what I need.” Robbie’s voice was filled with self-disgust.
“Well, you’re going to get it and it won’t be pleasant. Take it on the chin. Boyd has assured me the matter will go no further.”
“He’d do anything for you,” Robbie said, then looked her in the eyes. “It’s all about you. Did you ask him?”
Leona hesitated for only a few seconds. “Actually, he asked me to marry him.” She didn’t say that he had more like informed her they were to be married. Not the same thing at all.
Robbie’s woebegone face lit up as his fears virtually disappeared. He put his hands around Leona’s narrow waist and began to swing her around like a child. “But that’s marvellous. Bloody marvellous! I couldn’t think of anyone in the world who would be more perfect for you!”
“No thoughts there might be plenty of girls more perfect for him?” Leona asked breathlessly when he set her down again.
“No way!” Robbie exclaimed, breaking into another delighted laugh. “You two are made for each other. Actually, I was starting to think that Boyd was taking his time.”
“Wh-a-t!” Leona stared back at him, flooded with astonishment.
“Gosh, Leo, you radiate off one another. I’m not the only person to see it, you know.”
“So who’s the other?” she asked in amazement.
“Lots probably.” Robbie shrugged. “But good old Geraldine, for one. She’s a sharp old bird.”
“No sharper than her brother, Rupert,” Leona said. “I’d hate to see his face when he hears.”
“But Rupe is very fond of you.” Robbie frowned.
“Maybe he is in a way. But not as a match for his son.”
“Sweetheart,” Robbie spoke very tenderly, trying to buck her up, “if Boyd wants you, he’ll have you. No one will stand in his way. Boyd’s well on the way to becoming more powerful than his dear old dad. And a damn sight nicer person.”
“And that wouldn’t be hard.”
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN ROBBIE ARRIVED back at the house around midday he looked numb.
“Are you all right?” Concerned, Leona took him by the hand, much as she had done since he was a little boy. For a brief moment he took comfort from her presence, then he drew a deep breath, steadying himself.
“I’m fine.”
“Then I’d hate to see you when you aren’t.” Quickly, she led him by the quietest route through the house into the garden, bypassing the terrace with its outdoor sofas, armchairs and tables where some of the family had congregated, enjoying the sunshine. A buffet lunch would be served from noon until the main event of the day, the fastest field sport in the world.
Robbie, an excellent horseman, was on Boyd’s team, as was Peter and Peter’s first cousin, James, through his mother’s side of the family. The opposing team was made up of fine New South Wales players. But Leona was far from sure that Robbie should now play. Many polo players, like Boyd, found the element of danger alluring—as did Robbie, for that matter, but he looked as though all the stuffing had been knocked out of him. Predictably, the over-protective Leona felt upset for him, perversely blaming Boyd for having come on too strong. There was no logic to it, but Robbie brought out her protective instincts. Boyd, on the other hand, could look after himself.
When they were a distance from the house she drew him down a long pergola that had been mounted on splendid Doric stone pillars. Long tresses of the wisteria floribunda “Alba” cascaded from on high, softening the grandeur of the pillars. There was a little white trelliswork pavilion at the end of the walk, Mughal in style and embellished with a beautiful old-fashioned deep pink rose that clung to the abundant light green foliage. Here they could talk in privacy.
Robbie sat down beside her, then put his dark head into faintly trembling hands. “Thank God that’s over!” Gratefully he breathed in the calming scent of the roses.
Long entrenched in the business of looking after him, Leona burst out, “Boyd must have been very tough on you.”
“No more than I deserved!” Robbie sat bolt upright, half turning to face her. “Hey, don’t go blaming Boyd for anything,” he exclaimed, obviously surprised and concerned that she had.
“How can I not?” she said, distressed by his appearance. “It’s obvious he’s knocked you for six. How can you play this afternoon? Polo is a dangerous, demanding game. You have to have all your wits about you.”
“Listen, Leo, I’m playing,” Robbie answered emphatically. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I just have to regain my balance. A good lunch will help. Actually, I feel better than I have in ages. Can’t you understand that? It’s like going to confession and receiving absolution. Boyd was much too generous. I don’t deserve it. He’ll get the bad guys off my back. He said a lot has been invested in me to succeed. He also said I have your love and loyalty—hell, he reduced me to tears about that. Anyway, I swear to you, Leo, I’m going to mend my ways. I’m going to turn over a new leaf. I’m going to make you and Boyd proud of me. I know I’ve caused you a lot of anxiety and I’ve leant on you terribly. That has to stop. Both of us have to stop seeing me as your ‘kid brother’.”
“Boyd said that, did he?” She bit her lip.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Robbie appealed to her. “Why are you trying to find fault with Boyd in this? He’s my saviour. I thought you loved him. You told me you were getting married.” He took hold of her arm. “Hell, I didn’t have anything to do with this sudden decision, did I?”
“Of course you didn’t.” Leona stopped that idea in its tracks. “It’s just that I see Boyd as invincible.”
“We all die, Leo,” Robbie said gently.
She shivered in the golden heat. “Don’t talk about dying!” For Boyd to die would destroy her. “It’s just I’ve spent so many years—”
“Putting up a front with Boyd?” Robbie suggested. “In some ways I think you find loving him the way you do terrifying,” he added very perceptively.
“Isn’t love terrifying?” she asked. “Love also sets one up for loss. The bliss of my childhood was shattered by the loss of my mother. Dad turned into another person. I think he forced himself to remarry. You know, the couples thing.”
“He could have done better than Mother,” said Delia’s only child, betraying the full extent of his emotional dislocation.
“Did Boyd say anything to you about—” she stumbled over the word “—us?”
“He said you’d agreed he’d make the announcement after he’d spoken to his father.”
“Who won’t be at all happy,” Leona repeated, showing her anxiety. The last thing she wanted to do was cause big trouble. For one thing, it might rebound on her own father, who held a high position in the firm. Rupert was not a man
