The Runaway Bride

by Lucy Gillen

  CHAPTER THREE

  'ACTUALLY,' Bill confided as they drove along a particularly winding piece of country road, 'I shall be we shall be stopping for one night at least, at Bowness. Do you know it?' 'It's in the Lake District, isn't it?' she asked, a new doubt niggling at the back of her mind. She had forgotten that the journey to Scotland was too long to be undertaken in only one day, and the Lake District was a recognised halfway stop for most travellers. Bill nodded. 'It's a lovely spot. Quieter than a lot of places in the Lakes, but just as lovely scenery.' 'I haven't been to the Lakes for years,' Samantha confessed. 'And I don't think I've ever been to Bowness. It's on Windermere, isn't it?' 'That's right.' She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful and a little uncertain. He would almost surely have booked himself a room somewhere, and she wondered how she would fare trying to get into an hotel without prior warning. 'I'm I'm wondering how I'll get on about finding a room for myself,' she ventured. 'I should have booked one in advance, shouldn't I?' He turned his head briefly and smiled at her, and she had a momentary glimpse of a quite different expression from any she had yet seen on those good40 looking features 'It isn't always necessary,' he told her, 'but just to be on the safe side I rang the Stag and booked you a room for tonight, as soon as I knew you were coming with me. I didn't want you to change your mind at the last minute,' he added. 'That was thoughtful of you, thank you.' She was unsure if she liked being taken over quite so completely as Bill Smith seemed prepared to do, but there was little she could do about it at the moment. 'Be my guest.' She blinked at the facetious tone he used. 'I shan't be that,' she denied, 'but I'm grateful you thought of booking the room for me.' 'I hope you will be my guest, Samantha. After all, you are coming at my invitation.' 'But I'm quite capable of paying my own way,' she insisted firmly. 'I'd much rather. Bill, if you don't mind.' He frowned for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. 'If you prefer it,' he allowed. 'As long as you come with me.' The hotel was small and old and very attractive and after the journey Samantha was hungry so that she did full justice to the excellent meal she was given. It was a fine evening and they went for a stroll down beside the lake after dinner. The motor launches were doing a moderately brisk trade with holiday-makers who wanted to see the beauty of the surroundings from the placid expanse of the lake. There were several hours of daylight left still and it would be a lovely way to end a day, Samantha thought. 41 Almost as if he read her thoughts, Bill looked at her enquiringly. 'Shall we join them?' he asked, and Samantha smiled and nodded. 'I'd love to,' she said. 'It looks marvellous.' { They took their seats along with several more couples, who looked as if they were seeking somewhere romantic to dream their own dreams in each other's company. Bill smiled at her when she noted the other couples, and tentatively slid an arm behind her along the edge of the boat. She made no protest, but her heart was thudding quite alarmingly when they started round the bay, and his fingers gently caressed her arm. 'Lovely, isn't it?' he asked, when she turned and looked at him, a little uncertainly. 'Beautiful,' she agreed, and gave her mind determinedly to the wonderful scenery. The miniature mountains, quite breathtaking in their beauty, swept up from the still lake, at times almost sheer, and a small white building looking like a pagoda sat like a fairy-tale castle among the dark trees. It was wild and unspoiled and quite enchanting and Samantha found herself enjoying it enormously. Coming back the sun was getting quite low in the evening sky, and the water looked almost like gold as it shimmered and parted before the bow of their boat. They were halfway round the bay again and Samantha had relaxed easily against his arm, when Bill suddenly leaned forward and kissed her lightly just below her right ear. 'Bill!' She turned her head and looked at him un, 42 certainly. She would not have admitted it, even to herself, but her mind had been with Barney, wondering what he was doing and if he was even considering following her up here. To see Bill's round, good-looking face smiling at her so close beside her own was something of a shock for a second. 'It's the thing to do, apparently,' he told her, sotto voce, and looked around at the other couples, all of them oblivious of the rest and completely absorbed in each other. 'That's rather different,' she said, equally quietly. 'I suppose it is.' He looked disappointed and she felt a pang of remorse for a moment. She supposed she was giving him rather the wrong impression by coming with him all this way, and surely it would do no harm to let the scenery and the general atmoi sphere of romance work a little of its magic on her. She smiled, and he responded quickly enough. ' 'You're not sorry you came, are you?' he asked, and ; she shook her head. 'No, Bill, I'm not sorry, I needed to get away for a while. Right away where ' She had almost said I 'where Barney can't find me', but she remembered I in time that he knew nothing about her true rela tionship with Barney. I 'You looked very thoughtful,' he told her, one l finger lifting a stray tendril of hair from her neck. 'You're not worried about anything, are you?' 'No, of course not. Uncle Nicholas knows where l am, at least he knows I'm on my way to Scotland with you.' I 43 'And he didn't mind?' She avoided his eyes when she answered. 'No,' she said, 'he doesn't mind.' Uncle Nicholas had minded very much and he had not hesitated to say as much, but she had insisted that she could not just go on with the wedding as planned. She needed time to think first, then she would decide once and for all if she wanted to marry Barney or not she thought not. If Barney needed any encouragement to follow her any further, he would get it from Uncle Nicholas, however, and the old man was strong-willed. Whether Bill believed her or not, she could not be sure, but he looked at her for a moment as if he sensed the untruth, although he said nothing. He helped her ashore and they strolled back to the hotel, mostly in silence. In the snug, dimly lit lounge, they sat for a while and talked about nothing in particular, certainly never touching the subject of her being there. It was, she felt, best to avoid that for the moment, although she felt a little unfair not telling him about Barney. They went upstairs, fairly late, and Bill left her at the door of her room, kissing her gently before he went. 'Goodnight, Samantha,' he whispered. 'Sweet dreams.' 'Goodnight, Bill.' She turned and closed the door, leaning for a moment against it, her heart beating far faster than a short climb up the shallow stairs could have caused. She must not get too involved with Bill be44 fore she was properly disentangled from Barney, and she bit her lip, her head shaking instinctively back and forth. She had been too impulsive coming north with him like this. He was bound to think she was more than a little interested in him in the -circumstances and she would be rushed headlong ' into another complicated situation. ' She jumped away from the door, a hand to her [ mouth in startled surprise, when a soft knock [ sounded on the panelled wood behind her. She ''. stared for a moment wide-eyed, before she ventured ; to open the door and peer out. It was not Bill, as she had half expected, but Barney who stood there grinning at her, as if visit; ing her room at nearly midnight was the most ordinary thing in the world. Her heart was racing wildly s as she stared at him, and she was horribly unsure ; whether it was anger or excitement that brought the flush of colour to her cheeks. He pushed the door wider and would have come ! into the room, but she blocked his way as best I she could, her eyes sparkling with whatever emotion I whirled through her brain. 'Go away,' she told him, t in a hoarse whisper, fearful of being overheard ' by the people in the next room. I 'I just wanted you to know I was here,' he told I her, still smiling, and Samantha shook her head. I 'Go away and leave me alone,' she said desper ately. 'How did you know where to find me?' The I question sounded rather irrelevant, but she was I curious as to how he could have found her so I quickly. I 45 'Easy,' he grinned. 'I got Briggs to bring my car down to Brighton yesterday and I followed you and your Young Lochinvar all the way up here.' 'You have no right to follow us,' Samantha declared, still trying desperately to keep her voice down, for it was almost dismayingly silent in the carpeted corridor. 'I've got every right when he's running off with my fiancee,' he retorted, and cocked a curious brow at her. 'Does he know about me?' he asked. 'No, no, of course he doesn't.' He grinned ruefully. 'Oh, I see, I'm conven
iently expendable, am I?' 'I'm no longer your fiancee,' she told him, in a harsh whisper, and he grinned wider than ever, then sobered suddenly and looked at her, his gaze concentrated on her mouth as if it held some sort of irresistible fascination for him. 'No?' he said softly, and reached out to pull her into his arms. He had kissed her before, but never like this, and she stood there, lightheaded and unresisting for a few seconds, then she struggled to free herself, fighting him with every ounce of her strength. 'Stop iti' she whispered, desperately trying to keep her voice both steady and quiet. 'You've never objected to being kissed before,' he told her, a dark glitter in his eyes that stirred some response in her, however much she tried to quell it. 'You've never kissed me like that before,' she retorted, and he smiled. 'Maybe that was my mistake,' he said softly. 'I 46 didn't realise what I was missing.' Will will you please go?' 'To my own room?' he whispered. 'Certainly.' 'Away from here,' she said, a sudden feeling of panic rising to stick in her throat. 'I don't want you following me. Barney. It isn't fair when you know I'm trying to get myself straightened out.' 'If straightening yourself out means getting yourself disengaged from me,' he told her, still under his breath. 'I shall follow you all over Britain if necessary, darling. I'm not having that Scots hero poaching you right from under my very nose.' 'He's doing nothing of the sort. He's he's just helping me think straight.' 'Huh!' Sssh!' 'Sorry.' He grinned, glancing along the silent corridor. 'Goodnight, darling.' He bent his head and kissed her long and lingeringly on her mouth. 'See s you tomorrow.' 'Oh no. Barney I' She stared after him as he i strode along the corridor, and shook her head des-i pairingly when he turned and waved a hand at her. I I Bill was first down to breakfast the following mornling and he looked at Samantha a little curiously, she thought, as she sat down. 'Did you sleep well?' jhe asked. 'Yes, thank you.' ; He poured coffee, looking at her again as he Jspoke. 'You didn't hear that noise in the passage just I left you?' I' 47 'Noise?' 'Voices,' he said. 'It was down your end somewhere, I think. It sounded a bit like somebody arguing, but I couldn't be sure, they were whispering. Didn't you hear anything?' Samantha hesitated, wondering how much she should say to him. After all, he was really a stranger to her, despite the fact that she had agreed to travel all the way up to Scotland with him and meet his family. What he would say if he knew about Barney, she dared not think. 'I I think I did hear something,' she admitted cautiously. 'Hmm. Probably that young couple having a tiff. She's in the next room to you.' 'Probably,' she agreed, and glanced uneasily across at the girl in question, wondering how much she had heard of her conversation with Barney. She wished they could drop the subject after that, but all the time she was eating the excellent breakfast she had ordered for herself, she had a niggling feeling of guilt about Bill. She was also keeping an anxious eye open for Barney's appearance and she was just finishing her meal when he came in. Taking advantage of Bill's back being towards him, he waved a casual hand at her, a gesture she pointedly ignored. Seeing him, however, gave her renewed misgivings about deceiving Bill and she took a deep breath before plunging into what could prove to be an embarrassing confession. 'Bill.' She hesitated to go on, and he quizzed her 48 with a curious gaze. 'Is something wrong?' he asked. 'I I'm not at all sure I ought to come with you. Not to your home,' she added hastily. He studied her for a moment longer. 'Something is wrong,' he said then. 'Not really wrong.' She sighed, wishing she found it easier to explain, and realising yet again how little she actually knew him. 'I I don't think I've been quite fair to you.' 'Fair?' He sought an explanation. 'How do you mean fair?' 'Well ' She stared blankly at her empty coffee cup, seeking words that were unbelievably hard to find. Bill reached over and covered her restless hand. 'You've got something on your mind,' he said quietly. 'I've known it ever since we left Brighton yesterday.' 'I'm sorry. I haven't been very good company, have I?' 'Oh yes, you have,' he argued with a reassuring smile. 'But there's .something wrong somewhere. You're worried about something and I'd like to help if I can.' 'You're very nice. Bill.' 'So you've said before,' he told her dryly. 'Now tell me all about it.' She allowed herself a brief, cautious glance at Barney before she spoke and saw that, at the moment he was too busy with his breakfast to notice it. Bill would probably think she was making an awful fuss 49 about nothing, but perhaps if she talked to him about it she could better get her own view into perspective. 'I I haven't been quite honest with you,' she said at last, and saw the small look of doubt that showed in his eyes for a moment. It was said now, and she would see where she went from there when he answered. I see.' 'I'll quite understand if you're angry about it,' she told him, and he looked at her steadily for a moment. 'You're not absconding from an irate husband, are you?' he asked, and she stared at him. 'Oh, good heavens, no 'He smiled. 'That's a relief I' I 'It's it's a fiance, actually.' He blinked hastily, and she thought he was trying to decide if she was serious or not. 'A fiance?' She nodded. 'Yes. Or more correctly, an ex-fiance. I've broken it off.' Bill frowned, a small curious frown. 'Then I don't quite see what there is to worry about,' he said. 'You're free now, so why are you worrying?' 'That's just it I'm I'm not sure I am free.' 'But you said you'd broken it off.' 'So I have.' She sat silent for a moment longer, wondering how she could explain to him that Barney refused to be broken off. It would be worse still if Barney decided to keep on following her, right up to Bill's own home ground, and knowing Barney it was quite possible he would. 'I have broken it off,' she insisted. 'But well, 50 Barney won't take no for an answer.' 'Barney.' He frowned for a moment. 'The one who sent you the flowers.' He evidently remembered the name he'd seen on the card, at the hotel in Brighton. She nodded. 'That's right.' 'But but do you mean he was there at the hotel in Brighton?' 'No. Not exactly. Not at the same hotel, not then." She took a deep breath and explained, 'He followed me to a place in Surrey and when I moved out of there he followed me to Brighton. I left that first hotel because he was there, but ' She shrugged. 'But he found out you were there and sent you flowers.' She nodded. 'I can't think why,' she said dryly. 'It's the first time in his life he's ever done anything like that.' If it wasn't strictly true, at least it was near enough, she thought. 'I see.' 'Oh, Bill, I'm sorry. It's it's not fair to you, I know, to come with you without telling you why, but I'm hoping that when he knows I really mean to go all the way up to Scotland, he'll stop following me.' 'You mean he's still following you?' He stared at her. 'Good heavens, he isn't here now, is he?' Samantha nodded, seeing nothing for it but to be completely honest now that she had gone so far. 'He was here last night,' she said. 'He followed us me from Brighton.' He shook his head. 'Good lordi I have to give 5i him full marks for perseverence anyway.' 'He's stubborn,' Samantha declared, disliking the hint of admiration she thought she detected in his voice. 'And he never gives up.' 'Well ' he looked across at her and smiled wryly, 'I can't altogether blame him. / wouldn't give you up very easily if you were mine.' 'But I'm not his,' Samantha insisted, seeing his allegiance drifting in quite the wrong direction. 'I told you I'm not going back to him, even if he follows me to the ends of the earth.' And at the moment she firmly believed she meant it. Her eyes sparkled with righteous indignation and she wore what Barney always designated her donkey face. 'I'm not going through with the wedding, no matter who tries to make me!' He looked momentarily startled at her vehemence. 'Is someone likely to try and make you?' he asked. She sighed deeply. 'You don't know Barney.' Bill pursed his lips thoughtfully. 'From the sound of him,' he said, 'I hope I never do. Did you say he was here last night?' Samantha nodded. 'He appeared just after you left me.' He looked at her narrow-eyed. 'Aah, now I think I understand,' he told her. 'Those voices I heard weren't from somewhere near your room, they were coming from your room, is that right?' 'Not strictly,' she hastened to deny. It was, after all, bad enough, without his making it sound any worse. 'Barney came and knocked on my door, but 52 I didn't let him in.' 'I should hope not.' He looked quite scandalised at the idea for a moment. -Good heavens, he's got a nerve following you all the way up here ' He gave a swift and rather surreptit
ious glance round the crowded restaurant. 'He's not here now, is he?' Samantha nodded. 'I'm afraid so.' Her eyes flicked briefly in Barney's direction and Bill followed it as best he could. 'Is he the one who looks like a Spanish Romeo?' he asked, and she barely restrained a giggle at the description. It smacked so much of Barney's favourite derogatory description of seaside gigolos that the comparison was hard to ignore. 'I expect so,' she said. 'He's very dark.' 'He's also making eyes at the girl at the next table,' he said, and sounded quite indignant about 'That's Barney,' Samantha said wryly. He looked at her curiously. -But if he's so keen to get you back,' he said, 'why's he behaving like that?' She shrugged. 'He can't help it,' she told him, with what she thought of as a rather self-righteous air. Actually it isn't altogether his fault. Women always notice him and he always lets them know he noticed.' Bill was scowling now, and she wondered if she'd perhaps given the wrong impression and carried the part of ill-used fiancee too far. 'I'd like to punch his head,' he declared. 'Oh I suppose he's so used to having me around,' 53 she said, 'that he just sees me as part of the firm.' The firm?' She nodded. 'Yes. My guardian. Uncle Nicholas, and Barney's father started an export business years ago, when I was very small, and they've been friends and partners ever since I can remember. Now Bar'ney's a partner as well all one big happy family.' She sighed again. 'That's the trouble, you see. It's always been taken for granted that I would marry Barney as soon as I was old enough.' 'And now you are?' 'White and twenty-one,' she sighed, 'but not free.' 'It's scandalous,' Bill declared indignantly, 'in this day and age. Didn't you have any say in the matter?' 'I suppose I would have done if I'd ever thought about it,' she admitted. 'But I just never did. Barney and Sam will marry, they all said, and I guess I just went along with the idea.' 'But then you had second thoughts?' She nodded. 'A couple of days ago, when I was trying on my wedding dress. I saw myself in the mirror and thought nol I'm being moulded like a piece of plasticine, not making any effort to think for myself. I'll spend the rest of my life doing exactly as I've always done, and well, I just panicked and ran.' 'But he this Barney caught up with you?' 'Before I'd got very far,' she agreed ruefully. 'The trouble is, I suppose, he knows me too well. He's been anticipating my thoughts for about eighteen years and he's used to me.' He reached out a consoling hand again, and 54 squeezed her fingers. 'Nobody has any right to get used to you,' he told her. 'And if you don't want to marry him, I'll make sure you don't.' 'You're ' she began, and he frowned at her. 'If you tell me again that I'm nice,' he threatened, 'I shall immediately prove I'm not.' 'I'm sorry.' He laughed and shook his head slowly. 'Actually,' he told her, 'I'm beginning to feel a bit like the Scarlet Pimpernel, helping you to escape a fate worse than death.' Samantha glanced again at Barney, now watching her with a small, secret smile on his face. 'I don't know that it would have been as bad as that,' she demurred. 55