by Hilary Wilde
ly. "I know, poppet," she said sympathetically. "Now what about a swimming lesson?" Deborah's eyes began to shine. "I've got my swim-suit on under this," she said eagerly, trying to undo the knot at the back of her sun-suit. "Let me," Lauren said, and then slipped out of her shorts. They swam and frolicked in the warm water and then sat talking on the sands until it was time for Deborah to trot off to lunch. "You will be here this afternoon. Miss Woubin?" she asked wistfully. "Of course, but I have to go just before three o'clock," Lauren said. She watched the small girl walk away over the blinding white sand, and then she leant back on her arms, gazing at the sea thoughtfully. Now why had Mrs. Lindstrom suddenly released her child from bondage and allowed her to return to Lauren? Mrs. Lindstrom must have a reason for it. Lauren stopped her thoughts abruptly. HOW catty she was getting! After all, what sort of plan could Mrs. Lindstrom have and what part could she want Lauren to play in it? It was nonsense. Days drifted by and now Deborah' always joined Lauren on the beach, and a little later they would be joined by Roland Harvey, who came to sit and talk with them under what Deborah called their own palm tree. Each day Lauren's depression deepened. Mr. Harvey was kind, too kind. He treated her exactly as he treated Deborah with a gentle indulgence. Just as if the two girls were of the same age, instead of one being fifteen years older than the other! One afternoon, they were lying on the warm sands, listening to the soft shushing of the water and the strange whispering noises a palm tree makes in a breeze, and Lauren looked surrepti67 tiously at the man so intent on amusing Deborah. What a striking personality he had. He seemed to give off waves of strength. She sighed, and Roland Harvey heard the sound and turned to her inquiringly. "Why the big sigh?" he asked. Her cheeks were hot. "I was just thinking/' she told him. "Homesick?" "Not really." "I'm never homesick," Deborah chimed in proudly. "I'm always happy." The big man ruffled the child's hair affectionately. . "You're a happy little thing, Deborah. That's why I like you." Deborah's eyes were wide with excitement. "You do like me?" she asked eagerly. "My mummy told me to make you like me, and then . . ." Lauren wondered, who was the most embarrassedshe or Roland Harvey. It was the first time she had seen him discomfited. "Of course I like you, Deborah," he interrupted quickly. "But where are those shells you promised me?" Deborah's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes dismayed. "I forgot them," she said sadly. "I'll get them now." There was a little silence as they watched her ' run off towards the lagoon. Homesick, he had said, Lauren thought miserably. What would he have said had she confessed the truth and said that she was lovesicklovesick for him! How embarrassed he would be. Just as he had been just now when Deborah had so nearly betrayed a secret. Was there some understanding then between Roland Harvey and Leila Lindstrom? Yet Rene Thompson had suggested that Mr. Harvey and Miss Hunter might be involved in some68 thing more than a mere business association, that Miss Hunter hoped to marry him. Was Roland Harvey just being clever? Playing off the two women against one another? Yet it was so unlike him ... ' She leant forward, for he was staring at her, and her hair swung forward protectively. She was startled when he said quietly: "You have pretty hair." It was the last straw. She flung back her hair swiftly and stared at him, feeling her eyes sting. He had said the words in just the same sort of voice he used when he paid Deborah a compliment. To Roland Harvey, she was just a child. She fought back the angry words that trembled on her lips. If she was rude to him, she might never see him again alone. Even if these chance encounters hurt, she also got a lot of pleasure out of them. She was still sure that this was the real Roland Harvey, that the brusque impatient man the staff feared was a defence; But then why should a man like Roland Harvey need such a defence? "Deborah seems to have found plenty of shells," Lauren said, 'her voice stiff, as they watched the small girl come towards them. Something made her add; "She loves you very much, Mr. Harvey." "I love her, too," the big man said very quietly. "You know, I had a young sister, and she died, in a car crash. I don't think I shall ever forget that day. I was very young, but I can remember my mother asking my father not to drive so fast. I can still hear his laughter, he called her a scaredycat. .. the expression stuck in my mind for years afterwards. Well, we hit something pretty hard and I saw my small sister flying through the air, and then I blacked out. I was in hospital suffering from shock for some time and both my parents were injured, but it was only Carol who died. Some months later, my parents got a divorce, and 69 that was when my uncle took me to live with him. I told Deborah my .parents lived in a faraway land where children could not go ... it was the truth in a way, for where there is divorce, it's the children who have no place 'to live. That's another reason why I'm so sorry for Deborah. Her parents are divorced and she inevitably suffers. She needs a father very badly." "Yes," Lauren said, her mouth suddenly dry. So was he going to offer his servicesas her father? Could Deborah be right? Could a man love a child so much that he be willing to give up his cherished freedom and marry her mother? "Look! Look!" Deborah cried, as she reached them and flung herself down by their side. "Look at my lovely shells." She spread them out before her. Lauren managed to say the right things, but her thoughts were far away. Suddenly she was very conscious of the big man by her side. Why had he talked so frankly to her? His deep voicehad not ^ sounded as it usually didcrisp, issuing orders. He had spoken gently, thoughtfully . . . As if to a child. It was the voice he used when talking to Deborah. 1 She saw the time on her watch and was shock-. ed. How the hours flew by! "I must go or I'll be late," she said, gathering up her beach bag, putting the writing case and sunburn lotion in it. Nick was rather moody these days and annoyed if she was a minute late. "You must go?" Roland Harvey stared at her in surprise. "It's" , Deborah looked up with a beam. "Poor Miss Woubin," she said, "she's like Ginderwella, she always has to be in the hotel at three o'clock." Roland Harvey lifted his thick eyebrows quizzically."Someone importantyour Prince Charming?" 70 , She knew that he was teasing herin just the .same way as he would tease Deborahand the; knowledge stung. Her cheeks were hot and shedidn't answer. ; "Have you a Pwince Charming, Miss Woubin?"; Deborah asked eagerly. "Can I be a bwidesmaid ; at your wedding?" Lauren did not know what to say. She stood ; up, prepared for flight, trying to think of how toleave them politely. But before she could say anything, Roland ; Harvey was laughing, ruffling Deborah's hair. Don't be foolish, Deborah child," he said, and looked up at Lauren. "Miss Robuin hasn't a Prince Charming yetshe's much too young." Clutching her towel and beach bag, Lauren gazed down at him miserably, glad of the knowledge that her dark glasses would hide the pain in her eyes. "I'm not so young," she began, and was shocked to hear that her voice was trembling. "I'm twenty-one, and I'm a woman . . ." She .was conscious of the surprise on Roland Harvey's face. ,He had jerked off his dark glasses and she could see his strange blue-grey eyes. And suddenly it was more than Lauren could bear.This fine, handsome, fascinating man, and all he could see heras, was a child. The words tumbled out of her mouth. "And I'm ready for'love," sheblurted. She almost threw the words at him and then turned, stumbling a little as she ran over the hot sands, making for the narrow entrance to the pathway through the flowering shrubs that wouldlead her back to the hotel. "Look where you're going," a sharp voice cried. Lifting her head, Lauren saw that she had nearly knocked Mrs. Lindstrom over in her madblind rush. 71
"I'm sorry/5' she gasped. "I didn't see yon." '* Mrs. Lindstrom was staring at her, her face,' suspicious. "Now what have you been up to?" ghe demand-:' ed. Lauren eouldB.''t trust her own voice. She knew ' how near the tears were. She. wondered what ' she looked like, with flushed cheeks and tearful eyes, but she did not care. She had been rude .to Roland Harvey, that was, all she knew.
CHAPTER FIVE
THAT night they danced what was, to Lauren, a difficult dance. She was Autumnin a chiffon gown of every shade from palest gold to deepest russet. Her hair was streaked to look like a falling leafand the motif was also carried on in the floating panels that hung from the shoulders of the gown and which she used, with their long flowing lines, to simula
te the leaves as they fell. It was a dance that required concentration and good timing, and it had been extra difficult because of the inward turmoil of her thoughts. She found it impossible to forget how angrily arid how rudely she had spoken to Roland Harvey and, to make matters worse, she had brushed past Mrs. Lindstrom, ignoring her questions. You could be sure Mrs. Lindstrom would "comment on it to Roland Harvey. Afterwards, as she and Nick took their bows in the sudcTen brilliance of the lights, Lauren glanced around anxiously. Was Roland Harvey there that night? Would he recognize her? Suddenly she felt Nick's fingers digging pain-' fully into her arm and heard him saying softly but angrily in her ear: "For Pete's sake, stop acting like a stork!" Her face flamed with shame and hastily she lowered her foot to the ground. How could she have done such a thing, here in front of everyone? Later, Nick scolded her. "I thought you'd cured yourself of that childish habit," he said crossly. It was the last straw and her eyes'filled with tears. 73
"I'm sorry. II didn't know I was doing it. I haven't done it for ages.""I know, that's why I was so surprised. It's out of keeping with Natalie Natal, that's all that worries me, Lauren. A schoolgirl habit." He paused, frowning a little. "You tired? You must always tell me, honey child," he went on. "We could have done an easier dance, for we don't have to stick to a rigid schedule, you know. Are you worried about something?"She took a deep breath. "I was rude to Mr. Harvey today, Nick," she began, and told him the whole story. "If only he would stop seeing me as a small child of Deborah's age!" Nick burst out laughing. "You're a funny kid. It may be for the best in the long run, for now he'll think you're younger than ever." He chuckled. "It's only the very young who hate being called young. Natalie woud have taken it as a compliment.Lauren sighed. Even Nick didn't understand. It had nothing to do with her age, it was the fact that Roland Harvey saw her as a child'and not as a woman.Nick went on: "If you did annoy him as you think, and he isn't a man to accept rudeness lightly, then maybe he'll keep away from you in future." His voice changed abruptly, "What sort of game is this you're playing, Lauren? Why don't you give him the brushoffpolitely, of course? You know how so much rests on his not finding out who you are.""I don't encourage him, and he isn't in the least interested in me," Lauren said desperately. "It's simply that Deborah happens to like me and" "Look; honey child," Nick said worriedly. Had he seen the tears in her eyes? "Slip off to bed. I'll make your excuses if necessary. You're notin the right spirit to dance with a lot of wouldbe wolves." 74 "But what about Miss Hunter?" she asked. Nick chuckled. "She has a guest tonight. I heard her ordering a very special dinner for two to be'served in her sitting-room. You run along. I'll cope." "Thanks a lot, Nick," Lauren said gratefully, and hurried to the cool privacy of her room. It was a long time before she slept, for she kept thinking about that little scene on the sands. Just how rude had she been? Would Roland Harvey find it unforgivable of her? In the morning when she awoke, she was filled with a deep depression, terrified at the thought of facing an angry Roland Harvey. Should she stay in her room? Wouldn't that be unfair to poor little Deborah? So in the end, Lauren dressed carefully, choosing a honey-coloured swim-suit and matching shorts. She brushed her hair until it gleamed and she moved her head slowly, watching the silky bob swing, then in a sudden fit of anger with herself, twisted her hair up in a pony-tail and tied it with a green ribbon. How could she be so stupid as to dress up for a man who saw her only as a child! Well, she would look like a child, if that was the way he wanted it! She rubbed the lipstick off her mouth and glared at her reflection. She looked ridiculously young now. Nearer fifteen than twenty-one. She was shaking a little as she collected her dark glasses, writing case and beach bag. Not that he would notice she looked any different. Indeed, it was doubtful if he would even look her way if he was really angry. She lay' under what Deborah called "their" palm tree, and had barely settled before Roland Harvey strode over the sands to join her. He was alone, He was wearing a tropical, light75 i coloured suit and his red hair was well disciplined. His face was grave. "May I join you, Miss Roubin?" he said stiffly. She half sat up, leaning back, her hands clutching the hot dry sand, as she stared at him in dismay. He was angry, furiously angry. Only that could explain the stiffness, the icy quietness of his manner.She stared along the blinding white sand and almost envied the small children happily digging castles. If only Deborah was about ... if only someone would interrupt them before Roland began to scold her. He was sitting very upright by her side, his eyes fixed on her gravely. For once he was not wearing sun-glasses and his blue-grey eyes looked almost green. "Take off your sun'-glasses," he snapped suddenly. Startled, she obeyed. He leaned forward, still looking at her. / "That's better. Those wretched things make it impossible to know what a person is thinking," he said, still curtly. "I've come to apologize to you for my rudeness yesterday, Miss Roubin," he went on stiffly. She stared at him in amazement. "But" He lifted his hand. "It was very rude of me. I should have realized how very sensitive young people are about their youth. I do apologize and hope you can forgive me." He paused. "I realize, Miss Roubin, that you are a woman, andthat you are ready for love." His voice was solemn, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. She found herself blushing, but she had to smile. "It's very generous of you, Mr. Harvey, but I'm the one who should apologize," she said. "Well, we've both apologized, and are we both forgiven?" he asked lightly, and held out his hand. 76
She put her hand in his and felt his strong lean fingers close over hers for a moment. She shivered. Why, he was nice, so very, very nice. "Now we'll forget it, shall we?" He smiled. "I'm afraid I must go now, for I have an appointment, but I had to speak to you 'first. Explain to Deborah for me, will you? It isn't easy trying to learn a new job," he said gravely, and she saw that he was worried. "There's much more to running a hotel than I realized." "Doesn't Miss Hunter take all those things off , your shoulders? I thought that was what a manager was for," Lauren said timidly. "Miss Hunter is extremely efficient."' His voice was crisp. "At times, a little . . . Well, there are certain aspects I intend to keep under my con- trol," he said sternly, and Lauren wondered what he had been going to say about Miss Hunter before he thought better of it. "I feel that both my uncle and I made a grave mistake in not knowing the staff personally. There are so many of them, and Miss Hunter always engaged them . . . but maybe if I knew them better, I might discover why so many of them leave." Lauren studied his worried face and wondered if she should tell him that she knew the reason. He was a strange man of varying moods. He might take offence, tell her it was none of her businessmight even think she had been snooping. "Why don't you ask the members of the staff?" she suggested. Roland Harvey turned to look at her, his face surprised. : "Now why on earth didn't I think of, that? A ; straight-forward question that only requires a i. simple answer. Thank you, Miss Roubin." He ;; smiled at her. "I'll be seeing you," he added, as^he stood up with graceful ease and looked down | on her. "Thank you. Miss Roubin," he said again, I , 77
and walked across the sand with his usual easy stride. She lay flat on her back, sliding on her sunglasses, pulling the big white straw hat over her eyes. He had apologized to her. She could not get over it. The famous Roland Harvey apologizing to her! It simply showed what a fine man he really was. Somehow it made everything else much worse. The deception, which had ceased to trouble her, now seemed terrible. He had been so understanding about her dislike of being teased about her age, though, so surely he would understand the predicament Miss Cartwright had been in? It would be so much easier to tell him the truth than to wait for him to find out. "Miss Woubin, I'm sowwy I'm so late, but I had to have my hair done," Deborah cried eagerly. Lauren lifted her hat and smiled. "Hi, darling." Deborah turned round slowly. "Do you like my hair?" she asked anxiously. Lauren smiled. "I think it's lovely," she said, but it was not true. Deborah was short and a little too thin, her face wistful, the freckles on her nose standing out. Her sandy hair had been cut short and curled ; unfortunately it was frizzy and it looked silly, almost as if the child's mother was trying to
force the duckling to become a swan. ' "It's most fashionable," Lauren went on, knowing this would please Deborah most. Deborah beamed. "I've got a cap to keep the curls dry. Can we swim? My fwiend will be here soon." "He left you a message," Lauren said, and. gave it. "I saw him just now, but he didn't say," Deborah began, her lower lip trembling. "My mummy was cwoss with him about something, but she 78
wouldn't be cwoss with him, but perhaps he felt it. She's often cwoss with him. Do you think that would make him hate me?" Lauren hugged the small warm body to her. "He couldn't hate you, darling, ever. Why, only the other day he told me how much he loved you." They were soon in the warm lagoon, playing about, splashing one another, Deborah learning now to float. Lauren was conscious of her own deep happiness. She wanted to laugh and sing and dance. He had been so nice to her ... so very nice. The same mood buoyed her up throughout the day and helped her through the long arduous practice in the afternoon; That night was to be a Carnival- Ball and tremendous preparations for it were being made. Nick and Natalie were to' dance three dances as usual, but tonight each one was to be in a different costume, so a tiny closet of a room had been allocated to Natalie to make it easier for her to make quick changes, and .Claudia, the little maid, was to be in attendance. "You're feeling all right again?" Nick asked, staring down at the wide-eyed excited girl at his side. She smiled radiantly. "I feel wonderful." -He looked at her as if going to ask what had changed her so much, but there wasn't time, then. It was absurd how much Roland Harvey's gesture meant to her. Lauren kept telling herself that there was no real reason to feel so happy. But it meant a great deal to her. It meant that at lastat long lastRoland Harvey saw her as an individual, and not just a sort of shadowy person who was very young and simply Deborah's friend. The ballroom was beautifully decorated, great garlands of exotic flowers filling the room with sweetness. Nearly all the guests were in fancy costume. 79