'Your nerves are affecting me!' he said ruefully. 'I will begin again. Until we are married…'
'Married?' Beth's eyes opened fully in a mixture of shock and bewildered happiness. Surely he didn't mean it?
'You do not wish to marry me?' he asked softly, his eyes narrowing.
'Just because… There's no need…' she stammered and he grasped her face in a hard grip, silencing her.
'Unless you imagine that I will allow you to become my mistress on a permanent basis,' he rasped, 'then marriage is the next thing to consider! Unless you also imagine that after last night I will allow you to flee from me and return to London?'
Beth made a great effort and pulled free, turning away from him. She had been under no illusions when she had offered him her love and she did not want him to feel obliged to marry her now. He had been unhappy once.
'I—I wanted to…' she began uneasily, afraid to anger him. 'I have no desire to be a burden to you and you needn't feel obliged to marry me, Gaetan. I know that you've been married before and that you were unhappy…'
'So!' he said softly. 'My golden girl listens to gossip? You intend then to refuse to marry me for my own good? What then are your plans? To take up a place at Cambridge University—pregnant?'
She spun round with a deeply flushed face, her lips parted in shock, and he looked at her calmly.
'It takes only once, chérie, and if you will remember, it was certainly not once,' he said blandly. He pulled her towards him and folded her in his arms as he saw her shaken look. 'I thought that you wanted me enough to stay here for ever as my wife, but even if you do not, I will keep you. I asked if you were mine and I imagined that your eyes told me yes, and that your arms clung to me with a certain amount of joy.' He kissed her bright cheeks and whispered in her ear, 'You will marry me if I have to lock you up and feed you with a spoon for months until you agree. I am very ruthless about things that I want and I want you!'
He drew back his head and looked at her as she began to smile, her eyes meeting his happily, and he took a deep breath.
'Little minx!' he snapped. 'I am not at all sure how you will behave at any time.' He held her away from him and then relaxed into smiles. 'Now that another battle is over, perhaps we could eat and then we will get the ring. You will be engaged, my girl, before lunch time, and after that you will stay with Madeleine until we are married.'
'Oh! But I don't want…' she began frustratedly and he cupped her face in possessive hands, kissing her soundly.
'Neither do I,' he said thickly, 'but you are young and tender, a jeune fille still. From now on, we must behave decorously. It is good for the soul!'
CHAPTER TEN
Madeleine was delighted and not altogether surprised. Beth suspected that she had already had some information from Madame Benoir, who had been told before they left the house, and she could now see the necessity for the move.
Once the news was fully out, there would be a great national and even international interest, because the world of fashion would be at great pains to observe and photograph her and also her wedding gown. There would be television coverage, news coverage, and within hours of the wedding there would be copies of the dress well on their way to being ready for the shops. The fashion world worked like this, and she was now a part of Gaetan's world.
The thought alarmed her and she sat abruptly as Madeleine explained all this. It was something that she would have to face, however, and she turned an anxious smile on Gaetan.
'It will be all right, chérie,' he assured her quietly. 'Nothing shall hurt you.' She smiled enchantingly at him. He had already dealt with another of her unspoken worries, that Alain would never be a friend again.
'It is little consolation, I know, Alain,' he had said as they had called at the warehouse after choosing a ring for Beth. 'You have lost the princess, but I would like you to design the gown.'
His generosity had quite silenced Beth, and Alain stared at him in astonishment.
'You realise what this will mean to me, Gaetan?' he had asked. 'My name will be made overnight.'
'I know.' Gaetan had put his arm around Beth as he smiled at Alain. 'Very soon, I imagine you will have a rival establishment, and when the time comes I will help all I can. In any case, I am superstitious. I do not wish to see the dress until the wedding day.'
'And then, heaven help me if you are not delighted?' Alain asked with a sudden laugh.
'You have the general idea,' Gaetan smiled. 'Just design a gown for my princess. You can have the glory.'
Now Beth had a woman to talk to for the first time in her life, and Madeleine was very pleased to talk; it seemed to be her hobby. Every subject that Beth mentioned was deeply discussed, and she now had no worries about whether or not Gaetan still loved his previous wife.
'It was because of this wife that Gaetan met your uncle,' Madeleine told her one night as they sat up late to talk.
'How?' Beth suddenly found herself anxious again. 'There was a great age difference. I've often wondered.'
'Did you know that she died in a hotel fire?' Madeleine asked and when Beth nodded she added, 'Well, had it not been for your Uncle John, Gaetan would have died too.'
'Was he in the hotel?' Beth asked with a suddenly pale face.
'No. He was going in to save her. John stopped him, held him and finally knocked him out.'
'He must have loved her very much to…' Beth hung her head and Madeleine sighed, putting her arm around Beth's shoulders.
'I regret now having started this gossip session,' she murmured. 'No, he did not love her. She was a bitch of the first order. My husband had just died and Gaetan and I were very close at that time, each relying on the other I expect. Always, from the first, there were men and after just one week of marriage, Gaetan knew his mistake. It was not possible to catch her at it, though, until the night of the fire.
'Gaetan was here with me and we heard from a friend that she had been seen in the hotel with a man, an Italian as it turned out, although Gaetan cared not who it was. He set off to face them and to get rid of her once and for all, to free himself from the farce of a marriage, because although she had no time for him she could see that he was doing well and she was not about to give him up.
'When Gaetan arrived, the fire was already out of control. Guests were outside in their pyjamas, the fire brigade working, the police there and Gaetan tried to get into the building. It is one thing, Beth, to wish someone out of your life, but quite another thing to stand by and see them die. Your Uncle John was one of the guests outside, he too in his dressing-gown, and he stopped Gaetan's suicidal attempt at rescue. Finally he had to knock him out, and when Gaetan came round, even he could see that rescue was impossible. According to Gaetan, your uncle, in spite of his years, had a punch like a mule.'
'We all became great friends, because afterwards Gaetan found him and thanked him. It grew from there and that was when we heard about his dear Beth, now our dear Beth.'
Beth suddenly found that she was crying openly, the floodgates of her unease opened, and Madeleine drew her close.
'What is it, ma chère? I have made you unhappy with my story? I thought that you would want to know.'
'I did want to know, Madeleine,' Beth wept. 'I love Gaetan so very much.'
'And he loves you,' Madeleine said with certainty in her voice. 'I have never seen such an expression on a man's face as when he looks at you. It is almost unbearable. I am not at all sure that it is even decent!'
'Oh, Madeleine!' Beth flung her arms around Gaetan's sister and they found that they were both in tears.
'That we are so stupid!' Madeleine said with irritation. 'We will have a drink and then we will discuss your trousseau!'
The days were a joy to Beth. She went around Paris with Madeleine, shopping and visiting friends. She spent time at famous salons as she gathered things that she would need for her honeymoon in Fiji, and there was never a moment to worry about anything.
In the evenings, Gaetan would
arrive, impatient to see her, very discreet in the presence of Madeleine, but his eyes telling her how much this was taking out of him now that she was no longer there to fill his days and his nights.
Finally, the dress was ready and Gaetan drove her to the warehouse one morning so that Marie-Annette could give her a fitting. They met Alain in the courtyard and Gaetan remained there with him as they discussed some new alterations that they were planning for the building now that they had less pressure of work from the new collection.
Beth went upstairs alone to Marie-Annette and the final fitting of the gown and she met her as Marie-Annette was on her way down.
'Go up to the top, Beth. The gown is behind that partition, well covered from prying eyes. I'll be with you in a minute.'
Beth went up, walking to the back of the room and to the gown that she would wear when she married Gaetan. It was breathtaking! Yards of white wild silk flowing from a tight bodice, the long, smooth sleeves coming to a point at the wrists. It glittered with tiny pearls, and she could see what it would be like on the day. It was a dress for a princess, the princess that Gaetan had called her. Even if he did not love her as she loved him, he would make her happy and she would try so hard to make him love her.
A slight noise behind her alerted her to the fact that she was no longer alone and she swung round to see Gabrielle standing there, her face bitterly angry.
'So he has finally caught you and you are stupid enough to go through with this wedding?' Gabrielle said tightly.
'I know that you work here, Gabrielle, but this dress is secret. Only Marie-Annette and Alain are allowed to see it. I would be very pleased if you would leave!' Beth said, quietly angry herself.
'I have no wish to see the dress!' Gabrielle snapped as Beth flung the covers over it and stepped from behind the partition. 'I feel sorry for you. No dress will compensate for the sacrifice that you are making. I have begged Gaetan not to go through with this. Night after night while you have been with his sister we have been in his house and I have pleaded. It is unfair to you.'
'Do not bother to tell me that you have been staying at the house!' Beth said heatedly. 'Gaetan has been with me every evening and even if he had not…'
'I said night, not evening,' Gabrielle said with a smile. 'You do not deserve to be helped! Gaetan is marrying you because he is in deep financial trouble. You have seen how he throws his money about? He has overstretched himself and the new salon in Madrid was the very limit. In the end, he could not afford it. You remember that he never even went, that he came back to Paris? He is broke, my dear mademoiselle, but as he has said to me, it is a merely temporary embarrassment. You are heiress to thousands and I expect that Gaetan will get most of it.'
'Gaetan loves me!' Beth advanced in a fury at this wicked insinuation and Gabrielle smiled, walking away as Beth followed.
'All you have to do is ask him,' she said tauntingly. 'He is down in the courtyard with Alain. He is not prepared for an outright encounter, his face will give him away.'
Beth stopped by the wall and stared at Gabrielle in a kind of fascination. She had never seen such wickedness on a face before. The woman was enraged with jealousy and quite beside herself.
'Ask him!' Gabrielle flung open the loading-doors and stood back pointing. 'He is down there! All you have to do is shout down and ask!'
The doors had hit the outer wall with a reverberating crash and Beth found herself looking at the sky and into a space where there had been a solid door. Below her was the cobbled yard, three storeys down and her old fear rose in her throat.
Gaetan and Alain had looked up at the noise and now he saw her as she stood at the edge of the drop.
'Beth!' Gaetan too seemed paralysed with fear. 'Oh, God! This time I am too far away.'
She saw Alain take off at great speed racing for the entrance to the building but she knew that he would not get to her in time and so did Gaetan. His voice was deep with dread.
'Beth! Chérie! This time, you must help yourself! I love you, chérie, and if you die, then I die too. I will never let you leave me!'
A great burst of joy leapt through her and she was no longer afraid, no more than any other person would have been. He stood looking at her as if seeing her for the last time, and there was no mistaking the look on his face.
She stepped back and aside, moving into the safety of the room, her legs trembling but her heart singing.
'Lean out and ask him!' Gabrielle hissed. 'You will soon find out!'
'I already know,' Beth said calmly. 'If you doubt that he loves me, lean out yourself or wait here until he comes for me!'
Gabrielle turned on her heel and stormed off just as Alain arrived breathless and pale to take one unbelieving look at Beth and then stride to the doors and clang them shut with violent force.
'Did she open them?' he demanded in a cold and vicious tone, and Beth nodded.
'Yes. It doesn't matter though, in fact, I'm very glad that she did. I think that I'm cured of both vertigo and stupidity, all in one fell swoop.' She smiled brilliantly into Alain's astonished face and then she fainted quietly and totally.
When she came round, Gaetan was holding her and she could hear Alain's outraged voice telling him about Gabrielle.
'It doesn't matter,' she heard herself saying shakily, 'I owe her a lot.'
'Not as much as I do!' Gaetan said grimly, crushing her into his arms. 'She is not on my staff from this moment!'
Beth could not argue with that. She felt that Gabrielle was quite dangerous and her jealousy would stop at nothing, but for now, she was happier than she had ever been in her life.
'I cannot understand why Beth is smiling after all that!' Alain said wonderingly and Gaetan smiled into her eyes.
'She is sometimes a little strange,' he told Alain, not allowing his gaze to leave her face. 'But she usually knows what she is doing and I am quite accustomed to leaving her decisions to stew for a while. Sooner or later, she gets around to my way of thinking.'
'You'd better take her home!' Alain said, no doubt thinking that they were both a little mad.
'After the fitting!' Beth said determinedly, struggling to her feet and out of Gaetan's arms.
'You are not now up to it!' Alain remonstrated, but Gaetan sat down and smiled across at her.
'Save your breath, Alain,' he said softly, his eyes on Beth's determined face. 'It is impossible to move her when she has made up her mind. I let things take their course. I have to wait quite some time to get my own way.'
His smiling eyes followed Beth as she walked off behind the partition with Marie-Annette and Alain suddenly grinned, his last worries about her dropping away as he saw the love in Gaetan's face.
When they finally got to the car, Gaetan told her that he had already been on the phone to Madeleine while he had waited for her to have the fitting.
'I have told her that we are coming to collect your things. You are moving back home!' he said fiercely.
'But you said… I remember that you said it wouldn't be proper!'
'The hell with proper!' Gaetan burst out, starting the car and moving off. 'We go home! First, we give Madame Benoir your things and then we go out to lunch. This afternoon, we curl up on the settee and talk. Tonight we go to bed—together! I let you stay at Madeleine's for the good of our souls. My soul has had more than enough!'
Beth snuggled against him and he glanced down in time to see her secret smile.
'What now, minx?' he asked, his lips twitching in amusement.
'I never wanted to leave you in the first place,' she said softly. 'What will Madame Benoir think though?'
'She will be very pleased, I imagine. She has hinted that I am bad-tempered now that I am managing without you.'
'Are you?' Beth asked quietly.
'Yes, chérie,' he confessed. 'I find that I cannot manage without you. You will find that I am a very demanding husband. Does it worry you?'
'Nothing worries me, so long as you love me,' she whispered, and his arm
coming tightly round her filled her with happiness.
It was much later as she lay in Gaetan's arms, his endless passion for her for the time being satisfied, that she told him about the way she had found that she was no longer afraid of heights.
'What did she say to you, Beth?' he asked quietly. 'You have not told me but I must know.'
'She said that you were with her here while I was staying at Madeleine's,' she said softly.
'And you believed her?' he asked, his hand turning her face to his.
'No. I know that you want me. I didn't believe her.'
He looked at her steadily. 'But there is something else, is there not?' She said nothing but he simply went on looking at her and she felt the need to tell him everything, facing it when she had to.
'She said that you were marrying me because I would soon be very rich,' she said quietly.
'And knowing this, you are still prepared to marry me, to be here with me now?' he asked quietly.
She would not even think of the implications of that. He had neither confirmed nor denied it. He had simply asked a question and his dark gaze was riveted on her face as he waited for her answer.
'Yes. I don't really care why you're marrying me so long as you love me. I don't care about money or anything else. I only want to be with you always.'
'Beth! My dearest Beth!' he said softly, crushing her to him. 'I am grateful to her for the chance to hear how much you love me.' He drew back and looked into her eyes with a light-hearted look that she had never seen before even when he was happy.
'Soon, you will have thousands,' he assured her, 'but money is difficult to get rid of as you pointed out to me, provided that you have enough of it. When you have little, it disappears, when you have too much, it sits there sullenly and grows.' He laughed into her startled face and kissed her deeply. 'I could not in a lifetime get rid of all my money, my sweetest Beth. You may keep your English pennies, I will not need them. I only want you!'
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