silkily, ‘Perhaps the incident is not one she cares to recall. Miss Smith was, I’m afraid, the unfortunate victim of your idiotic behaviour the other evening. She has the misfortune to drive a car of the same make and colour as yours. When I emerged from the river, to discover her driving towards me, I thought for a moment that you’d come to your senses.’
As she glanced at Trixie, Harriet saw that that unrepentant young lady was trying hard not to laugh. Her uncle obviously didn’t share her amusement, though. He was looking grimly at both of them.
‘Oh, Harriet, no! Was it you who refused to give Rigg a lift?’ Trixie gasped, before her mirth overcame her. ‘See, it worked after all, Rigg!’ she crowed to her uncle. ‘Circumstantial evidence…and I’ll bet that Harriet didn’t believe—’
‘What Miss Smith believed was that I was either a lunatic or a rapist, or possibly both,’ Rigg interrupted Trixie in a hard voice.
‘Oh, Harriet, how brave of you—refusing to give him a lift.’Trixie’s eyes danced with laughter.
But Harriet couldn’t share her innocent amusement. Then Rigg had been the one to ask a favour of her, and she had refused, had refused to help or assist him, and now their positions were reversed, and she was the one needing his help…She shuddered inwardly, and wished it had been anyone else in the world she was having to confront right now rather than this cold, stern man. And even more than that she wished that her hitherto easily controllable imagination would not choose now of all times to become both rebellious and dangerous, by insisting on substituting for his immaculate business suit and shirt the vivid memory of how she had seen him in the headlights of her car, wearing nothing but…
She swallowed hard, and said huskily, ‘I’m sorry to have disturbed you, but the agent did say that you might have a spare key for the cottage here at one time, and I was wondering if you still had it?’
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