'No, I don't believe it. They couldn't harm a child.'
'They don't need to now. If they were his guardians instead of you, they'd still have control of the money.'
'No,' she said again. 'No.'
Yet though she denied what Derek said, his words only reechoed her own fears, and she caught hold of his arm. 'What should I do?'
'Just rely on me.' He caught her by the shoulders. 'Let our engagement stand, Carolyn.'
'Very well,' she said. 'But only because—- '
'Don't say any more,' he interrupted. 'I know the reason.' He straightened. 'Now the first thing is to make sure there's someone here with you the whole time.'
'That's impossible.'
'No, it isn't. Margaret's agreed to come here.'
'Margaret?'
'Yes. She's much better now and it will do her good to take care of Piotr. That means you needn't stay here the whole time.'
'I've nowhere else to go.'
'You must get away from the house. Stay in London for a few days, perhaps take a flat.'
'You talk as if I'm in danger here.'
Silence was his only answer, but it was more frightening than words. 'Can all this be real?' she wondered. Would Jeffrey and Mrs. Nichols harm her in order to get charge of Piotr? But surely that wasn't necessary now that Jeffrey was going to marry Ella. Though her thoughts should have been reassuring, Carolyn was not pacified. Hatred was not based on reason, for if reason was the governing factor, why should Alvin show so clearly that he hated her?
'It's like a nightmare,' she said aloud.
'It won't last for ever,' Derek replied, and swung her round to face the house. 'The first thing is to let everyone know we're engaged. From then on, leave everything to me.'
Feeling as though she were playing a part—as indeed she was—Carolyn entered the house with Derek, and saw Jeffrey coming down the stairs in a dressing gown.
'I thought you were at the office,' she said in surprise.
'There's one advantage being engaged to the boss's sister,' Jeffrey grinned. 'I've been given the morning off to recuperate!' He put his hand to his head. 'And boy, do I need it!'
'Shall I get you some coffee?'
'I've already had some.' He opened the door of the drawing- room and let her and Derek precede him in.
'How come you left the party early?' he asked as Carolyn sat down by the fire.
'We wanted to be alone,' Derek said before Carolyn could answer. 'We got engaged last night. You're the first to know.'
Jeffrey looked at them in astonishment. 'This is rather sudden, isn't it? I'd no idea…'
'Neither had Carolyn,' Derek said easily. 'It was love at first sight for me, but she took a little more persuading.'
'Well, well, love must be as catching as measles. I suppose Alvin will be next.' Jeffrey sauntered over and bent to kiss Carolyn on the cheek. 'Congratulations, old girl, and you too, de Mancy. I hope you don't come to such an untimely end as your predecessor.'
'That's not very funny,' Derek said slowly.
'Sorry, old chap, it's my peculiar sense of humour.'
Derek took out his pipe and filled it with slow, deliberate movements. 'If you generally make remarks like that, I can see why Carolyn hasn't enjoyed having you living with her.'
'Having me live with her?'
'That's right. It's her house now, you know.'
'It's Piotr's,' Carolyn said quickly, feeling that Derek was needlessly antagonising Jeffrey.
'Don't worry about hurting my feelings,' Jeffrey ignored Derek and spoke to Carolyn. 'I've always admired people who talk plainly—and your fiance is certainly doing that.' He turned to look at the man beside him. 'You've got a point there, though, de Mancy. We gave Carolyn a pretty rough time when she first came here, but I was hoping she'd realised it was all in the past.'
'Maybe it is for you,' Derek said, 'but I'm not sure about your mother.'
Jeffrey shrugged. 'She'll get used to it. Anyway, once I'm married I hope things will be different.' He tightened the belt of his dressing gown and sat down on the arm of the settee. 'Did you like the show?' he asked.
Derek looked puzzled and Carolyn's cheeks flamed with embarrassment. 'We didn't see it,' she stammered. 'Oh, Jeffrey, I forgot all about it. I was out on the terrace and—and after Derek and I got——'
'What Carolyn means,' Derek interposed, 'is that in the excitement of getting engaged neither of us remembered you were putting on a musical.'
'It doesn't matter,' Jeffrey said airily. 'You may get the chance to hear it on the stage.'
'Jeffrey!' Carolyn exclaimed. "You don't mean…'
'I do,' he grinned. 'Hiram Walsh was at the party last night and he's asked to see the score. Nothing may come of it, but at least he was interested enough to talk to me for an hour.' He turned to Derek. 'Did you get any good commissions?'
Derek smiled. 'Only one. Unfortunately I couldn't hold an exhibition of my paintings in the hall!'
'Well, one is a start, anyway. Who is it?'
'A friend of Mr. Tyssen's. Romaine Anderson.'
Jeffrey made a face. 'You'll have your work cut out there!'
'I don't see why. She has an interesting face.'
'Maybe. But you'd better not let the character come through! Just paint what you see on the surface. That's all Alvin's interested in!'
Carolyn stood up. 'Anybody want some coffee?'
'Not for me, sweetheart,' Derek said. 'I must be going back. I promised to drive Margaret into Chichester.'
'Doesn't she drive herself?'
'Too scared. A bike's the only thing she can manage.' He walked to the door. 'Don't bother seeing me out.'
As the door closed behind him Jeffrey sat down at the piano, but though his hands rested on the keys, he did not play. 'How come you're engaged to Derek?'
'What do you mean?'
'Just that it's somewhat unexpected.'
She avoided his eyes. 'It doesn't take long to fall in love.'
'Are you sure you have?'
'What other reason would I have for getting engaged?'
'I don't know. But I can't see you marrying that Irish blarney.'
'Derek's different when we're alone,' she said stiffly. 'He's kind and dependable and honest.'
'Sounds like you're giving him a character reference.' Jeffrey said. 'You wouldn't be getting engaged on the rebound would you?'
'Rebound from what?'
'I don't know. But I've a feeling…' he ran his fingers over the keys. 'Hell! I can't explain it. I just feel in my bones he isn't right for you.' He played a soft chord. 'What did you think of Romaine?'
'I don't know her.'
'That doesn't usually stop a woman from forming an opinion!'
Carolyn hesitated and then said carefully: 'She isn't the type that appeals to me, but if Alvin cares for her '
'I wouldn't use the word "care". For Alvin it's just an affair of convenience with no strings attached.'
Carolyn smiled without amusement. 'I wouldn't be so sure of that. From what I saw of Mrs. Anderson last night I'd say she was beginning to manoeuvre the strings very nicely.'
'She'll never tie Alvin down.'
'You wouldn't care to take a bet on it, would you?'
Jeffrey looked at her for a long moment, his gaze so intense that she felt herself flushing. "You always have a strange tone in your voice when you talk about my future brother-in-law. You wouldn't have fallen for him, by any chance, would you?'
'What a ridiculous thing to say!'
'Is it?' Jeffrey was well under way, his eyes gleaming with amusement. 'I don't happen to think so. He starts off by disliking you, and you make no bones about reciprocating the attitude. Then he keeps coming round her just to insult you— which isn't like Alvin at all. He's always been noted for his politeness. The next thing I discover is that he gives you a personal tour around his treasured factory and brings you back to my office with your lipstick on his mouth. Then last night at the party he completely
ignores you, and this morning you're engaged to Derek; ipso facto, if that isn't love, I'm a Dutchman!'
'You're crazy! You should stick to writing romantic musicals and not turn real life into fiction.'
Jeffrey shrugged and turned back to the piano, beginning to pick out a few notes at random. Slowly he turned them into a time, so absorbed in what he was doing that Carolyn knew he had forgotten all about her.
Why had Jeffrey made such a ridiculous comment about Alvin? She was certainly not indifferent to the man—no woman could be—but that did not mean she was in love with him. Indeed, if she thought about her feelings at all, she would have said they were composed of dislike, fear and a determination to cut him down to size. Yes, that last part was certainly true, and, probably more than anything else, accounted for her burning desire to make him see her as a woman. Suddenly she knew why she kept thinking about him: not because he meant anything to her—that idea was ridiculous—but because of a determination to hurt him as he had hurt her.
Despite the occasional jibes Jeffrey and Mrs. Nichols still made at her, days would pass when their attitude was normal and friendly, but this was something she could never say about Alvin. Every time they met he went out of his way to lay stress on the fact that she had known of Piotr's inheritance when she had married Peter. 'Darn the man,' she thought angrily. 'How pleased he'd be if he knew I keep thinking of him.'
Determinedly she turned her thoughts to Derek, glad there was someone on whom she could rely. Perhaps this false engagement was a good idea after all, perhaps it might even lead to something more permanent. She tried to envisage a future with Derek, yet somehow it was impossible. Charming though he was, she could not take him seriously, nor see him as a romantic figure.
Jeffrey's surprise at her engagement was echoed by Mrs. Nichols, whom Carolyn discovered playing with Piotr on the floor of his nursery. The woman looked unusually dishevelled, the belt of her dress lying on the floor, her hair over her eyes. Piotr was obviously enjoying himself immensely, for when his grandmother stood up to go, he clutched her round the waist.
'You promised you'd play with me all day,' he wailed.
'I have,' Mrs. Nichols said. 'We had lunch together and now it's nearly tea time.'
'Stay here and have tea with me.'
'Leave your grandmother alone now,' Carolyn ordered. 'I think you've exhausted her. Go down to the kitchen and have tea with Cook?
Piotr looked as though he was going to argue, but seeing the expression on Carolyn's face, he decided against it and rushed out of the room singing at the top of his voice.
'He's quite a lad,' Mrs. Nichols said, straightening her hair and putting on her belt. 'I've never known a day go so fast.'
As they went downstairs, the woman recounted all the things Piotr had said to her, and it was only when she was pouring out tea that Mrs. Nichols stopped talking about him long enough for Carolyn to tell her of her engagement to Derek.
'Good heavens,' Mrs. Nichols said. 'I never even knew you liked him.'
'I got to know him better when he—when he started painting my portrait.'
'Are you sure you're not rushing into things?'
'We're not getting married yet,' Carolyn said quickly.
'At least that's sensible.'
'Don't you like him?' Carolyn asked bluntly.
'Of course I do. I just never thought of him in terms of a husband for you.'
'I'm surprised to hear you even bothered to think of me at all,' Carolyn said.
Airs. Nichols sighed. 'I suppose I asked for that one.'
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude.'
'You weren't rude, my dear, and if there's any apologising to be done, it should come from me. When I think of the things I said to you…'
Carolyn was taken aback by Mrs. Nichols' apology and, remembering Derek's suspicions, wondered if the woman was deliberately trying to be disarming. Yet somehow, looking into the lined face, she could not believe it. All at once she saw her as a pathetic figure and felt intensely sorry for the wasted years the woman had spent with her two children in this large and ugly house anticipating the day when she was no longer commanded by an autocratic old woman who had obviously used her money as a means of controlling the people around her.
'I don't know whether you'll believe me or not,' Carolyn said slowly, 'but I give you my word that when I married Peter I'd no idea of Piotr's inheritance.'
'I realise that now,' Mrs. Nichols answered, 'and I'd give anything if we could begin all over again.'
'I'm glad you said that,' Carolyn replied. 'It's a few years until Piotr's twenty-one, so we'll have plenty of time to make up for the bad beginning.'
'You won't want me here once you're married.'
'That won't be for a long time yet,' Carolyn said quickly, and then stopped as she saw Mrs. Nichols' look of surprise. 'I must watch myself,' she thought 'I've got to remember there's a reason for my engagement to Derek.'
Yet sitting in this quiet room, it was difficult to believe that Derek's suspicions were justified. Again Carolyn felt her head start to throb. Nothing was worse then suspicion. It had a habit of seeping into everything, giving the most innocent remark an importance it did not deserve. If she did not watch out she would end up a paranoic, afraid to turn her back on anyone, scared even to leave Piotr alone.
That night Carolyn was invited to dinner at the cottage. Margaret had made every effort to turn it into a festive occasion, but nothing could make the over-cluttered living-room look homely, and while they were having coffee in front of the smouldering fire, the woman apologised for it
'This must seem like a hovel to you after the Manor.'
'It's smaller than I'm used to,' Carolyn said carefully. 'I've always been accustomed to large rooms. It's funny how orphanages are usually in old-fashioned houses.'
'No one would want to live in them in a private capacity.'
'Pity you can't do that with Royston,' Derek interposed. 'The money you spend in the upkeep of that place should go to something better.'
'Piotr's got to live there. It's in the will.'
Brother and sister exchanged a glance. 'What are the exact terms of the will?' Derek asked.
'They're quite simple really. Piotr gets the bulk of his inheritance when he's twenty-one and until that time I'm the trustee.'
Margaret helped herself to a cigarette and offered one to Carolyn. 'What happenes if Piotr dies before he comes of age?'
'The way the will stands at the moment I'd get the money, but I'm trying to arrange for it to revert to Jeffrey and his mother.'
'But as the boy's guardian, do you get the interest from the trust fund?'
'Yes,' Carolyn leaned closer to the smoky fire, feeling suddenly cold. 'That gives me the creeps too. Somehow it seems like blood money. That's why I've asked Mr. Arnold to make Jeffrey and Mrs. Nichols trustees as well.'
'You're crazy!' Margaret said flatly. 'Why do you want to do a thing like that?'
Carolyn stared at her in surprise. 'I guess that's my business.'
'Of course it is,' Derek said hastily. 'Margaret's just looking at if from your point of view. When is all this great change going to take place?'
'As soon as Mr. Arnold can arrange it. Legally it's quite a problem.'
'So for the moment, if anything happened to the child you'd get the money?'
'I wish you wouldn't talk about it,' Carolyn said with unusual asperity. 'It makes me feel peculiar.'
Derek burst out laughing. 'Only you could consider money peculiar! No wonder the Nichols think they're on to a good thing. You're too soft, my dear. It's what they're relying on.'
'I can't believe you're right. This afternoon Mrs. Nichols went out of her way to tell me——- '
'That she was sorry for her behaviour?' Derek interrupted. 'Naturally she'd say that the moment she knew you were engaged to me. She realised she'd have to be careful.'
'I can't believe it,' Carolyn said.
'That's what you said this mor
ning,' he reminded her, 'but every time you go back to the house, the Nichols convince you I'm wrong.' He came over to her and put his hand on her chin, tilting it up so that she could not avoid his eyes. 'If I'm wrong about Jeffrey and his mother, no one will be more delighted than me. But where your safety and Piotr's is concerned, I'd rather be safe than sorry.'
'You can rely on me to make sure of Piotr's safety,' Margaret said from behind them. 'I'll be ready to move in tomorrow.'
Carolyn pulled away from Derek and looked at his sister. She had no reason to dislike Margaret, yet there was something impersonal about the woman that made it impossible to feel any warmth towards her. Compared to Miss Williams she seemed frigid and unsympathetic, and certainly nothing like her brother. It was hard to imagine her in charge of an orphanage, and she could not help wondering if the children had been happy under her control.
'Do you think it's really necessary for you to stay at the house?'
'Derek thinks so,' Margaret said, beginning to clear the table. 'Besides, I'm so much better now that I'm beginning to get restless doing nothing.'
'She's even talking about going back to work,' Derek said, 'but I'd rather she didn't for a few more months.'
'Would you return to the orphanage?'
With the laden tray in her hands, Margaret stopped by the door. 'Not back to the same one,' she said harshly. 'I like looking after children in my own way, and I don't like being given orders.'
'Margaret was too soft, and the Board of Governors objected to it,' Derek explained. 'She kept having rows with them, and eventually she collapsed under the strain.'
Looking at the thin, gaunt face, Carolyn could not see Margaret in the role Derek was giving her, and she wondered with something bordering on hysteria whether she had reached the stage where she was unable to believe anything anybody said.
Margaret went out of the room and Derek pulled Carolyn close against him. For a moment she resisted his touch, and then she relaxed on his shoulder.
'That's better,' he said. 'You've been tense and on edge from the moment you got here.'
'I'm sorry,' she apologised, 'but since last night I somehow can't think straight about anything.'
'Leave me to do the thinking for you,' Derek said, and pressed his lips to her forehead. Gently he kissed her eyes and then his head blotted out the small light hanging from the centre of the ceiling as his lips pressed hard on hers. It was an unexpected kiss of passion, and though Carolyn tried to respond to it she was conscious of his breathing heavy in her ear, of his hands caressing her shoulders and the hard muscle of his thigh close against hers. His kiss grew more insistent and she pulled away from him.
Rachel Lindsay - Mask of Gold Page 14