'I won't,' Jennifer laughed, but her laughter was stifled in her throat the next instant.
'You looked disturbed when you came in just now,' Alice was saying. 'Was it Hunter? Has he upset you again?'
Jennifer lowered her glance hastily and concentrated on making Alice comfortable as she said: 'Your son and I somehow don't get on together.'
'You saw him just before I telephoned you?'
'Briefly, yes,' Jennifer lied, not wanting Mrs Maynard to know what had transpired between Hunter and herself.
'I thought there was something wrong when I spoke to you on the telephone,' Alice concluded thoughtfully. 'You sounded quite odd.'
'I think you should get some rest now,' Jennifer changed the subject hastily, hoping Alice did not notice the pinkness of her cheeks.
'I'm looking forward to tomorrow's trip home,' Alice sighed. 'We shall at least be rid of that dreadful Louella woman.'
Would they really be rid of her? Jennifer wondered when she eventually turned out the light and left Alice Maynard's room. Or could they expect Louella to turn up at Vogelsvlei some time in the not too distant future?
Jennifer tried to shrug off these thoughts, but she did not succeed entirely, and her dreams were fraught with visions of Hunter coming to her from Louella's arms, and forcing an entry into her room. He wanted her, he said, and she could not escape the sensual touch of his hands against her skin, arousing her to a physical desire that filled her with an aching need, but she screamed when he shifted his body over hers, and she awoke to find herself alone in her bed with the dawn sky banishing the shadows of the night.
Perspiration stood out on her forehead, and she had difficulty in controlling her sobbing breath. It had been a dream, but it had been so real that she could almost swear her body still tingled with the memory of his touch. Furious with herself, she got out of bed and went through to the bathroom to drink a little water, but deep shadows lurked beneath the eyes that met hers in the mirror above the basin, while fear and pain lurked in their hazel depths. She could not remain at Vogelsvlei a moment longer than was necessary, and, with Dr Tremayne's permission, she would return to Cape Town as soon as possible.
Jennifer felt much better after taking a cool, refreshing shower, then she changed into a cool summer frock and packed her suitcase in readiness for their departure after breakfast that morning.
The journey back to Vogelsvlei was accomplished without incident, except that the interior of Hunter's Mercedes still reeked with Louella's perfume, and they had not travelled far that morning when Alice Maynard sneezed several times. She muttered something uncomplimentary about it being enough to give anyone a severe attack of sinus, and then she opened the window to such an extent that the air blowing into the car almost threatened to tear the pins from Jennifer's hair where she sat beside Hunter.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed her silent efforts to keep her hair in place and, speaking over his shoulder, he ordered sharply, 'Close your window, Mother. The air-conditioner will have a better effect that way.'
'I sincerely hope it does,' she muttered, but Hunter paid no attention while he concentrated on the road and flicked the appropriate switches on the dashboard to allow a cool draught of refreshing air into the car.
His hand accidentally brushed against Jennifer's knee, and although he appeared not to have noticed, a tingling awareness had shot up her leg. It was this awareness which made her shrink farther into the corner of her seat and, for the duration of their journey, she kept her eyes riveted to the lush coastal scenery before they headed northwards in the direction of Oudtshoorn.
One of the first things Jennifer did after their arrival at Vogelsvlei was to telephone Dr Tremayne to determine his medical opinion on whether he considered it necessary for her to remain much longer with Alice Maynard.
'I've just spoken to the specialist in Port Elizabeth, and he has confirmed my diagnosis,' Dr Tremayne informed her. 'Mrs Maynard is quite mobile, and there's no reason at all why you should remain at Vogelsvlei if you wish to return to Cape Town.'
Jennifer was relieved to hear this, and yet she was sad. She had grown fond of Alice Maynard and this marvellous old house. She would miss the ostriches too, she thought as she strolled down towards the nearest camp without actually realising where she was going.
She leaned her elbows on the fence and sighed unhappily, recalling that day she had been idiotic enough to rush into this very camp to rescue her scarf, She had never worn that bright scarf again, but each time she had encountered it in her drawer it had acted as a humiliating reminder of her foolishness. Hunter had had every right to be furious with her, she thought, and she sighed once more as her glance travelled towards the beautiful male ostrich running slowly and daintily on the point of his toes while in pursuit of his female. His long neck, upright and rigid, was slightly inflated, and with his tail drooping slightly, but with his black body feathers fluffed up, he was an extremely beautiful bird.
'The male is courting the female,' Hunter's deep voice spoke directly behind her, and her nerves coiled themselves into tight knots when he rested his arms on the fence beside her. 'The ostrich is a patient lover. He takes his time courting the female, and he literally degenerates himself in his efforts to win her favours.'
Jennifer smothered the frightening suspicion that he was not referring to the ostriches entirely, but the next instant Hunter was drawing her attention back to the male ostrich.
She witnessed, not for the first time, the male ostrich bumping down in its knees, opening its wings to form a straight line across his chest, and then swinging backwards and forwards, keeping in that straight line. His neck was lowered until his head was level with his back as he swung his head and neck from side to side with his wings, and the back of his head would strike against the ribs on either side with a loud 'click'.
'That's what you call "rolling",' Hunter explained quietly. 'They do that when they're challenging another male to a fight, or when they're courting. On this occasion it's obvious that his interest lies in the female standing a little distance away from him with her head down, and her wings spread out to tempt him, but that's no assurance that she will eventually accept his advances.'
While Jennifer watched with bated breath, the male ostrich rose to his feet once more and tripped lightly and gracefully towards the female, but, temperamentally, she warded off his advances with a flap of her wings, and moved away towards the opposite side of the camp. The male, however, lost none of his dignity, and with a display of total uninterest, he continued grazing in the lucerne field.
'The scene is different, but the action is familiar, don't you agree?'
His taunting remark sent a wave of colour into her cheeks and, turning away from his disturbing nearness, she said coolly, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'
'I can recall at least two occasions when my advances were warded off,' he continued to mock her, falling into step beside her as she walked back to the house.
She flashed an angry glance at him, and said sarcastically, 'I had no idea that you were courting me, Hunter. If I had known, I might have been more receptive.'
'I shall remember that, you little vixen,' he threatened with a harsh laugh, reaching for her, but she stepped aside smartly to avoid that tanned, muscled arm.
'I think Agnes is calling us for lunch,' she changed the subject, and quickened her pace as she crossed the lawn with Hunter matching his long strides to hers.
Several times during lunch that day, Jennifer encountered Hunter's gaze resting intently on her person, and it filled her with renewed anxiety. She could no longer delay her departure, she was certain of that, but at the same time she could not shake off her reluctance to broach the subject with Alice Maynard.
It was a warm, mid-spring day, but instead of resting in her room, Jennifer took a magazine out into the garden with her, and made herself comfortable on the wooden bench beneath the shady trees. She paged through the magazine for quite some time, not actu
ally taking in what she was reading, when Carla's small red car swept up the drive, and crunched to a halt a little distance from her. Half hidden behind the shrubs, Jennifer went unnoticed, but her heart missed a beat when Hunter appeared as if from nowhere to witness Carla's arrival. In a panic, Jennifer hovered between making her presence known, and remaining where she was as Carla leapt from her car to fling her arms about Hunter's neck.
'Hunter, darling!' she exclaimed ecstatically.
'Cut that out, Carla,' Hunter rebuked her sharply, removing her arms roughly from about his neck, and at this point Jennifer decided that it would be an unwise move to make it known that she was there.
'Well, that's a nice way to greet me, I must say!' Carla retorted angrily, flicking her long hair back over one shoulder as she faced up to Hunter. 'You should have been home yesterday, if I remember correctly. I've been worried sick about you, and here you are, treating me like a leper. Where have you been all this time?'
Through the shrubbery Jennifer could see Hunter's face darken with annoyance, and she held her breath automatically.
'I don't have to account to you for my actions, and where I've been is none of your business,' he told Carla with a harshness that surprised Jennifer when she considered that this was the girl he was supposed to marry.
'Don't you dare talk to me like that!' Carla spat out the words in a fury.
'I'll talk to you any damn way I please,' Hunter replied in an ominous voice. 'Now get in your car and go home. Or try out your wiles on Stanley. He might be a little more accommodating.'
He knows! Jennifer thought, a tremor of shock rippling through her. He knows about Carla and Stanley, and somehow she felt intensely relieved.
'I think I might just do that,' Carla's sarcastic reply sliced through Jennifer's thoughts. 'Stanley has always been .more fun than you could ever be.'
'Then don't let me stop you, and in future I'd be grateful if you'd limit your little games to Stanley,' Hunter warned, irritation and anger mirrored on his hard features.
Jennifer held her breath once more when she saw Carla fling back her head to glare up at the tall man before her. 'I think I hate you, Hunter Maynard!'
'Sure, sure!' he replied with obvious impatience. 'Now be a good girl. Get in your car, and do as I say.'
He turned on his heel and strode angrily in the direction of the sorting room, leaving a furious Carla to stand staring after him. The moment he was out of sight Carla stamped her foot like a thwarted child, then she turned and marched towards her car, her steps short and angry.
Jennifer's hopes of remaining undetected were dashed the next instant, for when Carla reached her car her glance pivoted in Jennifer's direction and, with an angry exclamation on her lips, she walked across the lawn to where Jennifer was seated behind the shrubs.
'I suppose you heard all that?' she snapped her query, flames of anger darting from her dark eyes.
'I couldn't help but hear it,' Jennifer admitted with a sigh, rising to her feet to face Carla in all her fury.
'It's all your fault!'
Jennifer's eyes widened in shocked surprise. 'I beg your pardon?'
'You've been trying to take Hunter away from me since the day you arrived here,' Carla elaborated, spitting pure venom.
'That's not true, Carla.'
'I'm not stupid, you know,' she hissed. 'I've seen the way you look at him.'
Jennifer went hot, then cold, but her composure remained intact. 'I dare say you have,' she returned swiftly. 'Hunter is not the kind of man a woman could ignore, but then I've seen you with Stanley too, and I couldn't help wondering just what you were up to.'
She knew that she had scored a hit when Carla paled visibly, but those liquid-brown eyes lost none of their fire. 'What are you talking about?'
'If you need to have your memory refreshed, then it was at the Valley Motel last Saturday,' Jennifer explained. 'I went out into the garden for a breath of fresh air, and I saw the two of you together.'
'Yes, yes, I know about that!'
Carla seemed agitated now, and ill at ease.
'Well?' Jennifer prompted when the silence lengthened. 'Do you think you were being fair to Hunter?'
'It meant nothing,' Carla snapped. 'Stanley and I have always been… fond of each other, but when it came to marriage there was only one man for me, and now you've turned him against me.' Her beautiful eyes were now almost black as she hissed furiously, 'I could kill you for doing this to me!'
'Don't be silly, Carla,' Jennifer remonstrated with her calmly. 'I haven't taken Hunter away from you, and you know as well as I do that there could never be anything between us.'
'I don't know why you had to come here to Vogelsvlei,' Carla stormed at her. 'Everything was working out beautifully until you arrived. In fact, everything was working out exceptionally well until you went on this trip to Port Elizabeth.' Her angry eyes narrowed to slits of suspicion. 'What happened there?'
'Nothing happened.'
'Like hell nothing happened!' Carla shouted, looking Jennifer up and down in the most disdainful manner. 'Did he make love to you?'
The question was unexpected, and Jennifer's insides jerked violently, but she managed to remain outwardly calm, and her voice was cold as she said: 'Don't be absurd!'
They stood facing each other, like the enemy summing up the opposition, and neither of them wishing to give the order to retreat. The silence was tense, antagonistic, and lengthy, but it was Carla who finally had the last word.
With her hands clenched tightly at her sides of her quivering body, and venomous hatred flashing in her dark eyes, she hissed threateningly, 'You haven't heard the last of this, believe me, Jennifer Casey!'
Moments later her car was kicking up a cloud of dust as she sped away from Vogelsvlei, and only then did Jennifer realise what an effect this incident had had on her. Her legs were shaking, and her palms were damp, and deep inside her there was the aching knowledge that Hunter was aware of Carla's deceit. It was no wonder that he had no faith in women if Carla was an example of the female company he kept, Jennifer thought unhappily, and she wished desperately that there was something she could do about it. The worst part of it all was being accused of coming between Hunter and Carla. It was ludicrous to even think it! she told herself. She had never deliberately poached on Carla's preserves, but if this was what Carla thought, then there was all the more reason why she should leave Vogelsvlei as soon as possible, Jennifer thought.
She walked back to the house, intent upon asking Alice Maynard to release her, but when she found herself face to face with the older woman she somehow lacked the courage of her convictions. Perhaps later, she told herself. Not now; not just yet, she decided, and a little voice from somewhere said accusingly, 'Coward!'
She cringed inwardly as the word bounced through her mind. She had never been a coward, but leaving Vogelsvlei meant leaving Hunter, and although she feared what he could do to her, she knew that she could never love another man the way she loved this rude, arrogant, impossible man who had done nothing but insult and humiliate her from the day she had set foot in Oudtshoorn.
No matter how much she tried, she could not forget the scene she had witnessed between Hunter and Carla, and neither could she forget the things Carla had accused her of. Was it possible that she could have come between them in some way? Impossible! Not in the way Carla had meant, Jennifer answered her own question. Hunter had tried to make love to her, yes, but his intentions had been aimed purely at humiliating her, and nothing more. Perhaps, when she was gone, things would return to normal at Vogelsvlei. It was possible, of course, that Carla had merely used Stanley in order to make Hunter jealous and, perhaps, she had succeeded.
Jennifer was still not quite sure what to do for the best when she made her way towards Alice Maynard's room after dinner that evening. Perhaps, if they could have a quiet chat together, it would help her come to some definite decision, but, when she hesitated in the passage outside Alice's bedroom, it was Hunter's harsh
voice that prevented her from knocking and entering.
'Mother, I want you to release Jennifer from her duties,' he was saying. 'You no longer require her assistance in any way.'
There was a brief silence during which Jennifer was afraid they might hear the heavy beating of her heart through the door which stood slightly ajar, and then Alice was saying haughtily, 'I think I'm the best judge of that, don't you?'
'No, Mother,' Hunter contradicted sternly. 'On this issue I have the final say.'
Jennifer did not wait to hear more. She retraced her steps down the passage and hurried up the stairs to her room before they could discover that she had overheard their conversation. Pain seemed to sweep through her in wave after successive wave until she could have cried out with the agony of it. Hunter wanted her out of the way, he could not have made it clearer had he tried, and she was going to oblige him.
She glanced about her for a moment with pain-filled eyes, then she took down her suitcases and started to pack. To be doing something eased the pain, but she dreaded the long night which still lay ahead of her. Heaven only knew how she was going to get through it, and the many days and nights which still lay ahead of her.
'Oh, God!' she groaned, lowering herself on to her bed and burying her face in her trembling hands. She had never felt more like crying, but the tears would not come. They lodged in her throat, tightening like a vice until it was almost an agony to breathe, then she pulled herself together forcibly, and tried to concentrate on her packing.
She ought to feel grateful towards Hunter, she told herself at last. He had helped to make up her mind, and this time tomorrow she would have shaken off the dust of Vogelsvlei, but there was no pleasure in this thought, only pain, and the pain was something she would have to learn to live with. She had been a fool to love a man who had no need of her, and she supposed she deserved to suffer for it, but, God help her, she had not wanted it this way.
The Spotted Plume Page 14