The Silent Lady

Informationen zum Autor Catherine Cookson Klappentext Originally published: London: Bantam, 2001. Leseprobe Chapter 1 The woman put out her hand towards the brass plate to the side of the half-open door. She did not look at the name on the plate, which said, 'Alexander Armstrong & Son, Solicitors', but seemed to find support from it by touching its frame while she stood drawing in deep, shuddering breaths. When she finally straightened herself and stepped through the doorway into a carpeted hall, she made her faltering way towards the desk to the left of her, behind which stood a young woman with her mouth agape. The receptionist did not greet the visitor with a customary 'Can I help you, madam?' or 'Have you an appointment?' because, to her, it was instantly evident that this woman was a vagrant and had no business here; so she did not wait for her to speak but said, 'What d'you want? I...I think you've come to the wrong place.' When the woman answered, 'Mis-ter Armstrong,' the girl was again surprised, this time by the sound of the voice, for it didn't match the woman's appearance. Although it was only a husky whisper it had, she recognised, a certain refinement about it. But the appearance of the woman definitely outweighed the impression her voice made, for the girl now said abruptly, 'He only sees people by appointment.' The woman pointed to her chest, then to her eyes and, opening her mouth wide, she brought out three words, 'He see me.' 'He's -- he's very busy.' Again the head went back and the mouth opened, and the woman said, 'Mrs Baindor.' Again the voice made an impression on the receptionist, so much so that she turned quickly and, pushing open the glass-panelled door of her office, she picked up the phone, at the same time watching the woman now turn from the counter and grope her way to a chair that was set near a small table on which stood a vase of flowers. 'Miss Fairweather?' 'Yes. What is it?' 'There's a...a person here.' Her voice was very low. 'What did you say? Speak up!' 'I said there's a person here. She...she looks like a vagrant but she says Mr Armstrong will see her.' 'A vagrant! What makes you think she looks like a vagrant?' 'Well, Miss Fairweather, you want to look at her yourself and see if my opinion is wrong.' The receptionist was daring to talk like this to Miss Fairweather, but she felt there was something very unusual about this woman. 'Did you get her name?' 'Yes, but it sounded funny, like Barndoor.' 'Barndoor?' 'That's what it sounded like.' At the other end of the phone Miss Fairweather sat pondering. Should she go downstairs and see who this person was who looked like a vagrant, or should she mention the name to Mr Armstrong to see if he knew any such person? She decided on the latter. She tapped on the door that separated her office from that of her employer and when that gentleman raised his head from reading a large parchment set out in front of him and said, 'What is it?' she coughed before saying, 'Miss Manning says there's an odd-looking person downstairs who says she wants to see you. Apparently she doesn't seem able to get rid of her. From Miss Manning's tone the woman appeared to think that you would know her name.' 'Well, what is it? I mean her name.' 'It sounded to Miss Manning, so she says, like Barndoor.' 'What?' 'Well, that's what she said...Barndoor.' Miss Fairweather was absolutely astounded at her employer's reaction to the mention of this name, for he jumped from his seat and shouted, yes, actually shouted aloud, 'Baindor, woman! Baindor! My God!' She saw the parchment that he had been dealing with almost slide off the back of the desk as he thrust his chair back, then he ran across the room, almost knocking her over where she stood holding...

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Catherine Cookson
• Verlag: Simon & Schuster USA
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erschienen: 27.06.2011
• EAN: 9781451660128
• ISBN: 978-1-4516-6012-8
• Seiten: 352
• Abmessung: 155 mm x 228 mm x 24 mm
• Thema: Belletristik > Erzählende Literatur