Infatuation

by Charlotte Lamb

  That evening she flicked wryly through her wardrobe, looking for something suitable to wear at the party. She chose a dark red dress with a Victorian, demurely romantic style; full sleeves ending in a layered frill at the wrist and a low neckline partly filled with foamy white lace, the skirts full and flounced. It was a dress she had bought in New York at a small boutique on Fifth Avenue; the next time she went back there the shop had vanished and there was a druggist there—but that was New York for you, she hadn't been surprised.

  She had a leisurely bath and was getting dressed when the phone went. 'It's Ruth,' Mrs Murry called up the stairs a few moments later. 'She says do you want a lift?'

  'I'd love one,' said Judith. 'Then I can get drunk if I like…'

  'I hope you're joking,' Mrs Murry said with disapproval before vanishing to relay her reply to Ruth.

  Judith spent some time doing her face and hair; no amount of effort was going to make her look like Baba, but she wasn't displeased with the end result in the mirror. Her hair fell, sleek and smooth, to her shoulders, curling inwards slightly against her cheek. Her dark eyes had more lustre than usual with a warm brown shadow on the lids, and she had carefully given her face more colour, blusher on her cheekbones and a glossy red brushed on to her lips.

  She was relieved to be going with Ruth and David; it would have been ghastly going in to the party on her own. As she heard the doorbell downstairs she gave herself another last long stare, then moved to leave the room, her skirts rustling. Ruth was talking to Mrs Murry in the hall, and they both turned to look up at Judith as she joined them.

  'You look wonderful,' Ruth said quickly; too quickly, Judith thought, as she returned the smile. Ruth was very kind, but Judith's more realistic appraisal of herself was not altered by the compliment. When she was in her teens she had often looked into mirrors with despair, wishing there was some magic which would change her from a gangling, skinny adolescent into a beautiful woman. She had grown up knowing she would never be beautiful; with time and effort she could look interesting, even quite attractive, and that was all. Whenever someone paid her a compliment she put it under the microscope of her own intelligence and then dismissed it; she might never be beautiful, but she did not intend to be stupid, or to let anyone make a fool of her.

  'Lucky for Baba that you're safely married, or Luke Doulton might fall for you,' she told Ruth teasingly, and Ruth laughed, looking down at her pretty yellow dress with open satisfaction. She still had that cuddly, warmhearted appeal which had made boys flock around her before she married; the yellow dress suited her perfectly.

  When they got into the car David turned in the driving seat and grinned at Judith. 'Will you look at me? You've made me dress up as a penguin, why is it that women can't enjoy themselves unless they've made men thoroughly uncomfortable?' 'You look very handsome,' Judith assured him. 'May God forgive you!'

  'You do! All the girls are going to fall in love with you on first sight.'

  'Watch your tongue,' Ruth told her, and David laughed, switching on the engine.

  'Now she's worried. I may have a fantastic evening, if I can compete with the wonderful Luke Doulton, that is—some chance! I don't happen to have a billion pounds in my bank balance. Isn't it amazing what an aphrodisiac money is?'

  'Don't be so cynical. He's a very good-looking guy too,' Ruth said.

  David made a noise and Ruth poked him, leaning forward. 'He is, you can't deny it—isn't he, Judith?'

  'He's not bad,' Judith admitted reluctantly, and got a very reproachful look from Ruth.

  'How can you be so half-hearted? Baba said all the other models are jealous of her, and not because of his money. They fancy him, she said.'

  'Come on, darling, if he was four foot three and as bald as an egg he would still have women chasing him for his money. I'll admit he's a pleasant enough man, he was very friendly when he came to see us. I've got nothing personal against him, but don't expect me to rave about him, because I refuse.' David sounded irritable, and Judith wondered if he was sick of having his wife talk about Luke. No doubt little else had engaged her attention since Baba told her she was engaged to him. David had always been a quiet, faintly wry man who tended to watch what went on rather than join in; he was rather attractive himself, so he had no real reason for being jealous of Luke Doulton. In his evening suit he was very distinguished; he had a slim, lithe figure.

  'I hate big parties,' he said defensively as his car headed for the Strand. It was thick with traffic at this hour of the evening; many people were still making their way to theatres. Judith looked down the wide road and saw the neon flash of theatre signs and fast food take-aways, the nose-to-tail cars slowly inching their way towards Aldwych. 'I'll try and park down on the Embankment,' David thought aloud. 'Shall I drop you two at the Savoy and then go off and find a parking space? I can join you later.'

  'That would be best; I wouldn't be able to walk far in these shoes,' Ruth admitted. She was wearing delicate silver sandals with perilously high heels.

  David turned into the Savoy forecourt; above them Judith saw the elegant silver facade of the hotel, like a giant Rolls-Royce. The commissionaire opened the door and she and Ruth slid out, a slight wind catching Judith's dress and ruffling it.

  'See you as soon as I can park,' said David before he backed and rejoined the stream of traffic passing outside.

  As the two women went into the hotel Ruth whispered: 'I'm so nervous! Are you? You don't look it, but then I suppose in New York you got used to places like this . . .'

  Judith glanced around and one of the hotel staff came over with a smile. 'May I help you, madam?'

  'Yes, we're guests at Mr Doulton's party,' Judith told him, and his smile widened.

  'Of course, madam, Mr Doulton is using one of our private suites—I'll send a pageboy to show you the way.' He glanced at their fur jackets. 'The cloakroom is down here, madam, if you would care to leave your coats.'

  Judith stood, glancing around her, while Ruth was in the ladies' room powdering her nose. The hotel had a distinctive period feel; you half expected Noël Coward to come sauntering out of the lifts at any moment. The decor and ambiance was strictly of the nineteen-twenties.

  They heard the party before they arrived; the room was already crowded with people and Judith's first glance around the faces told her that she knew a number of them by sight. They were mostly very rich people whose faces appeared in newspapers; financiers, film stars, jet-setters. Well, had she expected Luke Daulton to invite nobodies to his party? she asked herself with a cynical twist of her lips.

  Hallo,' said Luke, catching the smile before she could shut it off. 'I hope you're going to enjoy yourself.' His grey eyes mocked her and the ambiguous ring of the question made it clear he doubted that very much.

  'Oh, I'm sure I'll find plenty to amuse me,' Judith said sweetly, and watched his firm mouth curl in amused enjoyment.

  'Let me introduce you to some of my friends,' he offered, glancing around.

  'Oh, please don't,' she refused. 'I'll just prowl around and see what I come up with, thanks.'

  Baba was talking to Ruth a few feet away. She turned and gave Judith a neon smile, her eyes so bright she looked as if she might burn out at any minute. Judith wondered how she managed to move in the skin-tight wild silk dress; her tanned arms and face looked superb against the white silk, but Judith would never have dared to buy a dress that tight. You needed a figure like Baba to show it off, but how on earth did she walk? Slowly, it appeared, as Baba joined them, one step at a time, her body swaying.

  'You look terrific,' Judith told her, and Baba laughed, delighted.

  'Thanks, so do you—doesn't she, Luke?'

  Judith met his gaze wryly. He ran his eyes deliberately from head to foot and Judith did a slow burn at the cool inspection, when his gaze came back to her face she was icy with resentment. 'Yes,' he said. 'On second thoughts maybe I'd better not introduce you to any of my friends, they're mostly with their wives. I wouldn't want t
o ruin some happy marriages.'

  Baba laughed, but Judith was not amused, he didn't mean a word of that, but she wouldn't let him make fun of her and get away with it.

  'I'm not the home-wrecker type,' she said, looking around the room and thinking that there wasn't one man there who looked interesting, anyway. Her eyes picked out one man under forty, though, whose face looked vaguely familiar although she couldn't put a name to it. She stared and felt him become aware of her, his hazel eyes focusing on her. Judith turned back to Ruth.

  'Let's circulate, shall we? See you later, Baba.' She moved away and Ruth fell into step. A waiter offered them a tray of champagne; they each took one and as they sipped the golden wine someone halted beside them.

  'Hallo, we've met, haven't we?' It was the man she had spotted a moment ago and she wasn't really surprised at his appearance. She smiled at him, her head to one side.

  'I thought I'd seen you before.' He was a slim, broad-shouldered man in his thirties with fair hair and a good-tempered smile, his hazel eyes lively and warm. He wasn't handsome, but he had a face Judith liked immediately.

  'I'm Robert Gordon—you're with Schewitz and Quayle, aren't you? I'm afraid I don't remember your name.'

  'Judith Murry.' He was offering his hand, she shook it, then introduced Ruth. 'When did we meet?' Judith asked him after he had shaken hands and smiled at Ruth.

  'John Atkins acted for us when my company went public four years ago. I met you several times in meetings with John to discuss the launch.'

  It was the sort of negotiation which the bank handled frequently; Judith couldn't remember him—but then the occasion would have been much more important to him, he probably remembered it vividly whereas to her it had just been another business deal.

  'Do you know everyone here, Mr Gordon?' Judith asked him.

  'Robert,' he insisted, smiling at her. 'No, I hardly know a soul; I was so relieved to see you, at least I knew who you were and had some excuse for coming over.'

  She laughed. 'I know how you feel—we were just wondering how we were going to get through the evening.'

  'You should have brought your boy-friend,' he said, glancing at her ringless hand.

  Their eyes met and Judith gave him a dry smile; he was fishing, but she had no intention of letting him catch anything.

  'You're here alone, too,' Ruth said alertly. 'No wife, Robert?'

  Judith could have kicked her. He smiled, shaking his head. Ruth's smile widened as she looked back at Judith, her eyes saying: there! He's free and you can have him if you want him. Judith stared back without a blink, pretending not to get the message which Ruth was sending so insistently. Ruth seemed to think she must be desperate; it was time Judith disillusioned her. Looking away, Ruth spotted David making his way through the throng and her face lit up.

  'Oh, there's my husband—excuse me, won't you?'

  Judith looked after her as she darted away, her spine tingling with irritation. Ruth was being ludicrously obvious, deliberately leaving her alone with Robert.

  'How's John Atkins? I heard he went to the States,' Robert remarked, and Judith looked back at him, nodding.

  'We both did—I've just come back, but John's staying there; he's doing very well in New York.'

  'Why did you come back? A better job?'

  'My grandfather died; family obligations, you know…'

  'Where are you working now?' Robert asked when she had finished explaining why she had returned to England, and she shrugged.

  'I'm taking a brief sabbatical before I take up one of the offers I've had.' It sounded much better than telling him frankly that she didn't like the only solid offer she had had.

  'If you're still taking offers you might come in and talk to me one day—we would be very interested in having someone with your qualifications; you must be quite an expert on the American market by now.' Robert fished into his inside pocket and produced a flat card case, extracting a card he handed it to her. 'Give me a ring and let me give you lunch; even if you don't want to join us I'd like to have a chance to talk to you somewhere quieter than this.' He looked around the noisy room with a grimace.

  Judith studied the card, her curiosity aroused as she saw the name of his firm. She remembered him now; she vividly recalled the occasion when the firm went public, they had been so successful that they had needed capital badly to be able to expand and, judging by their quoted price on the market at the moment, their success had continued.

  'Thank you,' she said slowly.

  Robert watched her face. 'I'm serious,' he stressed. 'Tell you what—give me your phone number and I'll ring you, otherwise you might forget.'

  She laughed. 'I won't forget.'

  'Promise?' He had moved closer and was looking down at her with what was more than a business interest; his hazel eyes held a very attractive smile. His face was deceptively formed, the muscle and bone beneath his skin gave his features a solid look which the humour and warmth of his eyes denied. He wore his fair hair cut very short, but it had a tendency to curl tightly against his scalp, although she could see that he had brushed it down flat with great vigour. Judith liked what she saw, she smiled back at him and nodded. 'Promise.'

  He stayed with her when Ruth and David joined them ten minutes later. Ruth had obviously decided she had left them alone long enough; her matchmaking, although blatant, was not selfless, she was bored with watching from a distance and wanted to check and see how they were doing. Judith got the distinct impression that Robert knew exactly what was in Ruth's mind; as Ruth looked eagerly from one to the other of them he glanced at Judith with a glint in his hazel eyes. Judith grinned at him; by now she knew enough about him to be sure he would grin back, and he did. Ruth looked very satisfied, she didn't know why they were grinning at each other like that, but she could see that they were sharing private jokes, and that was just great, her little conspiracy had worked. She couldn't believe that Judith was happy working with such dull things as share prices and market quotations; Ruth wanted to see her safely married, it would give them something in common again. Ruth was so contented that she could not imagine any other way of being happy than to be married with two children; and sometimes Judith wondered if she could be right. But she could see no point in getting married for its own sake; you had to be sure the man was someone you would never get bored with or stop loving, and that was a feeling Judith had never had for anyone she had dated.

  Looking across the room towards Baba, she hoped Baba had made the right choice; that she hadn't been dazzled by Luke Doulton's worldly possessions; by his money, his power, his glamour, because if she had Baba was going to be unhappy when she woke up and realised that all those things did not make a safe basis for a good relationship. Once she got used to Luke's way of life she would start to see him as he was behind all the glitter. Maybe he would be as charming and attractive as he seemed, but maybe he was nothing of the kind. He had to be a very tough man to have survived in the jungle he inhabited, and would a man like that make Baba happy? Judith frowned, studying them both. Perhaps he would; perhaps Baba was precisely the sort of woman he needed and had been looking for. After all, she was sweet-tempered and placid. Luke could be sure he wouldn't get any hassle from her, she wouldn't make waves, she was obviously easy to live with and he must get all the trouble he needed when he was at work. Maybe what he saw in Baba was the promise of a peaceful home life, not to mention a beauty that made heads turn everywhere she went. Baba's combination of beauty and good temper was a rare one, and Luke Doulton would want an exceptional woman.

  While Judith was watching them Luke had been talking to a new arrival; a tall, elegant woman in her late twenties with sleek black hair swept up behind her head and pinned there with a pearl clasp. Her black dress had chic, it went with the slightly arrogant cast of her features: the high cheekbones, perfectly modelled nose and rather cold mouth. Judith wondered what was being said; Baba was looking uneasy and although Judith couldn't see Luke's face she saw his long body stiff
en with tension and the muscles in the back of his neck were rigid.

  'I wonder who that is,' said Ruth with the uneasiness which you could see in Baba's expression.

  'That's his assistant, Caroline Rendell,' Robert told them drily.

  Judith looked at him sharply and he made a wry face. 'Luke always picks girls who look a million dollars,' he said, then gave Ruth a hurried smile, remembering that she was Baba's sister. 'These days the office staff have to impress the clients,' he joked, but Ruth didn't look much happier.

  'Baba said she was good-looking,' she said, half to herself.

  Judith watched Caroline Rendell's icy face; it wore a little smile, but there was nothing humorous or pleasant in the movement of her lips. Judith felt sure she was saying something very acid, the girl looked as if acid remarks came easily to her.

  'I don't like the look of her,' Ruth commented.

  'Join the club.' Judith glanced at Robert. 'Have you met her?'

  'I met her—she didn't appear to be meeting me. Every time I've seen her since she's ignored me. I don't think I measure up to her standards; to get noticed by Miss Rendell you have to be a multi-millionaire!'

  Judith laughed. 'I believe you.' That was the impression she had got, too. Caroline Rendell looked ambitious and cold; she also looked as if she was bitterly angry with Luke Doulton and she was making no pretence about it which, if she was a really clever woman, she would have done, because although Judith barely knew him, it seemed clear that Luke Doulton was not a man who would look kindly on anyone who embarrassed or annoyed him.