Relief mingled with dismay at his calm acceptance of such an eventuality. So he hadn’t guessed then how she felt towards him! How radically her ideas had changed as to what made up the ideal man, since she had come to Longmere!
His eyes were fixed on hers compellingly. She let her own glance fall guiltily as she decided to prevaricate. Not for worlds would she let him know how committed to him she felt. “It’s difficult to know how I feel towards Dick.”
“Indeed, and why is that? It’s unusual for a woman to be unable to read her own heart.”
“I think it’s because things have changed so much—or rather that I’ve changed so much since I’ve come to Longmere. I don’t even know whether I had only a silly schoolgirlish crush on Dick.”
“I’m afraid I find that hard to believe,” he told her dryly. “You’re a very pretty girl, Caroline. Although yours is not the obvious chocolate-boxy, fairy-doll type of face, it would be easy for a man to fall hopelessly in love with you. ”
But his voice had lost its intensity, and he leaned over and touched his lips to hers—almost as one would kiss a child, she thought resentfully.
A discreet cough sounded from the doorway. Caroline started guiltily, but Randall with complete equanimity faced Mrs. Creed’s tight-lipped disapproval. “Yes, what can I do for you, Mrs. Creed?”
Once more he spoke as the remote, authoritative employer, Caroline thought sadly.
“Just to let Caroline know that Fred will help her with the fairy lights if she’s ready for them,” the housekeeper said stiffly.
“Well, Caroline, what about it? Are you ready for the fairy lights?” Randall’s mouth quirked a little at the corners.
She nodded desolately. He was once more the sardonic, detached master of Longmere—and she nothing more than the girl he had picked up one cold wintry evening at the railway station.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WTTH a sigh of relief Caroline tied the last present and placed it under the tree to complete the glowing pyramid of rosette-studded parcels and packages. The fire blazed brightly and from the basket of beech logs beside the hearth came a faint, subtle woody perfume. She had taken care to see that the massive table was protected by a layer of plastic so that no matter how careless and clumsy the children might be the furniture would be spared their depredations. Crimson and gold crackers were piled against the fruit-laden epergne in the middle of the table.
All that remained was for the food to be brought up from the kitchens, and Mrs. Creed had arranged that this should be done while she was at the station so that when she returned all would be in readiness.
As she looked about with a glow of satisfaction, Caroline heard footsteps behind her and turning around she saw Randall surveying the scene with evident satisfaction.
“Everything looks very well,” he remarked. “If the children don’t enjoy themselves, they must be ungrateful little monsters. You’ve certainly done a great job of work on this year’s do, Caroline. I don’t remember things looking as attractive as this in previous years.”
She felt a warm glow of satisfaction at his words. It was not often Randall Craig expressed approbation. Perhaps, for this reason, when he did give his approval it was doubly precious.
He glanced at the pile of presents in their gaily patterned wrappers, completed with rosettes of shining ribbon. “Do you mean to say you did all that yourself?”
She nodded. “I enjoyed it: it was rather fun.”
“Fun? I should imagine it’s pretty hard work. I hate to be a wet blanket, but I can assure you from past experience that the children will ruthlessly tear off your pretty wrappings and strew them to the four winds to get at the contents.”
“All the same, I liked doing it—I mean, selecting the colour of ribbon to tie around a particular wrapping.”
“You mean you were exercising your artistic bent at the children’s expense?” he smiled. “All the same, Caroline, I think it’s time that you received a present yourself, before the storm breaks and hordes of children overwhelm us. You’ve worked very hard and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. ” As he spoke he took from his pocket a small package. “I’m afraid I didn’t get around to wrapping it in seasonable paper,” he said wryly.
Excitement making her fumble a little, Caroline opened the small leather gilt box. In it, nestling on black velvet, was a dainty filigree silver brooch, centred by a single milkily glowing pearl.
Caroline looked up at him, her eyes shining. “Oh, Randall,” she breathed, “it’s lovely!” then realized, too late, that she had called him by his first name.
But he gave no sign of noticing the slip. Taking the brooch from the box, he pinned it upon the white Puritan collar of her holly-green dress. “You can count this as my Christmas present to you,” he said as, stooping, he kissed her lightly on the forehead.
It was at this moment Robin’s voice shrilled from the door, “Oh, look, Mummy, Randall’s kissing Caroline!” He ran up, gazing avidly at the brooch. “He’s given her a present too, of diamonds and rubies and emeralds!”
Grace approached and stood regarding the brooch, a cool smile touching her delicately tinted lips. “Really charming—and unostentatious—so suitable in every way!” she remarked.
Her meaning was only too obvious. Not diamonds, rubies and emeralds, but the sort of gift an employer could give to his employee, without compromising himself in any way.
But Randall seemed oblivious of the subtle insinuation of her words. “Surely you’re a little early,” he said calmly. “The entertainer hasn’t even arrived yet.”
She shrugged. “What about it? It’s not as if Robin’s a stranger here. Caroline can take care of him until the children arrive.”
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question. Caroline is going to meet our entertainer at the station—who, by the way, is a very special friend of hers.”
“Indeed?” Grace’s finely pencilled eyebrows rose. “So you’ve a boy-friend? You are a sly little thing! ” At this information, she seemed to regard Caroline with more favour. “You’ve made the place very original indeed! The room is quite transformed. All it needs now is the patter of tiny feet. ”
“As to the patter of tiny feet, we’ll soon have that, I can assure you,” Randall said dryly. “Caroline, I think it’s time you were off, otherwise your friend will be hanging about the station stamping his feet.”
As Caroline left the room, she heard Grace say in her light, carefully articulated tones, “Do you always kiss the members of your staff when you’re doling out the Christmas boxes, Randall?” “Only the pretty ones.” She heard Randall’s cool rejoiner and felt a little giggle rise to her throat that, for once, Grace was rendered speechless.
Caroline reached the station as the train drew in: a little apprehensively she watched the passengers get off: she wasn’t quite sure what her reactions would be when she met Dick again and she did so want to preserve the cool, distant impression that she had apparently conveyed in her letter. There were only a few local people on the platform so that she immediately noticed Dick supervising the handling of a surprisingly large number of bags and cases.
He looked up as she approached, a grin of pleased surprise on his boyish face. “So this is what happens when I let you out of my sight for a moment! You turn from a gangling girl into a sophisticated woman of the world!”
She felt a glow of pleasure at the awareness in his light blue eyes. He too had changed, she decided, or perhaps it was that she had simply not noticed his air of brashness: formerly she had looked on him with uncritical eyes. As the porter stowed his luggage away in the boot she was aware that the blue eyes were watching her closely and with an air of flattering assessment.
A little embarrassed by his regard, she said lightly, “What a lot of luggage you have!”
“Don’t be alarmed,” he grinned. “I don’t intend settling in, but I’ve brought along the equipment that I’ll need to entertain the kiddies. From experience I’ve found that th
ey’re easily bored, so one has to be sure there’s plenty of variety—stocking puppets, conjuring tricks, impersonations, the whole works. You can’t fob the kids off with any old thing, you know!”
But she had the feeling that his mind was not really on what he was saying, and as they drove back towards Longmere, more than once she was aware of that assessing pale blue eye fixed on her with silent curiosity.
“Who’d have thought that my adoring fan would have developed into such a stunner?”
“I never was your adoring fan,” she informed him, a little primly.
“Oh, weren’t you? I can still picture the look in your eyes when I presented you with that ridiculous toy. I was even big-headed enough to imagine you were going to keep it as a precious relic!” he added a little ruefully.
“Well, actually, I did keep it,” Caroline admitted, and added, a little hastily, “It’s one of those lovable toys, difficult to part with— and anyway, I’m a bit of a hoarder!”
“I’d like to flatter myself that you thought me lovable,” he said banteringly. But Caroline thought she detected an underlying seriousness.
She was able to evade an answer as they were driving through the gates of Longmere, and as he caught his first glimpse of the house in the distance he gave a little whistle of appreciation. “Well, this is really something! I didn’t expect it to be quite so grand,” he admitted, gazing around admiringly at the wide parkland with the old gnarled trees. “Tell me, just what is your position in this handsome set-up?”
“Oh, I’m Mr. Craig’s personal assistant,” she told him proudly.
“Personal assistant? And just what does that entail?”
Caroline hesitated. She hadn’t been exactly honest in her answer, she knew: carried away by his obvious admiration, she had exaggerated her importance. “I organized the children’s party—things like that. ”
“I see.” He sounded a little doubtful.
“And there’s to be a dinner party tomorrow evening,” she hurried on. “And—well, I’m his social secretary, you might say.” She found herself becoming more confused as she seemed to become enmeshed in a net of half-truth. But she simply couldn’t let herself down before Dick—not now that she had seen the new look of admiration and respect on his handsome face! Anyway, it was true, she assured herself. She had helped in the arrangements for the dinner party, in spite of her invidious position at Longmere.
She was stunned, however, at Dick’s reaction to her pretensions, for he said with seriousness underlying his banter, “Do you know, Carrie, you and I would make quite a partnership if we got together; you, with your organizing ability, and—well, let’s face it, I’m pretty talented: I’ll go places once I get a proper break. ”
Caroline concentrated on swinging the car around the broad curving sweep which brought the house into full view, uncertain how to receive this extraordinary statement. “What on earth do you mean?” she asked, hoping she sounded sufficiently airy and woman-of- the-worldish.
“Just what I say! Take this, for instance! ” He nodded towards the house, spread out in all its magnificence against the backdrop of tawny, towering fells. “It’s pretty obvious your boss is a wealthy man; someone with influence. To you, this engagement may seem no more than a kids’ party, but to me—who knows, it may be the beginning of something. As I say, you and I would make quite a team. I mean, the time is bound to come when you’ll get the push from this place, although probably, at present, you don’t imagine that it’s possible.”
His words gave her an icy feeling of dismay. It was true, she hadn’t thought about getting “the push” as he so bluntly put it, but as he said, that day could easily arise; she would have to face that fact.
“There’s no need for you to go all girlish and coy, you know,” Dick pursued, “because you never made any secret that you were nuts about me. From your point of view, I think everything should be quite O.K.”
“And from your point of view?” Caroline inquired tightly.
“Oh, let’s put it this way. I won’t pretend you’re the only girl who has been crazy about me, but you’ve got everything I want in a woman: you’re pretty and a good organizer—just what I need.
You could take on the managing side of my career and leave me to concentrate on what I’m really good at—my work. Oh, I suppose all this sounds a bit coldblooded to you, but let’s face it, what most girls want out of life is marriage, and it’s time I was settling down.”
He seemed unaware that Caroline was making no response and as she stopped before the door, she saw to her relief that Fred was hurrying down the steps towards them. At least his presence would bring an end to the conversation.
All pleasure she might have found in Dick’s company had evaporated. Had he always been so egotistical, so certain that a girl would be only too willing and honoured to fall into his arms at the first sign of encouragement? How could she have invested this brash, self-opinionated man with an enchantment he had never possessed? Or was it simply that disenchantment was one of the processes of growing up? If so, it was a decidedly unpleasant experience!
Dick, unaware of her reactions, was rather grandly supervising the removal of his baggage by a disgruntled Fred. Piled high with luggage, Fred surveyed Caroline with an inimical eye as she got from behind the wheel. “Here, come and give me a hand with this stuff,” he ordered brusquely.
Caroline flushed as she saw Dick give a startled glance in her direction.
“Well, don’t just stand there like a statue,” Fred continued acidly. “If it’s not too much trouble would your ladyship kindly bring the rest of the stuff, while I take this load in.”
When he had lumbered off. Dick surveyed Caroline. puzzled and curious. “You’re surely not going to do what that impudent fellow suggested, are you? Why didn’t you put him in his place?” Caroline shrugged and attempted a laugh. “I may as well lend a hand,” she said lightly, “it will save any unpleasantness.”
Dick frowned. “But this is ridiculous! He’s behaving as if you’re employed here as some sort of lackey.”
“Oh, Fred’s bark is worse than his bite,” she remarked airily, as she reached into the boot and pulled out some small cases. “I don’t take any notice of what he says. It’s best to keep the peace with the staff, I find.”
“Well, I think it’s utterly nonsensical.” Dick intoned pompously, “and I’ll go in and give that fellow a piece of my mind.”
“Oh, don’t do that!” Caroline said anxiously, leading the way swiftly indoors, knowing well that she was in no position to defend herself should Fred return and continue in the same strain before Dick. “After all, it’s part of my job to be on good terms with the staff!”
But she could see as she led the way to the green dining-room that Dick was puzzled by, even resentful of, what he considered her weak knuckling under to an insolent servant.
The green dining-room was certainly very attractive, Caroline was thinking; the huge fireplace filled with blazing logs; the tree, under which the presents were piled, glittering iridescently in the light of the chandelier, on which someone, she noticed—possibly Betty—had hung a sprig of mistletoe.
Dick looked about with growing appreciation. The long oak table had been spread with every possible delicacy to entice the juvenile appetite; jellies, trifles, custards, sweets, cream cakes, lemonade, with plenty of crackers to make the party go.
“Well, I must say this looks like something,” Dick said with satisfaction. “All your own work, I presume?”
Caroline laughed. “Practically—except for the mistletoe!”
Immediately she saw his eyes glitter with mischief and before she could take defensive action he had whisked her into his arms and pulling her under the chandelier held her close in a long and anything but perfunctory kiss.
She struggled to free herself, but he held her tightly. “Don’t tell me you’re too prudish for a kiss under the mistletoe? What’s happened to the yuletide spirit?”
He seem
ed amused, even exhilarated by her reaction. Did he think, she wondered, that she was so vulnerable to his charms that his very nearness caused her to panic? Better he should imagine that, however, than that he should realize that her real fear was that she should be discovered in his arms by Randall or Grace, or even by one of the staff—because she had discovered that in some way or another everything that happened at Longmere eventually reached Randall’s ears.
The arrival of the children saved her from further undignified struggles. There was the sound of the children’s shrill voices in the hall and in a moment they were being hustled into the dining-room by Mrs. Creed and Fred. By then Caroline had regained her composure and was patting her hair into place before the antique mirror over the chimneypiece.
The housekeeper surveyed Dick without enthusiasm. “I suggest you set up your equipment at the end of the room while the children have their party,” she said coldly.
Had she noticed, Caroline wondered uncomfortably, the excited glitter in Dick’s eyes and her own flushed cheeks and, putting two and two together, assumed the worst? Was Mrs. Creed always to feel that at any moment she might come upon her in flagrante delicto? she wondered, as she remembered the housekeeper’s expression when she had seen her with Randall at that moment when he had touched his lips to hers at the top of the ladder.
Dick, completely unabashed by the housekeeper’s unconcealed antipathy, rubbed his hands enthusiastically. “Very well, I’ll set up my box of tricks while the kiddies guzzle. Let’s hope they won’t be too lethargic by the time they’ve consumed all these goodies to be an enthusiastic and appreciative audience!”
But this banter had no perceptible effect on the housekeeper. Silently she turned away, and from that moment the clamour rose as the children, excited and shrill, helped themselves, while Caroline moved around wiping sticky faces, filling glasses and generally trying to keep some semblance of order in the midst of chaos.
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