‘I remember her as nearly always ill…Often in tears…’ He shook his head. ‘She had no spirit.’
Still staring at him, she murmured very softly:
‘How odd…’
But as he turned a questioning glance on her, she shook her head quickly and changed the subject.
‘Since we are not allowed to know who our mysterious guests are I shall go out and finish my garden.’
‘It’s very cold, my dear, a biting wind.’
‘I’ll wrap up warmly.’
She left the room. Alfred Lee, left alone, stood for some minutes motionless, frowning a little to himself, then he walked over to the big window at the end of the room. Outside was a terrace running the whole length of the house. Here, after a minute or two, he saw Lydia emerge, carrying a flat basket. She was wearing a big blanket coat. She set down the basket and began to work at a square stone sink slightly raised above ground level.
Her husband watched for some time. At last he went out of the room, fetched himself a coat and muffler, and emerged on to the terrace by a side door. As he walked along he passed various other stone sinks arranged as miniature gardens, all the products of Lydia’s agile fingers.
One represented a desert scene with smooth yellow sand, a little clump of green palm trees in coloured tin, and a procession of camels with one or two little Arab figures. Some primitive mud houses had been constructed of plasticine. There was an Italian garden with terraces and formal beds with flowers in coloured sealing-wax. There was an Arctic one, too, with clumps of green glass for icebergs, and a little cluster of penguins. Next came a Japanese garden with a couple of beautiful little stunted trees, looking-glass arranged for water, and bridges modelled out of plasticine.
He came at last to stand beside her where she was at work. She had laid down blue paper and covered it over with glass. Round this were lumps of rock piled up. At the moment she was pouring out coarse pebbles from a little bag and forming them into a beach. Between the rocks were some small cactuses.
Lydia was murmuring to herself:
‘Yes, that’s exactly right—exactly what I want.’
Alfred said:
‘What’s this latest work of art?’
She started, for she had not heard him come up.
‘This? Oh, it’s the Dead Sea, Alfred. Do you like it?’
He said, ‘It’s rather arid, isn’t it? Oughtn’t the
re to be more vegetation?’
She shook her head.
‘It’s my idea of the Dead Sea. It is dead, you see—’
‘It’s not so attractive as some of the others.’
‘It’s not meant to be specially attractive.’
Footsteps sounded on the terrace. An elderly butler, white-haired and slightly bowed, was coming towards them.
‘Mrs George Lee on the telephone, madam. She says will it be convenient if she and Mr George arrive by the five-twenty tomorrow?’
‘Yes, tell her that will be quite all right.’
‘Thank you, madam.’
The butler hurried away. Lydia looked after him with a softened expression on her face.
‘Dear old Tressilian. What a standby he is! I can’t imagine what we should do without him.’
Alfred agreed.