DECEIT OF A PAGAN

by Carole Mortimer

  'Well, it had to be her. She-'

  'But we're nothing alike,' interrupted Templar quickly, although she thought it was too late now to stop the truth coming out. 'Tiffany was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, nothing at all like me.'

  'But she was, Templar,' Neil persisted. 'Don't forget, I make a study of faces, bone structure and all that. It was definitely her.'

  'Of course it was.' Rachel looked bored by the whole conversation.

  Neil was irritated by her attitude. 'Stop being so damned smug, Rachel. Why should you be so certain about it?'

  'Because they were sisters, silly.' She laughed at his expression. 'Didn't you know that?'

  Templar was no longer listening to them but was watching Leon's reaction to this disclosure. His eyes were on her too, filled with contemptuous dislike, anger in every line of his body. She blamed herself for letting this happen. She should have realised that seeing Rachel like this would get her into trouble, that sooner or later the other girl would reveal things that Templar didn't want Leon to know.

  And it was obvious from Leon's expression that she wouldn't be able to talk herself out of this one. That Tiffany was her sister was irrefutable, and she had the idea that Leon would demand a few answers to a few pertinent questions when they returned to their villa, like when exactly had Tiffany died,' and why.

  At the moment to ask such questions would be em­barrassing to both of them, but she had no doubt he would do so once they were alone together. And she wasn't sure how she could answer him!

  CHAPTER NINE

  Leon paced up and down the lounge, glancing at her from time to time as if he were trying to puzzle her out. He shook his head. 'Why did you keep such a thing from me?'

  She had known for the last two hours that this con­versation was going to take place, and yet she was no nearer to finding him answers than she had been when Rachel had dropped that bombshell. She licked her lips. 'I don't know,' she replied huskily.

  'You must have known how it would make me feel to know that you are the sister of the girl my brother wanted to marry. Why did you marry me, Templar— out of revenge for what I had done to your sister?' he asked darkly.

  'No, I—Maybe I did think your family owed us something,' she admitted. 'Tiffany died because she loved your brother.'

  'And you had my brother's child. Did you not want

  revenge for that too?'

  'Perhaps,' she said stiffly.

  'Tell me what it was like, to know that you were having the child of the man your sister loved.' There was cruelty in his look as if he were enjoying torment­ing her.

  'Please, Leon.' She stood up. 'Someone may come in, and Keri will be waking from her nap shortly. I have to go to her.'

  'Like the doting mother that you are,' he scorned. 'Keri can wait a few moments. This conversation is far from over. I have a few other things to ask you that have been puzzling me.'

  'I have to go, Leon,' she pleaded desperately.

  'You will sit down and answer my questions! How did your sister feel about the baby? Did she know it was Alex's child you carried?'

  'Yes, she knew,' Templar told him dully, having the feeling that her whole world was about to crumble about her ears. She was no good at lying and she knew by the determination on Leon's face that he would demand answers to all his questions, answers that could only result in her own destruction.

  'You told her this, even though you knew she loved him?'

  'I didn't need to tell her.'

  'No,' he snapped, 'I am sure you did not. How could you do that to her, to make her suffer the humiliation of seeing you bear her lover's child?'

  'I didn't do that! I—I loved Tiffany very much. I would never have hurt her in any way.'

  'No,' he sighed, 'I am beginning to believe you would

  not. But you have enjoyed hurting me, have you not?

  Last night '

  'I want to forget last night,' she interrupted sharply. 'It's over and done with.'

  Leon flexed his tired shoulder muscles. 'It is far from over. Something you said to me last night has been bothering me. You could not bear me to be the substi­tute for my brother,' he said slowly. 'Because my dark looks remind you of him, hmm?'

  Templar looked away, aware that she wanted him even now, that she longed to go to him and smooth away the frown from between his eyes, to kiss and be kissed by him until they could think of nothing but each other. 'Yes,' she murmured finally, afraid to lift her eyes in case he should read her longings in their clear depths.

  He drew in a deep breath. 'I see. Please wait here, Templar. I have something to show you.'

  'I—I have to see to the baby.'

  'You will wait here!' This time it was a command.

  Within seconds he was back down the stairs, thrust­ ing a photograph in front of her face. Templar put her hand out jerkily to take it, feeling a knife turn in her heart as she did so. It was a picture of Tiffany and a young many a smiling happy Tiffany looking up ador­ingly at the man at her side. ,

  She looked up at Leon imploringly. 'What do you want me to say?'

  'That is your sister, is it not?'

  'Yes.' She looked down again at the glowing face.

  'And the young man with her?'

  Templar shrugged. 'How should I know?' He was tall and blond, his brown eyes twinkling merrily as if the two in the photograph shared a secret joke. He was very handsome, tall, and smartly dressed in a cream lightweight suit. She put down the photograph. 'Don't tell me you had Tiffany followed too, to try and get evidence against her to blacken her name in your brother's eyes?'

  'No, I did not do that. My brother worshipped your sister.' He picked up the photograph again. 'So you do not know this man?'

  'Is it important? Surely it can't matter to Alex now he's dead?'

  'It matters to me,' he said fiercely.

  'So you're still trying to find reason to hate Tiffany, even though she can no longer hurt you.'

  'No, I am not trying to do that. You see, the fact that you have lied to me about Tiffany being your sister——'

  'I didn't lie. She was also a friend.'

  'That is beside the point. You could so easily have told me of your relationship—but you chose not to. I asked myself why this was. Then I began to realise that if you had lied to me about one thing, then you could lie to me about others. Last night you said I reminded you of Alex, and I must admit to being slightly puzzled at the time. But I was in no mood to fathom the work­ings of a woman's mind just then. But today I have thought about it a lot, and you have just confirmed my conclusions. You never met my brother, did you?'

  'How can you say that! Keri '

  'Is undoubtedly Alex's child, but she is certainly not yours. You see, the man in the photograph is my brother Alex, And you did not even recognise him!'

  Templar paled, snatching the photograph out of his hand to stare down fixedly at the laughing boyish face. This couldn't be Alex Marcose! How could he have that startling blond hair and those laughing brown eyes? She became suddenly still, noting a certain similarity in the facial features between Leon and his brother, a certain arrogance in the stance that both men possessed.

  'Oh, God!' she sighed chokingly.

  'So the child, if she is not yours, must logically have been Tiffany's.'

  'Yes.'

  'And as Tiffany died a year ago I believe it also logical to assume she died almost immediately after giving birth to Keri.'

  'Two hours later,' she confirmed.

  Now it was his turn to pale. 'God, how you must hate me for what I did to them! And for what I have done to you. If I had known of these facts we would not have been married, and you would not have had to put up with my insults.'

  'You would have taken Keri away from me?'

  He nodded. 'It is only right that she should be with me.'

  'So now you know why I kept quiet. I didn't intend deceiving you about her, but your attitude when we first met pointed to you taking her away from me if yo
u knew I was only her aunt. And I couldn't have allowed that to happen.'

  'I do not understand your need to give up your own life for the sake of a baby I would gladly have allowed you free access to. As her aunt you would have the right to see her.*

  Templar sighed. 'You'll never understand, will you, Leon? A woman doesn't automatically become a baby's mother at the birth of her child, in fact some women reject their babies at this stage. But nature provided for that by making it possible for another woman to love that child as if it were her own, as I love Keri. I don't have to be her real mother to feel excited at her first words, anguish over the cutting of her first teeth.'

  He sighed.

  'I was wrong to deny Alex the love he wanted from Tiffany, wrong to interfere,' he admitted.

  'She never blamed anyone, Leon,' Templar assured him.

  'I am sure she did not. She appears to have been a beautiful girl with an equally beautiful nature.'

  'She was.'

  'And you consider me responsible for both their deaths.'

  'That isn't true,' she denied. 'You had allowed Alex to go to her. You can't be held responsible for the accident that occurred after that.'

  'Perhaps not, they said that the other driver was on the wrong side of the road. But he was not the one who was killed, my brother was!'

  Templar better understood his determination to have Keri, could understand his need to have the one part of his brother that had survived. 'It's over now, Leon,' she comforted him. 'The past can't be undone.'

  'That is true. But now we have our future to get through. What will happen, I wonder?'

  'I don't understand what you mean?' She couldn't meet his piercing blue eyes.

  'You must know very well what I mean. I am con­fused, utterly confused. I had formed my opinion of you, believed I knew what sort of person you are. Now I am unsure. I have to go and think this thing out.' He sounded preoccupied.

  'What will happen to us?' she asked the question that was bothering her the most. His disclosure of today had changed the whole basis of their marriage. Their marriage had been based on what Leon believed about her, and now she had shattered all that. No wonder he was confused—she was confused herself.

  'I do not know what will happen, that is what I must think out. I will return later.' He left so abruptly he took her by surprise.

  Templar was left feeling utterly deflated. Her whole world seemed to be falling about her. Leon had reacted differently from how she had expected him to do. He had been angry, maybe a little shocked, but he hadn't ranted and raved as she had thought he would.

  Maybe because she felt that this afternoon would be the deciding point in her life she spent the rest of Keri's waking time with her, not even wanting to leave her when she was fast asleep in her cot. But Marie had come up to tell her that Neil was downstairs waiting to see her, and so she straightened her hair and freshened her make-up before going downstairs.

  'Hello, beautiful,' he came forward to kiss her on the cheek.

  Templar's hands fidgeted together nervously. If Leon should come back and find Neil here ... 'Would —would you like a drink?' she offered politely.

  He shook his head, watching her closely. 'Not just now, thanks. But you could invite me to dinner in­stead.'

  'Oh, but -' her look was apprehensive.

  'You don't have to worry about Leon,' he interpreted her look. 'He was over at my place when I left just now. Rachel was persuading him to stay for dinner.'

  Her mouth tightened. 'Oh well, in that case ... Would you like to stay?'

  'You know I would. I want to talk to you, maybe apologise for the trouble I probably got you into this afternoon. Was Leon very annoyed when you got home?' He sat down in the armchair as she became seated.

  'Why should you think he was annoyed?' She avoided looking at him.

  'I don't think it, I know it. I expected to see you black and blue this evening. His anger doesn't seem to have dispelled, in fact when I left just now he was drinking rather heavily.'

  Her head snapped back. 'I can't believe Leon would ever be drunk! He has too much self-control to ever be seen like that.'

  'Oh, he wasn't drunk,' Neil grinned. 'Just drinking as if the whisky was water. Rachel was revelling in his attention.'

  'I'm sure she was. So you thought you would come over here and keep me company.'

  'Something like that,' he admitted.

  Templar couldn't feel any anger in the face of his friendly grin. 'Well, it was very nice of you to think of me. You're sure Leon won't be returning just yet?'

  'What do you think?'

  She sighed. 'I think you're probably right. I should think he's trying to forget I even exist at the moment.' She straightened. 'Never mind that for now. What did you want to talk to me about?'

  'I wanted to know if you'd changed your mind about coming back to modelling?' He relaxed back in his chair.

  'I told you, Leon wouldn't like it.'

  'Oh, damn Leon! If he didn't exist would you go back? I have some assignments for you straight away if you'll consider it. Do you want them?'

  'I can't, answer that at the moment. I left modelling so that I could look after Keri and spend the time with her I thought she deserved. Now I'm thoroughly con­fused. I love Keri, but I don't feel she needs me any more. I feel superfluous.'

  'You're not just Keri's mother, you're also Leon's wife—but are you?' His eyes narrowed with the sharp­ness of his question. 'I told you that it's my job to make a study of faces, and yours is very revealing. I don't believe you're Leon's wife, let alone the baby's mother,' he stated bluntly.

  Templar attempted a light laugh. 'Don't be silly, Neil. Of course I'm married to Leon.'

  'That isn't what I said.' His eyes softened with un­derstanding. 'You may be married to Leon, but you certainly aren't his wife in the fullest sense.'

  She gasped. 'How can you say that! Keri '

  'Is not your child,' he finished firmly. 'The eyes of a woman can be very expressive, and yours are totally innocent. You've never belonged to a man, let alone had a baby.'

  'Don't be ridiculous, Neil!' she tried to pretend

  anger. 'I think you must have been the one that's had

  too much to drink, not Leon. I don't know where you

  get these ideas from, but they aren't '

  *Are true,' he interrupted. 'I know I keep going on about my knowledge of faces, but it's a fact that a lot can be read from them. Leon was as surprised-as I was to find out Tiffany was your sister. Oh, he tried to hide it, but he wasn't quick enough. So after the two of you left I did a little detective work.'

  'And came up with the wrong answers,' she scorned. Today was turning out to be a complete disaster, first Leon discovering her secret and now Neil. What else could possibly go wrong?

  'The right ones,' he rebuked gently, breaking off as Marie came to tell them dinner was ready.

  Sitting down to dinner and the serving of the food gave Templar a chance to collect her thoughts to­gether, but it seemed that so much had happened today that nothing made sense any more. She felt lost and utterly defenceless, as if between the two of them Leon and Neil had stripped her soul bare.

  She picked aimlessly at her food, not really wanting it, but Marie's constant trips in and out of the dining-room were making it impossible for Neil to pursue his line of conversation. But she knew he hadn't given up, knew it by the firm set of his mouth, knew that in some things he could be as adamant as Leon.

  She smiled gratefully at Marie as she brought a tray of coffee into the lounge, the double doors opened out to the sea in the heat of the evening. It was curiously peaceful listening to the gentle lapping of the sea on the sand, and she felt herself begin to relax. After all,

  Neil was a friend, he wasn't about to condemn her be­

  haviour.

  'Feeling better?' He watched her over the rim of his coffee cup.

  'Much better, thank you.' She didn't attempt to deny

  her former turmo
il.

  'Was my detective work correct?'

  She shrugged. 'That really depends on what it told you.'

  'It told me that Tiffany was Keri's mother and Leon's brother Alex the father. You somehow managed to convince Leon otherwise, that you were the mother. I think I can guess the reason for that. But I think he's only just found out the truth. It must have come as quite a shock to him.*

  There was no use prevaricating any more. She must be worse at this than she had realised. 'Not as much as I thought it would be. I've apparently made a couple of slip-ups that have made him slightly suspicious, but I don't think he had realised the extent of my deceit.'

  'So that's why he's over at my place drinking as if there's no tomorrow?'

  'Yes.'

  'So what are you going to do now?'

  'I have no idea, it all depends on what Leon decides. Now that he knows the truth I can't see him letting me stay.'

  'And how will you feel about that?'

  How would she feel about it! Once she would have been devastated at being parted from Keri, but now that she knew how much Leon loved and cared for the baby, and that he would allow her to visit Keri when­ever she wanted to, the child wasn't her prime concern.

  To be parted from Leon would now be the hardest thing to bear, to meet only as strangers, their only link Keri.

  'Don't answer that,' Neil said softly. 'I can see how. you would feel about it. But if it did actually come to that, what would you do?'

  She was trying not to think about it at all. 'I don't know,' she answered truthfully. 'Get myself a job, I suppose. Try to build a new life for myself.'

  'Look, Templar, I still want to do those photographs of you. You're the only person I could possibly use for them. If you're worried about having somewhere to stay you could always move into the villa with me until you found somewhere of your own.'

  'My wife will not be moving in with you anywhere for any length of time,' rasped a deep angry voice.

  The two of them turned guiltily to face Leon. He stood just inside the open French doors, having entered unnoticed by either of them. He had an angry flush to his dark arrogant features. He moved further into the room, a mocking smile creasing his face. His glance passed insolently over the two of them.