Captivity
Page 12
'No,' she repeated steadily.
His laughter was harsh as he turned her back towards the marquee. He took little notice of her pale face and dragging steps. 'If you don't give in,' he threatened, 'I must find a way of making you. One day soon you might find yourself left with no other choice but to say yes.'
'You've said that before,' she muttered unhappily.
'No harm in saying it again,' he returned savagely.
Shortly after this the party broke up, though it was doubtful if many went to bed. The house was full as many people were staying over. Bedrooms and every spare corner seemed packed with people trying to snatch an hour's sleep. Others just gave up and had breakfast, after which they appeared fully able to face another day. Alex was amazed at the ability many displayed to keep going almost indefinitely!
Time and again she was surprised at her own energy, but by the end of the week she was beginning to wonder how much she had left. She felt curiously exhausted, not even inclined to argue when, after the last guests had gone, Chase insisted firmly that she spent the next few days quietly. They were having coffee in the lounge after lunch with Aunt Harriet, just the three of them, and when Chase spoke Alex found herself smiling at him gratefully, thinking she might be well advised to do just that.
Aunt Harriet regarded her affectionately. 'You've done remarkably well, dear. You've been a great help. I'm sure Ruby's wedding wouldn't have gone off half as well without you.'
Alex shivered, thinking she must have picked up more from her mother than she realised Mrs Latham could organise anything she had it down to a fine art, but Alex hoped she would never trample over people the way her mother often did.
Chase teased blandly, 'By the time Alex has been here a few years she'll have quite a reputation. In less than that, I would say, if she agrees to stay.'
Again Aunt Harriet beamed. 'I do hope you will, Alex. I'm only just beginning to realise how wonderful it is to have a kind of general assistant. Mrs Young is good, but I can't expect her to do things like writing my letters and coping with visitors. She has more than enough to do as it is.' 'Well, I'm afraid I can't stay much longer,' Alex began, feeling trapped again. In the face of Miss Harriet's eagerness it was difficult to say she must leave immediately, which of course she must! She hadn't seen nearly enough of Coolabra, she doubted if she ever would, but it was growing more imperative each day that she got away from Chase. Twice since Ruby's wedding, he had asked her to marry him. Both times she had refused. The last time she had flinched from his cold anger, anger which she fancied for once had nearly got out of control. With the effort of pulling himself together, he appeared to come to a decision exactly what, Alex couldn't guess, but it still made her shiver to recall his expression. Each day she became more aware of a danger which seemed only to grow. 'You must stay here until I get back,' Chase surprised her by saying. Aunt Harriet, apparently not taking Alex's protests at all seriously, hurried off to consult with Mrs Young.
'Until you come back?' Alex faltered stupidly, wondering why he was watching her like a cat watches a mouse. 'I...I didn't know you were going anywhere.'
He smiled tightly, coming to stand close by her as she rose anxiously. 'Didn't anyone tell you? I'm going to Sydney, but I hope to be back by Thursday.'
Alex stared at him, her heart beginning to hammer. 'I could go with you to Brisbane and get a plane back to Melbourne.'
'No,' he made a soft jeering noise in his throat, 'nothing doing. You'll be here to welcome me when I return and if you're a good girl, I might bring you a surprise.'
Her blue eyes widened with a growing despair. Hadn't she been right to suspect he was planning something? 'I don't want a surprise,' she said fiercely, 'I just want to leave. When are you going?' Drew's waiting to run me out to the airstrip.'
'Now?' It was a shattering shock. Her eyes went quickly to his dark pants and shirt, the kind of clothes he wore when he wasn't out on the station with the men, ideally suited for travelling to any major city. No, just by looking at his clothes she couldn't have guessed. And in Sydney he would have his flat and plenty of business suits.
'Yes, I'm going now,' he assured her coolly, mocking her obvious if silent attempts to think of a way she might foil him. 'You can come to the strip and see me off, but that's as far as you're going.' Refusing to give up, Alex followed him out, only too willing to grab the chance of a few extra minutes in which there might still be some faint possibility of him changing his mind. 'Why didn't you tell me sooner?' she asked.
'Because, my darling, you would only have pestered me worse than you're doing now, and this in the first peaceful day we've had in weeks.'
Drew had his bag stowed away in the back of the truck, but it was to the front of it that Chase steered Alex. Quickly he swung her up between Drew and himself, then they were off. She dared not protest, not even when he put his arm around her, supposedly to steady her when the truck lurched over rough patches. From her waist his hand slipped to her thigh and she was aware of his slight, taunting smile as she wriggled.
At the airstrip the plane waited, but Alex knew it was hopeless. Seldom, outside fiction, did girls manage to stow away. She didn't stand a chance.
Chase, watching her narrowly, read her thoughts and shook his head. 'Not a chance,' he confirmed, shaking his head. He put his arms around her shoulders again, drawing her closer, his eyes darkening as he stared into her resentful ones. 'Kiss me goodbye,' he demanded thickly.
As his head bent she was aware of Drew Blake turning tactfully away, and her resentment grew that Chase was embarrassing her deliberately. Unless she was prepared to make a scene she must give him the kiss he sought. To get it over quickly she lifted her lips in apparent obedience. His claim on her mouth was absolute. Swiftly he brushed aside her endeavours to keep it light and brief. His arms tightened cruelly around her slight body as he forced her mouth open under his. Attempting to stiffen, she was immediately betrayed by her own abandoned response. Her arms went around his neck and she clung to him, her mouth clinging, too, moving softly under his in a kind of helpless passion. When Chase released her he stared down at her face for a few motionless seconds, his eyes smouldering with undisguised desire. 'Yet you still keep on saying no!' Abruptly he left her, speaking to Drew, the words he had spoken to her still ringing derisively in her ears.
During the next few days she found it difficult to settle to anything, although the told herself she should be glad of the respite his absence gave. Aunt Harriet had apparently known of Chase's trip, but declared she hadn't thought to mention it. Alex, considering this darkly, wasn't sure whether to believe or not. Sometimes she was sure there was a huge conspiracy against her. When asked if she missed Chase, Aunt Harriet admitted she did, but that she was used to his being away. She seemed reluctant to discuss it, but assured Alex he always came back.
It did occur to Alex that there might be nothing to prevent her escaping from Coolabra while Chase was gone. She didn't know what orders he had left, but she was certain he wouldn't have stated specifically that she wasn't to leave the station. Instinct, however, warned her to be cautious, so she made her first enquiries discreetly.
Again she approached Aunt Harriet. 'I'd like to do some shopping in Mount Isa. Do you think you could spare me?' Her conscience bothered her over deceiving Aunt Harriet about this, but it seemed the only way.
Aunt Harriet glanced at her sharply. 'I might,' she replied carefully, 'but I don't think anyone could be spared to take you. Drew's very busy with the mustering, I believe.'
Anxiously, Alex protested. 'I don't really mind about Drew. Perhaps one of the other men could go?' Aunt Harriet shook her head. 'Maybe later in the week,' she said vaguely. 'Of course you can always go and ask Drew.'
'If you gave him a definite order?' Alex suggested desperately. Oh, but I couldn't do that, dear child,' Aunt Harriet declared, quite unconvincingly.
Determined not to give up easily, Alex went immediately to see Chase's manager. 'Couldn't you find time to
take me?' she begged.
'I'm afraid not.' No more helpful than Aunt Harriet, Drew smiled evasively, 'Not for a few days, anyway.'
When Chase would be back again! Contrary to what she had thought, it was becoming abundantly clear he had left orders of some sort! Trying to hide her rising anger behind a charming smile, she persevered.
'You can't tell me that you haven't one man available. Why, since I've been here I've seen dozens.'
'And every one with a job to do, I'm afraid.' He grinned warmly down at her lovely little face, almost beginning to believe in angels. 'Why not let me take you out riding? On the boss's orders, mind you.
Chase suggested it himself.'
'No, thank you,' she declined sharply, her smile fading as she left him. 'That might take almost as long as a trip to Mount Isa, Drew.'
With all means of escape being unmistakably cut off, Alex found herself thinking of Chase constantly. It dawned on her suddenly, one day in the garden, that she didn't want to run from him any more. Suddenly she was stunned by the realisation that she cared for him deeply. The knowledge of this love, catching her so unawares, shook her so much she was forced to sit down weakly. She couldn't tell when it had happened, perhaps it had been there all the time, fighting to make itself known behind the hate she had been convinced was all she felt for him. She might have known, when his kisses set her on fire, that the rapture she experienced in his arms could never be founded on hate. Her whole body warmed to the memory of his lovemaking and she longed to be in his arms again.
Blindly she stumbled to her feet, wandering the entire length of the garden, reaching a wilder part of it some distance from the house, where she surprised a multitude of brilliantly coloured parakeets. Today, with her thoughts centred completely on Chase, she scarcely noticed their wild beauty. That she loved him didn't change anything. Chase had kissed her hungrily on the airstrip, but he had no love for her.
Like her mother, he was entirely dominating, determined always to have his own way. To marry him would simply be exchanging one form of bondage for another, and a husband would be much more difficult to escape than a mother!
It was only as the hours and days passed, ever more slowly, that Alex began to change her mind. She was missing Chase desperately. The nights were so long she sometimes passed them in crying, burying her hot cheeks in the pillows, unable to rest. The emptiness of being without him used up all her nervous strength so that her days were spoilt by frequent headaches and anxious shadows darkened her eyes. If she was to capitulate and marry Chase, surely nothing could be worse than what she was suffering now..
And it would be her own decision. Chase wouldn't be a husband chosen by her mother. Her mother hadn't had anything to do with it. If she wasn't strong enough to go on refusing to marry him, this one factor would make it easier to accept.
Nothing was heard from Chase until he had been away four days , days when time seemed to be standing still, for all Alex managed to pack into them. It made her conscious of how lonely she was on her own, something she had never been aware of before. She loved the station the isolation didn't daunt her, and she could find so much to keep herself occupied, but without Chase it was as if the axle on which she rotated had been removed. When he sent word by Drew Blake that he was coming home, the surge of joy she felt shook her.
'He's been gone a long time,' she exclaimed, her small face so radiant that Drew and Aunt Harriet glanced quickly at each other before looking away.
'Well,' said Aunt Harriet, with a slight smile, 'it will be nice to have him back. Was there any other message, Drew?'
'No...er..' somehow Drew found it necessary to stare at the floor, 'that was about all.'
Alex, murmuring an excuse, left them, feeling suddenly a great desire to be alone. Finding her favourite spot in the garden, she lingered there for some time before returning to the house. Going up to her room to rinse her face and hands before tea, she bumped into Mrs Young coming down, looking flustered.
It was so seldom that Mrs Young was put out over anything that, startled, Alex paused. 'Is there something wrong, Mrs Young? Can I help?'
'No, dear, it's all taken care of. Chase is bringing a lady guest and I've had a room to prepare in a hurry.
Normally, it should have been ready, but we still seem to be at sixes and sevens from the wedding.'
A lady-friend? Alex went on her way, her heart like a stone in her breast. So that was why drew had looked confused earlier? It would be Davina, of course. Or it could be someone else. Chase, she thought bitterly, might have no compunction about casting off the old to get on with the new.
Yet could she blame him? Sickly she decided she could not. Hadn't she refused to marry him often enough? Once too often, it would seem. This was why he had insisted she stayed until he returned so he could take his revenge. He had known Alex was attracted to him. He had wanted marriage for the sake of Coolabra and been annoyed by her continual refusals. Now he was bringing with him a girl who must be only too eager to be his wife. He might even intend asking Alex to help with the arranging of another wedding!
Tears began running unhappily down Alex's cheeks, and she had cried too much, lately. Quickly she scrubbed them away with her knuckles. She must pull herself together. No one must be allowed to guess she was feeling miserable, least of all Chase. It might take effort, but it couldn't be for long. With any luck she could be back in Melbourne tomorrow. He would have to let her go after this. Under no circumstances would she consider staying on. Her heart might be breaking, but she must prove she still had some pride.
She waited until she heard the faint sound of an engine. Catching a painful breath, she listened to it approaching, the noise of the truck growing louder until it stopped outside. Drew had brought Chase and his lady friend from the airstrip. The sudden silence, then the murmur of voices, brought this information winging to Alex's room.
Taking herself firmly in hand, she rejected a distracted inclination to stay upstairs until it was time for dinner. By then she might only feel worse and there were things she must have settled by then. Her own departure being one of them.
Smoothing her silky sundress over the slender curve of her hips, she reached for the zip and drew it up carefully. The soft material shaped the lovely curve of her breasts, the neckline cut just low enough to allow a tantalising glimpse of them. It was the kind of dress which she normally kept for a smart sunbathing party, rather than for afternoon tea, but today she felt greatly in need of something to give her a little extra confidence.
Quickly she ran a comb through her hair, relieved that it was looking particularly beautiful. This afternoon, she realised, glancing in her mirror, it was the best thing about her that and her figure.
Yesterday her face had glowed, because of her incredibly misguided decision to marry Chase. Now it was lifeless, distraught and pale. Despairingly she pinched her cheeks, hoping to induce a little colour.
Downstairs she heard voices again, this time coming from the lounge, the one which opened on to the front of the house. For a moment Alex paused, staring at the closed door. Chase had promised her a surprise and at least she was partly prepared for it. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, a smile fixed stiffly on her white face.
As the door swung soundlessly open and she stepped over the threshold, she stopped sharply, clutching the door handle with icy fingers, feeling she was about to faint. Seated by Aunt Harriet, looking completely at ease, was her mother.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Her eyes wide with an apprehension she didn't yet fully understand, Alex stood staring at her mother.
Vaguely she was aware of Chase coming between them, and that her mother hadn't yet seen her.
Chase had. He strode towards her smiling. 'I was just on my way to see what was keeping you,' he told her, holding out a hand.
Ignoring it, she didn't return his smile. She felt far too stunned to return a gesture of any kind, and in this case she did not want to. 'What's my mother doing here?'
As Alex instinctively drew back, his eyes glittered, his brief explanation tinged with a mockery which might not otherwise have been there. 'She came at my invitation,' he drawled. 'Your father is to join us next week. Neither of your parents have actually stayed on a cattle station before. Your father, particularly, is extremely interested.'
Because of his work he would be, but this was beside the point! 'Chase?' Her face was even paler than it had been a few moments ago. 'You don't ask strangers here just because they haven't been Outback before. You had another reason!'
'You might be all the reason I need. Haven't you thought of that?'
Alex felt cornered. She didn't understand it, but she felt terrible. She put a hand helplessly to her throbbing head. 'You brought my mother here so she could bully me into marrying you!'
'For God's sake, Alex!' he exclaimed harshly, his face almost as pale as her own, 'I don't know what you take me for, but we can't argue about it here.'
Her mother turned, her smile charming as she caught sight of her young daughter. 'Alex darling!' she held out her hands. 'Come and kiss me. Aren't you surprised to see me? I told Mr Marshall you would be, but he said he'd promised you a surprise.'
' So he did. How are you, Mother?' Slowly, her face oddly set, Alex went over to suffer her mother's fond embrace. Her mother, always theatrical, enjoyed such public demonstrations of affection.
'I've never felt better, darling.' After bestowing a cool peck on Alex's cheek, Enid Latham patted an imaginary hair back in place. At fifty, she looked ten years younger and believed in looking after herself.
Always beautifully dressed with her own money, as she was fond of telling her long-suffering husband she was impeccably groomed. Even Aunt Harriet seemed impressed. Alex was to learn that yet another of Enid's affluent English relatives had died, leaving her a considerable legacy. No one could accuse her mother of not putting the money to good use, Alex thought dryly. To all outward appearances, Enid Latham was a cultured and still beautiful woman.