To Tame a Vixen

by Anne Hampson

Doug had been over twice to see how she was, Carole told Beth.

  ‘He’s been quite concerned,’ she added. ‘He’s so nice; I’m really glad we’ve got to know him.’

  ‘Thank him for his concern, won’t you, Carole?’

  ‘Yes, certainly I will.’

  Jo spoke, expressing her relief that Beth was improving.

  ‘We had the devil of a scare,’ she admitted. ‘You looked ready to die!’

  ‘I felt at one time that I was ready to die,’ Beth confessed with a wry grimace. ‘I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.’

  ‘Chad’s been wonderful,’ said Jo. ‘He’s nice, Beth, when you get to know him.’

  ‘Yes, I daresay he is.’

  ‘He’s been ever so concerned about you,’ said Carole, a curious ring to her voice.

  ‘Just a neighbourly concern.’

  ‘Well ... I don’t know.’ Carole seemed to give a small sigh. ‘There’s something about his manner with you, Beth, that goes deeper than mere neighbourliness.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘There’s a familiarity that I can’t explain.’ Carole paused a moment. ‘I like Chad—always have done, but he never has any interest in me other than being graciously polite. With you—you’ve never liked him, and yet he’s very interested in you.’

  ‘And more often than not he’s anything but graciously polite,’ Beth could not help saying.

  ‘That’s the familiarity I mentioned,’ said Carole, and another tiny sigh escaped her. Jo looked at her with an odd expression and said,

  ‘You haven’t a crush on him, I hope?’

  Carole coloured delicately.

  ‘Of course not. I’m in love with my Richard!’

  ‘Are you quite sure?’ Jo’s voice had a sceptical edge to it.

  ‘Yes, I’m quite sure!’

  ‘Well, I admit that I’m not as sure of my feelings as I was when I first came here.’

  ‘I believe that this plan of Uncle’s has been a very wise one,’ mused Beth, her mind unable to focus on Kevin. She still liked him, but knew for sure that she had never loved him, for if she had then obviously she would have missed him.

  The following Wednesday she was allowed to get up, but half an hour was more than sufficient; she felt drained, so tired that on getting back into bed she fell asleep immediately.

  ‘Will I ever be myself again?’ she said to Chad one evening when after Carole and Jo had left he came in to sit with her for an hour or so. ‘I’m so totally lacking in energy.’

  ‘You’ll be yourself before you know it,’ he assured her, and then, with a distinct undertone of sardonic amusement, ‘You’ll soon be firing your poison darts again, my dear.’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Not any more, Chad. I owe you too much. I’d be the most ungrateful woman alive if I were ever to quarrel with you again.’ She was sitting in a chair by the open window, vitally alive to the magic and the mystery of the tropical African night. The peace was entire, the silence absolute, the moonglow across the bushveld as primeval as the distant throb of a native drum, sad and mysterious.

  ‘It would be a pity,’ she heard Chad say in tones of dry amusement, ‘if you became too docile. I find a woman’s totally uninteresting if she has no spirit.’

  Beth’s eyes twinkled at that. Her voice was almost as coquettish as her glance as she replied,

  ‘I can’t imagine myself without spirit, Chad. I was born under the wrong star, just as you yourself were.’ Again her eyes were drawn to the moon-painted landscape outside—the gardens and the vast orchards of citrus fruit, the lonely region beyond, miles of veld spreading away to the line of rugged kopjes in the distance. Along the river banks trees were dark unfathomable shapes outlined against a silver sky. Stars and constellations flared, flawless diamonds gleaming from a bed of deep purple velvet. The moon, outsized and not quite full, flaunted its glory, an argent searchlight never to be extinguished.

  Something stirred within Beth’s heart and mind—an odd, quivering sensation as fleeting as it was bewildering. She found her eyes drawn to the man sitting there, to his handsome, noble face with its clear bronzed skin stretched tightly over prominent cheekbones, its firm jawline and mouth; its determined chin

  Not one sign of weakness in a face like that; Beth met his gaze and stirred restlessly, profoundly aware of his attractions, of the humorous expression in his eyes, the quirk of a smile she knew so well. She wondered if it had always had the effect on her which it had at this moment. On other occasions she and he had invariably been sparring and she had considered that crooked smile as an affectation, but now she found something inordinately attractive in it.

  Chad spoke at last, breaking the silence that had been one of companionship such as had never occurred between them before.

  ‘No, my child, I cannot imagine you without spirit. I hope you won’t be so filled with gratitude that you’ll desist from hitting back at me when I annoy you.’

  She had to laugh.

  ‘So you admit to deliberately annoying me?’

  At that he slanted her a dry ironic glance.

  ‘I should imagine,’ he said reflectively, ‘that the chastisements I’ve dished out have annoyed you.’

  Beth coloured, and glared at him.

  ‘If you were a gentleman,’ she flashed, ‘you wouldn’t keep on reminding me of those occasions!’

  ‘That’s my girl,’ he applauded. ‘You had me worried, because although you’re almost completely well again, you haven’t been yourself.’ He looked at her, then smiled in a way that set her nerves quivering and her pulses racing. He was too devastatingly attractive, this man! And this situation, here in the bedroom, was too intimate by far! Two people alone in a world that seemed to be only just beginning, quietly settled after the violent birth pangs of its creation. A sense of unreality swept over her; she knew a yearning that increased in strength with every second that passed, a primitive yearning ... for what?

  A tightness in her throat seemed to match her tensed nerves, and the unfathomable pull on her heartstrings.

  Chad was silent, thoughtful, but his regard was penetrating, all-seeing; Beth felt he looked right into her mind and knew what was there, in its very secret places.

  He moved, easing himself from the chair to stand above her. She sat, quivering and expectant. She felt his hand seek hers and she was brought to her feet, brought up against his body, and the contact was as thrilling as the feel of his lips as they came down on hers.

  For a long while they stood there, in total silence, their bodies close, Beth’s fair head cushioned against his shoulder. She knew a sweet and passive contentment, a blissful feeling of well-being. Reality was an unknown quantity in this magic world of silence and of peace. Chad’s lips came down, pressing hard against hers, forcing them apart; a ripple of sheer ecstasy swept through her in a flood-tide of awakened passion. She was afraid while at the same time discarding caution as she responded to the arched pressure of his body, the demanding mastery of his lips. Everything about him was dominant, and for the first time in her life Beth felt meek and submissive.

  After a long, long time he drew away, his eyes taking on a wry expression.

  ‘I had better go, don’t you think?’ He was looking at her with that penetrating stare that was all-seeing. His perception was there for her to see. She blushed delicately as she accepted that he was well aware that she had been almost ready to take more than he had given her.

  Almost, but not quite, she tried to tell herself some time later when he had gone and she was lying in bed, staring through the uncurtained window into the starlit night. Almost—For she would have made a grasp at common sense ... or would she...?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The following day Beth was back at Jacana Lodge, fully recovered but still a little weak if she happened to do too much. Both Carole and Jo scolded her if she decided to do anything in the house. She could do the accounts, Jo said, but that was all.

  ‘I’m not
an invalid,’ she protested. ‘You’ll have me soft the way you’re both going on.’

  ‘Better that than have you knock yourself up,’ declared Carole. ‘Just you get resigned to doing as you’re told!’

  Beth laughed. She was happy, contented with the life here. She had not yet analysed her feelings for Chad, her conviction—in the light of cold objective logic—being that both she and he had been profoundly affected by the situation, an improbable one that would never have come about if she had not been forced to stay in his house. And if the situation had never arisen then obviously that intimate little scene would never have been enacted.

  So why regard it with any seriousness? Besides, she and Chad were more at ease with one another when doing battle ... and love scenes could scarcely have any place on battlegrounds.

  Chad had brought her home, his manner one of charming courtesy and nothing more. Beth had taken her cue from him and pretended the scene had never happened between them.

  He called every day to see how she was, but his visits were short—a mere ten minutes or so. Yesterday he had reminded the girls that Valerie’s party was on the following Thursday, and they all made hair appointments at the salon in Warrensville.

  Each looked charming in her particular way. Carole wore green—a long dress in nylon and lace, low-cut and, according to Jo, a little bit sexy in that the bodice was of unlined lace through which could be seen her matching bra. Jo was in a fuller dress—she had to hide her angular frame, she laughingly declared. Her dress was white with a trimming of plaited velvet at the waist to form a belt. Beth wore a dainty dress of ivory satin that revealed all the charm of her honey-brown arms and throat. She was proud of her tan, since, being so fair, she had invariably gone red, but here she seemed to have had no trouble of that kind at all, her skin gradually acquiring the tan that was now this very attractive and seductive colour of dark honey. Her hair was set in a long page-boy bob, with the fringe on her forehead curled slightly over one eye. She looked in the mirror and was happy with what she saw. A spray from the perfume bottle came finally and she was ready.

  Several guests were already there when the three cousins arrived, one of whom was Rosa. Dressed in an evening gown of black velvet, very low-cut and with a split at one side of the skirt reaching to her thigh, she looked both elegant and ravishingly seductive. Beth, watching Chad’s expression when he looked at her, saw admiration one moment and an unreadable light in his eyes the next. Undoubtedly he was attracted to her in some way. Beth found herself debating on the possibility of their marrying. The girl would make a most decorative adjunct to the lovely home of one of the wealthiest men in the district, but whether she would bring any warmth to it was another thing altogether. She scintillated—like chipped ice on a spring morning when the sun was on it. Her voice was smooth as silk, her mannerisms designed to attract attention. She had a certain way with her beautifully kept hands, and a way of swinging her head around which sent the glorious halo of her hair swaying.

  Beth decided she disliked the girl more than ever, but she could not have said why. She was all smooth charm to the girls, aware of course that they were all guests together and that to adopt a superior and condescending attitude towards the cousins would bring her notice of the kind she did not want.

  Aperitifs were being served on the stoep; conversation flowed between Chad and those of his guests who had arrived, but with each new arrival he rose and went forward to welcome them. Valerie, looking very young, was shy but happy at receiving presents—the cousins had pooled their money to buy her a silver bracelet which she had admired in the jewellers’ on the day they took her into Warrensville.

  Chad looked superb in a white safari jacket with contrasting shirt of pale mauve, finely embroidered down the front. He had greeted Beth with that crooked smile of his, but beneath it she had sensed the hint of a frown. It troubled her for a while, but in the conversation it went out of her mind.

  Doug arrived with Alex and his father. Mr. Sherwood was short and jovial with sparse grey hair above a face lined and toughened by the fierce African sun. He was interested in all three girls, having known their uncle. But he appeared to be rather more interested in Jo than any of the others. And it was to Jo that his son seemed to be talking more than to anyone else. Beth noticed this as the evening went on, and after dinner he sat with her in the sitting-room, not seeming to want to join in the general conversation.

  Chad was the perfect host, attending to every single guest. Beth felt there was a little more attention paid to Rosa than to anyone else—it was merely in a look, a smile, an extra word now and then.

  By the time the evening came to an end Beth was sure that Alex was finding something attractive in Jo, but when the following morning Beth mentioned this Jo passed it off lightly.

  ‘We enjoyed the natter together,’ she said, ‘but as for his liking me in that way—well, we don’t even know one another properly, do we?’

  Carole was interested but made no comment. She did comment on Chad, though, saying how superb he looked.

  ‘To say he’s distinguished is putting it mildly,’ she added, a faraway look on her face. ‘I’ve never met a more handsome man. It’s impossible not to be affected by him.’

  ‘Affected in what way?’ enquired Jo with a frown.

  Carole shrugged, as if she would negate what she had just said.

  ‘He—well, he isn’t a man one can ignore.’

  ‘I’ll grant you that,’ returned Jo. ‘His very personality makes you give him some attention.’

  ‘That’s what I mean—you have to notice him.’ Carole seemed confused, uneasy. Jo glanced at Beth and her frown deepened.

  ‘You know,’ she said slowly and emphatically, ‘I believe you have got a crush on him, in spite of your denial the last time I suggested it.’

  ‘No such thing! I love Richard, and always will!’

  ‘Who are you trying to convince?’ scoffed Jo, again glancing at Beth.

  ‘Oh, shut up!’ said Carole, but good-humouredly. ‘I haven’t got a crush on him and I mean it!’

  ‘It’s to be hoped you do,’ said Jo dryly, ‘because you’d never stand an earthly against the glamorous Rosa.’

  Beth looked up, and spoke for the first time.

  ‘You think they’re serious with one another?’ Her voice sounded hollow and she wondered why.

  ‘Oh, yes, it’s as plain as can be. She’s out to get him, and she won’t have much difficulty. Chad’s the kind who’d choose glamour—being so superlative himself. And another thing in Rosa’s favour is that she’s got money. Her father’s one of the wealthiest businessmen in Durban that’s the reason he’s away so much and she’s rich in her own right because she inherited a fortune from an aunt who died last year.’

  Beth looked interestedly at her.

  ‘How do you know all this, Jo?’

  ‘Alex told me last night. He’s of the opinion that it won’t be long before their engagement’s announced.’

  Beth said nothing. She was recalling Rosa’s confident assertion that he would propose before very long, the ‘he’ obviously being Chad.

  ‘I don’t think they’re at all suited,’ from Carole in a taut kind of voice. ‘He deserves someone much nicer than her.’

  ‘Depends on what you term nice.’ Jo looked at her and added, ‘Most people would consider Rosa to be nice.’

  Carole started, a frown appearing on her clear wide forehead.

  ‘I don’t agree at all. Just look how she is with us.’

  ‘Just look how she is with Chad—absolutely charming, as she is with most people. It’s only that, for some reason, she doesn’t happen to like us.’

  ‘Well, I don’t know why!’ flashed Carole. ‘But there’s no love lost. I think she’s detestable.’

  ‘So do we all, but we weren’t talking about what we think. We were talking about Rosa’s relationship with Chad. I’m of the firm opinion that Alex is right when he says that there’ll be an engagement soon.
’

  ‘Valerie seems more than a little interested in him,’ commented Beth reflectively. ‘They’re not really related, are they?’

  ‘No, they’re not, but Chad wouldn’t want a green girl like Valerie. He’s too much a man for that. No, Rosa’s first in the running and she’ll reach her goal, you just mark my words!’

  It was a week later, at the Club dance, that these

  words of Jo’s came back to Beth. She was dancing with Chad, but for the whole time his interest seemed to be with Rosa, who was not only dancing with the young man whom Beth had seen her with before but was quite openly flirting with him. Looking up into Chad’s eyes, Beth found them marble-hard. He did not return Beth’s look; he was far too absorbed with Rosa and her laughing partner as they danced round the room, hands clasped but bodies apart so that they could look at one another and talk. Beth felt cold suddenly, and shut out. Carole had spoken the truth when she maintained that there was a familiarity in his attitude towards Beth, but now that seemed to have gone, replaced by a cool courtesy which he might have adopted towards a near stranger.

  A tiny prick of indefinable pain pierced Beth’s heart; she looked up again, into his face. It was an unreadable mask, but almost harshly etched.

  She just had to ask if anything were wrong, and he looked down at her then and the glimmer of a smile tilted one corner of his mouth.

  ‘What should be the matter, my child?’

  ‘You’re morose—or perhaps I should say, moody.’

  ‘They both mean the same.’

  She drew a breath.

  ‘All right, then, they do. Is something the matter?’ she asked again.

  ‘You’re far too inquisitive,’ he accused, and returned his attention to Rosa and her partner.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice was stiff, but it had a catch to it which did not escape Chad and again he brought his eyes from Rosa to look down into Beth’s face.

  ‘Let’s go outside,’ he decided. ‘It’s too oppressive in here!’

  So he was jealous! He must care for Rosa, then. Beth fumbled in her mind, seeking for a reason why she should suddenly feel so flat.