Page:Restless Earth.djvu/194

It was laughable!

And now, blinded and disfigured, she still played a part. She didn’t want Jimmy to sacrifice himself! Oh, no! Such a thing was unthinkable! Yet there she was, lying in the bedroom, waiting for him. Confident that he would come, that he would care for her all the days of her life—now that she was ashamed for her lover to look upon her. Doubtless the lover had deserted her—unless he too had been killed in Roach’s.

It was all very pathetic, no doubt; but it was not going to work out quite like that.

“Excursions with a man!”

Patricia uttered the words mockingly as she placed the letter to dry upon the rack above the stove.

Grace had cheated, cheated very skilfully. Very well, Patricia would cheat a little. Just how she intended to cheat she did not know at the moment. The idea would come presently. All she was certain of was that this was a fifty-fifty affair of love, and that she intended to collect her due proportion by fair means or foul. She would fight Grace and her blindness.

“Clever little cheat!” she murmured admiringly, as she set about her preparations for lunch.

“Are you all right, dear?” she called, thrusting her head around the breakfast-room door. “I’m just going to start on the vegetables.”

“Don’t worry about me,” replied Grace. “I’ll be quite happy.”

“You had better get some sleep before the doctor comes.”

“I’ll do my best—although I prefer to lie here and just think.”

“Don’t eat all the meringues. You’ll suffer from indigestion if you do.”

“Very well, dear.”

Patricia sneered as she turned to her task of peeling potatoes.