'Mr Munro! Mr Munro! Is that you in there?'
There was an urgent knocking on the bedroom door, and Briony recognised Mrs Barrett's voice, raised in urgent summons.
Teale swore beneath his breath.
'Stay there,' he whispered, then called, 'I'm coming, Mrs Barrett. What is it?' He opened the door a fraction, sliding through it so that his housekeeper could not see right into the room. But Briony could overhear their conversation.
'Oh, it is you, Mr Munro. Such a relief! I heard all this noise going on downstairs. It woke little Scott, too. I wasn't expecting you back and I dared not go down to see, in case it was burglars.'
'My apologies, Mrs Barrett. I was forced to offer overnight accommodation to some of my sister's friends, because of the bad weather. I'm sorry if they've woken you. I'll go down and shut them up.' His voice receded.
With his departure, Briony shivered. The room was cold, but the shiver was not entirely due to that. The interruption had restored her to a much-needed sense of sanity. She had been on the point of forsaking her principles and letting Teale make love to her with no other commitment than that of mutual physical attraction. Still trembling, she adjusted the trouser suit. She wished she knew which room Teale intended to allocate her, so that she could slip away before he returned. As it was, she must wait and ask him. But, however much he tried, she resolved, she would not let him coax her back into her former pliancy.
The door, left ajar, opened wider and her throat contracted as she waited for Teale to reappear, afraid he would refuse to accept her decision. But it was little Scott who stood in the doorway.
'Daddy?' Then, as his eyes adjusted to the light, 'Oh good, it's you, Briony!' He ran to her and flung himself into her arms. 'You have come to share my daddy's bed.'
It was high time someone explained certain things to him, Briony thought.
'No, darling.' She pulled him on to her knee and cuddled the small form. 'Daddy and I were only talking. I'm going to my own room in a minute.'
'But you are staying here?'
'Just for tonight, because of the snow.'
'Oh!' Scott's face fell. 'I thought you'd decided to come and be my new mummy.'
'Not tonight, perhaps, but soon,' said a third voice, joining in their conversation. Teale stood in the doorway, smiling at them. He moved towards the bed and put a caressing hand on Briony's dishevelled hair. 'I don't believe I actually got around to asking you to marry me, did I, my love?'
Briony stared at him. She swallowed.
'Not exactly, no.' She wondered if her ears were playing her false. But it was not in her ears that she felt the sharp throb of response to his words.
'Remind me later,' he said softly, then, 'But first we'd better put this young man back to bed.'
'Don't want to go back to my room,' Scott announced. 'I want to sleep with Auntie Briony.' The determined set of his small mouth promised trouble if it was denied.
Teale groaned and Briony blushed as she met his eyes.
'All right,' Teale sighed. And to Briony, he said, 'I'll show you your room. Curse Rhoda's noisy friends,' he muttered sotto voce.
With Scott tucked into the spare-room bed Briony was to occupy, Teale drew Briony to the door and into his arms for a long, lingering kiss that reawoke desires that could not now be assuaged. Over her shoulder, he glanced at his son.
'I wish that were me,' he growled, his body hard with longing against hers. 'But there's always tomorrow, and then I'll make sure we're not disturbed.'
CHAPTER NINE
Carefully, so as not to disturb Scott who was already asleep, Briony slid into bed. She was tired, but it was impossible to sleep. Yet it was even more impossible to believe she was awake. She felt she might yet regain consciousness, only to find that the last half-hour or so had been a dream.
She wished Teale's lovemaking had not been interrupted. But, if he'd meant what he said, she needed this time apart from him to collect her thoughts. There were aspects of her past about which he knew nothing, to which she must confess. In a way, she regretted that she had not taken Promilla's advice and told him earlier about Jean-Luc and Iseult. But she still believed she would have been presuming an interest in her personal life that he had not felt at that time.
'Wake up, Briony! Wake up!' She must have slept finally, for Scott had great difficulty in rousing her. 'Daddy said I must wish you a happy New Year.'
'Happy New Year, darling.' She kissed the end of his nose. And it was going to be a happy one, she thought exultantly, perhaps the happiest of her whole life. 'What time is it, for goodness' sake?' It felt like the middle of the night. But a glance at the wristwatch which she hadn't removed showed her it was gone ten o'clock.
'Everybody's having breakfast,' Scott told her.
'Then you scoot and have yours while I wash and dress. I'll be down in a moment.'
'Silly,' he said scornfully, 'I had mine with Daddy, hours ago.' But obediently he made for the door.
She had only last night's trouser suit to put on, but fortunately the material was of the sort that did not crease, and her face, glowing with the anticipation of seeing Teale again, needed no cosmetics.
Downstairs, the house seemed to be full of people, eating, drinking endless cups of coffee, talking and laughing. There had been a snow-clearing party before breakfast, and all the cars, including Briony's were now parked in the rear courtyard of the manor house.
With the memory of last night still vividly in her mind, Briony found it difficult to meet Teale's gaze, but once she did the expression in his eyes convinced her that none of it had been a dream, not even his proposal.
'I can't wait to get rid of this lot,' he murmured, 'so I can have you to myself.'
'But I can't stay.' Dismayed, she remembered. 'I have to get home to feed the cats.' Anxiously, 'Has it snowed much more? Will I be able to get through this morning?'
'The roads should be passable. In any case, I have snow chains on the Rolls. I'll get you back to Gwinvercombe.' His eyes gleamed wickedly and Briony blushed as he said, 'In fact, that will suit my purpose even better. There'll be no one there to interrupt us.'
To Briony, longing to be alone with Teale, Rhoda's friends seemed to take an unconscionably long time departing. But at last the final car had been waved on its way.
'Thank God for that!' Teale's words revealed that he had shared her impatience.
'Daddy, can I show Briony Sally's pups? I know she'll like them.'
Briony couldn't help the giggle, partly nervous in origin, that rose to her lips at the sight of Teale's face.
'Am I never to be alone with you?' he growled in a low voice for her ears only. And to Scott, 'Come on, then. But only a quick visit. Briony's got two hungry cats waiting for her.' He led the way out to the barn, where Sally had been allotted a cosy corner.
The pups, two dogs and two bitches, were as appealing as their mother, and Briony was as besotted over them as even Scott could have wished.
'They're adorable,' she crooned as she stood, Teale's arm about her waist, looking down at the little family.
'So are you,' Teale whispered, his breath fanning her ear. 'Just how soon am I going to be able to tell you how adorable?'
She looked up at him and met a gaze so ardent that her heart constricted in her breast.
'Oh, Teale, I do love you,' she said softly.
'Would you like Daddy to give you one of Sally's puppies?' Scott asked.
'They'll all belong to her, you little monster, if you ever give me a chance to propose to her,' Teale muttered so that only Briony could hear his words. Then, in a louder voice, he said to Scott, 'Come on! That's it! Back to the house. You're going to visit your Auntie Rhoda for the day.'
'For the whole day?' Briony said, deliberately demure.
'Or maybe longer,' Teale told her, love and laughter mingling in his dark eyes. 'Maybe he'd better pack his pyjamas!'
The drive into Gwinvercombe was not achieved easily. Though the snow ploughs had been o
ut on the main roads, the winding country lanes were still treacherous. But Briony felt no fear; Teale's hands were sure and confident upon the wheel.
'You're very quiet,' he said when they had covered several miles in silence.
'Happily quiet,' she told him. 'Besides, I didn't want to distract you while you were driving.'
He risked a quick sideways smile, the smile that always had such an incredible effect on her senses.
'I admit you are a distraction,' he said and at his next words Briony was swamped with a flood of sensuous warmth, 'which is why I'm trying hard not to think about what's going to happen when I get you home.'
The cats, Tara and Stripey, were flatteringly glad to see them, arching their backs and entwining themselves about Briony's legs as she fed them. She sensed Teale's hard-held impatience as she returned their rapturous greetings, and a touch of coquettishness made her prolong her caresses. But at last she shut the kitchen door upon the animals and preceded him into the living-room. Suddenly, she felt absurdly nervous. She wandered about the room, straightening an ornament here, plumping up a cushion there.
'Briony!' he commanded from the depths of the couch. 'Stop fussing and come here. Unless,' huskily, 'you'd rather we went straight into the bedroom?'
'Oh, no!' she said quickly. That would seem too coldblooded, too contrived. She didn't want the climax to their love to come until he had spoken to her of his love, coaxed her with kisses, seduced her with caresses. She wanted their progression to her bed to be a natural outcome of his lovemaking, reached only when desire had mounted too high to be any longer denied.
As she moved towards him, he reached out and entwined his arms about her waist, pulling her close so that his face was pressed against the softness of her stomach, and she felt his lips warm and seeking through the silky material of her suit. Through it, his hands sought and explored her yielding body until she knew a perfect delirium of sensation, until she longed for his touch upon her flesh, for all barriers to be removed.
He shared her sense of frustration.
'I could do without this thing,' he muttered. 'I want to feel your skin against my lips. Why do you have to wear something so difficult to remove?'
'When I put it on,' she reminded him, 'I didn't know I'd be seeing you:
He gave a great shout of laughter and yanked her down across his lap.
'Am I to take it that if you had known you'd have worn something less inhibiting?' But he didn't wait for her indignant answer. His lips were already in possession of hers, while his fingers dealt expertly with the obstacle of which he complained.
'Briony, Briony,' he murmured between kisses, 'why was I ever such a fool as to think wanting meant only one thing? I do want you, and right now I admit that's the greatest need I have. But I've missed you, your company, the sound of your voice, your fine mind, your sense of humour. I've missed just being with you.' He held her a little away and looked into her face, flushed and bemused with happiness. 'Say you'll marry me, Briony! I want to hear you say it.'
'I really ought to make you go down on your knees and propose properly,' she teased.
'If that's what you want, I will.' He made as if to put her from him, but she wound her arms tightly about him, refusing to be dislodged.
'Just kiss me,' she whispered against his lips. 'Just go on kissing me, telling me you love me.'
This he proceeded to do very satisfactorily, not only his lips but his hands speaking of love, stirring her body with unerring sureness. At their tender insistence, she felt desire grow and expand until her demand became as active as his own, her fingers caressing the hard maleness of him.
He did not ask her this time but, taking her agreement for granted, he rose with her in his arms and moved toward the bedroom door, his lips never leaving hers. Gently he lowered her to the floor and slowly, making a worshipping ritual of it, he removed her scanty undergarments, his hands stroking and exploring what they revealed.
'You're so beautiful, my Briony,' he whispered against her breast. 'Let it always be this way between us. Don't ever hate me if sometimes I seem distant and abstracted. Even if you're not in my mind, you will always be in my heart. Don't let us ever grow apart?'
'Never,' she told him huskily. 'You'll write and I'll paint all the better for knowing we have this to look forward to at the end of the day.'
She lay naked on the bed, waiting for him to come to her, and saw the trembling of his hands, nervous with haste as he began to undress.
In the next room, the telephone began to ring.
'Ignore it!' he said. 'Nothing and nobody is going to come between us right now.' He shed the last of his garments and lowered himself beside her. Her body curved against him where it belonged, breast to breast, thigh to thigh, knowing the virility of him against her, knowing that he found their proximity as dizzily exciting as she did.
And the telephone continued to ring.
'It's no good,' she said desperately, 'we'll have to answer it. It must be urgent or they wouldn't go on ringing.'
'Oh, my God! There must be some conspiracy against my ever making love to you!' Teale rolled away from her and rose, pulling the quilt about him. 'I'll answer it and get rid of whoever it is, and then we'll leave the damned thing off the hook!'
She smiled at his fervour, sharing his impatience. She stretched languorously as she waited eagerly for his return, for the splendour she knew his lovemaking would be. This surely must be what heaven was like, she thought, to know that Teale felt for her as she felt for him. She knew that no man had ever affected her as he did, stirring every nerve she possessed.
'Briony!' From the other room, his voice sounded harsh, unfamiliar. 'You'd better take this!'
Reluctantly, she sat up and reached for her robe, a ridiculously diaphanous piece of material that scarcely concealed what it covered.
'What is it?' At the sight of his face, she caught her breath. It must be bad news of some kind to distort his features in that alarming way. Her first thought was that there had been an accident, but to whom? To Promilla, perhaps, now on her way home? She snatched the receiver from his grasp.
'Hello?'
'Mummy?' The voice was as clear as if Iseult had been in the next room instead of Provence. 'I called to wish you a happy New Year. Who was that man who answered? He sounded awfully grumpy.'
'Iseult, darling!' Relieved, Briony spoke with all the wealth of affection she felt for her daughter. 'Happy New Year! Did you have a lovely Christmas?'
'Yes, though I'm sorry I couldn't come and stay with you. But Daddy says I can come at Easter instead, if that's all right?'
'How is Daddy?' Briony enquired politely. 'Did he get home safely?' Jean-Luc had been to Australia on a business trip over Christmas. She turned towards Teale to give him an apologetic smile. But the beginnings of the smile were erased from her face as she saw his expression. 'Iseult, darling,' she said hastily, 'this call must be costing your grandparents a fortune. I'll write and I'll see you soon.'
Even so, it was two or three more agonising seconds before she was able to replace the receiver. She hurried into the bedroom to find Teale pulling on his trousers.
'Teale!' She ran to him, put her hands on his shoulders. 'What… ? Where are you going?'
'Where the hell do you think I'm going?' he demanded, shrugging off her touch. His face contorted with fury. 'Out of here as fast as I can.'
'But Teale… Oh, darling, surely we can talk about this? I…'
'There's nothing to talk about so far as I'm concerned. And don't call me darling.' His hands were shaking so much he could not do up the buttons of his shirt, and finally, with a savage gesture, he thrust the unfastened garment into the waistband of his trousers.
'Oh, my God!' She slumped down on to the bed, her heart-shaped face paled in horror. 'I was right! You are going to condemn me for…'
'Condemn you?' He was bitingly sarcastic. 'Too right I am. What did you expect?'
'Understanding!' she cried piteously. 'A little
tolerance, perhaps, because you love me. Teale, I was only seventeen when…'
'Understanding, tolerance! Huh! You don't expect much, do you? No wonder you could speak so knowledgeably of marriage!' He dragged his sweater over his head.
'What are you talking about?' Dazedly, she stared at him.
'… marriage and its joys, its shared memories.'
'Marriage? But I'm…'
'No wonder you had such an amazing knack with children! How many have you?'
'Only one. Iseult. She…'
'My God, but you led me up the garden path, didn't you?' He flung himself into a chair to put on his socks and shoes.
'No, no!' She shook her head. 'Not deliberately. I…' But he was unstoppable in his anger.
'What? Not deliberately? Holding me at arm's length, giving me the come-on one minute, then playing hard to get, pretending outrage when I wanted to make love to you, preaching morality, spirituality, pretending you loved me…'
'I do love you, Teale!' She stood up and would have moved towards him, but he waved her away.
'Pretending to be holding out for marriage. Do you and your husband have some agreement?'
'I haven't got a…'
'Do you have an open marriage? I suppose he was the one staying here over Christmas?'
'No. I was…'
'A rapturous reunion, was it, while you parked your daughter on her grandparents?' He was on his feet now, striding about the room, beside himself with rage, shouting her down, drowning her attempted protests and explanations. 'And did he get home safely?'
'Teale, if you'd just listen!'
'Listen? To what? Lies? My God! To think I thought that this time I'd found a woman I could trust.'
'Teale! Oh, Teale, it isn't like that!' Briony was shaking from head to foot. Her mouth was dry with fear.
'No wonder you've always been so secretive about your past.'
'I wasn't secretive…' She'd been reserved but there had been good reason for that.
'You encouraged me to ramble on, baring my soul to you. Oh, you were very clever!'
Colour the Sky Red Page 16