he’d have come for you himself. He sends his apologies.’
‘Oh, that’s all right,’ Tavy muttered as she was helped into the big grey limousine with tinted windows. In fact, she added silently, it was all to the good. At least she’d be spared his company for a while.
Charlie was solicitous to her comfort, asking if the car was too hot or too cold. Whether or not she’d like to listen to the radio.
She said again that she was fine, wondering what he’d do if she said that she’d really like to go home, so could he please turn the car around.
But of course she wasn’t going to say that because this was her own mess, and it wouldn’t be fair to involve him or anyone else.
One evening, she thought. That was all she had to get through. Then, her duty done, she could tell her father with perfect truth that she and Jago Marsh were chalk and cheese, and tonight would never be repeated.
Besides there was Patrick to consider. Patrick whom she could and should have been with tonight.
It’s time we talked seriously, she thought. Time we got our relationship on a firm footing and out in the open, for everyone to see, particularly his mother. Made some real plans for the future. Our future.
And she found herself wondering, as the limo smoothly ate away the miles between Hazelton Magna and Barkland Grange, why, when she’d been quite content to let matters drift, this change should now seem to be of such pressing and paramount importance.
And could not find a satisfactory answer.
Her first sight of Barkland Grange, a redbrick Georgian mansion set in its own sculptured parkland, with even a small herd of deer browsing under the trees, seemed to confirm everything she’d heard about it and more.
She sat rigidly, staring through the car window, feeling her stomach churn with renewed nerves. Cursing herself for not having found an excuse—any excuse—to remain safely at home, sharing the cold chicken and later a game of cribbage with Dad.
She could only hope now that Jago’s email correspondence had been more involved than expected.
Because if he’s not here, she thought, I’d be perfectly justified in saying that I’m not prepared to hang around waiting for him to show up. And if Charlie won’t drive me back, I’ll simply use my escape money.
And then she saw the dark figure standing on the stone steps in front of the main entrance and knew, with a sense of fatalism, that there was no way out.
‘So you have come after all.’ She heard that loathsome note of amusement under his drawl, as he opened the car door. ‘I was afraid that a migraine, or a sudden chill brought on by unwise bathing might have prevented you.’
‘And I was afraid you’d make me produce a doctor’s note,’ she said, lifting her chin as she walked beside him into the hotel, hotly aware of the candid appraisal that had swept her from head to toe as she emerged from the car.
Resentful too of the light guidance of his hand on her arm—the first time, she realised, that he’d touched her—but reluctant to pull away under the benevolent gaze of the commissionaire holding the door open for them.
He took her across the spacious foyer to a bar, all subdued lighting and small comfortable armchairs grouped round tables, most of which were occupied.
‘It’s very busy,’ Tavy said, praying inwardly that the Grange was too expensive and too distant from Hazelton Magna to attract anyone who might recognise her.
‘Weekends here are always popular, I’m told,’ Jago returned as a waiter appeared and conducted them to an empty table tucked away in a corner. ‘I considered ordering dinner in my suite, but I decided you’d probably feel safer in the dining room. At least on a first date.’
Tavy, sinking back against luxurious cushions, sat upright with a jolt. On several counts.
‘Suite?’ she echoed. ‘You have a suite here?’
‘Why, yes.’ He was leaning back, supremely at ease in his dark charcoal suit and pearl grey collarless shirt. ‘I’ve been here on and off for several weeks. I thought it would be easier to deal with the purchase of the Manor from a local base, and this proved ideal.’ He smiled at her. ‘And you were quite right about the food,’ he added lightly.
‘You knew all about it already—and you didn’t say. You let me ramble on...’
‘Hardly that. You were quite crisp on the subject. And I was impressed. I’d anticipated being directed to the nearest greasy spoon.
‘And as you’d suggested eating here, I couldn’t be suspected of any ulterior motive. Better and better.’ He nodded to the still-hovering waiter. ‘I’ve ordered champagne cocktails,’ he added. ‘I hope you like them.’
She said in a small choked voice, ‘You know perfectly well I’ve never had such a thing in my life.’
‘Then I’m glad to be making the introduction.’
‘And this is not a first date!’
The dark brows lifted. ‘You feel we’ve met before—in a previous existence, maybe? Wow, this is fascinating.’
‘I mean nothing of the kind, and you know that too.’ She drew a shaky breath. ‘I’m here because I didn’t have a choice. For some reason, you’ve made my father think you’re one of the good guys. I don’t share his opinion. And I’d like to know how the hell you came to be sitting in our kitchen anyway.’
‘That’s easy,’ he said. ‘I’d invited Ted Jackson up to the Manor this morning to give me a quote on clearing the grounds. As he was leaving, I simply asked him the identity of the gorgeous redhead I’d seen around. I admit his reply came as something of a surprise, so I decided to pursue my own enquiries.’
The drinks arrived, and he initialled the bill, casually adding a tip, while Tavy stared at him, stunned.
‘You—asked Ted Jackson?’ she managed at last.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I want to use local labour for the renovations as far as possible. Why? Isn’t he any good?’
‘Yes—I think... How would I know?’ She swallowed. ‘I mean—you actually asked him about me.’
‘It’s a useful way of gaining information.’
‘He will tell his wife that you did,’ she said stonily. ‘And June Jackson is the biggest gossip in a fifty-mile radius.’ Although she doesn’t seem to know I’m seeing Patrick, she amended swiftly. So she’s not infallible.
He shrugged. ‘You may be right, but he seemed to be far more interested in the prospect of restoring the gardens to their former glory.’
‘Until she makes him repeat every word you said to him,’ Tavy said bitterly. ‘Oh, God, this is such a disaster. And if anyone finds out about this evening...’ Her voice tailed away helplessly.
‘Single man has dinner with single woman,’ he said. ‘Sensational stuff.’
‘It isn’t
