Reform of the Rake

by Catherine George

  Lowri made the necessary introductions and Fran and Jenny, after a few moments’ conversation, began putting coats on, begging Lowri to let them know the minute there was any news.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Adam decisively. ‘I’ll do all that.’ He turned to the policewoman. ‘I shall stay here tonight, Constable, so if you need to get back to the station?’

  Maggie Porter nodded. ‘Right, sir. I’ll inform Inspector Cox you’re here. He wants to ask you some questions.’

  Adam exchanged a glance with Lowri. ‘I may as well get that over right away—perhaps your friends could hang on until I get back.’

  Fran and Jenny were only too pleased to be of help. When Adam had gone off with Maggie they both turned to Lowri in awe.

  ‘That’s Rosie’s father?’ said Fran.

  Lowri nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Jenny gave a low whistle. ‘In that case we leave you in good hands, Lowri. He looks equal to anything. I’d hate to be the woman who stole Rosie when he catches up with her.’

  Half an hour later Adam returned, and Fran and Jenny went home, promising to be in earlier than usual in the morning.

  ‘Now do you feel?’ asked Adam.

  ‘The same as you look, I imagine,’ she said bleakly. ‘You missed supper with your mother. Shall I cook you bacon and eggs or something?’

  ‘Don’t bother.’ Adam lifted the cover from the plate of sandwiches. ‘I’ll have some of these. But I must ring Mother first.’

  ‘Of course.’ Lowri tried to smile. ‘Please apologise for my hysterics on the phone.’

  Adam touched a hand to her pale cheek. ‘Under the circumstances she’d have found it strange if you were calm!’

  Later, when Adam had spoken to his mother, and Lowri had made yet another pot of coffee, he pulled her down beside him on the sofa.

  ‘Come and sit here, Lowri; we both need human contact,’ he said grimly, as he took her hand. ‘I’ve only seen Rhosyn once and I’m berserk with worry. God knows how you must be feeling.’

  ‘I just keep praying that woman’s kind,’ said Lowri unsteadily, and swallowed hard. ‘Rhosyn gets a lot of cuddling—from Jenny and Fran as well as me, not to mention from all the Morgan clan. She’s only known love and kindness.’

  ‘Don’t!’ said Adam roughly, and put his arm round her. ‘At least we know some woman’s got her. It isn’t as though she’s lost, or…’ He halted, and breathed in deeply as he held her close. ‘Have you told your father?’

  ‘Yes. And Sarah. Rhia’s in Gstaad with the girls and Mari-Sian. Sarah will contact them when—when—’

  ‘When Rhosyn’s back with us,’ he said emphatically.

  Us? thought Lowri, then leapt to her feet in sudden hope as the telephone rang. Her disappointment was so intense that she felt sick as she listened to Sergeant Boyce informing her there would be an item on the news at nine, and later at ten. There would also be regular radio bulletins asking for information.

  When Lowri asked Adam to fetch her television from the spartan little bedroom they sat close together in front of it, waiting tensely for the news.

  ‘You realise what this will mean?’ said Lowri dully. ‘It’s an end to the crèche. No one will ever leave a child with me again after this.’

  ‘In which case you branch out in some other direction,’ said Adam the businessman, but his eyes were tender as he turned her face up to his. ‘The only thing that matters is to get Rhosyn back. After the newscast someone, somewhere is bound to remember seeing her.’

  Lowri’s teeth bit into her trembling lower lip. She let out a deep, despairing sigh. ‘Oh, Adam, I pray you’re right.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  AFTER the television newscast there were calls from Lowri’s father and Rupert, both of them deeply shaken after seeing Rhosyn’s photograph. Adam answered them both, Rupert unsurprised to hear his voice, Geraint Morgan too worried over the plight of his granddaughter to question Adam Hawkridge’s presence in his daughter’s life again.

  ‘Did Dad understand why I couldn’t speak to him?’ said Lowri, hoarse from weeping.

  ‘I told him you were shattered after watching the news,’ said Adam, and stood looking down at her as she huddled in misery on the sofa. ‘Why don’t you lie down for a bit—get some rest.’

  She glared at him. ‘Rest? Don’t be stupid!’ She bit her lip. ‘Sorry—’

  ‘Don’t be.’ He touched a hand to her untidy hair. ‘If you won’t go to bed, have a bath. Try to relax a little if you can, Lowri.’

  She consented reluctantly. ‘All right. I’d like to change my clothes, I’ll admit.’ She gazed up at him imploringly. ‘Call me if…’

  Adam pulled her to her feet and turned her towards the door. ‘Go. I need to make a couple of phone calls, then I’ll make you some tea.’

  Lowri gave him a pallid little smile and went off to run a bath. While she lay in it for a few minutes she heard his voice, and wondered if he wanted her out of the way so he could talk to someone in private. Adam had said there were no women in his life these days, but she found that hard to believe. Men like Adam needed women like they needed oxygen and food. Pain suddenly struck her like a shaft of lightning. All she needed was to have her baby back in her arms again.

  Wearing warm grey trousers and a thick scarlet sweater, Lowri emerged to find Adam waiting for her in the sitting room, a tea-tray on the small table beside him.

  ‘I rang the police, then Mother again, to keep her posted, then I got in touch with Jim Wallace to give him this number,’ Adam told her at once. ‘He’s my PA,’ he added in response to her questioning look.

  So it hadn’t been a woman.

  ‘What did the police say?’

  ‘After the news they had several calls from people who’d seen a well-dressed, elderly lady carrying a child into a car near your shop.’

  ‘A car,’ repeated Lowri, swallowing. ‘So she could be anywhere.’

  ‘If the child was Rhosyn, yes. Descriptions varied somewhat.’

  ‘I told the police what she was wearing, but she was indoors all day up to then. She didn’t have a coat, so the woman could have wrapped her in a blanket or something.’

  Adam shook his head. ‘That would have been noticeable. She probably had something ready for Rhosyn to wear.’

  Lowri drew in a deep, shuddering breath. ‘So you think it was all premeditated?’

  ‘It sounds like it. Women snatch babies from prams on impulse, but this has all the hallmarks of a well-thought-out plan.’

  Lowri poured tea with an unsteady hand. ‘You don’t think—?’ She stopped, hating to put her thought into words.

  Adam took the teapot from her shaking hand and put it back on the tray, then sat beside her. ‘Think what, Lowri?’

  ‘That the woman intends selling Rhosyn to some couple too desperate for a baby to ask questions?’

  He took her hand in a cruel grip. ‘We’re not even going to think of that one. But even if it’s true, we’ll find her. I promise you. At least,’ he added, ‘there’s been no ransom demand so far.’

  Lowri stared at him blankly. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘That’s why I rang Jim Wallace. Nothing’s come in at the office, anyway. In the meantime he’s going round to my flat to check my messages. He’ll ring later.’

  ‘Why is your PA a man?’ asked Lowri curiously.

  ‘When my father abdicated, his assistant resigned.’

  ‘Didn’t she want to work for you?’

  ‘She was a married lady who left because she was pregnant,’ said Adam without expression. ‘At the time I was still licking the wounds you’d inflicted, and ill disposed towards women in general. So I hired a man. It works well. Jim’s highly qualified, dependable, and never objects to working late.’

  ‘Any of which could apply to a woman just as well,’ snapped Lowri.

  ‘Good girl!’ Adam smiled. ‘I’d rather you ripped at me than wept. Your tears cut me to pieces.’

  In which case, thou
ght Lowri morosely, it was a pity she hadn’t turned them on him full force when she’d first found out she was pregnant.

  ‘I just wish we could hear something,’ she said miserably.

  Adam hooked her close with a long arm. ‘I know, I know.’

  ‘I just keep picturing her crying for me, Adam. The woman won’t know what she eats, or what milk I give her, or—or anything.’ She burrowed her head into his shoulder, utterly oblivious of him as a man. For the moment he just represented comfort she needed so badly that she forgot that he’d ever been her lover.

  Adam, however, shifted restlessly after a while, and she detached herself quickly and sat erect in the corner of the sofa.

  ‘I could do with a drink,’ he said tightly. ‘A pity you keep a dry house, Lowri.’

  ‘The Green Man down the road is probably still open, if you’re desperate.’

  ‘Not that desperate.’ He gave her a hard look. ‘Alcohol, at least, has never been a problem for me.’

  ‘Unlike women.’ She gave him a sidelong glance. ‘At one time the problem was a glut; nowadays it’s a dearth.’

  ‘Both circumstances solely by choice,’ he reminded her cuttingly, then raised his hand in apology. ‘Sorry. I’m on edge.’

  ‘We both are,’ she agreed, sighing, then her eyes narrowed. ‘Wait a minute.’ She sprang up and went into her bedroom, and came back waving a miniature barrel of cognac. ‘How about this?’

  Adam looked amused. ‘Where did that come from?’

  ‘I put it in my father’s Christmas stocking.’ Lowri tried to smile. ‘I can easily get something else if—when—’

  ‘When!’ said Adam promptly, and jumped to his feet to take the barrel from her. ‘Right. We’ll both have some.’

  Normally Lowri loathed spirits, but tonight she was in sore need of any help she could get to ward off the panic and grief she was holding at bay only by supreme effort of will.

  ‘Better?’ asked Adam, as she sipped cautiously.

  ‘The effect, yes. I hate the taste.’

  He smiled, and topped up their glasses. ‘Neither of us will get drunk on this amount. But it might make the waiting marginally more bearable.’

  The night wore on at such a snail’s pace that Lowri was glad of the inner, transient warmth derived from the brandy. Jim Wallace rang to relay the messages on Adam’s phone, but no demand for ransom had been among them. The only other phone call came from Inspector Cox just before midnight to say that, while they had several eye-witness reports of the child being driven off in a car, nothing more could be done until morning. More appeals would be broadcast on breakfast television, after which there might be more leads to go on. He told Adam to advise Miss Morgan to get some rest and promised to be in touch the moment they had any news.

  ‘How does he expect me to rest in these circumstances?’ said Lowri in despair.

  ‘You might sleep if you went to bed.’

  She shook her head positively. ‘I just don’t want to be on my own—’ She flushed, and Adam smiled mockingly.

  ‘Don’t worry. I know that wasn’t an invitation. We’ll just sit here and talk all night, if you like.’ His eyes met hers. ‘Whatever you want, I’ll do, Lowri.’

  She inclined her head gravely. ‘Thank you.’

  They resumed their places on the sofa. And this time when Adam put his arm round her Lowri leaned against him gratefully, thankful for the warmth and rock-like security of his hold.

  ‘I haven’t thanked you for all the presents you sent,’ she said in sudden remorse. ‘I forgot.’

  ‘Did Rhosyn like the rocking horse?’

  ‘She certainly did. Much excitement! Very extravagant of you—or did you decide on something as big as that so I couldn’t send it back?’

  He laughed a little. ‘Something like that.’

  ‘She hasn’t seen the teddy yet—’ Lowri swallowed hard on a sudden gush of tears. She cleared her throat. ‘The clothes are beautiful. Did you choose them?’

  ‘No. I wouldn’t have known where to start. My mother did that.’

  Lowri stiffened. ‘You—you told her about Rhosyn, then.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Why not?’

  Lowri would have drawn away, but Adam’s arm tightened to prevent her.

  ‘How did she react?’ she asked after a while.

  Adam rubbed his chin with his free hand. ‘She couldn’t believe it at first.’

  ‘That Rhosyn was yours?’

  ‘No, that she actually had a grandchild. She couldn’t believe her luck.’

  Lowri screwed her head round to look up at him narrowly. ‘Luck? I trust you made it clear you’ve got no claim on Rhosyn?’

  His face hardened. ‘I did. But my mother still thinks of her as her granddaughter!’

  Lowri subsided, deflated. ‘Yes, of course. If—when I get Rhosyn back, your mother’s welcome to come and visit her.’

  ‘How about me?’ he said swiftly.

  There was silence for a moment.

  ‘Let’s get Rhosyn back first,’ she said gruffly. ‘Until then I can’t think about—about anything else.’

  Another silence.

  After a while Adam said casually, ‘Did you receive the other package?’

  Lowri flushed with embarrassment. ‘Oh—yes. Sorry! I should have thanked you for that, too.’

  ‘I wasn’t asking for thanks.’ He stared at his shoes morosely. ‘I was collecting a ring my mother’d sent to a jeweller for enlarging, and the brooch caught my eye. I bought it for you on impulse.’

  ‘It’s lovely. I don’t have much jewellery. Thank you,’ said Lowri, who up to that moment hadn’t decided whether she’d keep the brooch or not. But to hand it back to Adam under the present circumstances seemed hardly the thing to do.

  ‘I thought it would serve as a reminder of happier days,’ said Adam very quietly.

  Lowri nodded silently. ‘I haven’t bought anything for you,’ she said after a while.

  He gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I didn’t imagine you would. Every time you look at Rhosyn you must curse the day you ever laid eyes on me.’

  ‘Good heavens, no!’ She looked up at him in astonishment. ‘You’ve seen Rhosyn. How could I possibly regret anything to do with her? Any animosity I feel towards you, Adam, is for a quite different reason.’

  His eyes hardened. ‘You don’t have to spell it out, Lowri. It’s obvious that marriage to me was such an unbearable prospect that you chose the life of a single parent in preference to it.’

  This was by no means accurate, but Lowri was in no mood to explain. ‘Let’s not talk about it,’ she said shortly.

  He took her at her word. The silence between them lengthened to such an extent that to her guilty surprise Lowri found herself growing drowsy. Her eyelids drooped and she blinked them open, horrified that she could even think of sleeping when Rhosyn was somewhere out there in the cold night with strangers. As he felt her deep, shuddering sigh Adam’s arm tightened, his free hand stroked her hair in wordless sympathy and Lowri’s body relaxed against his even as her brain ordered her to keep alert. The tension and anguish of the past few hours took their toll, and as the endless night wore on towards morning sleep overwhelmed her and granted her the boon of an hour or two’s oblivion.

  When Lowri woke she was stiff and cold, and alone on the sofa. Adam was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she staggered to the bathroom, then recoiled in horror at the sight of his naked body in the bath. She shot back out again, blushing scarlet at the amusement she sawbelatedly—in his eyes.

  She went into the kitchen and leaned her head on her arms on a counter top, her embarrassment obliterated as the misery of Rhosyn’s absence swept over her in a tide. After a while she pulled herself together, washed her face under the kitchen tap and filled the kettle. By the time Adam joined her, his hair damp and his jaw dark with stubble, she’d made tea and was slicing bread to put in the toaster.

  ‘Good morning,’ she sa
id, not looking at him. ‘Would you like some eggs?’

  ‘Good morning—and I’d like some eggs very much.’ He pulled a face. ‘One’s appetite functions separately from the mind, apparently. I thought I wouldn’t be able to face food in the circumstances, but apart from those sandwiches I didn’t eat anything yesterday—’

  ‘Then you must be starving! Give me a minute to wash and I’ll make you an omelette.’ Lowri disappeared to wash and tidy herself up, eyeing her pallid face and darkringed eyes with distaste. She brushed her hair, tied it back and returned to the kitchen, where Adam was drinking coffee. ‘Make one for me, please,’ she said casually, and put an omelette pan on the cooker.

  ‘Let’s eat breakfast in the other room,’ said Adam, handing over a mug. ‘It’s almost time for a television newscast.’

  Lowri nodded silently, swallowed some coffee, then broke eggs into a bowl. She added some herbs and seasoning, poured the mixture into the sizzling pan, and within minutes they were side by side again on the sofa, the tray on a table in front of them. They had finished eating by the time Rhosyn’s photograph appeared on the screen, something Lowri was thankful for. One look at her daughter’s face tightened her throat so painfully that it was some time before she could drink her coffee.

  ‘We didn’t talk about her last night,’ said Adam suddenly. ‘Tell me about Rhosyn—everything about her.’

  Lowri gave him a startled glance, then decided he was right. ‘Where shall I start?’

  ‘With her birth. Was it hard?’

  Lowri shrugged. ‘It wasn’t fun, but it was normal enough. She took twelve hours to arrive, by which time I’d had quite enough of the whole process. But one look at her and all the pain and effort was worth it.’

  ‘Was she big?’

  ‘Eight and a half pounds.’ Lowri grimaced. ‘I wouldn’t like to produce a bigger baby, believe me.’

  ‘Do you intend to do that?’ said Adam quickly.

  Lowri gave him a baleful look. ‘None of your business,’ she snapped.

  There was a hostile pause.

  ‘Was she a good baby?’ Adam asked eventually.