A handful of stars

by Lucy Gillen

think you had.' ic He grinned amiably. 'I didn't think.' he told her frankly. 'I was so spitting mad that the damn fool r0man had shut and locked the cellar door without looking to see'if you were down there first that could have slapped her. Of course I didn't know that little clever boots had demolished the steps couldn't have got out anyway.' 143 'At least I could have thumped on the door, though,' she said. 'But you really upset the poor woman.' 'I know,' he said with obvious satisfaction. 'I'd never have believed that the Duchess was capable of tears.' ' Charlotte shook her head reproachfully. 'You are a callous brute,' she told him without malice, and he laughed. 'I suppose you and she are as thick as thieves now,' he guessed. 'You may not be what the Duchess considers the best people, Charlie Brown, but you're her friend for life now you've let her keep her job.' 'She's not as bad as she gives the impression of Seeing,' Charlotte informed him, and again he laughed. 'Neither am I, believe it or not,' he told her, and got to his feet, stretching lazily before he bent over her. his hands on the arms of her chair, his eyes only *inches away from hers. ' 'suppose it's not a bit of u'-e me telling you not to go out in this damp, is it?' he Asked, and she shook her head. He sighed. 'I thought not.' 'You could try asking me she suggested softly, in her husky voice, and he smiled, his gaze fixed intently on her mouth. 'I see.' He was close enough for her to see the myriad of tiny lines at the corner of his eyes, and she could feel the warmth that emanated from him as he bent even closer until his mouth almost touched hers, 'Then will you please not go out, 144 sweet Charlotte?' he asked softly, and stopped her from answering by bringing his mouth just that little bit closer, until it was pressed down hard and firm over hers. That would, Charlotte thought a moment later, have to be the time that Noel chose to return with the vase of water for her flowers, and she glanced up at Scott reproachfully before she turned to Noel. Noel's earnest blue eyes had an angry glint in them that she had never seen before and his hands were tight knuckled round the heavy glass vase he carried, so that for one wild moment Charlotte thought he might either throw it or hit Scott with it. Instead he looked at her and put the vase down carefully on a table. 'Sorry if I chose the wrong time to come in,' he said in a voice scarcely recognisable as his usual rather quiet one. 'I didn't think I needed to knock first.' 'Oh, Noel, please don't,' Charlotte begged. 'Scott was just going, that's alt 'Oh, please don't bother,' Noel said, heavily sarcastic. Til go 'Noel!' She wished more fervently than ever that she had a voice to plead with, but it was no more than a harsh mockery of its usual self and growing less all the time, as Scott had warned her it would. Scott himself stood for a moment, his hands on his hips, . then he looked at Noel and shook his head. 'Don't be a fool,' he told him. 'I was just going, as Charlotte said.' 145 'Because you don't like being caught?' Noel asked ' harshly, and she saw the tightness that straightened Scott's mouth. 'I'd better go before this develops into a slanging match,' he said quietly. 'This is Charlotte's home, after all, and we are her visitors.' 'I thought you considered yourself practically the owner now,' Noel jeered, apparently prepared to throw all caution to the wind now that he had overcome his professional reticence at last. For a moment Charlotte held her breath, while the two of them glared at each other, then Scott, without another word, strode across the room and out of the door, closing it with meticulous care behind him. There was silence for a long, long minute and Charlotte felt as if she had been wound like a watch spring, only now releasing her tensed nerves in a sigh as she looked at an already contrite Noel standing beside the table still. 'Oh, Noel,' she said huskily. 'Why did you do it?' He shook his head. 'I don't quite know,' he confessed. 'I know I was insanely jealous when I saw him kissing you, but it was no excuse for behaving as I did, and I apologise. Charlotte, please forgive me.' 'Til forgive you,' Charlotte told him willingly. 'But I'm not sure,Scott will feel so generous towards you.' T don't ' he began, then stopped himself and shook his head, looking down at his shoes. 'Yes, of 146 course I care,' he said ruefully. 'And so will Father and Basil Clee if he starts complaining about me. Oh lord, I seem to have made a hash of things all round, don't I?' Charlotte was already busy with her flowers, and taking it a lot less seriously than he was. 'I shouldn't worry about Scott telling tales on-you to your father,' she told him, 'He's unlikely to do that, and it's not all that much of an incident to worry yourself about.' The earnest blue eyes looked at her dolefully. 'You aren't disgusted with me for making a fool of myself?' 'No, and I don't know that I'd call it making a fool of yourself, exactly. You certainly jumped to a wrong conclusion and made a couple of unfortunate remarks, but as far as I'm concerned, I suppose I should take them as a form of compliment.' 'Charlotte ' He took her hands in his, regardless of the bloom she held, snapping its stem with the strength of his hold. 'Oh, Charlotte, I was so afraid you'd be too angry with me to realise how I felt and why I said what I did.' 'I realised,' she said in what was left of her voice, and he raised her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers gently. 'I love you,' he said earnestly. 'And I want so much to marry you, Charlotte.' :'. She wished more urgently than ever now that she I had a voice. That she could tell him that she liked him a lot, but not quite that much yet. Instead . '147 that annoying croak threatened to disappear at any moment and leave with no communication at all. 'I can't, Noel,' she begged, the words only just discernible. 'I mean I ' 'You need more time,' Noel said, nodding understanding, but apparently undeterred altogether. 'I understand, my dearest Charlotte and I won't rush you into anything.' He smiled and kissed her fingers again. 'You told me once that you couldn't be rushed into anything, didn't you?' She nodded. 'Yes,' she agreed hoarsely, 'I did.' 'Then I'll wait.' He bent his head and kissed her mouth, but with much less passion than Scott had shown when he was trying to persuade her not to go for that ride with Noel, and she was a little annoyed with herself for comparing them. 148

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHARLOTTE saw nothing of either Noel or Scott during the next couple of days, and she wondered if Scott had taken Noel's remarks so much to heart that he had decided not to call so frequently in future. It was not like him to be deterred by anyone's opinion, but it was the first time since she had been at Blanestock that she had seen neither of them for two whole days, and she was not sure that she liked it. She missed Scott, she was forced to admit, rather more than she did Noel, for he' was a much more frequent visitor usually. Noel was very good for her ego, and made her feel very much the important lady of the manor, while Scott's effect was just the reverse, but she was prepared to admit, if only to herself, that she quite enjoyed their verbal ex-' changes at times. t Her throat was very much better, and she saw no I'reason why she should not venture out,, although today�s weather-was progressively more cold and wet as autumn grew older. This morning, however, it was quite mellow so far, and even a mere glimmer of sun Was sufficient to entice her outside. is-Q S" - ' ~149' . She walked out in the garden for a while, stopping to admire the work done so far by her newly acquired gardener, and thinking how much better the whole place would look next spring when she had everything better organised. She had told herself that Scott's remarks about the state of the grounds had had nothing to do with her decision, but she had hired a man to come and do the work only a couple of days after Scott had complained about it. She stopped and had a few words with the gardener, and discussed the relative merits of various flowering bulbs, but those few minutes did not satisfy her need for company and she eventually rang for a taxi to take her into Chedwell. It was while she was waiting for her transport to arrive that she remembered Scott's suggestion that she should learn to drive, and decided on the spur of the moment that if a reason was needed tor going into Chedwell, it might just-as well be to look at cars. She was not, she felt, being too precipitate in spending money on a car, because the necessary settlements in connection with old Ezra's will were almost complete now, and the estate legally hers. Having a car would make her independent of either taxis or helpful neighbours, no matter how willing. Once in Chedwell she debated for some time whether or not to try and see
Noel and consult him about choosing a car, but since he had been absent for two days, presumably from choice, she did not 150 'feel inclined to force her company on him if he did .not want it. She wandered around for quite some time, and then stopped to look in the window of a car dealers, but there was such a bewildering array of vehicles for- sale that she simply stared at them vaguely, unwilling to betray just hoW appallingly ignorant she was in matters mechanical. Her predicament, however, was observed by a young man in a dark suit, who saw in her rather more than the usual casual looker, and came out from his wood and glass cage to ask if he could help her. 'I'm I'm not sure,' Charlotte told him. Nothing averse to passing away a few minutes with an exceptionally pretty girl, the young man smiled. 'Have you a car already?' he asked. 'If so we have a very generous part exchange scheme.' 'I haven't,' she confessed. 'I can't really drive yet although I have the basic knowledge of what to .do.' . 'Oh, I see.' 'I thought perhaps something well, a bit old to start with,'-Charlotte explained. 'Just in case I smash it up.' . 'Very wise,' the young man agreed, and led her across to a display of second-hand models in various Images of preservation. 'Maybe you'll find something here that takes your eye.' t Not knowing the first thing about cars put her in something of a predicament, and left her at the Baercy of the salesman, she realised, but she was I" 151 prepared for that in the first instance. With something more expensive she would be more particular. Her eye fell on an ancient model right at the back of the display, and she could not fail to see the look on the young man's face when she pointed to it. He was anxious to oblige, however, and she had no difficulty at all in persuading him to drive her out to Blanestock in it while he explained that it was taxed and insured until the end of the year. She would, she promised with a smile that dazzled him, pay for a taxi to take him back to Chedwell. He left her quite reluctantly, having offered to help her with driving lessons, an offer she smilingly refused, but which nevertheless touched her. She confided her secret to Mrs. Borden, who looked rather less impressed when she saw the vehicle standing on the drive, but Charlotte was undeterred. There was a wide gravel path at the back of the house as well, what had once been a ride from the disused stables, and she could drive the car down there and out into the fields. She could practise there to her heart's content with no one any the wiser, and without breaking any laws. She had been a little dubious about the engine when she had ridden home in the car, but now, under her far from expert handling, it sputtered and banged quite alarmingly, crackling away like a whole fusillade of shots as she drove across the field. Possibly the rough grassland was not the best kind of surface for the health of the car or for 152 learning to drive, but at least she would be undisturbed, and it suited Charlotte's purpose. Round and round she went on the perimeter of the field, changing gear to cope with the slope of the bottom half of it, practising every move over and over again while the little old car responded gallantly, if noisily. Feeling a little more venturesome at last, she decided to drive right down the length of the lower field, hanging on grimly to the steering wheel as she went down a steep gradient. It suddenly occurred to her as she rattled on downwards that' she was going much faster than ever before and was unable to do anything about it. Her eyes widened with dismay as the little car careered on down the steep hill, her foot on the brake pedal but having no more effect than to give it a sort of hiccuppy jerking progress. There was only one thing for it, as far as she could see, if she was not to go hurtling to destruction down the two-hundred-foot drop at the far end of the field she must steer the car into the dividing hedge to her right. The car, seemingly, was bent on self-destruction and she had to fight hard to turn the wheel in the direction she wanted to go, gritting her teeth determinedly, and mentally uttering some very unladylike phrases. She managed it at last, however, and tore through the hedge at a rate that terrified her until she remembered to take her foot off the accelerator. The ensuing silence fell about her like a soothi53 ing veil and she closed her eyes for a few seconds to enjoy it. But her enjoyment, as she might have guessed, was short lived, for she heard a voice calling out her name and looked across the rolling parkland she was now on to see Scott galloping towards her. It took her a moment or two to realise she was no longer on her own property but on Wainscote's impeccable parkland, and she sighed as she prepared an apology. Scott was riding the same big black horse she had seen him on before when she fell foul of him on his side of the boundary, and she wondered if he would be as easily forgiving this time, in view of their last parting. He certainly looked stern and angry as he rode up to her, but that was an expression she had learned was not always indicative of his mood. While she waited for him to join her, she took time to admire the way he rode the great black animal. It was the first time she had really seen him riding and she found the grace and ease with which he sat and handled his mount quite exciting to watch. She wore a hopeful smile as he came nearer, but he did not respond to it. 'What the devil are you up to now?' he demanded as he reined in his mount and sat looking down his arrogant nose at her. 'Learning to drive,' Charlotte ventured, meekly for the moment. 'On our land?' '.I wasn't on your land,' she retorted, the meekness shortlived in the face of his obvious ill humour. i54 'You're on it now,' he argued. 'This happens to be Wainscote land, and you've ploughed up about six feet, of it with that exploding juggernaut, to say nothing of damaging the hedge!' 'I couldn't help it,' she explained, trying to keep her temper since she was so obviously in the wrong, even if it wasn't entirely her fault. 'It was either that or go over the edge of a drop of about a thousand feet.' 'What's the matter?' he asked sarcastically. 'Can't you turn left in that thing?' Charlotte blinked for a moment, realising for the first 'time that she could just as easily have turned to her left in the field she had been in as right into the hedge. 'I didn't think about it,' she confessed, unwillingly honest, and the hazel eyes surveyed her from his superior height, expressing all manner of uncomplimentary things. 'You're a hopeless little nut case, Charlie Brown,' he declared bluntly. 'And what on earth is that thing supposed to be anyway?' 'It's a car, of course,' Charlotte retorted. 'You -could have fooled me ' He lifted one leg in the stirrup and rested an elbow on the raised knee, studying her for a moment. 'Why, oh, why do you always do things the hard way. Charlotte? You could have afforded a decent car, even to learn in, and I've already offered to teach you to drive. But no. Miss Charlie Brown you have to go and lumber yourself with some useless old banger, and bash around in a field, despoiling the property and almost breaki55 ing your own neck in the process.' 'Oh, stop laying down the law' Charlotte complained. 'I haven't hurt your blessed property, and the hedge will soon grow again. As for my neck, that's my affair and I'd have thought you would be only too glad if I did break it, then you'd stand more chance of getting Blanestock.' 'How charming!' he said. 'Do you really think I'm such an ogre that I'd want it that way?' Charlotte looked down at her restless hands. 'No. No, I suppose not,' she admitted. 'But you don't have to take it out on me just because you've crossed swords with Noel. Oh, I know why you haven't been over for nearly three days, but it doesn't matter to me one way or the other.' 'Then why mention it?' Scott asked softly, and she glared at him reproachfully. 'I'll pay for the hedge and have the field ' 'Park,' he corrected her. 'All right, park. Whatever it is, I'll pay for it.' 'I see.' She sat there in her little car, feeling inexplicably tearful suddenly. Her throat hurt and she told herself that was the reason, but she had to admit that she had been hoping he would express some desire to resume his visits to Blanestock, and she was bitterly disappointed because. he had not so far done so. 'I'd better go,' she ventured, and he still did nothing but sit there and watch her. 'Are you proposing to drive back in that thing?' 156 'Yes, of course!' 'Then make sure you use the same tracks you ploughed up on your way in,' he told her, and Charlotte glared at him angrily, starting up the engine again with such a racket that the great black animal he sat skittered nervously. 'Charlotte! For heaven's sake!' she heard him yell above the din, and she laughed as she drove round and back thr
ough the gap in the hedge. Revenge was sweet and it would give him something else to complain about while she made her escape. A brief glimpse over her shoulder showed him still battling with the indignant and temperamental Satan, and she could not help the small malicious smile that touched her mouth as she changed gear ready to tackle the upward slope. She had gone several feet on her way when she chanced another look back and this time her eyes widened in dismay. The horse stood more or less where she had last seen him, tossing his head impatiently, but there was no sign of his rider, and she remembered suddenly and vividly her own experience of lying under those flailing hooves. Scott!' She braked noisily and inexpertly, and the little car rolled back almost as far as the opening in the hedge. Charlotte got out, in such a hurry she did not notice a sharp edge that ruined a pair of new tights, snatching herself free impatiently and running back through the gap in the hedge. He lay on the ground, crumpled into a heap that 157 was frighteningly still. 'Scott! Oh, Scott!' She knelt beside him, tears rolling down her ' cheeks, her hands turning his head towards her so that she could see his face, then she lifted his head and shoulders and laid them gently on her lap. 'Scott?' Her fingers gently smoothed back the thick fair hair from his forehead and she bent over him anxiously, willing him to open his eyes. 'Scott, please look at me!' There was no response to her plea, and she was crying in earnest now. She felt so helpless out here with no one to call on and with that great black animal watching her. She could see no sign of injury, but she was no expert by any means and he could well have several broken ribs, if not more serious internal injuries. Even a head injury would take some finding in that thick, rough thatch of, hair. 'Oh, Scott darling,' she pleaded tearfully. 'I'm sorry. Please answer me, please, darling. I didn't mean this to happen! Please, Scott!' He still lay, silent and unresponsive, supported by her knees, and she soothed gentle fingers over. his forehead, her heart heavy and sickeningly cold in her breast. It was several moments, when she was beginning to despair of him ever coming round, before she noticed a faint but very definite twitching at one corner of his mouth. 'Scott?' The soothing fingers stopped their ministrations and she looked down at the brown face suspiciously, drawing back so that his head slid the 158 few inches to the ground. 'Scott, if you're Scott!' She shouted his name when he opened his eyes suddenly and reached out for her. He caught her off balance as she tried to move away and before she could do anything about it, he rolled over and pinned her to the' soft turf with the hard, lean strength of his body. She heard him laugh, a soft, deep sound that reverberated through her, then his mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding, so that for several moments it did not even occur to her to fight him, even if she could have done. Slowly and hazily then it began to occur to her how she had been tricked and she began to struggle, making angry little sounds against his mouth and wriggling desperately to escape. The moment, however, was of his choosing, and when he released her at last, smiling again, she fought herself free and slapped his face stingingly hard before scrambling to her feet and running as fast a s her legs would carry her, back through the gap in the hedge. 'Charlotte!' He called after her, but this time she did not look back, but drove the little car back up the 'slope, grinding gears and slamming down pedals in an uncaring fury. It bothered her almost as much to find that she was shaking like a leaf with some strange, blood-stirring elation, as with anger at being tricked so easily. Whatever his reasons for staging that disturbing incident, he must be feeling pretty pleased with 159 himself by now, knowing how frantic she had been when she thought him hurt and unconscious. Worst of all was the way she had responded to him in those first few dizzying moments when he had kissed her. No doubt he thought himself as good as owner of Blanestock now, his object achieved. And she cried aloud as she braked the car to a halt at the top of the slope and, dropping her forehead on to her arms, sobbed despairingly. 160 , 'IS