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those tear-stains before you get in . . . I don't want my long-lost
cousin punching me on the nose!'
She obeyed him as he drove the rest of the way to Queen's
Dower. By the time they had driven up the dark winding drive
to the house, she was restored to her former smooth look, her
face calm. Garnon parked and turned towards her, putting a
hand under her chin to inspect her.
'As I said,' he told her slowly, 'you're a very desirable girl,
even when you're covered in tears . . . like this, you're
breathtaking.'
Louise smiled at him and leaned forward to kiss him
gratefully. His arms slid round her and he pulled her closer, his
mouth deepening the kiss very gently, persuasively, without
alarming her.
Behind him his door opened abruptly. Louise heard Daniel's
furious, biting voice, felt Garnon dragged back from her. Her
eyes alarmed, she jumped out of the car herself just in time to
see Daniel pulling Garnon out, a hand on his collar.
'Daniel, don't!' she cried, running round towards them..
Daniel's face was contorted with rage, as Garnon and he
faced each other like enemies. Louise stood between them,
facing Daniel coldly.
'Leave him alone,' she said with ice in her voice.
The opalescent eyes stared at her, narrowed on her face.
There was a long silence.
'I kissed him first,' she said deliberately. 'And I wanted him
to kiss me back.'
Daniel took a long breath, then turned on his heel and
walked away.
Louise shivered, feeling sick. Garnon whistled under his
breath. 'Honey, that wasn't wise.'
She turned and extended a hand. 'Thank you, Garnon, for the
dinner and the kindness. Have a nice trip back to the States.'
'Will you be all right?' he asked her anxiously. 'That husband
of yours isn't going to be easy to handle.'
'Daniel wouldn't hurt me,' she said flatly. 'I told you, I'm one
of his cherished possessions.'
'One he doesn't like to see in another man's hands,' Garnon
said pointedly. 'Honey, he was ready to kill me. I've seen that
look in a man's eyes before and it means murder.'
'He won't hurt me,' she said calmly. 'Goodbye, Garnon.'
She watched him reluctantly drive away, then she walked
into the house. Ducky was waiting, a sharpness to her mouth.
Louise looked at her without speaking and went up the private
stairs, sensing Ducky's stunned incredulity as she walked away.
This time Ducky had to stay out of it. Louise felt very old. as
she went up the stairs. Tonight she had finally grown up, and
the sensation was not happy.
CHAPTER NINE
WHEN she passed through the door into their own rooms, she
heard Daniel moving about in the sitting-room. She walked
along the corridor stiffly, her head erect. As she passed the door
of the room, he swung, facing her, a glass of whisky in his
hand. 'Come in here,' he said tersely, swallowing the whisky as
if he needed it.
Louise ignored him, walking very fast to her own room.
Bolting the door, she began to undress, unzipping the blue dress
and allowing the shimmering material to slide away from her
into a little heap on the floor.
Daniel spoke sharply outside the door. 'Come out of there,
Louise! We're going to talk, whether you like it or not.'
She slowly took off all her other clothes, and put on a cream
silk wrap with wide lapels which left a tantalising plunge of soft
skin visible, tying the belt around her waist. Slowly she brushed
her hair, staring at herself in the mirror, hearing Daniel's angry
voice get angrier as he hammered on the door. Walking across
the room, she carefully hung up her blue dress, then threw her
discarded underclothes into a linen basket in the corner of the
room.
Daniel was almost hoarse with temper by now. 'My God, I'll
smash this door down if you don't come out!' he shouted,
thudding his fist on the door.
She opened the door and they confronted each other.
Beneath the brushed, glossy black hair her small face was chill.
'I have nothing to say to you; Daniel,' she told him, turning
towards the bathroom.
'Don't you dare to speak to me like that!' he snarled, grabbing
her arm and whirling her round to face him. 'What the hell's got
into you? Have you gone mad?'
'Let go of me,' she said, her voice frigid.
He stared down at her, his eyes leaping with rage, 'I suppose
you've had a heady taste of the power you can have over men
tonight,' he said in a low, thickened tone. 'This American came
here, took one look and fell like a brick wall, did he? Well, I'm
not putting up with it. You're my wife.'
'You're my husband,' she flung back bitterly.
His face reflected bewilderment and irritation. 'What the hell
is that supposed to convey?'
'Garnon took me to dinner in Bristol,' she said coldly. 'As we
drove past the hotel, you came out. . . with Barbara, who kissed
you.'
A flush mounted4n his face, yet oddly he seemed to relax,
some of the violent tension going out of his muscles. His blue-
green eyes narrowed consideringly on her cold face. After a
long pause he said huskily, 'So that's it.'
Burning with humiliation suddenly, Louise pulled out of his
grip and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind
herself. Slowly she washed and cleaned her teeth. She took her
time, expecting to find him still out there when she opened the
door, but when she eventually came out there was no sign of
him.
Although she was so angry, disappointment made her sick.
Gritting her teeth, she walked into her bed room and halted, her
heart leaping, seeing him stand there, having changed into his
dressing-gown, a present she had given him last Christmas,
thick towelling in blue and white, stripes.
She gave him one look, then looked away. 'There's no more
to be said between us, Daniel,' she said. 'I want an annulment.
I'm not sharing you with Barbara. I'm leaving you tomorrow.'
He watched her, his face unreadable. 'I'll take it point by
point,' he said flatly. 'Number one, I had dinner with a Japanese
buyer tonight. You can check with the damned hotel, if you
refuse to believe me. It was sheer misfortune that Barbara
happened to be staying at the place. She's on her way to
Australia, apparently; she leaves next week. She made it impos-
sible for me to ignore her, so she joined myself and the
Japanese for a drink, then I walked her out to get a taxi. She
was going to visit friends. When she'd gone, I drove home.
Early: I wanted to get back to you.' . [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]