by Anne Mather
Louise interrupted her. ‘Now don’t go getting George involved in your job,’ she said quickly. ‘George knows nothing about that!’
Nicola stared at her, and comprehension of what Louise was trying to convey swept over her. ‘You mean—’ she began slowly.
‘I mean George and I have got over our upset, and we’re going to give our marriage another try.’
‘What!’ Nicola stared at her sister incredulously. ‘You can’t have made up your mind to that so suddenly.’
‘No, well, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since last year. I’m a bit older and wiser now. I know that George and I have got to try again for the children’s sake.’
Nicola got to her feet. She felt like bursting into tears. This was the last straw. She shook her head angrily and said: ‘And why are you still here? I mean—why haven’t you gone back to the house?’
‘Because I’ve sold it,’ said George, at once. ‘We were never happy in that house. Besides, the children need more freedom than they have here in London. I’ve got a new job, it’s in Coventry, we’ve got a new house there with a big garden. We expect to move in at the end of the month. We’ve stayed here because we had nowhere else to go. We didn’t think you’d mind, being out of the country and all.’
Nicola looked astounded, and Louise hurried on: ‘I—I was going to write to you, Nicola—’
‘Decent of you,’ snapped Nicola abruptly.
‘Well, you know how it is. Time goes by so quickly,’ exclaimed Louise miserably. ‘Oh, Nicola, don’t be angry. I’m sorry if I’ve spoiled all your plans.’
Nicola shook her head. ‘You’ve spoiled no plans of mine, Louise,’ she retorted. ‘Oh, hell, I’m going to bed. We’ll talk about this in the morning. I’m worn out.’
She noticed that neither of them seemed particularly interested in why she had come back so abruptly, and she felt bitter and upset. This, on top of everything else, was too much.
‘Er—I’ll go and see about a bed,’ began Louise, biting her lip.
‘Oh, of course. George will be sleeping in your room,’ muttered Nicola. ‘Don’t bother, Louise. There’s the divan in the children’s room, that will do for me.’
‘Are you sure, Nicola?’ Louise looked anxious.
‘Of course I’m sure,’ said Nicola, lifting one of her cases and carrying it through to the spare bedroom which the children had been using. ‘Good night!’
‘Oh, Nicola, you are angry,’ wailed Louise, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.
Nicola raised her eyes heavenward. ‘No,’ she denied swiftly. ‘No, not angry, just depressed, that’s all. Forget it. I’ll see you both in the morning.’
But once she had climbed between the sheets of the narrow little divan, Nicola felt tears on her own cheeks. Somehow everything she had planned and worked for had rebounded on her in the most horrible way possible, and she just wanted to sleep and sleep, and forget everything and everybody. Somehow here, back in her own flat in London, the previous twenty-four hours had assumed the proportions of a dream, and only Jason Wilde and the anger he would reveal when he found she had cheated him yet again made any sense.
CHAPTER NINE
THE next morning Nicola slept late and was awakened at ten by Louise bringing her in a cup of tea. Nicola slid up her pillows and accepted the tea gratefully, saying:
‘Where are the children?’
Louise seated herself on the side of Nicola’s bed. ‘I took them out early on so that they wouldn’t disturb you,’ she replied. ‘They’re off to school now. George has gone to the office, so there’s only you and me.’
Nicola sipped the hot tea. ‘Well, you’re looking more yourself,’ she said uncomfortably, wishing Louise would stop looking at her as though she was suddenly going to explode or something.
Louise sighed. ‘Oh, Nicola, I feel terrible!’ she exclaimed.
‘You feel terrible!’ Nicola shook her head. ‘How do you think I feel? Last night I felt as though it was all my fault that you and George had stayed separated for almost a year. Why ever didn’t you tell me you wanted to go back to George, Louise? Heavens, I’d have been delighted!’
Louise shrugged her shoulders. ‘I know, I know.’
‘As it is you’ve made me out as some kind of a monster to George!’ Nicola gathered anger as she spoke. ‘Honestly, Louise, you deserve everything you get! And to cap it all, you didn’t even tell George why I’d gone out to Abrahm. You’ve made it look as though I deserted you and the children, and you took the first opportunity of breaking away from me!’
Louise compressed her lips. ‘Oh, Nicola, try to understand. You’ve got nothing to lose in all this. You’re still free and heartwhole. I don’t believe you ever really loved Michael, you got over it too quickly for that. I think your pride was damaged that’s all, and that’s why you went out to Abrahm, to try and restore your confidence in yourself as much as to get even with Jason Wilde.’
Nicola stared at her sister disbelievingly. ‘Heavens, do you really believe that, Louise?’ she gasped. Then, finishing her tea, she lay back on her pillows. ‘Well, anyway, it doesn’t really matter now. You’re going to make a second start with George, and I got absolutely nowhere.’
Louise rubbed her nose thoughtfully. ‘I suppose I’ll have to tell you, Jason was here a couple of days ago.’
‘What!’ Nicola pushed herself up on her elbows. ‘Here? In London, you mean?’
‘No, I mean here. At the flat.’
Nicola swallowed hard. ‘Oh, stop messing about, Lou,’ she exclaimed. ‘What—what did he want?’
‘He wanted to see me,’ replied Louise, standing up and walking across to the window. ‘I thought that would surprise you.’
‘Surprise me?’ Nicola shook her head. ‘No, it doesn’t actually surprise me. What did he say?’
Louise leaned back against the window frame. ‘He wanted to know why you had persuaded Sir Harold Mannering to let you go out to Abrahm.’
Nicola flopped back on the pillows. ‘And what did you say?’
Louise shrugged. ‘I told him I didn’t know.’
‘And he accepted that?’ Nicola looked sceptical.
‘Not exactly. He said he had spoken to Sir Harold and he had a pretty good idea now why you had gone.’ She looked softly reminiscent. ‘He’s a gorgeous male, isn’t he?’ She sighed. ‘I could have fallen for him all over again.’
Nicola felt exasperated. ‘So he just said that and went?’ she questioned tersely.
‘What? Oh, no, not exactly. I—er—I invited him in—for coffee. It was rather exciting talking over old times.’
‘My God!’ Nicola raised her eyes heavenwards. ‘What did you talk about?’
Louise looked disgruntled. ‘Well, you, mostly,’ she admitted, rather irritatedly. ‘Honestly, he wanted to know everything about you. Even about Michael.’
‘So you told him?’ Nicola was aghast.
‘Of course. Why not? After all, it’s nothing to him.’
‘Exactly, so why tell him?’ Nicola slid impatiently out of bed. ‘Oh, Louise, the trouble you can cause!’
Louise walked haughtily to the door. ‘If you’re going to continue being insulting I shan’t even bother to be polite,’ she said angrily. ‘It’s not my fault that things didn’t go right for you in Abrahm.’
Nicola breathed out in a low whistle. ‘All right, Louise, all right. I’m sorry if I’m not very polite, but quite honestly I don’t feel very sociable this morning, and I’m beginning to wonder just what the relationship was between you and Jason Wilde. If he was the pig you made him out to be, how come you’re offering him cups of coffee, and generally behaving as though he was some kind of gentleman?’
Louise halted by the door, holding the doorpost thoughtfully. ‘Well, he wasn’t such a beast. I mean, he didn’t know I was married when he first took me out.’
Nicola swung round from her contemplation of her complexion in the dressing table mirror. ‘But he knew la
ter, didn’t he?’ she said sharply.
Louise shrugged, and then bent her head. ‘Of course,’ she replied shortly. ‘Er—do you want any breakfast?’
Nicola shook her head and heaved a heavy sigh. ‘No. Nothing for me, thanks.’
Louise bit her lip. ‘You—you won’t tell George about all this, will you? I mean, about Jason calling and everything.’
Nicola grimaced. ‘Of course not. What do you take me for?’
Louise relaxed. ‘Well, I’d hate anything to go wrong now. By the way, you haven’t told me what happened in Abrahm, or why you’ve come home so abruptly. Was it something to do with Jason, or was it something else?’
Nicola shook her head ‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said evasively. ‘Right now, I’ve got a splitting headache.’
During the next few days, Nicola spent most of her time in the apartment. She occasionally took the children across to the park, and spent some time with them there, but mostly she stayed indoors, pretending the cold, frosty autumn weather was to blame.
She had expected Inter-Anglia would contact her. Sir Harold Mannering would know she was back in England by now, and she was surprised he had not attempted to get in touch with her. Unless what Jason had told him had digusted him so much that he had fired her on the spot and she might get her dismissal papers in the post at any time.
But nothing came and the days passed, and Nicola grew more and more depressed. She didn’t exactly know what was depressing her, she only knew that she couldn’t bear it if Louise tried to get her to discuss Jason Wilde or her life out in Abrahm. Somehow that period of her life was private and personal and she wanted no detailed examinations made of her actions by her sister. Somehow, her relationship with Louise had undergone a severe change, and Nicola found herself wondering whether she had been mistaken in thinking that Louise had wanted her to go out to Abrahm for any other reason than to give her time to contact George and try to persuade him to make another start at their marriage.
Louise’s part-time job took her out of the flat during the afternoons, and it was this time that Nicola liked best. The children were at school, and George was at the office, and the place was quiet and peaceful, like it used to be before Louise’s troubles began.
One afternoon, when she was making an attempt to clear out a cupboard, dressed in old slacks and a close-fitting sweater, the doorbell rang. Thinking it must be a tradesman or perhaps some friend of Louise’s, Nicola went carelessly to the door, sweeping back her hair with one hand. When she opened the door, her heart somersaulted painfully, and a strange sickly feeling invaded her system.
‘Jason,’ she murmured, almost inaudibly. ‘What—what are you doing here?’
Jason’s face was set in hard lines, and there was a furious gleam in the depths of his dark eyes. ‘My God!’ he bit out savagely, ‘you are here! What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’
He thrust her back roughly into the hall, and entering the flat slammed the door behind him, leaning back against it and staring at her with burning eyes.’
Nicola tried to gather her scattered senses. ‘Wh-what are you talking about?’ she gasped, pressing a hand to her throat.
Jason studied her silently for a few minutes, and then he seemed to relax a little. ‘Aren’t you going to invite me in?’ he said harshly.
Nicola was trembling but indignant. ‘You seem to be in,’ she said unsteadily, and turning, she led the way into the living room where a warm fire burned in the grate.
Jason followed her, loosening the thick overcoat he was wearing over a dark suit. He looked tired, now she had a chance to examine his face more sensibly, and she wondered why he seemed so surprised to see her. Turning, she said:
‘Do—do you want some coffee—or tea?’
Jason shook his head. ‘No, thanks.’ He surveyed her thoroughly. ‘You can tell me what the hell has been going on, though.’
Nicola twisted her hands together. ‘How do you mean?’ she asked, frowning. ‘I should have thought it was obvious to you why I haven’t returned to the office. I should have thought you would be back in Abrahm by now.’
Jason stood, legs apart, hands in pockets, regarding her. Her cheeks burned. He still had the power to disturb her, and she was sure he was aware of it.
‘I have been back to Abrahm,’ he said tautly. ‘Only to find you’d disappeared!’
‘Disappeared?’ Nicola frowned. ‘Surely Ali told you what happened?’
‘Ali? Oh, I see, you mean after the Sheikh kidnapped you.’
Nicola frowned. ‘Well, of course. I mean—Sheikh Mohammed promised—’
‘Do you believe his promises?’ Jason was derisive.
Nicola sank down on to a chair. ‘I think you’d better sit down and I’ll explain how I got back to England,’ she said. ‘That is, if you really don’t know.’
Jason refused to sit down, and Nicola felt immediately at a disadvantage. However, she went on: ‘Where is Ali? Is he all right?’
Jason shrugged. ‘Ali was found two days after you left, unconscious in the desert near Castanya. He was suffering from sunstroke. He’s at present in hospital in Gitana.’
‘Oh, poor Ali!’ Nicola felt contrite. ‘Is he—was he able to talk?’
Jason moved restlessly. ‘For God’s sake, get on. Ali could tell us nothing after you disappeared into the Sheikh’s palace.’
Nicola looked up at him. ‘Didn’t you get the message from Sheikh Mohammed?’
‘Message? What message? We got no message! It wasn’t until Ali was found that we entertained doubts as to your whereabouts. Graham rang London, and I took the next flight out.’
‘I see.’ Nicola was horrified. ‘What happened?’
‘I went to see Mohammed. There was no one else to contact after it was found you hadn’t boarded any plane from Gitana.’
Nicola sighed. ‘Oh, what a mess! That must have been—’ She halted. Ought she to betray the Sheikh? He had at least made certain she was adequately set upon her journey.
‘Yes?’ Jason had heard her words. ‘That must have been—what?’
Nicola frowned. ‘Well, Sheikh Mohammed insisted I used his yacht to go along the coast to Tripoli, to save me hanging about in Gitana for a flight. I flew home from there.’
‘I see.’ Jason’s voice was icily cool now. ‘And didn’t it occur to you to report to the London office, just to let us know your whereabouts?’
‘No! That is…’ Nicola sighed again. ‘Oh, honestly, you must know why I left Castanya by now—why I didn’t contact Sir Harold.’
Jason’s eyes were intent. ‘Oh, yes, I think I do,’ he said tersely. ‘Your intentions have been made quite clear. My consultations with Sir Harold and later with Louise were very revealing. However, as you’ve seen Louise no doubt she has explained that her own part in the proceedings was no innocent one.’
Nicola bent her head. ‘She—well, we haven’t discussed it in detail. She’s going back to her husband. In fact, she’s already gone back.’
‘I know. I’m glad of that at least. I’d hate to have a broken marriage on my conscience, particularly that of your sister.’
Nicola got to her feet. ‘Well, anyway, that’s the whole story. I hope you’re satisfied. I expect Sir Harold found it vastly amusing.’
Jason shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Harold knows no more than I’ve chosen to tell him,’ he replied. ‘So far as he’s concerned, you chose to return to England of your own free will. Now that you’re here, you’re at liberty to take up your previous post, if you wish.’
Nicola stared at him. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Of course.’
Nicola shook her head. ‘I suppose I should thank you.’
‘Why? So far as you are concerned my intervention in your life was not a pleasing one. If it’s any consolation I’m sorry I caused your engagement to be broken.’
Nicola smoothed her hair behind her ears. ‘That’s in the past now,’ she murmured unevenly.
; ‘Is it?’ Jason studied her thoughtfully. ‘So all this was really for Louise.’
‘Of course.’
He shook his head. ‘Such loyalty deserves to be rewarded,’ he muttered, and as his eyes met Nicola’s she felt a trembling sensation in her lower limbs. He moved towards the door, his thin face very serious for once, all mockery gone. ‘If it soothes your injured pride at all, you can tell Louise you succeeded in your mission.’
Nicola stared at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘What do you think I mean?’ Jason’s eyes were dark and enigmatic as ever.
‘I don’t know what to think,’ she whispered shakenly.
‘Then don’t think at all,’ he advised her softly, and opening the door he went out and closed it behind him.
Nicola stood staring at the door with tortured eyes. Had Jason really been here? Or had it all been a dream conjured up by her own desire to see him again? She shook her head. Of course he had been here. He had been searching for her. But the rest—those final words—he hadn’t meant them, at least not in the way she wanted him to mean them.
And with this thought came the realization of why she had wanted him to mean them in that certain way. Her depression, this overwhelming sense of isolation had not been caused by Louise at all. She had not wanted to leave Castanya because Jason Wilde was there. And no matter how ridiculous it might be, and in spite of all the things she had known about him, she had reacted the same as all the other women, she had fallen in love with him, too.
She gave an involuntary sob. It couldn’t be true. It mustn’t be true. For even had he meant what he said, he was unlikely to sacrifice his bachelorhood for any woman, least of all one who had attempted to destroy him.
She went into the kitchen, busying herself with tasks to keep herself from thinking. She was glad now she had left Castanya when she did. Even if Jason had returned without betraying her she would not have been able to stand working with him, day in and day out, without betraying herself.
She lit a cigarette, and stilled her trembling nerves. When Louise returned home she was quite calm, and as Nicola’s neighbour had thought it her business to tell Louise in passing that Nicola had had a visitor that afternoon, Louise came in all agog to know who it was.