Relief hit Adele like an enveloping wave, and John’s eagerness to assure him that he must not consider them at all was almost indecent. They sat drinking coffee in silence for several minutes after he had closed the door behind him.
“Well,” John said at last, “how do you feel?”
The kindness in his tone broke down the last barrier of her reserve.
“I feel awful!” Her voice had trembled and there were tears in her eyes, of which she was immediately ashamed. “I just can’t feel that I belong here, John,” she hurried on in order to hide her embarrassment. “I know that I should. I ought to be convinced, but I’m not. There’s a thick gray wall everywhere, even between me and ... Dixon Cabot.”
“He’s the famous yachtsman, of course,” John remarked gruffly. “And a successful author to boot. Round the World With Jelida and Rhino Country. I’ve read ’em both. There isn’t much he hasn’t done.” There was a certain amount of envy in the doctor’s pleasant young voice. “Maybe you develop that arrogant look when you’ve been around the world a couple of times and are a literary lion into the bargain.” He got to his feet. “Dash it all, I’m sorry!” he apologized. “I ought not to be talking like this to you, but somehow I can’t imagine you being married to him. I can’t imagine you married to anyone, come to that,” he added.
There was a small awkward silence.
“I wish I knew what to do,” Adele said at last.
He paced to the far side of the room, knowing how impossible it was to do anything.
“Adele,” he asked, “would you consider going back to the clinic? Trying to force yourself to
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