by Anne Hampson
Uncle Jack smiled, and they realised that he already knew all this. Chad must have told him.
‘I’ve had something to eat,’ he said. ‘I got myself a sandwich and some cake. Who made that cake, by the way? It wasn’t Sara, that’s for sure!’
‘Carole does all the cooking,’ submitted Beth. ‘She’s terrific!’
Having finished his drink, Chad rose from his chair.
‘I must be going,’ he said. ‘Goodnight, Jack—’
He merely nodded to the girls before going to the door and opening it.
‘I’ll see you out,’ offered Beth, for the moment forgetting that they weren’t very friendly any more.
‘Thanks,’ briefly and with a hint of amusement that Beth could not understand.
‘It was a lovely surprise to find Uncle Jack here,’ she said, just for something to cover her awkwardness as, having reached the front door, they both paused and looked at one another.
‘It was a surprise to me when he phoned. I was getting ready to come to the Club. Did you enjoy yourself any better tonight than last Saturday?’ he added with a quizzical note to his voice.
She coloured, as he meant her to; she could not know that when she blushed he found her enchantingly youthful and naive.
‘You’re no gentleman to remind me of that!’ she shot at him wrathfully.
‘How scared you were,’ he went on imperturbably, ignoring her angry comment. ‘Have you changed of your own accord, Beth, or have I tamed you?’
She set her mouth, thinking of her uncle and cousins in there and mentally resolving to retain her composure, for if she did not do so she was going to be asked questions as to why she was looking so red in the face.
‘If it pleases you to believe you’ve tamed me—as you term it—then do so. I couldn’t care one way or the other.’
‘You little liar, Beth,’ he said softly, and bent before she knew what he was about. His lips merely touched the tip of her nose. ‘I don’t know if it would please me to tame you or not. As a matter of fact, I quite like you as you are.’
She looked at him swiftly, her colour fluctuating now, her heartbeats racing with abnormal speed. She was not sure if she imagined it or whether there really was an expression of tenderness in his eyes.
She was shy suddenly and unsure of herself—or unsure of everything, for that matter.
‘That’s an—an—odd thing to s-say,’ she stammered. ‘I mean—you’ve called me a bitch, and a vixen, and all sorts of other names—haven’t you?’ His fine lips twitched. How very composed he was, so sure of himself with that air of the aristocrat and the confidence of a king. Absurdly Beth wanted to hit him, to reduce him to her own level.
‘All of which,’ he said in an expressionless voice, ‘fitted at the time.’
She drew a deep breath and counted ten.
‘And what particular name have you for me now?’ she asked acidly. ‘Don’t spare me; I’m immune to your insults after all this time—which is not in the least surprising, is it?’
Chad laughed softly, so that the others would not hear.
‘It isn’t insults you’re fishing for at this moment,’ he told her with maddening perception. ‘I said before that there are times when you’re very transparent. This happens to be one of those times.’ He paused, quirking her a smile. ‘Well, my dear, I shall not satisfy your vanity. Goodnight; sleep well.’ He waited for her to open the door and then, without warning, he stooped and kissed her lightly on the lips.
When Beth returned to the sitting-room her uncle was looking very satisfied with himself. He had obviously asked Jo and Carole why they wanted to return home. They had given the answers truthfully; he also heard them admit that they were no longer in love with their fiancés. He glanced at Beth as she came in and was eventually hearing her say that she was no longer interested in Kevin. She coloured as she spoke, because all her thoughts were on Chad, and the way he had teased her and then kissed her. Surely he must think something about her!
‘So my plan has succeeded,’ her uncle was saying. ‘I’m well satisfied with you all. However, I think you
ought to stay—’ He looked at Jo and Carole only.
‘Surely you’re enjoying your holiday here.’ He paused and then laughed. ‘It hasn’t been all holiday, of course, but you can’t say you’ve been overworked, can you?’
They all shook their heads.
‘No, indeed we haven’t,’ said Carole, and then after a slight hesitation, ‘I’ve changed my mind since I sent that letter, Uncle Jack.’ She paused a moment. ‘Did Chad tell you that Doug has lost nearly everything?’
‘Yes. I was very sorry. I like young Doug Saunders.’ He looked at Carole, who had admitted that she had wanted to leave because she could not risk falling in love with Doug and having to live in his little shack of a house.
‘I’ve decided now that I want to stay and help Doug build his place up again.’
‘I see ...’ The old man looked thoughtful. ‘You’re in love with him? You couldn’t help yourself after all?’
She nodded, embarrassed.
‘He hasn’t asked me to marry him, but I think he might ...’ She stopped, frowning. ‘Perhaps he’ll feel he hasn’t a proper home to offer me,’ she added dejectedly.
‘He’s a hard worker ...’ The old man seemed to be talking to himself. He fell silent and the girls looked at one another. What had he up his sleeve now? they were wondering. At last he spoke; they all listened, Carole’s eyes widening and her lips parting in a smile. Uncle Jack was admitting to being lonely, to missing his friends here. But he wanted to retire. He thought that Doug would make an excellent manager, keeping Joshua as head man over the boys. If Carole married him then Uncle Jack would have a comfortable home here, living with them. But he was troubled about Jo, he said. Was she still determined to leave and set herself up in a bachelor-girl life? She said yes; she was quite determined to return to England.
‘Very well, my dear,’ said her uncle mildly. ‘As I’m making provision for Carole I must do the same for you. I shall see my lawyer and have a sum of money made over to you in the near future.’
‘Oh, but—?’
‘No arguments, Jo. I must treat you all the same. You’ve all given me a great deal of pleasure in my life. I’m sorry you won’t stay, Jo, but I’m sure you’ll visit us as often as you can.’
‘I most certainly will ...’ She was overcome, but of course she hid her emotions. Jo was like that—with a soft heart beneath a tough exterior.
‘And now Beth.’ Uncle Jack’s expression was strange indeed as he looked at her. ‘I must make a sum of money over to you, equal to what I’m giving Jo.’ He stopped, expecting her to say something, but she remained silent, aware that it would not only be futile to protest about the gift he was making her, but it would savour of hypocrisy since she was well aware that her uncle would never give to the others and not to her. She expected him to ask her about her plans, but strangely he did not. The omission puzzled her and, for some indefinable reason, hurt her a little. He seemed so casual, not having shown as much concern about her as he had about the others. However, she managed to get over it quite quickly and they all sat down later to a supper prepared by the girls, and it was past two in the morning before they said goodnight and went to bed.
Chad came over the next morning to take a look at the repairs to the buildings. He came into the home-stead for coffee and was with Uncle Jack for a while after it was finished. When he came from the room
where they had been talking privately he quirked Beth one of his familiar smiles, patted her cheek and then departed.
‘Well,’ exclaimed Carole, ‘that was intimate if you like!’
‘Intimate—?’ Beth’s face had fused with colour.
‘Rubbish! He—er—was merely being friendly.’
Jo lifted an eyebrow.
‘He didn’t pat my cheek,’ she commented dryly. Beth turned away, and went into the garden, her mind confused, and not only by
Chad’s behaviour but by something her uncle had said last night, when they were all having supper.
‘Well, it seems that all my girls’ futures are nicely mapped out. I couldn’t have made a more worthwhile decision than the one I made when I saw those fellows you’d got yourselves attached to and became troubled about you all.’
All my girls’ futures are nicely mapped out ...
He had merely cast a swift glance in Beth’s direction and after that his expression became unreadable. Mystified by his confident words, Beth thought of questioning him as to their meaning. But she refrained, deciding that the assertion about her future being settled was made because of the money he was making over to her. She, like Jo, could set herself up in a nice little house; she would be able to afford a car, and holidays abroad—Yes, that was obviously Uncle Jack’s idea of her future being nicely mapped out.
Rosa’s father came home two days later. He visited Jacana Lodge within a couple of hours after his arrival, glad to know that his friend was back. He was happier still to learn that Jack was not returning to England permanently after all.
Beth, liking the old man on sight, wondered how he could have fathered a daughter as unlikeable as Rosa. Perhaps she was like her mother, was Jo’s comment.
‘I heard him telling Uncle Jack that Chad wants to see him rather urgently,’ Carole said soon after his departure. ‘I wonder what it is that can be so urgent?’
Beth felt her whole body sag. There could be only one thing that Chad could want to see Rosa’s father about ...
‘Do you suppose he wants to tell the old man that he’s going to marry Rosa?’ The words came slowly, and with difficulty, and Beth looked away as she spoke, unwilling for her cousins to see her expression.
‘Could be,’ mused Jo, but with an automatic shake of her head. ‘I don’t see why Chad should have to get her father’s consent.’
‘No, but Chad’s the kind to feel that it would be courteous to tell Rosa’s father of his intentions.’
Jo shrugged.
‘Perhaps, but it isn’t done these days.' Besides, Rosa’s father would have known of Chad’s interest before he went away.’
Beth said nothing, but she steeled herself to hear an announcement of the engagement at any time. That Chad had liked her, Beth, was an undoubted fact in her mind. But she was also willing to admit that Rosa would make a far more suitable wife to a man like Chad than she would. Rosa possessed all the arrogant poise and self-assurance that matched Chad’s own; she was tall and beautiful, a woman with the rare ability always to appear immaculate. Compared to Rosa, Beth felt herself to be not only plain and ordinary, but totally inadequate and lacking in self-confidence.
She thought that she might now have to alter her plans, since if Carole married Doug and they came to live at Jacana, they would not want her living with them, even though it was only for a few months. No, better to return to England with Jo, Beth decided. She could get herself a nice little house, as Jo was intending doing—She cut her thoughts, biting her lip hard to stem the tears that threatened. Would she ever get over it? she wondered. Would the time ever come when she could think about Chad without a piercing stab of pain entering her heart? The very idea of him being married to Rosa was sheer agony, and more than ever she determined to go home just as soon as it was possible to do so.
So sure was she that Chad and Rosa would announce their engagement that she feigned illness on the following evening and would not go to the Club. Jo wanted to stay at home with her, but she would not hear of it. Her uncle had gone off earlier to spend the evening with two friends of his, Mr. and Mrs. Pickering who were English and had come here to retire, having lived in these parts many years ago, but had gone back to England so that their growing family could have a proper education. They had always promised themselves that, one day, they would return, and they were now living in one of the smart bungalows which nestled so prettily on the hillside close to where Alex’s home was situated.
‘Shall I stay with you?’ asked Carole, but again Beth said no, she would be all right on her own. Carole still looked anxious, making Beth feel like a hypocrite, as there wasn’t a thing the matter with her. She knew that Carole was eagerly looking forward to spending an evening with Doug and in the end she needed little persuasion to go off with Jo to the Club dance and buffet.
Beth tried to settle down with a book when they had gone, but she was far too restless. She looked out into the darkness of the garden and thought she would feel better if she went for a stroll. But she was a trifle afraid. The houseboy was out and so was Sara. All was so silent and lonely and she found herself jumping at every little sound made by the house settling itself after the heat of the afternoon. And she fairly froze when she heard a car coming up the drive and then crunch to a stop right outside the front door. An imperious rap on the panels drove terror into her spine and she looked round wildly, searching for a weapon. There was nothing handy and when the panels were rapped again she went into the hall and called in a choked little voice,
‘Who—who’s th-there?’
‘It’s Chad. Open the door—’
‘Chad!’ Vaguely she knew she should be sagging with relief, but instead she was suddenly stiff with anger. She flung wide the door, glared at him and said through her teeth,
‘What the devil did you knock like that for? I’m here on my own, and you frightened me to death!’
He seemed staggered at the reception but recovered instantly.
‘You don’t look very dead to me,’ was his suave response to her furious assertion. ‘Nor do you sound it. Aren’t you going to ask me in?’ He was dressed in a light blue linen jacket and trousers, with a matching shirt and darker blue bow-tie. What right had he to look so damned immaculate and superior! Beth was still trembling from the fright he had given her, and as yet she had not asked herself why he should be here, and not at the Club.
‘Come in! What do you want? Uncle’s out and won’t be back until late!’
He came in and kicked the front door to behind him. He looked down at her, eyes glinting and said, ‘Why aren’t you at the Club?’
‘Because I’m ill! Anyway, what has it to do with you?’
‘Ill?’ he echoed, lifting his brows. ‘By God, girl, if this is how you go on when you’re ill then I—’
‘What do you want?’ demanded Beth, breaking in wrathfully. ‘You look as though you’re on your way to the Club, and you’re going to be late.’
‘I’ve already been to the Club.’ He glanced towards the open door of the sitting-room. ‘Your—er—illness appears to have affected your manners. Do you mind if I invite myself to sit down in one of your chairs?’
Beth gritted her teeth.
‘The same old sarcasm!’ she snapped. But it was now gradually dawning on her that Chad must have some important reason for being here, and she followed when he went from the hall into the sitting-room. She stopped just inside the door, watching him pick up the book she had been trying to read and look at the title. He tossed it on to the table, then turned, slowly, his face grim and taut, his blue eyes glinting, dangerously. Something made her falter,
‘Why aren’t you—you w-with Rosa?’
‘Because I can’t be in two places at once,’ he returned with heavy sarcasm. ‘Rosa’s at the Club and I happen to be here ... in the vixen’s den,’ he added finally just as if he had to. Beth said nothing; she was conscious of her pulses racing, her heart beating so fast that its throbbing was like hammers in her chest. She heard Chad’s voice, soft but imperious, edged with the arrogant mastery she knew so well. ‘Come here.’ He pointed to a spot on the floor close to where he was standing. Beth shook her head, her mouth too dry for words, and in any case there was a strange little lump in her throat that seemed to be choking her. ‘Come here.’ The voice was softer still, more like the low guttural sound that comes from the throat of a jungle animal about to pounce upon its prey. Beth wondered if she looked as white as she felt. She wanted to run from hi
m, because he frightened her in this mood and because she wanted to think, to spread her comprehension into the bewilderment that filled her mind. But instead of running from him she more prudently obeyed him, for instinct told her that he hadn’t glanced at that ruler on the desk for nothing.
‘I d-don’t understand,’ she quavered, and when she reached the place indicated she looked up at him, all the fight gone out of her because she had no doubts any more about Chad’s feelings for her. He had come from the Club on being told by her cousins that she was not going to be there tonight. He had expected to find her unwell; instead he had met with fury born of the terror that had come to her gradually and then reached its climax when he had rapped on the door.
‘No? Perhaps,’ he said suavely, ‘you’d understand a clip on the ear better?’
She clenched her hands but managed to hold her tongue. And the next moment she was taken roughly in his arms, crushed against his hard body and kissed until she was breathless. And after this he shook her, then kissed her again, and she could only remain passive until his ardour—or was it his temper?—settled again and he would then no doubt have something to say to her by way of an explanation.
‘Remind me to beat you every night for the first month of our marriage,’ he snapped. ‘By God, Beth, I’ll tame you if it’s the last thing I do!’
He had drawn away, but her arms were still tightly held. Beth, her heart racing so wildly that it frightened her, could scarcely speak, for she was still gulping for air, trying to resume her normal breathing after his rough treatment of her.
‘M-marriage, Chad ...?’ she stammered at last.
‘Why do you think I’m here if it isn’t to ask you to marry me?’
She blinked and asked him tartly if she was supposed to be a thought-reader.
‘It isn’t a very romantic proposal,’ she ended, as if it were an afterthought.
For a long moment he was silent, his expression slowly changing until her very nerves thrilled to the tender love she saw in his eyes. His mouth too was curved in a soft and tender line and his grip on her arms slackened to a tender caress as his long lean fingers moved as if to soothe away the bruises they had made.