The Young Amanda [antikvár]

CHAPTER ONE THE heat was intense. Even the lake was a hot cobalt blue, and the sails of the little yachts hung limp and motionless from theh- masts. Occasionally a speed boat ruffled the water for a moment, but no breeze stirred the branches of the pine trees which sloped steeply from the shore. Amanda raised her eyes to the snow-capped peaks beyond the trees and blinked. Her eyes smarted after her bout of weepiag and her skin felt drawn and teader. Behind her, the gates of the Villa des Petits Chats swung gently shut and she thought she heard a voice call from the garden: "Mademoiselle 'Manda , . » Mademoiselle 'Manda . . ." She turned and sprang with a swift startled grace down the wide, hot steps of the terrace, and sped along the shores of the lake towards the little town. At the market-place she paused. She was miming away, yee, but where should she run to where they would not find her? In the town she might be recognized as one of the dwnoiselles from the villa. Her eyes lifted again to the mountains. There was Mont Fée, looking so close, as it did from her bedroom window. She would run to the mountains, hide herself in the bosom of Mont Fée, until her mind was clear, until she had decided what must be done. She skirted the town, and began the steep climb through the trees up to the Aiguilles Hut. It was a two hours' climb to the hut, she knew. She aad Becky had explored the path as far as the last line of trees. After that it disappeared into a gloomy gorge, and Becky had always turned back. It was hot in the pine thicket and the soaell of resin was almost overpowering. The thin linen slacks clung uncomfortably to her legs, and the long, ashen-coloured hair was heavy on her neck. As she walked, she thought about the past few weeks, and the confusion returned. Couan Julia, Becky, the old lawyer, and that extraordinary will, all dropped from th©