Haunted Summer

by Joanna Mansell

  Rose put down the brush with some force, not caring that she had actually made a small dent in the top of the dresser.

  'Men are so gullible,' she muttered to herself. 'Especially where women are concerned. He's probably swallowing every lie that she's feeding him.'

  She pulled on her cotton nightshirt, but knew that she wasn't ready to go to bed yet. The tiredness that had swept over her earlier seemed to have disappeared and, on top of that, she was hungry. If she had had any sense, she would have finished her supper before she began that scene with Nathan.

  She decided to go down to the kitchen, and make herself a sandwich. First of all, though, she wanted to make very sure that there was no chance of bumping into either Nathan or Jancis.

  The east wing had been built on to the back of the house at right angles, so she could see the windows in the main part of the house from here. No lights showed anywhere, which must mean that the other two had gone to bed. Rose refused to consider the possibility that they might have gone together. She had already gone through enough today. She wasn't deliberately going to add to her own misery.

  Silently, she made her way through the darkened house. She knew her way around well enough by now, and didn't switch on any lights until she reached the kitchen.

  It didn't take her long to make a sandwich. She decided to .take it back to her room and eat it there, rather than in the kitchen. That way, she could at least be sure no one would coming barging in and ruin her appetite for a second time!

  She slipped back up the stairs, and was just about to go through the doorway that led to the east wing when she thought she heard a creaking sound on the stairs behind her.

  'Is someone there?' she called out in a soft but quavering voice.

  'Of course there is,' replied Nathan's voice from the darkness. 'Who did you think it was? The Lyncombe ghost?'

  A couple of seconds later, he was standing beside her, although she could only just see him in the shadows at the top of the stairs. Rose moved a little restlessly. Lately, being this close to him was never easy.

  'Mind that you don't drop your sandwich,' he warned, a hint of amusement lightening his tone now.

  'How do you know that I've got a sandwich?' she demanded. 'Have you been watching me?'

  'Not exactly. I was sitting in the great hall, and I heard you come down to the kitchen. I guessed you were making yourself a snack.'

  'I didn't see any lights on in the hall.'

  'That's because I'd turned them off,' Nathan replied equably.

  'Why?'

  'I had some thinking to do. And it's often easier to think more clearly when you're sitting alone in the dark.'

  Well, at least he had been alone, Rose told herself with a rush of relief. She could forget about those tormenting pictures of him and Jancis together.

  'Why did you follow me up here?' she asked, after a short pause.

  'I'd have thought that was fairly obvious,' Nathan said a little huskily. 'I'm tired of my own company. I want someone to share the rest of the night with. To be more precise, I want you.'

  'No,' Rose said instinctively.

  She heard his sharp intake of breath. 'That sounded very definite,' he said at length, his tone no longer so relaxed.

  'I didn't mean to be quite so blunt,' she said in a low voice. 'But I did mean it,' she added quickly, as he began to move closer in the darkness. His fingers lightly ran up the length, of her spine, and she shivered involuntarily in response. 'Are you sure of that?' he asked softly. Rose couldn't answer for a moment. Her throat seemed to have become too tight.

  His fingers danced a little higher, finding the vulnerable skin at the nape of her neck. At the same time, she heard his breathing begin to change. He was already reacting to her closeness, and she sensed the stirring of his body as he leant towards her, searching for the warmth of her mouth. Rose knew that if she let him kiss her, then she would be lost. At the last moment, she turned her head away. She heard his frustrated mutter; then he moved nearer again, trying to force her into closer contact with him.

  'Don't!' she said, almost pleadingly.

  'Why not?' he growled.

  'Because I don't want to. Not while she's in this house!'

  Her blurted answer seemed to startle him. Nathan let go of her, took a step back, and then stared down at her intently in the darkness.

  'Are you sure that's the only reason?'

  'Of course it is!'

  He seemed to begin to relax again. 'Then perhaps I'd better do something about the situation,' he said, the dry amusement beginning to return to his voice again. 'I don't think I can go on like this for very much longer!' He gave her a gentle push. 'Go on back to your room, Rose. Eat your sandwich, sleep well, and we'll try and sort everything out in the morning.'

  Her feet dragging, Rose turned away from him and trailed back to her room. She closed the door behind her, and threw her sandwich to one side. She was no longer hungry—at least, not for food.

  She had realised by now that she hadn't actually wanted him to go. So why did you send him away? she asked with a deep sigh.

  Because she had told him the truth, she answered herself a moment later. The spectre of Jancis still hung over this house. And no amount of lovemaking would ever quite exorcise it.

  She crawled into bed and tried to sleep, but it was impossible. A clock in the distance chimed midnight, and Rose got up and walked over to the window. It felt stifling in the bedroom. She opened the window wider, to let in some fresh air, and then froze as she heard a door open below.

  A moment later, the sound of Jancis's voice drifted up to her.

  'Come on, Nathan. It'll be fun. Remember the last time we swam at midnight? It was on the Riviera, at the end of that European tour. I remember how it ended, as well--' She gave a low, throaty laugh, and Rose's skin actually crawled. She hated this woman. It was the first time in her life that she had felt such a strong loathing for another human being. She didn't like feeling this way, but she just couldn't help it.

  Surely Nathan wasn't going to go with her, though? Rose hid behind the net curtain, and waited for him to tell Jancis that if she wanted to go swimming at midnight she would have to go alone.

  Instead, though, she saw him walking along the path beside her. She could hardly believe it, but that tall, lean figure was quite unmistakable, even in the insipid light from the waning moon overhead.

  Rose closed her eyes. She didn't want to see this! Then she slowly opened them again. Perhaps it was time to find out exactly what was going oq, she told herself, fighting back the faint sensation of sickness that had returned to her stomach. Nathan had told her just a short while ago that he was going to sort everything out in the morning. Well, perhaps she wasn't going to like the changes that he clearly intended to make.

  Acting on pure instinct now, Rose slid her feet into a pair of soft-soled sandals. She didn't bother to dress. Instead, still wearing just her nightshirt, she ran lightly down through the house and then out into the garden. Nathan and Jancis had disappeared from sight by now, but she was certain that she knew where they were going. The cove at the end of the valley. The cove where Nathan had told her that she had beautiful breasts... She forced herself not to think of it. A special kind of madness lay that way. Instead, she walked steadily along the path, her feet not stumbling once in the darkness.

  The night was warm and sweet-scented, but it could have been blowing a blizzard for all Rose knew or cared. She walked blindly on, dreading what she might see, but quite incapable of turning back.

  When she finally reached the cove, she found that Nathan and Jancis were already on the beach. The sea rippled softly on to the sand, and the water glinted with silver lights as it reflected the pale glow of the moon. Rose stayed in the shadows of the rocks at the back of the cove. She knew that she couldn't be seen, and she had a perfect view of the beach as it sloped gently down to the sea.

  Jancis was beginning to strip off her clothes now. With a total lack of inhibition
, her white dress was discarded, and her lace petticoat. And it soon became clear that she didn't intend to stop there. Her bra and panties were quickly tossed aside, and then she stood naked in the moonlight. Her body was as perfect as her face. Full, high breasts, a narrow waist and slim hips. Rose almost groaned out loud. How could she possibly ever compete with that? she thought in sheer misery.

  All the same, she realised that she had hoped all along that Nathan would stop, would turn back, before things began to go too far. That hope finally began to slide away from her as she saw him begin to strip off his own clothes. Rose's gaze slid over him, and she shivered convulsively. She remembered how that firm, hard body had felt as it had moved against hers. She remembered too many things—things that were going to be hard—quite impossible—to forget.

  Jancis was in the water now, and Nathan walked down to join her. He was a strong swimmer, and he swam some distance out to $ea, while Jancis languidly played around in the shallower water.

  Rose knew that she ought to go now. She had seen more than enough. Something kept her rooted to the spot, though—some perverse force that seemed determined to make her see even more.

  They finally left the water, and Rose prayed softly that all her suspicions would be proved wrong. Perhaps they had just come down for a quite innocent swim. All right, so she would have felt a lot better if they had worn swimsuits. There wasn't anything so very terrible about nakedness, though. After all, they were old friends.

  No, not old friends. Old lovers, she silently corrected herself, a moment later. And, somehow, that made all the difference in the world. They had returned to the spot where they had left their clothes, and Rose waited in anguish, willing them to put them back on. Instead, though, she felt her heart actually stop beating for a few seconds as Jancis slowly reached out and placed her hand on Nathan's wet body.

  Turn round and walk away from her! she pleaded with him silently. Do it now.

  But Nathan didn't move. Nor did he try to pull away when Jancis moved closer, her hands touching more intimately, and her face raised to his, searching for his mouth.

  Rose couldn't watch for one more second. A choked sound came from her throat; then she turned her back on them, and bolted.

  She didn't remember anything of her frantic rush back to the house. Only of arriving back in her room, shaking and gasping for breath. She tore off her nightshirt, somehow fumbled her way into jeans and a sweatshirt, and then began frantically opening cupboards and drawers, dragging out her possessions.

  As she hurled them into her suitcases, she told herself that there was no need to rush like this. Nathan was going to be fully occupied for some time yet. She didn't want to stay in this house for one second longer than she had to, though. All the same, she had to sit on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, to try and steady her shaking body. She was going to have to drive her car in a moment, and right now she was in no fit state. With a huge effort, she managed to get some control over her trembling limbs. Then she picked up her suitcases, and stumbled downstairs.

  More time was lost, because she couldn't find her car keys. Panic-stricken, she fumbled around in her suitcases for what seemed like ages. She had to be out of here before they got back!

  She finally found them in her bag, caught behind a tear in the lining. With a sigh of relief, she rushed out to the car, threw her suitcases in the back and flopped into the driving seat.

  The engine started first time, and the car shot off down the drive. And as Lyncombe Manor disappeared behind her into the darkness, Rose wondered if Nathan would know—if he would ever know—what it was costing her to run out on him like this.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE lane leading away from Lyncombe Manor was completely unlit. Rose knew that she w,as driving far too fast, but she still kept her foot pressed down hard on the accelerator. The car skidded round the dark bends, and she just prayed that she wouldn't meet anything coming in the other direction. She couldn't even see properly now, because her eyes were blurred with tears. She rubbed them away with the back of her hand, but more came to take their place.

  A straight stretch of road lay ahead of her, and the car rattled along even faster. There was a sharp bend at the end, though, and Rose suddenly realised that she had misjudged it; she wasn't going to make it. She stamped frantically on the brakes, and the car swung wildly from side to side. Then it settled into a long skid. Rose tried to steer into it, but it was too late to correct it. She finally ran out of road, and there was nothing she could do except brace herself against the inevitable impact.

  The car ran up the bank at the side of the road, and then jolted to an abrupt halt as it plunged into the shallow ditch on the other side. The engine died, and there was an eerie silence after all the noise and confusion. Rose was bruised and thoroughly shaken, but she gradually realised that she wasn't badly hurt. Although she had rushed away from Lyncombe Manor in a frantic hurry, she had still automatically clicked on the seatbelt when she had got into the car. That simple reflex action had saved her from serious injury.

  It was a long time before she could do anything except sit there and tremble, though. On top of everything else that had happened tonight, it was just too much to cope with.

  Finally, she eased her aching body into a more comfortable position. Then, with fingers that were still very unsteady, she switched on the ignition. The car started, but that was all. It had obviously suffered major damage when it had plunged over that bank and into the ditch, and it wouldn't move. Rose stared blindly into the darkness. What was she going to do now? Go back to Lyncombe Manor and phone a local garage, to see if they could get her back on the road?

  No, she decided immediately, with a small shudder. She was never going to set foot in that house again!

  Which didn't leave her much alternative, except to start walking in the other direction. She tried to figure out how far she had come, and knew it wasn't any distance at all. She would have a walk of a couple of miles, perhaps even further, along this pitch-dark lane before she reached the nearest house. And right now she didn't feel up to walking even a few yards. She sat there in the car for a few more minutes, because it was all she could seem to do. The effort required to get out and start walking was just totally beyond her. Her shoulders slumped and she could feel the tears burning at the back of her eyes again as the full shock of everything that had happened began to roll over her.

  Then, even through her growing misery, she began to realise that she could see lights glowing in the road behind. Another car? she thought, with a small spurt of hope. Someone who would stop and help her?

  It was a car, and to her relief it stopped. Rose could hardly believe that something was finally going to go right. Then she got a good look at the tall figure who had got out and was racing towards her, and her eyes flew wide open. Oh, no, she gulped. It couldn't be!

  Nathan wrenched open the door and slid into the seat beside her. 'What the hell happened? Are you hurt? Damn!' he muttered under his breath. 'It's too dark in here. I can't see you.'

  He switched on the interior light of the car which, miraculously, was still working. Rose could see now that his face looked as pale and shocked as her own must be. He began to run his hands over her, searching for any sign of injury.

  Rose flinched and instinctively drew back. 'Don't,' she muttered. 'I'm all right.'

  'If you're all right, what are you doing sitting in a wrecked car in the middle of the night?' he said tautly.

  'I wanted to get away,' she said in a voice that was still horribly shaky. 'Only, the car ran off the road.'

  'Who were you trying to get away from?' he demanded grimly. 'Me?'

  'Yes, from you!' she flung back at him, in a sudden burst of defiance. He sat back in the seat, no longer trying to touch her. 'You saw what happened tonight, didn't you?' he said flatly, at last. 'On the beach, I mean.'

  But Rose didn't want to talk about that. She didn't even want to Jhink about it.

  'I know that you foll
owed us down to the cove tonight,' he went on, in the same level tone. 'On my way back to the house, I found your sandal on the path.'

  Rose didn't remember losing a sandal. That wasn't surprising, though. She didn't remember anything about that headlong flight back to Lyncombe Manor.

  'How much did you see?' he asked her, looking straight at her now with disconcerting intensity.

  'Enough,' she muttered.

  'I don't think so.'

  At that, she lifted her head and glared at him. 'I saw you both naked! I saw her touching you! I saw her beginning to kiss you! How much more did you want me to see?'

  Nathan's eyes glittered. 'If you'd stayed a few more minutes, you'd have seen that it went no further than that.'

  She threw a look of sheer contempt at him. 'Do you really expect me to believe that? I might be a bit of an innocent—at least, compared with her—but I'm not totally gullible.'

  Nathan swore softly under his breath. Then he seized hold of her shoulders and forcibly twisted her round, so that she was directly facing him. 'Think again about what you saw!' he ordered. 'All right, so I was naked. But was I aroused? Did I look as if I wanted her?'

  Rose felt herself flushing. 'No, you didn't,' she muttered. 'But you let her touch you,' she added, with a fresh flare of misery. 'You let her kiss you.'

  'And did I do either of those things back to her?' demanded Nathan.

  'No,' she said again, after a very long pause.

  'Doesn't that tell you something?'

  But Rose wasn't ready to listen to reason yet. 'Why did you go to the beach with her, in the first place?' she challenged him fiercely. 'Why did you let her get so close to you?'