by Gordon, Lucy
“I’ve really looked forward to meeting you, ma’m,” he said with just the right touch of sincerity. “Georgy’s told me so much about you. I hope it’s all true. But I think there’s been some mistake? You can’t be her mother. More like her older sister.”
“Young man, that one had whiskers on it when I was in my cradle,” Elsie told him severely. But her eyes gleamed with appreciation of his youthful, well-made figure.
Guests were milling about the tables, searching for their place names. There was none for Elsie, but she solved that problem by parking herself firmly in the seat she wanted, ignoring the feeble protests of its rightful owner. She now had a perfect view of the bride and groom.
“Ignore her,” Jack whispered. “She can’t trouble us.” He carried her hand to his lips, and the guests cheered.
Mary was clearly an organizing genius. In three days she’d masterminded the bridal feast, the flowers, the music. Only the weather was beyond her control, but here the luck was with her, and although summer hadn’t really started, the sun shone warmly.
Kaye guessed that they were all wondering why Jack had married such an ordinary little brown mouse, on the spur of the moment. She was too shy to feel comfortable about this, but she kept her head high, and smiled. Jack seemed to understand, for now and then his huge warm hand would engulf her slender one, and a smile of reassurance was in his eyes. Gradually she relaxed. With Jack’s support she could manage anything. If only this was over, she thought, and she could be alone with him to enjoy her happiness to the full.
Together they cut the cake, and then the band struck up. A temporary dance floor had been set up on the lawn, and Jack and Kaye had the first dance, to loud applause. Afterward they began to circulate among the guests, and soon Kaye found herself standing face-to-face with Jack’s first wife. Elsie had drunk just enough champagne to make her belligerent, and she looked her ex-husband’s bride up and down in a cynical, appraising way. Kaye met her gaze steadily, refusing to be intimidated, and taking the chance to size Elsie up in her turn.
She saw a woman with cold eyes and a face marked by discontent and self-indulgence. It was Sam who’d told her the details of how Elsie had gotten Jack in her sights when he was twenty-one and she was eight years older. Even at that age he’d already been on his way to a fortune, old in the ways of finance, but still green in the ways of women. Elsie had fascinated him, and when she contrived to become pregnant, he’d married her.
“She didn’t care tuppence for Jack, or the kiddy,” Sam had confided. “But Georgy gave her a hold over him, so when she left him for another man the poor little mite got dragged from pillar to post. Elsie’s had a good few affairs since then. In the beginning the men left her richer. Now her looks are going and they leech off her. Don’t believe her devoted-mother act. Georgy’s her weapon, that’s all.”
Looking now at the hard-faced, overdressed woman in front of her, Kaye could believe every word. Then Jack was there beside her, his arm possessively around her waist, holding her close, like a shield against trouble.
“Hallo, Elsie,” he said. “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.”
“You might well,” Elsie said grimly, “considering how you snatched my child.”
“My child, too. It’s about time she had a spell living with her father.”
“Don’t give me that. You think you can just turn up out of the blue and tear my little girl away from me—”
“I didn’t have to. You weren’t there,” Jack pointed out. “You were gallivanting off somewhere with François.”
“You swine. You don’t care what it did to a mother’s heart to come home and find her baby missing.”
Jack didn’t answer this, but Sam observed maliciously, “It took your mother’s heart two months to come after her.”
“I’ve been ill,” Elsie shrieked. “I collapsed, I—I was overcome—”
“Even though I left a letter saying she was with me?” Jack said coldly. “Come on, Elsie. You’ll have to do better than that. I can take care of our daughter a damned sight better than you can, and you know it. At least with me she’s well away from characters like François, not to mention Henri.”
“Where is the boyfriend?” Sam asked slyly. “Did you bring him along?”
Elsie threw him a look of loathing. “We’re having a trial separation,” she announced coldly.
Sam cackled. “That’s why you’ve turned up here at last. He’s dumped you.”
“Shut up, you old fool!” Elsie snapped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Is it true, Mom?” Georgy asked. “Have you and François really broken up?”
“For the moment.”
“And—Henri?”
“It makes no difference what Henri is or isn’t doing,” Jack said. “He’s not coming within a mile of you, young lady.”
Georgy set her chin defiantly. “It’s not fair. You’ve got no right to ruin my life.”
Jack groaned. “Is it ruining your life to shield you from a creep?”
“Mom thought he was fine.”
“I’m sure she did,” Jack retorted grimly. “But that’s no recommendation to me.”
“Who’s Henri?” Paul asked Georgy in an under-voice, while the argument raged around them.
“My boyfriend,” she said with an arch smile.
“I’ll bet you had lots of them.”
“Yes, I did,” she said. “Even François gave me the eye. I prefer older men.”
“Oh.” He looked suitably crestfallen. “Does that mean I don’t have a chance?”
“Depends.” She gave him a teasing smile.
“On what?”
“On whether you put yourself out to please me.”
“Let’s dance. Then you can tell me what you like.” He took her hand and they ran onto the dance floor.
“And as for you,” Elsie said, turning on Kaye suddenly, “standing there like butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth. Who are you, when all’s said and done?”
“I’m Jack’s wife,” Kaye said quietly. “Don’t underestimate me, Elsie, because you won’t find me easy to deal with.”
Jack gave her a look of gratitude. “You’ve had your answer, Elsie,” he said. “Perhaps you should go now.”
“I’ll go when I’m ready. Tell Georgy to come over here. She should be talking to her mother, not dancing with all and sundry.”
“Who are you calling all and sundry?” Rhoda demanded, appearing behind Elsie. “That’s my son.”
“Well, tell him to take his hands off my daughter. She’s only fourteen.”
“Are you saying my son can’t be trusted?” Rhoda snapped.
“I’m saying I know his type. Got a smooth tongue, too handsome for his own good and used to having whatever he wants. And don’t pretend you don’t know what that means.”
“I promise you Georgy’s safe with my brother.” Kaye intervened.
“Your brother?” Elsie turned a jeering look on Jack. “Have you taken on the whole family? That’ll cost you before you’ve finished.”
“Here, you watch your tongue,” Rhoda snapped, squaring up to Elsie. The two women were oddly alike—both with hard, discontented faces, both overdressed, both slightly tipsy. Each was what the other might have become if she’d taken a different path. Perhaps it was their recognition of like that made them instinctively hostile, like two cats with fur rising on their backs.
“I’m not wasting my time on you,” Elsie declared. “But I’m sorry for Jack if he’s taken on your crowd. Oh, yes, I’ve heard the stories. I know how you’ve all got your claws into him. Jack, you’re a fool about people. You always were.”
“You should know about that, Elsie,” he replied. His voice was deceptively quiet, but through it Kaye could hear the throb of anger, all the more dangerous for being restrained. “Nobody dug her claws in quite as deep as you did.”
Elsie didn’t bother denying this. “And you fell for it again,” she scoffed
.
“Don’t judge everyone by yourself,” he told her. “Kaye’s as different from you as one woman could possibly be from another. She married me because she promised a long time ago to come to my aid, no matter what I wanted. Now she’s given me her whole life to redeem her promise. That’s the kind of woman she is.”
Elsie was taken aback, but only for a moment. “Fairy tales! Don’t make me laugh.”
“That’s enough!” Jack said. “Kaye, we should do some more circulating.”
He drew her away firmly. She was glad to go with him, away from the other woman’s spite. Elsie and Rhoda settled into round two of their slanging match. Let them, Kaye thought. Jack’s defense of her was like a song in her heart. Now nothing could hurt her.
Perhaps Jack truly had cherished her memory as she’d cherished his. He might have found some other answer to the problem of his daughter. Instead, he’d sought her out, claiming her promise and hurrying her to the altar. Couldn’t she dare to hope that some part at least of his heart was hers?
“All right, darling?” Bertie appeared before her, slightly the worse for wear. Kaye regarded him tenderly.
“I’m fine, Grandpa. What about you?”
“Never felt better in my life.” He patted his ample stomach. “All I wanted in the world was to see you happy, and now you are, and to know that I helped to make it happen—well.”
“Feeling pleased with yourself, you old devil?” Sam asked.
“Yup!” Bertie hiccuped.
“I can see you two were glad to meet again,” Kaye said, laughing.
“You could have knocked me down with a feather when I picked up the phone and there was my old partner in crime,” Sam confirmed.
“Picked up the phone?” Kaye echoed, puzzled. “When was that?”
“Last week,” Sam said. “He’d have called earlier, but it took him that long to discover this address.”
Bertie’s state of squiffiness had left him happily oblivious to this exchange, but now he belatedly seemed to recognize danger.
“Ah, that’s not quite what happened...” he began, casting an uneasy glance at Kaye.
“Yes, it is,” Sam insisted. “You said you had to talk to Jack urgently because Kaye’s future depended on it, and his office wouldn’t tell you where he was, but I said he was in the States, and gave you his number. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? Getting daft in your old age! Yes, darling, what can I do for you?”
This last remark was addressed to a luscious middle-aged woman who’d been giving him the eye. He filled her glass and engaged her in a desperate flirtation.
Kaye felt as if Sam’s words had turned her to stone. She turned horrified eyes on him. “That was why Jack came here?” she whispered. “You fetched him?”
He sighed and gave up. “I had to stop you marrying Lewis Vane, and Jack was all I could think of. I thought he might find a way to rescue you, and he did. That promise of yours was the perfect way to get you out of Vane’s clutches.
“When we left for the church, and there was no sign of Jack, I gave up hope. His plane had been delayed. Still, better late than never, eh? And it all worked out for the best.”
“The best? Oh, Grandpa,” Kaye said weakly.
“Well, he saved you, didn’t he? And now you’ve married him, and everything’s fine.”
Fine. The word had a terrible hollow ring. She’d thought Jack needed her, but it was an act of charity after all. He hadn’t even wanted to marry her.
“He was just being kind,” she whispered.
“Hah!”
Kaye whirled around to see Elsie standing there, hands on hips, regarding her cynically. “I knew there was something else behind that ‘promise’ story,” she said. “So that’s it. Nothing but a plan to leech off him. Well, make the most of it while it lasts, because if I were you, I wouldn’t count too much on Jack’s ‘kindness.’ Don’t be taken in by his charm, either. It’s on the surface. Underneath it there’s a calculating brain. Jack does what’s good for Jack. He’ll use you to get rid of me, and then he’ll get rid of you.”
“That’s enough out of you,” Sam said fiercely. “You know nothing about Jack. Never did.”
“I know he’s like all men, only more so,” Elsie said coarsely. “He’ll take what he can get. Oh, he’ll sugarcoat it, but it’ll happen just the same. Remember that I warned you.”
Catching Sam’s wrathful eye, she turned away quickly.
“Ignore her, darling,” Bertie advised. “She’s just being spiteful.”
“It’s not her,” Kaye said softly. “It’s knowing that he didn’t really want me at all.”
She looked across the lawn at where Jack was standing in a small group, swapping jokes. The sound of his laughter carried on the breeze, a rich, delightful sound that stirred her blood. Tears stung her eyes. Only a few moments ago she’d been full of joy and pride, confident of her value to him. Now, one shocking revelation had shown her to herself as a beggar depending on his charity. She wanted to sink with shame.
“Grandpa,” she said urgently, “you mustn’t tell Jack that we had this talk.”
“All right,” he said, beginning to understand.
“And Sam—”
“Sam missed half of what we were saying. Too busy making a fool of himself with a woman young enough to be his daughter. Don’t worry, darling. I won’t interfere. But perhaps you should tell him.”
“Never!” she said, so fiercely that his eyes widened.
Somehow she got through the rest of the reception. As the sun began to set, lamps came on in the garden, covering the dancers in a dozen different colored lights. Georgy danced with Paul until Elsie checked her.
“You’re not dancing with him again until I’ve found out a little about him. Come along, young man, you can dance with me.”
Paul complied with a good grace, and soon everyone could hear Elsie’s shrill laughter as he whirled her about the floor.
“I’m sorry this happened,” Jack told Kaye as they waltzed. “But she’s Georgy’s mother. I can hardly throw her out.”
“I don’t mind, honestly.” Kaye was amazed at how normal her voice sounded, almost as though she wasn’t in agony inside.
“Georgy seems very taken with your brother. That’s lucky.”
“How can you say that? Knowing what you do about him—”
“Oh, if she wanted to marry him I’d show him the door. But if she’s flirting with him she isn’t pining for Henri. It’s okay while I’ve got them under my eye.”
“Jack, look what’s happening now,” Kaye said urgently.
Elsie had finished dancing with Paul and was engaged in a heated argument with Georgy. The words “That I should live to hear my own daughter speak to me like that—” floated toward them.
“Let’s go,” Jack said, and headed for the little scene, Kaye’s hand clasped in his.
“It’s been lovely having you, Elsie,” he said untruthfully, “but the party’s over.”
“She,” Elsie said, pointing at Georgy, “is coming with me, right now. She’s mine.”
“You’re talking about our daughter, not a piece of property,” Jack said in disgust.
“She’s mine till she’s sixteen, my lawyer says so.” Alcohol and thwarted temper had destroyed Elsie’s common sense. She’d reached the stage where she barely knew what she was saying.
“I’m not arguing,” Jack told her. “I’ve called you a taxi and it’s just arrived.”
Elsie’s eyes filled with theatrical tears. “Darling—” She tried to appeal to Georgy, but the girl had slipped away while her elders were talking, and was giggling in a corner with Paul.
“In the end, neither of us is going to win,” Jack told her, speaking kindly. “Our daughter is growing up, not as fast as she thinks she is, but still fast. She’s increasingly going to do what she wants, and never mind us. Neither of us owns her, Elsie.”
“I’ll take you to court. I’ll tell them how you abducted her.”
Elsie’s parting shot was for Kaye. “You think you’ve won, don’t you? You may get a shock when you find out just what you’ve won.”
Kaye didn’t make the mistake of answering this with words. She merely stood close to Jack, letting the picture speak for itself. Elsie’s mouth tightened, and she turned away without another word and stormed out.
“We’d—better follow and see she goes,” Jack said.
They followed Elsie around to the front and stood watching while the taxi vanished down the drive.
“She’ll be back.” He sighed. “But for the moment, she’s gone. It needed another woman to stand up to her. Thank you—for everything.”
The rest of the guests were beginning to leave. Georgy and Paul were still dancing. Rhoda had settled down with a plate piled high with food and seemed about to take root.
“Oh, my, I’m so sleepy,” Rhoda said with an exaggerated yawn. “The thought of that journey home is almost too much for me. Our car’s broken down—it’s always doing that, it’s so old—and it’s a rough journey by bus.”
“I’m sure it is,” Jack sympathized, at his most charming. “I’d hate to think of you and Paul having to get yourselves home as late as this.”
Rhoda bridled. “Well, it is a bit far...” she began archly.
“So I’ve arranged for Harry to take you home in my car. He’s bringing it around the front now. You’ll find it very comfortable.”
Outmaneuvered, Rhoda tried to come about again. “I wouldn’t want to put you to the trouble.”
“It’s no trouble,” he assured her with a smile whose charm masked its determination.
Kaye breathed a sigh of relief. Rhoda usually got what she wanted, and the thought of her imposing on Jack for the night had been giving her nightmares. But Jack could cope with Rhoda, she realized.
“Why don’t you slip away?” Jack murmured to her. “I’ve got a few goodbyes to make. I won’t be long.”
He took her face between his hands and kissed her on the lips. It was a beautiful kiss, full of promise for the night to come, and a few hours ago she would have returned it fervently. But now she was full of torment. When he drew back she searched his eyes, longing to find there something that would set her heart at rest. She saw warmth and eagerness, but she wanted much, much more. Heartsick, she turned away and ran upstairs to her room.