Love's Duel

by Carole Mortimer

  Leonie eyes him enquiringly. ‘Do I take that to mean there will be no marriage?’

  ‘You can take it any damned way you like! But I’ll still get you, Leonie. You can’t help yourself.’

  ‘Just now I was just giving you what you wanted,’ she said in a bored voice.

  ‘I haven’t had that—yet.’

  ‘You know my price, Giles. Any time you change your mind…’ she stood up, ‘just give me a call.’ She trailed her fingers tauntingly down his hard cheek, feeling at any moment as if the bared white teeth would open up and snap into her tender flesh. But they didn’t, and she swayed gracefully over to the door, conscious that he watched her every move. ‘Goodnight, Giles,’ she mocked. ‘Sweet dreams,’ and she smilingly closed the door after her, the smile instantly fading.

  The arrogant devil! She had never felt so angry, or so violent. She could quite cheerfully have hit him—except that she felt sure he would have hit her back. But she had soon wiped that smile from his face, that air of self-satisfaction. She could almost have laughed at the expression on his face when she had told him she would accept nothing less than marriage. Shock was too mild a word to describe his reaction.

  Once in her bedroom she locked the door, just as a precaution. Giles had been angry enough to do anything, but she didn’t think that would include breaking down a door in his aunt’s house.

  Her movements were jerky as she removed her make-up, her anger still a tangible thing. Arrogant, insulting swine! He—Her movements stilled and she collapsed down on her folded arms. She had let Giles kiss and touch her, had been like putty in his hands. Harsh sobs racked her slender body, her blonde curls falling forward over her face.

  The door-handle rattled softly behind her. ‘Leonie?’ came the whispered query. ‘Leonie, open this door!’

  She shrank back against the dressing-table. ‘Go to hell!’ she told Giles in a fierce whisper.

  There was silence for several seconds. ‘Leonie, are you crying?’ he asked disbelievingly.

  ‘I wouldn’t cry over a bastard like you!’ She spoilt it all by sniffing, impatiently wiping her cheeks dry of tears. At least she had already removed her mascara and that hadn’t run all over her face!

  He rattled the door again. ‘Let me in. We have to talk.’

  ‘We’ve talked. I have nothing more to say to you on the matter. Goodnight,’ she said for the second time that evening.

  ‘Leonie—’

  ‘Goodnight!’

  She heaved a sigh of relief when he at last moved away and she could hear his bedroom door opening and closing. That was it; she would have to get away, at least until Giles had gone back to London.

  Emily was very upset about her decision to go to London for the weekend. ‘I was hoping you and Giles would take this opportunity to get to know each other better,’ she sighed.

  If they got to know each other better than they had last night then they would be lovers! Poor Emily, she didn’t know how to hide her disappointment at the ruin of her plans. ‘Phil has tickets for the theatre tonight,’ she invented. ‘I couldn’t possibly let him down.’

  Emily frowned. ‘You didn’t say anything about this yesterday.’

  Leonie smiled. ‘That’s because I didn’t know yesterday. I just called Phil and he’s managed to get two cancellation tickets.’ The bit about telephoning him wasn’t a lie, he just hadn’t been at home. Or he had still been asleep, which was more likely, after all it was only nine-thirty, and on a Saturday too.

  Emily watched her as she put on her jacket. ‘Can’t you even wait until Giles gets back? He would be sorry to miss you.’

  Leonie’s eyes widened. ‘He isn’t here?’

  ‘He’s out walking. Dorothy said he went out very early this morning. He should be back soon.’

  All the more reason for her to leave now! And the reason for his insomnia wasn’t too hard to guess. He had wanted her very badly last night, and she doubted he was a man who denied himself anything he wanted that much. ‘I can’t wait, Emily,’ she said. ‘I want to get to London before lunch.’

  ‘You and Giles didn’t fall out last night, did you?’ Emily blushed. ‘I mean—’

  ‘Of course we didn’t, Emily,’ she hastened to reassure her. ‘But I can’t let my brother down.’

  ‘No, I understand that. Oh well,’ Emily sighed defeat, ‘I’ll make your excuses to Giles, shall I?’

  ‘Yes, do that,’ Leonie smiled. ‘And tell him I was very sorry to have missed him.’ She could just imagine Giles’s face when his aunt passed on this message. ‘Now I must dash, Emily,’ she kissed the other woman affectionately on her powdered cheek. ‘I’ll see you late tomorrow.’

  So Giles had been unable to sleep, had he? It served him damn well right! Much as she hated to admit it, she had had some trouble sleeping herself.

  She went straight to Phil’s bed-sitter, needing his down-to-earth attitude to help her sort out the mess she found herself in. Phil would soon make sense of it all.

  ‘Forget your key—? Leonie!’ Phil looked taken aback by her presence outside his door. ‘I didn’t expect you today. Come in,’ he invited, stepping back to allow her entry. ‘Now, what’s the matter?’ he asked gently.

  ‘Matter?’ she echoed sharply.

  ‘I know you, Leonie. You’re strung up like a coil. So tell me.’

  Her bottom lip trembled uncontrollably, her eyes filling with tears. ‘Oh, Phil!’ She launched herself into his arms.

  He let her cry for a while. ‘Noble again?’ he finally prompted.

  She nodded. ‘It was awful! He—he—’

  ‘My God!’ Phil help her at arms’ length. ‘He didn’t make love to you?’

  ‘Phil?’ Her mouth quivered, her cheeks tear-stained. ‘What do you mean?’

  He sighed. ‘He wants you, doesn’t he?’

  ‘How did you—?’ She turned away, her face fiery red. ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘That he fancies you?’ Phil shrugged. ‘I’ve always known. The way he used to look at you in court… oh, it was obvious.’

  ‘Then why didn’t I guess?’

  ‘Because he didn’t want you to. He’s an expert at hiding his true feelings. Did he make love to you?’

  She bit her lip. ‘Not quite.’

  ‘Not…? Leonie!’

  She swallowed hard, moving away from him. ‘I’m so confused, Phil. The last time he pretended to want me to see if I would attempt to blackmail him, he even made love to me—’

  ‘You didn’t tell me about that,’ Phil scowled.

  ‘It was embarrassing. He—he humiliated me!’

  ‘Because you responded to him?’ Phil’s eyes were narrowed.

  ‘Not that time!’ Hot colour flooded her cheeks and she bit her lip painfully. ‘I meant—’

  ‘You meant not that time,’ he cut in. ‘So which time did you respond?’

  ‘Phil—’

  He smiled at her embarrassment. ‘It isn’t a crime to want someone, Leonie.’

  ‘Someone like him it is,’ she snapped.

  ‘Okay, so you’re ashamed of being attracted to him, but ignoring it won’t make it any less a fact.’

  ‘But him, Phil!’ She shook her head with disgust.

  ‘Any man. We can’t dictate our chemical reaction to people. So when did you respond?’

  ‘I—Last night,’ she admitted dully. ‘This time he suggested we start an affair in earnest.’

  He raised his eyebrows. ‘And—?’

  ‘I turned him down.’

  ‘I see.’

  Suddenly she grinned, once again seeing Giles’ face when she had made her condition. ‘I told him I wouldn’t settle for anything less than marriage.’

  Phil looked as stunned as Giles had. ‘Did you mean it?’ he asked in a strangulated voice.

  ‘At the time, yes. He was very insulting. I had to hit back somehow.’

  Humour suddenly broke out in Phil’s boyish face. ‘I bet that knocked him for six!’
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  ‘And the rest,’ Leonie chuckled. ‘I think he’s still suffering from the shock.’

  ‘I shouldn’t be at all surprised. You—’

  ‘I’m back, Phil,’ a familiar female voice called out happily. The girl Leonie realised must be Wanda appeared in the open doorway, a vivacious redhead with laughing green eyes. She gave Leonie a puzzled look. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you had company.’ She moved slowly to put the shopping bag on the worktop.

  Leonie knew it was up to her to break this tableau. She smiled warmly, instantly liking the look of the other girl. ‘I’m not exactly company, I’m Phil’s sister. And you must be Wanda. I’m pleased to meet you.’

  A friendly smile appeared on the other girl’s face. ‘I’m pleased to meet you too. Phil’s told me a lot about you.’ She gave a husky laugh. ‘All nice things.’

  ‘Then he hasn’t been telling the truth.’ They all laughed and Leonie could feel the tension easing.

  ‘I’ll make us all some lunch,’ Wanda suggested. ‘Is chicken salad all right with you?’ she asked Leonie.

  ‘I couldn’t possibly—’

  ‘That’s fine, Wanda,’ Phil interrupted firmly. ‘The chicken is already cooked, Leonie, a whole chicken, so you aren’t taking any food away from us.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure…’

  ‘We’re sure,’ Wanda insisted. ‘I’ll make us a cup of coffee first.’

  ‘Can I be of any help?’ Leonie offered.

  ‘I don’t have much to do, actually.’ Wanda’s voice was pleasant, well-educated. ‘And there isn’t room over here for two.’ She was working in the small kitchen area. ‘You sit down and chat to Phil.’

  ‘Leonie was just telling me how she propositioned Giles Noble,’ Phil drawled. ‘She asked him to marry her.’

  ‘Phil!’ Leonie protested, looking awkwardly at the other girl.

  Wanda looked curiously excited. ‘Did you really?’

  ‘No—’

  ‘She did,’ Phil chuckled his delight. ‘It’s all right, Leonie, Wanda knows all about it.’

  Leonie was bright red. ‘All of it?’

  ‘Most of it,’ the other girl answered gently. ‘I’ve known Phil a long time.’

  Leonie found that hard to believe. Wanda only looked her own age or maybe a little younger, which meant she could only have been seventeen or eighteen when Phil went away.

  ‘Did you really ask Giles to marry you?’ Wanda wanted to know.

  ‘Not exactly.’ She frowned. ‘You sound as if you know him.’

  ‘Slightly.’ Wanda concentrated on cutting up the salad stuff.

  ‘Oh.’ Leonie was dissatisfied with the other girl’s answer, but Wanda didn’t look prepared to reveal any more. She turned to look at Phil. ‘When I arrived—’

  ‘I thought you were Wanda,’ he finished for her. ‘That’s your cue to ask if we’re living together,’ he said dryly.

  ‘We are,’ Wanda cut in firmly. ‘Well… we are when he’ll let me.’

  ‘You have your key, you come and go as you please,’ Phil told her.

  ‘I please to stay,’ Wanda confided in Leonie.

  ‘Despite my telling her to go,’ Phil said moodily. ‘You know you shouldn’t be here. If your parents—’

  ‘Damn my parents!’

  ‘Don’t they approve?’ Leonie could quite understand them feeling slightly nervous of Phil’s past, but that was what it was—his past, and it bore no relation to the responsible man he was now.

  ‘They don’t know,’ Wanda revealed reluctantly. ‘They’ve always done what they wanted, and I intend doing the same. I don’t care what they think of my seeing Phil.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ Phil disagreed angrily. ‘They’re your parents—’

  ‘It doesn’t bother me! You—I’m sorry, Leonie,’ she sighed. ‘Phil and I have had this argument so many times.’

  ‘You know why,’ he growled moodily.

  ‘But your sister doesn’t,’ Wanda snapped, her face alive with anger. ‘You might as well know, Leonie—’

  ‘No!’ Phil said forcefully. ‘Wanda, don’t!’

  She sighed. ‘Leonie has to know some time. I meant it about marrying you, Phil, so it’s only fair your sister should know who her sister-in-law is going to be.’

  ‘I don’t remember asking you to marry me,’ he scowled.

  ‘You didn’t. I told you we’re getting married.’

  ‘Isn’t that the man’s role any more?’

  ‘Not when the man is as proud as you are. You see, Leonie,’ she took a deep breath, ‘my name is Lindsay.’

  ‘Lindsay?’ Leonie echoed dazedly.

  ‘Yes. My father is Jeremy Lindsay.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WANDA was Jeremy’s daughter! The daughter Leonie had discovered he had when she was humiliated in that courtroom. No wonder Phil had tried to silence the other girl; he must have known the shock it would be to her.

  Wanda came over to her. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Leonie.’ She sighed. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you—’

  ‘Then why the hell did you have to tell her?’ Phil rasped. ‘She didn’t have to know now. She—’

  ‘I did, Phil,’ Leonie spoke for the first time, her voice shaky. ‘And Wanda’s right, it’s better to tell me now. Tell me about it,’ she invited huskily, controlling her tears with difficulty.

  Phil was prowling the room like a caged lion. ‘There isn’t much to tell. The situation speaks for itself.’

  She bit her lip. ‘But how did you meet? How did you come to fall in love?’

  ‘Don’t you think I’m lovable?’ He attempted to lighten the mood.

  ‘You know you are,’ she gave the ghost of a smile in answer to his teasing. ‘Too lovable on occasions. You used to get away with murder when we were children.’

  ‘Leonie,’ Wanda gave her an appealing look, ‘do you hate me?’

  She looked startled. ‘Of course not!’

  ‘But my father—’

  ‘Is not you,’ Leonie told her firmly. ‘I just found it hard to believe at first. I’m all right now.’

  ‘No thanks to you, numbskull,’ Phil snapped at Wanda. ‘You could have been a bit more tactful.’

  ‘I didn’t know there was a tactful way of telling Leonie that my father was the swine who attempted to seduce her when she was only eighteen,’ she said caustically. ‘My parents’ extra-marital affairs have always sickened me,’ she added with disgust. ‘They should have just got a divorce and been done with it. Their behaviour can hardly be classed as a marriage. And I grew up in the middle of that!’

  Leonie shrugged. ‘Maybe it works for them.’

  ‘It doesn’t work for the children who have to grow up in that atmosphere. As soon as I saw Phil I knew he was the man for me, and I haven’t looked at another man since, not even when he was away. My mother and father can’t even go for a week without hunting out some new quarry.’

  ‘You knew Phil before all this trouble?’ Leonie was incredulous.

  ‘Just,’ Wanda confirmed. ‘I saw him talking to Daddy one day, and after that I made sure I met him. I pressured him relentlessly to go out with me until at last he gave in. When my father prosecuted Phil I moved out. I meet my parents occasionally for lunch, but other than that I stay out of their lives—and they stay out of mine. They don’t know anything about my seeing Phil. And personally I don’t think it’s any of their business.’

  ‘Oh, come on,’ Phil derided. ‘You’re their only child, of course it’s their business.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ she flushed. ‘Anyway, they wouldn’t understand.’

  ‘I wouldn’t understand if you were my daughter either,’ he exploded.

  ‘Our daughter,’ Wanda corrected. ‘Any children you have are going to be mine too.’

  ‘You see what it’s like,’ Phil groaned to Leonie. ‘I can’t shake her off!’

  Leonie smiled at his expression. ‘I don’t really think you want to.’

 
‘Maybe not,’ he acknowledged grudgingly. ‘Her letters and visits have been very welcome over the last four years. You letters have too, Leonie. I just couldn’t bear for you to come and see me in that place.’

  ‘I wanted to come and see you,’ Wanda spoke to her, ‘to explain, but Phil wouldn’t let me. I think he was secretly hoping to get rid of me. But I kept coming back. I even took a Cordon Bleu course so that I could help him run this dream restaurant of his.’

  ‘And that’s all it is, a dream,’ he dismissed roughly. ‘I’ll never be able to get that sort of money together.’

  ‘Phil, I could—’

  ‘No, Leonie,’ he told her firmly. ‘I’ve already told you no. Anyway, you don’t have the sort of money we would need to get started.’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘Thousands.’

  ‘How many?’ she persisted.

  ‘About a hundred to have the collateral to get the capital we would need. To open a restaurant in London you have to have the money to make it into something really special.’

  ‘You’re right, I don’t have that sort of money,’ she said dully. ‘Twenty, maybe, but a hundred… I don’t have that much,’ she shook her head regretfully.

  ‘Of course you don’t. And even if you did I don’t see why you should give it to us,’ Phil dismissed with a shrug.

  ‘It wouldn’t be a question of giving it to you.’ She knew he would never accept that. ‘I could have been your partner. But it’s a lot of money…’

  ‘It certainly is. Is the lunch ready yet, Wanda? I’m starving!’ He grinned, the subject of the restaurant forgotten.

  ‘It’s ready,’ she smiled at him. ‘And now we can all eat with a clear conscience.’

  Wanda’s cookery course obviously hadn’t been a waste of time; the chicken was succulent and tender, the salad tossed in a dressing Leonie found delicious.

  ‘Only cheese for dessert, I’m afraid,’ Wanda apologised. ‘I’m working as a teacher at the moment, and Phil’s job doesn’t pay too well, so we eat nourishing but cheap foods.’

  ‘Cheese is fine,’ Leonie accepted, wishing the other couple weren’t quite so proud. But they seemed happy together, which made up for any luxuries they couldn’t afford.

  ‘She’s trying to keep me healthy,’ Phil grinned.