by Ria
nightmare, Janey thought to herself as the silence descended upon the house
that night. Rudolph's unexpected appearance, their, marriage, and his
departure, had all happened with a swiftness that left her gasping and
wondering whether it had not all been part of a bad dream. The plain gold
band on her finger, however, dispelled these thoughts with a stunning
finality.
The month slipped by at an alarming pace. Mr Williams found a
replacement, and Janey was faced with the moment she had dreaded. She
was on a Boeing bound for Johannesburg with Andrew asleep in her arms,
his coppery head resting against her breast. At Jan Smuts airport Rudolpfi
would be waiting to meet them, and their new life would begin.
'Mrs Brink, could I get you something to drink?' the air hostess asked with
that special smile she reserved for the passengers.
Janey glanced up at her with a start. She was not yet accustomed to being
addressed as Mrs Brink, just as the knowledge that she was Rudolph's wife
left her emotionally cold.
'Thank you, but I don't think I'll have anything at the moment,' she replied,
and the air hostess nodded as she moved on to the next passenger.
Janey closed her eyes and tried to relax. Walking into the midst of
Rudolph's family as his wife, and with a child in her arms, was going to be
an ordeal that would require all the strength and composure she could
muster. She had no idea how they had accepted the news of Rudolph's
unexpected marriage, but she could imagine the speculation and concern that
followed. She was a stranger; an unknown quantity, and she would most
probably be viewed with suspicion before they decided to welcome her into
the family.
Andrew slept throughout the flight, but he awoke with a start as the Boeing
touched down. He found comfort in the pressure of her arms, and blinked
sleepily as they stepped into the piercing sunlight. Rudolph was there to
meet them, as he had promised, but his face remained expressionless as he
took the hand she extended towards him. Their chilly greeting dispensed
with, he helped her to collect her suitcases and escorted her to his car in
silence.
Andrew stared inquisitively at the dials and knobs once they were seated in
the plush interior of Rudolph's white Jaguar, while Janey realised for the
first time the full implication of her actions. She was Rudolph's wife; his to
do with as he pleased.
He turned to her suddenly before he pressed the starter and his impartial
glance swept over her briefly before he spoke.
'I must warn you that our marriage has been a shock to my family. Don't
expect too much from them at first.'
A spark of anger rose within her. 'I didn't expect that they would fall over
themselves to welcome me, if that's what you're trying to say.'
Rudolph ignored the sting in her remark and allowed Andrew to capture
his hand. Tiny fingers probed his wrist- watch while a gurgle of delight
escaped past rosy lips. 'My mother is anxious to see young Andrew.'
'No doubt she wants to make sure that I didn't trap you into this marriage
by passing off another man's child as your own.'
Rudolph disengaged himself from Andrew and glanced at her coldly. 'This
marriage of ours is giving me as little satisfaction as it's giving you, so spare
me the barbed remarks.'
Janey smiled with inward satisfaction. 'Have I touched a core of truth?'
'You're trying my patience and fanning my anger,' he said harshly, pinning
her down with a savage glance. 'Don't drive me too far, or you might live to
regret it.'
'Are you threatening me?'
Andrew abandoned his attempts to recapture Rudolph's hand and leaned
back against Janey, his eyes fixed on this stranger who had stepped into their
lives.
'Janey, we have to face the future together as a family,' Rudolph continued
slowly. 'Let us at least try to be civil to each other, or we might end up
tearing each other apart mentally.?
The steady beat of her heart accelerated slightly. 'What exactly do you
expect of me?'
'Nothing, except that, to make it bearable for yourself, you should make it
bearable for me.' He smiled briefly, but the smile did not quite reach those
remarkable eyes. 'We're in this thing together, remember?'
'Yes,' she said caustically. 'Like two rats drowning in a tub of water.'
'You've become cynical, Janey, and it doesn't suit you.'
'Perhaps I have reason to be cynical,' she reminded him callously. 'Life
hasn't exactly treated me gently.'
'Don't expect me to take the entire blame for that,' he hit back grimly,
starting the car and driving towards the city without another word.
A wry smile hovered briefly on Janey's lips as she ticked off a mark
against their names on her mental score board. At the moment they were
equal, but it would give her the greatest pleasure to see him grovel with
guilt. Or would it? she wondered suddenly, uncertain of herself, and the
woman she had become.
Andrew became restless long before they reached Houghton and, despite
Janey's efforts to calm him down, he remained irritable. His interrupted
sleep had made him tired and fretful, and Janey was close to tears herself
when they eventually drove through the iron gates and up the long drive to
Rudolph's home.
She drew a careful breath and stared in appreciation at the two-storied
mansion with its carved pillars and trellised balconies as it stood surrounded
by several acres of land. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined
Rudolph's home to be this spectacular, she thought as she caught a glimpse
of lawns and flowering shrubs through the trees. It was a far cry from the
small, comfortable home she had known all her life, and her nerves
tightened at the realisation that she would now have to live in the ancestral
home of the man she had married.
A white-coated black man opened the front door and hurried down the
steps towards them, his white teeth flashing as he voiced a greeting in his
native tongue.
'Good afternoon, Ephraim,' Rudolph smiled, handing him the keys to the
car. 'Take the Madam's suitcases up to her room before you park the car,
please.'
'Yes, sir,' Ephraim saluted, hurrying round to the back of the car as
Rudolph ushered Janey up the steps, and through the heavy oak door.
Andrew started to wriggle in her arms, quite unimpressed by the heavily
carpeted entrance hall with its magnificent crystal chandeliers hanging from
the high ceiling, and the beautifully carved balustrade on the steps leading to
the upper floor. It was all breathtakingly lovely, but there was little time to
admire it all as Rudolph took her through to the living-room.
It was like walking into a nineteenth-century drawing- room with its
antique furniture well preserved over the years, from the stinkwood wall-
cupboard to the small rosewood table against the furthest wall. Seated on the
carved wooden bench with its plush velvet upholstery were two women.
One was frail and elderly, her grey hair cut and styled simply, her wrinkled
skin dr
awn tightly over the fine bone structure of her face. It was, however,
the eyes that caught and held Janey's attention. They were the same grey-
green as Rudolph's, curiously probing, and slightly wary.
Beside her sat a young girl, her hair a lighter shade than Rudolph's, but
with a definite coppery tint. This was Esme, his sister, but there was no
further resemblance between Rudolph and the two women facing her. Esme
was a youthful version of her mother, except that the startling green eyes
were openly antagonistic and positively rude as they swept Janey from head
to foot, taking in her travel- weary dress, and the wriggling baby in her
arms*
'Mother ... Esme ... this is Janey,' Rudolph broke the speculative silence
that hovered in the room.
'Sit down, my dear, you must be tired after your journey,' Mrs Brink
remarked with practised politeness as she pulled herself together, and
glanced swiftly at Andrew. 'And the child ... yes, he's very much like
Rudolph was as a baby.'
She held out her arms to take him, but Andrew's lip quivered as he clung
to Janey, crying profusely.
'I'm sorry, he's tired and restless,' she explained away this embarrassing
situation.
Esme snorted loudly. 'I can imagine what it will be like in future with a
squalling brat in the house.'
'Esme 1'
Rudolph's voice was like a whiplash, silencing Esme instantly, and having
much the same effect on Andrew, who turned in Janey's arms to stare at him
wide-eyed.
'Andrew is normally a happy, placid child, but the journey has upset his
routine and tired him,' Janey explained again.
'Show her to her rooms, Rudolph, and help her to settle in,' his mother
suggested calmly. 'I'll have a tray of tea sent up.'
The feeling that she had been dismissed remained with her as Rudolph led
her silently up the carpeted stairs. The portraits of his ancestors lined the
wall, giving her the uncomfortable feeling that they were staring down at her
with cold disapproval in their eyes, but she shrugged it off when she
eventually followed Rudolph down the length of a passage.
'My mother and Esme occupy the east wing,' he explained, gesturing to the
passage leading in the opposite direction, 'but I've always preferred to have
my rooms in the west wing with a clear view of the estate.'
Janey nodded silently, her arms aching with Andrew's weight.
'This is your room,' he said briskly, pushing open a door and standing aside
for her to enter. He gestured to the connecting door. 'The nursery is through
there, and beyond that the bathroom.'
'Thank you,' she managed stiffly, taking in the elaborately furnished room,
with its four-poster bed and heavy drapes, the mahogany dressing-table with
its full-length mirror, and the wardrobe and chest of drawers to match.
She deposited .Andrew on the floor and left him to wander about, silent
now as he explored this small part of their new home.
'My mother has hired a personal maid for you. You may give her whatever
instructions you wish with regard to your requirements,' Rudolph
announced, walking across to the window and pulling the curtains aside to
let in the light. 'There will be no need for you to concern yourself with
household tasks as there are enough servants in the house to take care of our
needs. If you should ever require anything from the kitchen in between
meals, just press that bell next to your bed.'
'You've thought of everything, it seems,' she said coldly, jittery now that
she was alone with him in this enormous room, and unaccountably aware of
those lazy eyes following her every movement.
'Your comfort is my concern,' he mocked.
'How thoughtful of you,' she replied scathingly, but _there was a knock at
the door, and they were forced .to discontinue their conversation when a tray
of tea was brought in by a maid in a starched white apron and cap.
'We're having a guest to dinner this evening, so I hope you will have
managed to settle Andrew by seven o'clock,' he said calmly while she
poured the tea into the most exquisite teacups, and prepared a bottle for
Andrew, which he grabbed at eagerly as she lifted him on to the bed.
'I'm certain I shall manage to be ready by seven,' she replied, seating
herself opposite Rudolph. 'Who are you expecting?'
'Sybil Rampling.' Janey's back stiffened, every part of her suddenly alert
as he continued. 'Her parents and mine have been friends for years, and
Sybil and I practically grew up together.'
She drank her tea too fast and it scalded her throat, adding to her
irritation. 'I suppose our marriage came as quite a surprise to her?'
'Yes, it did,' he replied abruptly, rising from the armchair to place his cup
in the tray. 'By the way, we dress for dinner. It's an old custom we haven't
quite shaken off.' 'Thanks for warning me.'
Rudolph frowned down at her, obviously about to say something, but he
changed his mind and left the room without a word.
^
So she was to meet the husky-voiced Sybil Rampling on her first evening
in Johannesburg, she thought as she unpacked her suitcases while Andrew
slept. What had happened to the understanding between Sybil and
Rudolph? Janey wondered curiously. Why, after all this time, had the
marriage she had spoken of not taken place?
Something warned her that she would have to tread carefully, where Sybil
Rampling was concerned, until she had summed up the situation between
them. She was now Rudolph's wife, a position Sybil had coveted, but she
would have to take care not to divulge Sybil's part in their initial separation.
If he loved Sybil, it would perhaps be kinder to leave him ignorant of that
telephone call two years ago, she decided firmly
.CHAPTER FOUR
THE nursery, she discovered later, was furnished completely in white, with a
cot, chest of drawers and small cupboard. A padded box stood in one corner,
and Janey opened it curiously. To her dismay it was filled with toys that
would enchant a little boy of Andrew's age. Could it have been Rudolph
who had gone to such expense for a child he hardly knew? And, if this was
so, had there been any sentiment involved in the purchase of those gifts? It
was difficult to believe, but a tantalising thought if she should discover his
weakness to lie in Andrew.
A maid in a pink overall with a starched white cap and apron arrived in her
rooms soon after she had bathed Andrew. She announced that her name was
Dora and that she had been assigned to take care of Janey and the baby. Her
black face broke into a smile as she glanced at Andrew.
'Madam, I will take him down to the kitchen and give him his supper, then
I will put him to bed if the Madam wishes to get ready for dinner.'
'He may find it a little strange,' Janey began hesitantly, depositing the
wriggling bundle in her arms.
'I am used to working with babies, but I will call the Madam if I need any
help,' the girl announced proudly, and Janey saw, to her relief, that Andrew
appeared to take this newcomer completely in his stride.
'Thank you,' she sighed,
her cheeks flushed from the exertion of bathing
Andrew as she watched Dora march confidently from the room with the
child in her arms.
It was going to be a great help to have someone as efficient-looking as
Dora around to help with Andrew while
she endeavoured to settle down in this new environment, Janey decided
thankfully as she bathed and changed into the only suitable evening dress
she possessed. No doubt her plain, full-length chiffon evening gown would
stick out like a sore thumb, but what did it matter? she thought defiantly,
lifting her chin and surveying herself in the mirror.
The colour was a silvery blue that matched her eyes, and the halter-neck
exposed smooth, creamy shoulders, tanned lightly during the occasional
trips to the beach at week-ends with Andrew and her parents.
She would miss them, she realised as she pinned up her shoulder-length
hair. Their loving warmth and understanding had enveloped her
protectively in the past, whereas the Brink family looked upon her as an
interloper; an unwanted liability with a squalling brat, as Esme had so
crudely put it.
Janey sighed, her mouth drooping slightly at the corners as she inspected
her make-up before venturing down the seemingly endless stairs to the
living-room. Her only weapon in future would be the cool, calm exterior
she exposed to the world. No one must know of the emotional turmoil
within her, the pain, the longing, and the desire to hit out at the one person
who had once meant the world to her.
Rudolph and Esme were in the living-room when Janey entered a few
minutes later. After giving Janey no more than a cursory glance, Esme
continued to sip her wine, but Janey ignored her childish antagonism as
Rudolph came. towards her. His dark evening suit was cut to perfection to
accentuate his lean muscular body, and a pulse awakened to flutter at the
base of her throat as his cold glance met hers.
'Can I offer you a glass of wine before dinner?' he asked with a
politeness that could be associated with a perfect host.
'Yes, please.'
She needed something to steady her nerves, and to help her withstand the
silent animosity directed at her from the tall, slender girl in the expensive
silk evening gown, who stood leaning against the wall beside the large
window as if she were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their guest. It was a
