Paradise Island

by Hilary Wilde

  "Well, you see . . ." Lauren started to tell him when a page came darting down the corridor, a note on a silver platter in his hand, and Roland Harvey turned to look at him. Lauren hesitated, but he seemed to have forgotten her, tearing.the envelope open with a quick decisive movement. After all, was there any need to alarm him? The doctor had said it was nothing. And would Mrs. Lindstrom really be interested? That was an unkind thought, but . . . Lauren saw the time on her watch and caught her breath with dismay. She must not be late or Natalie would swoop on that as an excuse to give her a lecture. So she had rushed off to the ballroom and found Natalie sitting, arms folded, eyes sharp, and Nick angry."You're late," Nick snapped. "This is gettingto be a habit." "I'm sorry," Lauren apologized. "Deborah wasn't very well, so I had to see the doctor about her and then put her to bed." "Of all the feeble excuses!" Nick's face was red, he looked as if about to explode with anger. Uneasily Lauren realized that he and Natalie hadbeen quarrelling again; when he picked on her, it was always a sign of that. The practice went smoothly, although Lauren felt a little faint and dizzy, and then realized thatshe had eaten no lunch. Fortunately her trip to the hairdresser did not take long as they weredemonstrating modern ballroom dances only that evening and Nick had said she could be herself,Lauren Roubin. In her bedroom, Lauren had sent for sand" wiches and coffee and had worried about Deborah. Then, seeing some magazines she had been lent by one of the guests and knowing how Natalie loved the glossy, expensive monthlies, she gathered up an armful and decided to take them to Natalie; it 141

  might help to put her in a better mood. On the | way, she looked in on Deborah and saw the child .|was sound asleep, sprawled across the bed, corn- I pletely relaxed, looking like a little angel. Lauren |" had straightened the sheet, lightly dropped a kiss' I on Deborah's flushed cheek and tiptoed away. She |was sure there was no cause to worry; the doctor | had said it was nothing, that a good sleep would | put things right. |Natalie was alone, in a deep armchair, curled ,1up. She looked up with hostile eyes. "What do | you want?" she demanded. I Lauren hesitated. "I thought you might like i these magazines." ''. "Thanks. Sit down, I'm bored to tears," Na- | talie said. "I thought you were with Nick." She looked at Lauren sharply, eyes bright with sus- |picion. | Lauren stifled a sigh. "I've been to the hairdresser andand then came here." - ? She. watched Natalie and thought that despite her unhappiness and discontent, the rest, good food and sunshine had done her good. Natalie : looked a different person. If only her mouth ! didn't droop so miserably and she wasn't always so difficult! Lauren suddenly noticed that Natalie was playing with a necklace of some lovely tawnycoloured stones. It looked vaguely familiar to Lauren, but knowing Natalie's habit of jumping ' on her no matter what she said, she decided not to mention the necklace. Was it a peace-offering ,from Nick? Maybe she sad seen the necklace in the hotel boutique, which sold fabulousy lovely things. "Any interesting news?" Natalie asked in a bored voice, handling the necklace, twisting it round her arm, holding it up to the light. Lauren wondered uneasily if Natalie was deliberately trying to attract her attention with the necklace;perhaps she wanted her to mention it? 142

  "I'm afraid not," Lauren said nervously. It was like walking on hot tiles talking to this newNatalie. She racked her brain for something innocent to say. "I looked in to see how Deborah was, but she's still asleep.""Deborah? That precocious brat! You're wasting your time smarming over her. It won't get you anywhere." Lauren flushed, both because of the implication of Natalie's words, and the ugly voice she had used. "I'm very fond of Deborah," she said firmly. Natalie looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you, indeed? Quite sure it's not Mr. Harvey you're very fond of, Lauren? That's the tale that's going round, and you're making a laughing-stock of yourself, the way you play up to him. You're just wasting time. Mrs. Lindstrom has got him nicely snaffled." She laughed. Lauren was on her feet. "I am not chasing Mr. Harvey!" she snapped.The door had opened and Nick was there, scowling at them."For Pete's sake, can a man get no peace? What are you two fighting about now?" he demanded, leaning against the wall, a tall handsome man with weary eyes."We weren't fighting, darling," Natalie said sweetly. "I was just advising Lauren to give up hope where the great Roland is concerned. She hasn't an earthly." Nick was not listening. His face was furious as he strode across the room. "Where did you get that?" he demanded harshly as he grabbed her arm and held it up so that he could see the necklace twisted round it. Natalie was laughing at him. "Wouldn't youlike to know?" Lauren had seized her chance and slipped quietly out of the room, back to her own room and a 148 '" '-"^ bath. So Nick had not bought Natalie that lovely necklace? Then who had? All through their three exhibition dances that night. Nick had been very silent, and this had been her first opportunity to slip away from the glare and noise and escape out here to the peaceful beauty of the night. She wondered how she could go on bearing the strain of the unpleasant atmosphere and the quarrels. What should she do? If only Natalie were strong enough to take her proper place as Nick's partner! In that moment of despair, Lauren felt she would have gladly left the island."Is there something wrong?" a deep, wellknown, well-loved voice asked quietly. Lauren jumped nervously and turned to the tall man who had approached noiselessly. She stared up into his impassive face, thinking, with a sickening lurch of her heart, that she did not know if she would have the strength enough voluntarily to leave this beautiful island and the chance to see this man. "Oh, Mr. Harvey, I didn't hear you." "You were miles away," he told her. How strong and safe he looked, in'his well-cut dinner jacket and trousers, his hair so smooth."What were you thinking about?" he asked. "Has something upset you?" ' It was the kindness in his voice that was her undoing. What if it was the sort of voice you useto a child, it was still compassionate, sympathetic.She felt the tears filling her eyes and she could not stop them. She stared up at him blindly, the tears hovering' on her long curling lashes, hermouth trembling. "It's just... just everything," she whispered, 'He gave her his handkerchief, put his arm round her shoulders, and led her away from the long french windows that led into the ballroom.He only stopped when they reached the quiet part 144

  ome ^eranda w^de the^ closed windows of his office. Then he made her sit down on one of the ong comfortable seats and took hold of both her hands, looking down at her. "Tell. me all about it," he said. Somehow the words tumbled out. "Everythinff I do is wrong. -Natalie used not to be like this. bhe was so kind, such fun, but now . . . now she says that I dance clumsily, that I don't wear the beautiful dresses properly, that I'mI'm" Lauren stopped herself just in time, staring up at the silent man with horror in her eyes. How nearly ?^ ad told him that now Natalie was saying that she was chasing him! If she had gone on andsaid that! She shivered. "Lauren," Roland Harvey said very quietly in the voice of a sympathetic adult to a child. "Tryto see the situation through Natalie's eyes." Startled, she stopped crying. Whatever she had expected him to say, it had not been this. He wasdefending Natalie! "Through her eyes?" she echoed. _ Roland Harvey released her hands and sat back, folding his arms and half smiling. "Yes, through Natalie's eyes." Very slowly, with maddening pre-cl_slon',he lighted two "graettes and gave her one. I don t think you often smoke, but this may calmyou down a little," he said. "I want you to realize that in the first place, Natalie is suffering from post-operative blues. She feels weak and is worried because she feels she should be stronger by now. Secondly, this booking was just as important to Natalie as to her husband, and she has the feeling that she has let her husband down. Thirdly, she is, I gather, a naturally jealous and possessive woman." He flicked the ash off his cigarette and looked at the silent girl by his side, sitting so tensely, staring at him. 145

  "Now what have we to consider?" he went on slowly. "She comes out to this beautiful place, delighted at the thought of a restful holiday that will cost them nothing, glad to join her beloved husband, and what does she find? Her place has been most successfully taken by a very lovely and talented girl. Think, Lauren, she must be in hermid-thirties. She probably resents your youth, your
beauty and your talent. It's understandable. Nick quite obviously enjoys dancing with you.Imagine how you would feel in Natalie's place. Wouldn't you see yourself as a rival . . . perhaps a successor? She may even feel that her wonderful life as Nick's dancing partner is over, that you will be his partner in future." "Nick would never" Lauren began indignantly. "Wouldn't he?" Roland Harvey asked dryly. "If Miss Cartwright said so? If it paid him? The two of you together make an excellent team.You're malleable, quick to learn, eager to please and a very much easier partner than a spoilt, fretful wife." "I'm sure you're wrong," Lauren said. Unconsciously she twisted her hands together, staring at him in dismay. "I see what you mean about Natalie. I hadn't thought of it like that, but ... but really, really, Nick wouldn't" "I'm not saying that Nick does feel like that," Roland Harvey pointed out quietly. "I'm merely trying to show you how it might appear to Na-talie." "But I wouldn't. . . Natalie must know . . ." "Look, Lauren, I'm afraid we all have a tendency to judge others by the way we would behave ourselves. You wouldn't expect a girl to behave like that because, to you, such behaviour would be disloyal. But I imagine that Natalie, in a similar situation, would not scruple to steal a 146 man as a dancing partner, or as a husband, if sheloved him." "Natalie wouldn't," Lauren said, shocked. "She's a very good person." "I wonder. I don't say she is immoralprobably amoral. She would say it's a case for the survival of the fittest. That remark has often been used to cover quite incredible actions." He stubbed out his cigarette with a quick impatient movement. "You arethough I'm aware youdon't like to be reminded of itvery young and naive, Lauren. You believe that people are automatically good whereas, unfortunately, few of us are. Most of us do things we are secretly ashamed of doing." Lauren stared at him. "I'm sure you don't," she said. He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Thank you, Lauren. I wish I could be as sure." There was a pause while they stared at one another. "You know, Lauren," he said softly, "I can't blame Natalie for being jealous. You're so very lovely." "I am?" She stared at him dazed, her hand flying to the pearls round her throat. Suddenly his hand closed over hers. It was warm and she caught her breath, as she still stared at him. "Lauren," he said, his voice low, "who is this man you love? Are you sure you love him?" The quick staccato tap-tap of high heels sounded clearly, and Roland Harvey dropped Lauren's hand and stood up, facing the corner of the balcony round which the wearer of the shoes would appear. Lauren stood by his side, slim, ethereallooking in her diaphanous chiffon gown of palest green. In a moment, Leila Lindstrom appeared in view, exquisitely dressed in a black gown, with diamonds blazing at her neck and wrist. As shesaw them, she faltered, looking surprised. 147

  "They told me you were out here, Roland. I though you were alone." She shot Lauren a glance of hostility. "It's very urgent," she finished, and sounded agitated. "In a few moments, Leila," Roland Harvey said quietly. He took a key from his pocket and unlocked the trench window, opening it, turning on a light. "Please sit down, Leila. I'll be with you in a moment." Mrs. Lindstrom walked past Lauren and sat down, and Roland Harvey closed the door. "I'll see you to your room," he said curtly to the silent girl. "You'll feel better in the morning." "You needn't," she said. "lean" "I'm aware of that, but I want to see you to your room," he said coldly. His hand closed over her arm and she shivered. What had happened? Why had Mrs. Lindstrom's appearance so altered his mood? She had almost to run to keep up with his long strides. Outside her bedroom door, he paused and looked down at her. His voice had changed again; once more it was kind, gentle. "Don't let it worry you too much, Lauren. I'm sure it's simply because Natalie is still far fromwell. We'll try to think of something." He stared down into her upturned face. "You may be interested to know," he said slowly, "that I've decided to sell the hotel." "You have?" She found it hard to breathe. "You're going to climb another mountain?" He smiled. "Something like that, I suppose. I seem to be always searching for something, but I'm not quite sure what it is."He took the key from her hand and unlocked the door, opening it and standing to one side to let her enter. But as she began to move, Lauren was frozen into stillness,

  The room was not empty. Miss Hunter sat on one chair, her eyes bright, while on another satMr. Dixie, the hotel detective. On the small table lay an amber-coloured, tawny golden-brown necklacethe necklace she had. seen Natalie playing with that day. "Ah, at last. Miss Roubin!" Miss Hunter said, rising and coming towards them, her eyes glinting. She looked at Roland Harvey. "I'm very sorry about this, Mr. Harvey, but when Mrs. Lindstrom reported the theft of her jewels and Miss Roubin had been seen leaving Mrs. Lindstrom's bedroom this afternoon, I took the liberty of having her room searched. We found these," she finished dramatically, pointing at the necklace. "Are they Mrs. Lindstrom's?" Lauren gasped. "Of course." Roland Harvey's voice was tart. "You must have seen her wearing them." Lauren looked up at him, her eyes bewildered. "I wondered whose they were. They looked familiar. I thought" She stopped herself, feeling the hot guilty colour flood her cheeks as she met his unblinking stare. Had Natalie stolen them, then hidden them here to involve her? "I didn't steal them, Mr. Harvey," she said slowly. "I don't know how they can have got into my room." She wondered why he didn't speak to her, reassure her, why he kept staring at her in that strange way. Suddenly she was frightened. "I didn't steal them. I didn't. You can't think I'm a thief?" "But I did see you coming out of Mrs. Lindstrom's room. What were you doing there?" he asked, his voice distant. Her hand flew to her throat nervously. "I can explain ..." 149^

  Miss Hunter's laugh was ugly, triumphant. "Of course you can. You'll have an explanation you'll probably say that Deborah was ill and you had to put her to bed."Lauren swung round to stare at her in disbelief. "But that is what happened," she said. Miss Hunter smiled smugly. "It was very clever of you to work out such a story. Very shrewd. But, Miss Roubin, you are shrewd, and cunning, too. You even asked the doctor to examine her and persuaded him to give you some tablets to make the child sleep.""I did take her to the doctor, he did give me some." Bewildered, trapped, Lauren looked from one face to another. On the detective's face she' saw quick sympathy that vanished almost instantly. "You must believe me, Mr. Harvey. Deborah was badly-frightened about something. She came running to me and""Then why didn't you tell me about Deborah when I saw you this afternoon coming out of her mother's room?" he asked coldly. Lauren twisted her hands together. "I was going to ... then the 'page boy brought you that note, and . . . and ... I didn't think Deborah could be really ill as the doctor hadn't seemed to think so, and I was late already for my practice and" "A likely story," Miss Hunter sneered. "A clever little tale you rigged up. Very clever, but not quite clever enough, Miss Roubin."Lauren was not listening to her. She was staring at the big, handsome man whose face was so stern.She felt as if her heart was breaking. "Mr. Harvey," she said once more, desperately, "you do believe me? You can't believe that I'm a thief?" 150

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  WOULD she ever forget that moment? He, had turned away, as if he wanted to waste no moretime on her. His voice was cold as he said: "It's latesomeone is waiting to see me, so we will continue this discussion in the morning . . ." Could she ever forget Miss Hunter's instant: "There's nothing to discuss, Mr. Harvey. We've caught the girl red-handed." Or Roland Harvey's controlled voice as he repeated: ' "I said we will discuss this in the morning. MissHunter." Miss Hunter had gone close to him, putting out a hand to touch his artn. "But, Mr. Harvey I'm afraid it's my fault. I should have seen through the girl at once'and" "Miss Hunter!" Roland Harvey had roared.Lauren caught her breathit was the first time she had heard him raise his voice in anger. She could see that he was very angry indeed. "I said we will continue this in the morning. Are youdeaf?" He went to the table, scooped up the necklace, and said: "I shall return these to their rightful owner. Now if you will kindly leave . . ." Lauren stood very still, eyes tightly shut. She could not bear to meet Miss Hunter's triumphant gaze any longer or the quick unhappy look Mr.Dixie, the friendly detective, had. She heard the door open and opened her eyes, seeing Roland Ha
rvey by the door, waiting for Miss Hunter and Mr. Dixie to go through. Then he turned and 151X' /" looked at Lauren, -who stared at him silently, hugging herself unhappily. "Don't worry, Lauren," he said gently. "Sleep well. We'll sort this out tomorrow. Good night." And with that he left the room, closing the door behind him. Lauren felt the hysterical laughter bubbling out of her throat and then spilling itself in tears as she flung herself on the bed and sobbed. It was not being accused that hurt; it was the look on Roland Harvey's face, the sad, disillusioned note in his voice as he told her not to worry. He believed she was a thief. He had been sad the same sadness he would have felt if small Deborah had done something naughty. It was the sort of voice that parents use, often unintentionally, as a weapon with which to punish their children, that hurt disillusionment that is more powerful than any brief spanking could be. She washed her face and tried to think sensibly. First of all, why hadn't she recognized the jewels at once as belonging to Mrs. Lindstrom? She had often seen them before. Secondly, how had Natalie got hold of them? Had she stolen them, would she have flaunted them like that? And Nick? Nick had recognized them instantly. Lauren could remember the surprise in his harsh voice as he demanded to be told where Natalie had got them, and Natalie had laughed teasingly. Thirdly, if Natalie had the jewels, then how had they got up here, in her bedroom? Lauren wondered. Could Natalie have hidden them here and then hinted to Miss Hunter? Were they in this together, perhaps? Yet it was hard to imagine Natalie doing a terrible thing like that. Besides, Nick had seen her with the jewels . . .Lauren felt trapped. How quick Miss Hunter had been to destroy what she called a "so-called excuse". How had she known about Deborah's visit to the doctor? Unless the doctor had grum152