she said. ‘I know.’
‘So, what the hell’s a high-flyer like him doing in this backwater?’ Nigel demanded.
She shrugged. ‘Perhaps you should ask him that yourself.’
‘Oh, I don’t know him that well,’ he said. ‘It’s Amanda. She’s met him at parties in London and she could hardly believe her eyes when she saw you together. You’re hardly his usual kind of totty.’
Helen steadied her voice. ‘I’m sorry if she’s disappointed.’
‘She’s not interested one way or the other,’ Nigel said rather stiffly. ‘He’s certainly not her type. Nor does he believe in long-term relationships,’ he added waspishly. ‘Just in case you were hoping. Apparently he has a very low boredom threshold where women are concerned. Two months is the top limit for his involvements. None of his girls are kept around for longer. He’s notorious for it.’ He grinned nastily. ‘And you haven’t even lasted the night, sweetie.’ He paused. ‘So how did you meet him—as a matter of interest?’
‘I can’t imagine why it should be any of your concern,’ she said, ‘but he happened to be on the committee that turned me down the other day and he was curious about the house. It’s as simple as that.’
Oh, God, she thought with a pang. If only it were…
‘Oh, the house,’ he said disparagingly. ‘That explains it.’
‘Thank you.’ Helen said coldly, wishing desperately that her cab would arrive—or that she would be abducted by aliens.
He flushed slightly. ‘Believe it or not, I’m trying to warn you for your own good. Although why I should bother after the trick you played on me this morning, God only knows,’ he added sulkily. ‘Do you know how long it took me to come up with an excuse for being soaked to the skin?’
‘Am I supposed to care?’ Helen threw back at him.
He shrugged, giving her a faintly injured look. ‘We’ve known each other for a long time. I assumed it might be possible to remain friends.’
‘Difficult,’ she said, ‘when we don’t even occupy the same planet. And here’s my taxi.’ She offered him a small polite smile. ‘Goodbye, Nigel, and—good luck.’
‘And you,’ he said venomously, ‘deserve everything that’s coming to you. When your house has gone, and your French millionaire has used you up and spat you out, don’t come to me for a handout.’
There wasn’t even a fountain to push him into this time, Helen thought, let alone the preferred swamp. And that was her sole regret as she walked away from him and out into the night.
Nor was it because of this brief confrontation that she found herself trembling as she sat huddled in the back of the taxi taking her home through the darkness.
It was Marc Delaroche who occupied her mind, imprinting himself indelibly on her inner vision.
My first real proposal of marriage, she thought, fighting back the bubble of hysteria rising within her. And it’s from him.
She looked down at the hand he’d caressed and found she was clenching it into a fist.
As they headed through the village towards Monteagle her driver slowed as a car approached them, travelling smoothly and swiftly in the opposite direction.
Helen recognised it instantly. Oh, God, she thought, as she shrank further into her corner. His car. On its way back to the Monteagle Arms, no doubt.
But where on earth could he have been up till then? she asked herself in bewilderment. He should have returned long before her. Had his chauffeur become lost in the twisting lanes?
Whatever, he was far too close for her comfort. But perfectly poised for tomorrow, just an hour or so away, when he would come for his answer.
His package deal, she thought bitterly, for which he was apparently offering a blank cheque. Her house and herself—not necessarily in that order—and no expense spared. Or so he wanted her to believe…
It was—almost flattering. But she wasn’t fooled, Helen told herself with sudden, desperate decision. It wasn’t a genuine offer—not in a civilised society. It couldn’t be…
He was merely testing her resolve, and of course he expected her to refuse. He probably relied on it.
After all, why should he want to spend a fortune on a place he’d seen briefly a couple of times?
And, besides, even a marriage that was only a business arrangement had too permanent a sound for someone who counted his relationships in days rather than years.
It’s a wind-up, she thought with an inward sigh of relief, as the cab turned into Monteagle’s gates. It has to be, and unfortunately I fell for it. Let him see I was rattled. Big mistake.
But at least she had a whole day to decide how to deal with it.
She considered, and immediately discarded, the idea of trying to rattle him in turn. Of letting him think she was actually tempted by his proposition and allowing him to talk her out of it. It might be amusing, but it was also dangerous.
He was too unpredictable, and—which annoyed her even more—invariably several steps ahead of her.
The sensible plan would be to tell him unsmilingly that the joke was over and request him to leave her in peace—seriously and permanently.
Except that might not be as simple as it sounded. Marriage might not be in the equation, but Marc Delaroche still wanted her. Inexperienced as she was, Helen was unable to deny that. If she was honest, she’d recognised it from their first encounter, with a stark female instinct she’d never known she possessed until that moment. And he was determined for his desire to be satisfied, however fleetingly.
It was that knowledge which dried her mouth and set up that deep inner trembling when he was near, invaded her thoughts when he was far away.
Nigel had never looked at her with such hungry intensity, she admitted painfully. Had never touched her skin as if he was caressing the petals of a flower. Had never stirred her senses to the edge of fear.
That alone should have warned her, she thought, as she paid off the driver and turned to go into the house.
There was no sign of Daisy, but the kitchen was filled with the aroma of coffee and the percolator bubbled away cheerfully.
She still felt fuzzy round the edges. Daisy’s rich brew would clear her head and hopefully remove the shakiness in her legs too. Because she needed to be in total control, able to think positively. To plan tomorrow’s response to Marc. Convince him once and for all, and with some force, that both she and Monteagle would remain forever beyond his reach.
She locked the back door, then took a mug from the big dresser and carried it, with the percolator, along to the library. She had some heavy decisions to make, so why not in comfort?
The lamps were lit, and a small fire was burning briskly in the hearth. God bless Daisy, she thought gratefully, and took one
