A strange feeling shot through her like static electricity and he turned away abruptly.
'Enjoy yourself, Beth,' he said quietly. 'Off you go!'
She went on trembling legs, utterly stunned that such a brotherly and kindly kiss should have left her so unsettled. She was glad that he was not about to join them and that she would probably not see him until tomorrow. He spent much of his time away from the house, and she thought that he probably had a serious girlfriend in Paris. His sister had hinted that he was popular with the ladies.
Suddenly, she was very glad that she was his ward, his responsibility. She would not like to have that arrogant masculinity turned in her direction. She was shocked at the very thought that had somehow filtered into her mind, and she hurried after Madeleine and got thankfully into the car.
Beth was silent as they drove from the house and turned in the direction of the city, and after a while Madeleine glanced at her and then looked back at the road.
'I hope that we are going to be friends, Beth,' she said rather ruefully. 'I hear from my brother that you have the gift of silence. I do not, and it would be a very good thing if we could talk together.'
'I'm sorry, madame,' Beth said quickly. 'I wasn't being deliberately silent. I was—thinking, that's all.'
'I see.' Gaetan's sister laughed softly. 'Do you wish to share your thoughts or shall I tell you what is planned for today?'
'I am to buy clothes, madame,' Beth said softly, 'I have been told that.'
'And you are not deliriously happy?' Madeleine said in astonishment. 'I was very envious, Beth, when my brother told me to take you out and lavish money on you. He is a very generous brother but never so generous as that with me. You are to come back with everything that I think you need, and he knows that with me it will be—everything! I would think that if you are willing it would also be an idea to call me Madeleine; your polite formality makes me feel old.'
'I'm sorry,' Beth laughed. 'You're not old, in fact you're very beautiful. I'm supposed to call Gaetan by his name too, but I find it difficult.'
'He is very—formidable!' Madeleine agreed with a deep exaggeration. 'Even so, you should try. It will please him, and that will be a good thing for all of us.'
'So the doctor told me,' Beth sighed. 'I seem to have caused trouble even before I came here.'
'Only because you did not come,' Madeleine said emphatically. 'Gaetan and your uncle were dear friends, you know, even though there was a great age difference, and Gaetan takes his responsibilities very seriously.'
'I know,' Beth sighed, not wishing to be reminded in the least that she was merely a responsibility in his life. It would have been better if he had been her uncle's age and not so very much a male. She pulled herself up with a start when she realised that once again she was thinking such strange thoughts.
Once in the city and on foot, Beth found that in spite of her original decision simply to do everything that Gaetan wanted and to suffer this outing with no hope of enjoyment, she was in fact more excited with every passing minute. They walked past many shops that she would have liked to linger inside but Madeleine seemed to know exactly where she wanted Beth to be, and it was not until they were outside the most fabulous shop that Beth had ever seen that Madeleine stopped.
Beth's eyes roved from the exquisite clothes in the window to Madeleine's smiling face, and back again to stare with bated breath at the dresses and suits that were placed with a scarcity of fuss that spoke of the very expensive. There were silver and blue awnings over every arched window and a long canopy of the same material and design that stretched out across the pavement making an expensive approach to the beautifully draped glass door. Beth's eyes moved upwards over the white front and her mouth actually fell open as she saw the name on the building. 'Vernais'.
'It—it's Gaetan's shop?'
'Don't ever say that Beth!' Madeleine shrieked as she burst into delighted laughter. 'This is a world-famous salon, and Gaetan would not be very amused to hear it called a shop.' She watched Beth's face for a minute and then said quietly, 'Mon Dieu, you have not the slightest idea who Gaetan is, have you?'
Beth merely looked puzzled and Madeleine sighed and shook her head.
'I suppose that you have not been involved much in the world of fashion, coming as you did almost straight from school, and it is typical of him not to tell you. It is hard to believe at your age, when all a woman normally thinks of is clothes and her own looks, that you do not recognise his name. I had better put you in the picture, then, before we go inside. Along with Dior, Yves St Laurent and Givenchy, Gaetan Vernais is one of the most famous fashion designers in the whole world. This is but one of his salons; he has others in New York, London, Rome and Milan. You are lucky, Beth. Your guardian is the sort of man that any woman would dream of having for a friend. You have carte blanche in this salon. We are now about to dress you in Vernais clothes.'
'You—you mean he designs all these himself?' Beth asked breathlessly, very uneasy about stepping into this luxurious salon and more than ever aware of her own shortcomings.
'Not now,' Madeleine assured her. 'He has a whole team who design for him, but the very best he still does himself and he keeps strict control over everything. Mostly, though, now he is taken up with the business side of things. Success has its drawbacks. He works very hard. Come, let us begin.'
For what seemed like hours Beth tried on one outfit after another with Madeleine and the rather unnerving woman in charge of the salon hovering over her. It was all what monsieur would think, what monsieur would approve of, but Beth finally summoned up enough nerve to add her own thoughts and this seemed both to amuse and to please Madeleine, who was prepared finally to let her make her own choices, only becoming firm when Beth would have left the whole thing at about three changes of outfit.
When they finally left she was dressed in one of her favourites, a woollen dress and matching jacket, pale grey, almost the colour of her eyes; it was patterned with tiny flowers of pink and blue and her shoes were the palest pink of the flowers, high-heeled and elegant. The other purchases were left in piles of boxes that towered from the floor of the salon, and delivery was promised within the hour.
Her next stop was at Madeleine's own hairdresser and beauty salon, and here Madeleine confessed that this was her own idea. Apparently Gaetan had not thought of this at all. Beth was walked round and clucked over by the experts, and when they finally left there it was almost dark but Beth had watched her own transformation from a thin and uncertain, rather ungainly schoolgirl figure into that of a beautiful young woman.
'I have but one worry,' Madeleine confessed as Beth climbed happily into the car for the return trip, her newly acquired make-up case beside her with strict instructions in her mind to 'Use very little on that beautiful skin'. 'Gaetan did not tell me to get your hair cut, but you cannot wear these chic clothes with your hair to the bottom of your back, lovely though it was.'
Beth agreed. Her hair had been styled into a length just touching her shoulders, the thick and heavy fringe framing her face, and the length that had been cut off was even now in a box in the car, having been made skilfully into a hairpiece to be used to alter the style later.
'I'm sure he won't mind,' Beth ventured uneasily, not at all sure, though, and Madeleine met her eyes and pulled a small face.
'I don't see why he should but all the same, I won't stay for dinner. There are some things, my dear, that you must do alone. Letting Gaetan see the shorter hair is one of them. You look sophisticated. I'm not sure how he will take this total transformation. You look perhaps a little more hard to handle.'
Beth did not have to wait very long for Gaetan's reaction. She had hoped that he would be out as he normally was but as she crossed the hall on her way to her room he came from the library and called to her before he had even seen her.
'Beth? Come here for a moment. There is someone I want you to meet.' He stopped abruptly as he saw her, and she turned back towards him with a rapi
dly beating heart, telling herself that this was quite ridiculous. He had been the one to insist upon new clothes, and as to her hair, it was really nothing to do with him at all. She had let Madeleine's anxiety creep into her own attitude, and she would not allow that. She faced him with her head high, a certain amount of defiance on her face.
It was fairly dark in the hall, but to her consternation he flicked on the main lights and came forward slowly, his eyes narrowed in what might have been either concentration or annoyance, she wasn't sure which. Whatever it was, she had found a new confidence. She had spent much of that day in looking at herself in mirrors at both the Vernais salon and at the hairdressers. She did not feel any longer an ungainly and uncertain girl, and her new-found confidence showed in her reaction to this dark and intent scrutiny.
'I didn't think that you would be in tonight,' she said casually, determined not to falter under his vivid gaze, but her observation drew forth no comment whatever. He continued to stare at her, a sort of bafflement on his face that brought a further quiver of disquiet to her.
'Well? What do you think?' she exclaimed, turning slowly round as she had done for Madeleine in the salon, praying that he would say something soon before her nerve gave out.
'Delightful,' he murmured, but with a frown on his dark face that belied the words, and a wave of exasperation shot through Beth, bringing a flare of colour into her face.
'You don't really appear to think so!' she commented irritably. 'After all, the clothes are your own design, and if you don't like the way that I wear them then you should have sent me to another establishment, or left me exactly as I was!'
'As you were?' he enquired moodily and almost absent-mindedly, his eyes still taking stock of her astonishing transformation. 'I like these very well, did I not say that you looked delightful?'
'You didn't really mean it though!' she blurted out disappointedly and his eyes came back to her face.
'I am glad that you are able to read my mind,' he commented irascibly, 'it will save me the trouble of issuing orders!' His eyes held hers and, before the dark, intent gaze, she lowered her lashes and fell into silent confusion.
'I've done everything that you wanted me to do,' she reminded him quietly and he came forward, taking her arm firmly and leading her to the library.
'And several things that I did not tell you to do,' he pointed out softly. 'I am sorry, Beth, you have astonished me, but nevertheless, you look as I said— delightful. Forgive my mood, perhaps I am mourning the loss of a strange mermaid who stayed here for a while.'
There was no further chance to speak to him and, in any case, she had decided not to have any argument with him again. She had been hurt by his seemingly disapproving attitude, but a very strange change had come over her too. She suddenly felt quite at home here, no longer an intruder, and there was a great feeling of security inside her as Gaetan stepped aside and motioned her into the library. If she had to have a guardian it was better to have one who was so certain of his requirements.
A tall, good-looking young man rose to his feet as Beth entered, and Gaetan introduced him.
'This is Alain Rouselle, Beth. He is an associate of mine. Mademoiselle Craig, Alain.'
'What he means, mademoiselle, is that I work for him!' He came forward, taking her hand and raising it to his lips with Gallic courtliness, looking into her eyes with smiling brown gaze. 'I am enchanted, mademoiselle,' he murmured.
'You may join the queue!' Gaetan offered derisively as she blushed with pleasure. His hand came once again, firm and possessive, to grip Beth's arm as he led her to the settee facing Alain, sitting down beside her himself. There was a deliberately protective attitude about him that Beth could see was not lost on the visitor. The newcomer seemed to be in his late twenties, tall and well built, definitely handsome but with none of the brooding power to his face that Gaetan had. He looked as if he laughed a lot and, never having had much laughter in her life, Beth was instantly attracted to him. She met his smiling eyes with a smile of her own.
'I hear that you have been raiding the salon, mademoiselle,' he remarked easily, crossing one elegant leg over the other and continuing to smile at her. 'May I be so impertinent as to enquire why you chose that particular outfit?'
'I am almost afraid to answer, monsieur,' Beth said with a low laugh. 'Is there any rivalry in the Vernais establishment? If there is, I had better keep quiet.'
'It was almost an innocent question, mademoiselle,' Alain assured her with a wide smile. 'Of course, I will not press the point.'
'I decided to keep this on because I liked it so well, as a matter of fact,' Beth confessed. 'Is it one of your designs?' She was very glad that she had had a long talk with Madeleine about Gaetan's establishment. They had discussed it through the whole of their lunch time and she knew that Alain Rouselle was already making a name for himself with Gaetan's approval, and that this year he was to be allowed to release designs under his own label.
'No, mademoiselle,' he said with a sadly mocking frown. 'Unfortunately, you are wearing a Vernais original. You wear the raiment of your lord like a lady at a medieval tournament.'
'You are too fanciful to be real!' Gaetan growled with little humour. 'In any case, you have it wrong as usual. To be quite logical, it is I who should be wearing the lady's favour.' His tone said quite clearly that he neither expected the slightest favour from her, nor did he intend to offer any. Still, she was almost happy. For the first time in her life, she felt under a heavy protective cloak as if there was someone who cared about her. The fact that he was like a very severe older brother did not matter in the least.
'I understand that you will be taking a place at the university when term starts in September, mademoiselle,' Alain said, skilfully getting away from a subject that clearly irritated Gaetan, but he was still on unfirm ground without realising it. Beth tensed and felt Gaetan's tension too. For a moment all her good resolve left her. He had even told others, then, that she was to be sent to university, whether she liked it or not!
For one second she contemplated a sharp rejoinder, but her memory of Gaetan's voice as he had talked to Madeleine, the utter weariness in him at the task he had undertaken to look after her, stilled her tongue.
'Yes,' she chanted happily. 'I imagine that I shall enjoy it. It's quite exciting.' She would take this up later with Gaetan. She was not about to snub him in front of a stranger. Even that thought made her feel oddly contented. Gaetan was no longer a stranger.
He stood and walked to the drinks which were laid out on a low table at the side of the room, his back towards her.
'The same again, Alain?' he asked pleasantly, and when Alain agreed, he added softly, 'A sweet sherry, Beth?' She could hear the laughter at the back of his voice and she didn't know whether she was being offered a sweet sherry because she looked old enough now to have one or whether it was an amused comment on her sweetly accepting tone at the mention of the university.
'Thank you,' she said lightly, wondering what it would be like, and he walked across to hand it to her, his eyes still amused as she took it from him and sipped it carefully.
'It is quite a long time to September,' Alain was commenting when she finally got her beating heart under control and dared to look at Gaetan as he stood leaning casually against the fireplace, his eyes glittering and black on her face and hair. 'Would you allow me to show you some of the city before your studies become too arduous?'
She couldn't help glancing anxiously at Gaetan, but his face was utterly without expression and she knew that no help was coming from that direction.
'I really would like to, but I shall be very busy-preparing,' she murmured to Alain, hoping that she was saying the right thing. There would be enough trouble when she took up the little matter of university later.
She heard the approval in Gaetan's voice as he added his own comments.
'Beth has been away from full-time education for a year and she has also been ill. She cannot afford the time to behave as any other p
erson of her age would behave. She is extremely clever and must not let her chances slip by.'
'I can see that she is quite content to be in the hands of a slave-driver,' Alain stated with a quick glance at Gaetan, and Beth expected some angry comment, but to her surprise Gaetan laughed.
'Do I not always slave-drive? I have not noticed any complaints from you, Alain.'
'But it is my career and I wish to learn from the master,' Alain said with a quirk to his lips. 'She is so beautiful. It is a shame to keep her locked in a room with old books.'
There was a slight irritation on Gaetan's face, and Beth chose to intervene quickly.
'Gaetan only wants what he thinks is best for me,' she stated. 'He is my guardian and I know he wants to keep me on the right road. He has taken on the duty of protecting me.'
Somehow, she didn't think that this loyal little speech had gone down too well with Gaetan for some reason, and she was very glad when he invited Alain to dinner. Right at this moment, she would have been glad to be sitting next to Madeleine with her ready tongue and her total disregard for Gaetan's finer feelings.
Gaetan's suddenly morose mood did not lighten either throughout dinner, and she found herself talking almost exclusively to Alain who insisted upon first names and kept her laughing with a series of stories and comments that helped with what could have been a very trying little dinner party.
'Well, I shall try to get you to leave the fold, Beth,' he said as she stood at the door with Gaetan to say goodbye. 'I shall ring you up and call round unexpectedly when Gaetan is out.'
'Then I shall tell Madame Benoir that you are not to be admitted,' Beth laughed, waving goodbye and stepping back into the hall with Gaetan as he closed the door. The laughter had certainly left with Alain, she thought, as Gaetan appeared to be about to walk away to the library and ignore her totally.
'Gaetan,' she said, using his name with a determined but anxious force. 'May I speak to you before bedtime?'
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