by Ria
Rudolph was never one to place his own happiness first, Esme had said,
and it was a contradictory statement that Janey found difficult to accept.
Rudolph telephoned home early the following afternoon and Janey was
called to the telephone. 'Put on your prettiest dress and be ready at six,' he
announced. 'You and I are eating out this evening.'
Her protestations were brushed aside with: 'I've already told Mother we
shan't be in to dinner, so get yourself ready and don't keep me waiting.'
The line went dead, and Janey looked up to find Mrs Brink observing her
with some amusement. 'When my son
makes up his mind about something, there's nothing in
the world that will stop him.'
'What about Andrew, Mrs Brink?'
'Dora will take care of him,' came the swift reply, a smile lurking in eyes
that were no longer wary. It would make me very happy if you would call
me Mother, instead of the formal Mrs Brink,'
Janey stared at her for a moment in silence, unable to grasp the
significance of her remark. Then a rush of warmth raced through her, and
she placed her arms about the frail shoulders, kissing the wrinkled cheek in a
spontaneous gesture.
/
'Thank you. Mother, for accepting me so readily under these awkward
circumstances,' she whispered gently before turning to leave. 'If I don't
hurry, I shan't be ready when Rudolph arrives.'
'Janey!' She turned instantly to meet the older woman's steady glance.
'Rudolph has sacrificed so much for his family ... you will try to make him
happy?'
Janey's throat tightened painfully at the earnest plea in those ageing eyes.
'I'll do my best to make sure he finds the happiness he deserves.'
What else could she have said? Janey thought afterwards. How could she
have explained that Rudolph's happiness might lie elsewhere? With Sybil?
She would have suited Rudolph admirably, she admitted to herself, despite
the pain this thought aroused. If it had not been for Andrew ...!
At this point Janey clamped down on her thoughts and set about selecting
a dress for the occasion, unable to prevent the flutter of excitement that
rippled through her.
Rudolph was waiting for her when she went down to the living-room at six
that evening. Her heart somersaulted in her breast at the sight of him in his
dark evening suit, with his white shirt accentuating his tanned complexion.
The burnished copper of his hair was aflame as the light from the chandelier
played through it, while deceptively lazy eyes swept her from head to foot,
taking in her expensive lace caftan and the single string of pearls about her
slender neck.
'Shall we go?' was all he said and, disappointed, she nodded mutely.
Rudolph had booked a table at the Delmonica, she learnt during the drive
into the city, and she soon discovered why. It resembled the restaurant they
had frequented during those happy days on the south coast, and Janey paled
visibly as the memories rushed to the surface.
The wine steward hovered beside their secluded table, and Rudolph
glanced at her questioningly, apparently oblivious of the effect his choice of
restaurant was having on her.
'Shall I order wine before we have our dinner?’ he asked smoothly. 'Semi-
sweet, if I remember correctly.’
Janey nodded, unable to force the words past her tightly compressed lips.
If she had an idea what Rudolph was aiming at, then she might be able to
react accordingly, but at that moment she could only experience the pleasure
and the pain of a happiness which had slipped through her fingers. An angry
resentment simmered within her as she convinced herself that his only
desire was to hurt her by forcing these painful memories to the fore.
Everything about this place reminded her of that restaurant at the coast;
from the potted ferns and the deep-sea paintings on the wall, down to the
gleaming silverware on the circular table. It was uncanny, and agonisingly
nostalgic. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, fighting for control over
emotions that threatened to run riot. This was Johannesburg, she told herself
sternly. This was now, and the past could never be recalled.
Their wine was served, and Janey was forced to raise her glance to
Rudolph's as they toasted each other. It would be so easy to let herself go,
she realised nervously as she sustained his compelling glance.-She could
lose herself in those splendid eyes and forget the existence of the other
diners in die restaurant. His eyes slid down to where a pulse throbbed
painfully in her throat, and she drew her breath in sharply as she pulled
herself together.
'What do you think of the Delmonica?' he asked.
'It's ... very nice,' she managed stiffly.
He leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette, a flicker of mockery in his
eyes. 'Is that all?'
'You know very well what it reminds me of,' she replied cuttingly.
'Are you finding it so difficult to recall the past?'
Janey's hands were clenched in her lap, the nails biting into the soft palms
as she fought against the bitterness and anger that seared through her. 'If
you've brought me here for the purpose of raking over the past, then I
suggest we leave at once.'
'Calm down, Janey,' he sighed with a touch of exasperation. 'I have no
desire to ... rake over the past, as you put it. But I admit I hoped to recapture
some of the magic.'
'There's no magic in the harsh reality of life. You showed me that two
years ago,' she reminded him coldly. 'I was incredibly innocent for my age,
and I fell for your practised deceit. I won't be deceived again.'
His face hardened slightly. 'I would say that you're just as much an
authority on deceit. I could have sworn at the time that our relationship
meant something to you, but I soon discovered how wrong I was.'
'Why should it have meant anything to me?' she retaliated swiftly. 'Two
can play the same game^Rudolph.'
The steel-like quality of his eyes stabbed at her, and she trembled inwardly
as he leaned forward in his chair to regard her closely.
'Janey, you're far too lovely to argue with this evening, so let's bury the
hatchet just for these few hours and behave like two civilised people dining
out.' His glance softened slightly, but the hint of mockery remained. 'Do you
think you could make yourself believe that you find my company reasonably
pleasant?’
'Is this to be a game of pretence?' she asked, matching his mockery with a
touch of her own.
'We could pretend that we've just met.'
'You can't turn back the clock, Rudolph.'
'No,' he agreed soberly, 'but we could start by getting to know each other
all over again.'
Janey was instantly on guard. 'With what purpose in mind?'
'Does it matter?' he shrugged carelessly. 'Couldn't we just relax and let the
evening take its natural course?'
She had no idea what this was leading up to, but a hidden part of her
longed for the return of a little warmth in their relationship.
'Very well, Rudolph,' she agreed slowly. 'Where do you suggest we start?'
'With you.' A glimmer of laughter sparkled in his eyes as she raised her
eyebrows questioningly. 'Do you think you could remove that cold,
dispassionate look from your face, and favour me with a smile?'
'You don't seem to realise you're expecting rather a lot of me,' she told him
with an attempt at severity, but an involuntary smile plucked at her lips as
his humorous glance captured hers.
'That's better,' he nodded with satisfaction, but they were forced to
discontinue their conversation as the waiter arrived with the menu. 'Shall I
order for us?'
'Please do,' she murmured, his arrogant acceptance, that she would fall in
with his suggestion, a source of secret amusement to her.
CHAPTER SIX
IN the pleasant, faintly continental atmosphere of the Delmonica, Janey
found herself relaxing as Rudolph had instructed, the good food and his
persuasiveness an additional incentive to bury the past, if only for these few
hours.
She was conscious of his strong hands resting on the table, and of the old
spell he had wove about her so successfully once when she had been only
too willing to be captured. She had loved him then without restraint, but
now she could not let him see that he still had the power to disturb her.
He was still the most attractive man she had ever met, she thought as she
allowed herself the brief luxury of observing him. At thirty-four he showed
no sign of greying, his coppery hair still thick, and showing a tendency to
curl if it was not kept short and brushed back so severely. His eyelashes
were extraordinarily long for a man, she thought enviously, and then, quite
suddenly, those peculiar eyes were looking directly into hers.
It was like several volts of electricity charging through her, vibrating along
sensitive nerves, and bringing her to a peak of awareness that gave her the
feeling of being suspended over a chasm of promised ecstasy. It had hap-
pened before, but it could not happen again. It must not! The hammering of
her heart mocked her as she struggled to the surface of reality, but the
disciplined coolness she had acquired with such difficulty remained just
beyond her reach.
'Darling, how delightful to find you here as well!’
The interruption came as a relief, but it seemed an effort
to wrench her glance from his to stare incredulously at the shimmering
vision in gold lame who faced them accusingly. The soft material clung
gently to her figure, the plunging neckline revealing far more than Janey
would ever dare to reveal.
'Won't you sit down, Sybil?' Rudolph invited with a calmness Janey was far
from experiencing at that moment.
'Not now, darling. I'm here with my parents and one of Daddy's business
associates, Frank Beatty. He's terribly keen to meet you, so I do hope you'll
join us for a drink afterwards?'
'I don't think '
'I'm sure Janey won't mind if you mix a little business with your pleasure,'
Sybil interrupted him persuasively, turning towards Janey with a brilliant
smile on her lips that did not quite reach her eyes. 'Will you mind, Janey?'
'No, of course not,' she found herself muttering.
'There, you see?' Sybil announced triumphantly, blowing Rudolph a kiss.
'See you later, then.'
She made her way gracefully towards the other end of the restaurant,
capturing the appreciative glances of almost every male, and well aware of
the fact, Janey was sure.
'Sybil would have made you an excellent wife,' she remarked after their
coffee had been served. 'She's terribly good at overruling the wishes of
others, just as you are.'
Rudolph's heavy eyebrows ascended. 'Do I detect a hidden sting in that
remark?'
'It wasn’t intentional,' she assured him coldly.
His eyes sought hers, but she refused to raise her glance higher than the
cleft in his chin. 'Are we back to the chilly politeness we'd overcome an
hour ago?'
'Did we ever progress beyond it?'
Yes, we did, she silently answered her own query, but wild horses would
not have dragged this confession from her.
'Janey, you're the most infuriating woman I know.' The timbre of his voice
increased with his growing agitation.
'And you do know so many women, I don't doubt.'
His eyes pinned her savagely to her chair, raking over her with a precision
that shook her to the very foundations. 'Right now I'd like to kiss those
cynical lips of yours until you beg for mercy!'
'Right now I wish I'd never agreed to come here with you!' she flashed back
at him defiantly.
He leaned forward and captured her glance ruthlessly. 'Did you know your
eyes send out blue flashes of fire when you're angry?'
'Don't change the subject!'
'Don't provoke me, or I might forget my manners and carry you off to my
shack in the country where I shall proceed to teach you a lesson you'll
never forget.'
'I shall hate you for ever,' she warned, despising the quiver in her voice.
'Good!' he announced, lighting a cigarette before he continued harshly.
'Hate is a sound, healthy emotion which I find preferable to complete
indifference.'
Her hands trembled with suppressed fury. 'Do you have to be so
insufferable?'
'No,' he smiled mockingly. 'In the right mood I can be quite civilised, so
they tell me.'
She stared at him for a moment, wishing she could laugh, but knowing that
she would burst into tears if they continued in this manner.
'Rudolph, please ...'
'Please what, Janey?'
'Let's stop this senseless bickering,' she pleaded, the deep silk of his voice
threatening to disarm her.
'But that's what I've been suggesting all evening,' he remarked with a touch
of exasperation. 'Do we call a ceasefire?'
'For the time being, yes.'
A faint smile played about his lips as he shook his head helplessly. 'You
never give up, do you, Janey?'
'Not unless you could give me a very good reason why I should.'
Rudolph appraised her in silence for a moment, the heavy-lidded eyes
thoughtful through the screen of smoke. 'I could give you a very good
reason, my dear, but I don't somehow think you would appreciate it at the
moment.'
Janey did not have the strength to question him further, but his tantalising
reply left her in a thoughtful mood until he announced that they would join
the Ramplings and their guest for a few minutes.
'I don't suppose you could go on your own,' she stalled for time as he was
about to rise to his feet.
Rudolph raised his eyebrows a fraction. 'My dear Janey, you have to meet
the Ramplings sooner or later, so why delay the inevitable?'
She clutched her evening bag tightly in an effort to still the nervous
trembling of her hands. 'What did you tell them about us?'
'I told them that if my father's death hadn't intervened, we would have
been married two years ago,' he replied with tolerant amusement. 'Was there
anything else I should have told them?'
'No.' The colour suffused her cheeks and she bit her lip nervously as she
; lowered her glance.
'There's no need to be nervous or afraid, Janey,' he assured her with
surprising gentleness. 'As my wife you have my protection and support.'
'Rudolph ...' she began hesitantly, avoiding his glance. 'You realise, I
suppose, that by marrying me you may have damaged your reputation?'
He stared at her incredulously for a moment before he laughed outright.
'Let me worry about my reputation. All you have to do is smile prettily at
Jonathan Rampling, and you'll win him over.'
'Don't be silly!'
'And do remember to say something complimentary about Rowena's
jewellery,' he continued humorously as if she had not spoken. 'She thrives on
the attention paid to the Rampling jewels.'
'Anything else?' she asked with breathless sarcasm.
'Come on,' he said abruptly, pulling her to her feet. 'We're wasting time.'
' The meeting with Sybil's parents was not as nerve- racking as Janey had
envisaged. Rowena Rampling, the typical mother, compared her daughter's
attributes to those of Janey, but her atttitude was not of a vindictive nature.
'You must come over and have dinner with us one evening so that we can
get to know you,' Rowena announced pleasantly. 'We've known Rudolph's
family for many years.'
'So I understand,' Janey remarked, trying to ignore Sybil's clever
manipulation to seat herself between Rudolph and the grey-haired man who
was Jonathan Rampling's guest. If business was the object of their
discussion, then Sybil was not giving Rudolph and Frank Beatty much op-
portunity to do so.
'It came as quite a surprise when Rudolph returned from his trip to Cape
Town and announced that he was married,' Jonathan smiled at Janey, 'but
now that I've met you, I can understand why.'
Janey's cheeks grew hot beneath his scrutiny. 'You're being kind, Mr
Rampling. Thank you.'
'There was no kindness involved in that statement, my dear,' he assured
her, his eyes twinkling with merriment. 'I'm not too old yet to know a pretty
girl when I see one.'
'You're making my wife blush, Jonathan,' Rudolph announced suddenly
from across the table, 'but I'm glad you approve of my choice.'
Janey met his mocking glance, but she bit back a sharp retort when she
noticed Sybil's dark eyes shooting flames in her direction. Things were not
working but for Sybil as she had planned, Janey realised, sensing the
