you too. I told you, he’s an invention. He gives my PR department something to do, and that’s about all. OK, a reputation for ruthlessness can sometimes be useful. And Grace fosters it. She has actually given newspaper interviews, painting Bully Jack in lurid colours.’
‘Why does Grace have such a hold over you?’
‘Because she looked after me when our father died. I was fifteen. He did a very unfair thing, leaving me everything and her nothing. I put it right as soon as I could, so justice has been done if we’re only talking about money. But I’ve swallowed up her life, and it’s a bit late for her to reclaim it now.’
‘But you must be in your thirties,’ I protested. ‘So she could have reclaimed her life at least ten years ago.’
‘Well,’ he said vaguely, ‘she felt she should go on looking after me. And of course I’m grateful.’
In my opinion Grace had become domineering and power-hungry, playing on his feelings of guilt. I didn’t think he’d swallowed up her life, but I could see her swallowing his.
I didn’t say so, because I could see that this was something he was unwilling to confront. He had a kind heart, and it undermined his attempts to break free.
Over coffee he became businesslike, outlining the salary he intended to pay me. When I protested that it was too much he said briskly, ‘That’s enough out of you. Drink up. We still have jewellery to buy.’
He considered me like a film director planning a shot.
‘You’re going to be a challenge. The gamine look isn’t easy to adorn. Trying to put a tiara on hair as short as yours can be the very devil. Luckily you have a nice long neck, so we can hang some long earrings on you.’
‘I don’t like long earrings,’ I said defiantly.
‘You’ll do as you’re told,’ he told me, with his nicest grin—i.e. his wickedest. There was no difference.
‘Oh, will I?’
‘Yes, you will. You see, I’m going to be a tyrant—no, don’t giggle. It’s time you found out what a tyrant I am. So if I want you in long diamond earrings, you’ll wear them. The same applies to pearls, emeralds, sapphires, rubies—’
‘Rubies don’t suit me.’
‘Don’t interrupt. Really top class rubies suit everyone. If you think otherwise you’ve been accepting them from the wrong men—cheapskates who didn’t get you the best.’
He left the question hanging in the air. I refused to answer, other than to say, ‘Is that so?’
‘That’s so.’
‘I must send them a memo,’ I said lightly.
‘Do. And while you’re at it tell them that you’re mine now, so they can just stop thinking about you.’
‘I never let any man stop thinking about me,’ I said firmly. ‘After all, why should they?’
‘No reason at all that I can think of,’ he said, in a voice that was suddenly soft and vibrant.
Shivers went through me at that sound. I waited, hoping he would pursue the subject. When he didn’t I tossed an ember on the fire.
‘Anyway, you know nothing at all about my friends or what they think of,’ I said lightly.
His eyes met mine, teasing, challenging.
‘You know as well as I do what every man who sees you thinks of,’ he said with meaning.
That morning in the great bed, his naked body touching mine, responding to me, making me respond to him against my will, the sight of him dashing across the carpet to the bathroom in all his glory. Everything came back to me in a moment, making me warm all over with intense delight.
‘I know what they think of, and I know what I think of,’ I said with a shrug. ‘They’re not necessarily the same thing.’
‘Well, it’s time for you to turn your attention to this afternoon’s purchases,’ he said, using the voice of a man forcing himself back to normal. ‘It’s not just jewellery, but anything else you can think of. What? What is it?’
I’d burst out laughing.
‘You should keep your voice down. Do you realise how many people heard you say that? You know what they’ll think?’
‘They’ll think I’m crazy about you,’ he said, smiling.
‘No, they won’t. They’ll think I’m your tart, your bit on the side, your kept woman.’
‘You sound as though you’d enjoy that.’
‘In reality I probably wouldn’t, but I’ve always had this fantasy of being a world-class courtesan—maybe Madame de Pompadour, or another of those grande horizontales. Great fun. Well, fun for about five minutes. Then desperately boring.’
‘But surely Madame de Pompadour did more than lie around looking good? She had a terrific brain and helped the French king run the country. I see you as being like that.’
‘You’re right. I could never resist the temptation to stick my oar in.’
He grinned. ‘I’ve been warned. Now, let’s go and see if I can distract your attention with a few baubles.’
He took me into a succession of jewellery shops. At his command they laid everything out for my inspection, and I held my breath at the beauty of it all.
He wouldn’t tell me the prices, but I could see they were all fabulous. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces—in all stones, but mostly in diamonds. Until that moment I hadn’t known how madly I loved diamonds.
‘But it’s all too much,’ I protested in an undervoice.
‘Not if you’re going to make the impression I want. They’ll be watching.’
I couldn’t argue with that, so I just had to put up with him showering me with a fortune. It was hard, but I gritted my teeth and did my duty.
‘We’ll be the talk of Monte Carlo after this,’ I said, while the assistants in the last shop were packing things up.
‘Monte Carlo?’ He looked shocked. ‘Europe.’
‘The world,’ I declared triumphantly.
And then I saw it. A tiny diamond brooch in the shape of a penguin. I guessed the price was a fraction of anything else in the shop, but it was charming and exquisite and I fell in love with it.
Jack saw me gazing at it.
‘That?’ he asked.
I nodded, explaining, ‘I’m mad about penguins.’
He wasn’t like other men. He didn’t say something crass like, What about all that pricey stuff I’ve bought you? He understood at once, and pinned the
