*Sit down,' Raoul said, *and listen to me.' She made an attempt to pull her hand free, but his fingers did not ease in the slightest and eventually she resigned herself to it and sat down silendy, her eyes downcast. *Will you listen?'
His tone after such a determined restraint on her movements was disarming and she nodded almost unconsciously. *I don't have much choice, it seems,' she said.
Having made his point he seemed in less hurry to begin whatever it was he had to say. Instead he sat drinking the thick black coffee and brandy with apparent relish. *You
were on your way to see Lizette?* he asked, and she shook her head.
*I doubt if rd be allowed to see her, but I'd packed some things up for her, and Madame Menais was going to take the case when she went to see her. I was supposed to remind her, but I forgot and then when I decided to take it myself on the bus—I thought I could do that for her,* she added when she caught his eye briefly.
How could she tell him that she had been doing the first conscious thing in her life for her own mother? Raoul was studying her and his long brown fingers lightly stroked the back of her hand while he did so. *You are very fond of lizette, are you not, Charlotte?'
*I like her very much.' She qualified the opinion cautiously, but swallowed the tears that sprang suddenly from nowhere and threatened to choke her. *And she's—she's so sad and so—^helpless. I like her, and I hate to think of what she's been going through.' She looked up at him, remembering that it had been him, not Michel, who had been with Annette Villeaux such a short time ago. *You know what I mean, Raoul.'
*I know what you mean, ma chere^^ he echoed sofdy, and Charlotte felt a responsive flutter in her pulse at the deep warmth in his voice. *Lizette is a foolish woman, but she is very fortunate to have someone so fiercely protective on her side.'
Charlotte made no protest when he picked up the other glass and tipped brandy into her cup, then, half-smiling, encouraged her to drink it. She did and the taste was strong and rather bitter on her tongue, but it brought an inner glow in its wake that should have given her more courage but somehow did not. She swallowed the rest of the brew, then sat looking down into her cup.
'No one cares what happens to her,' she said in a small unsteady voice. 'Except Madame Menais.'
*And Grand'mere cares for everyone,' Raoul added with a touch of the familiar impatience. *So you have said, ma chere, but you do not know that is true, you only guess at it. Why do you suppose that I was at the house of Annette ViUeaux tpday, eh? To make love with her, eh?' The expressive use of his hands left his meaning in no doubt and Charlotte clasped her own smaller ones tightly together on the table top.
I've said it isn't my business, Raoul, you '
*It is my business, ma fille !' Raoul interrupted harshly, his grey eyes steely bright. *It is my reputation that you take liberties with and you will do me the courtesy of listening to the truth!' She said no more but sat obediently silent while he talked. *I admit that I am not averse to sexy women, as much as my cousin is, but my own taste is for something a litde more—discreet. However, I was making good headway when you so inconveniendy appeared, and I am not sure if I was convincing enough in the time allowed me to have achieved my purpose.'
Tou '
Charlotte stared at him, her cheeks flushed and a bright gleaming hght in her eyes. But Raoul did no more than take another firm grip on her forearm as if he suspected she might try again to leave, and his mouth had a determined straightoess that she was all too famihar with.
'You judge on appearances,' he said, leaning forward across the small table so that she had more or less to meet his eyes every so often when the intensity of his gaze made it impossible not to at such close quarters. *I am at this moment with you, ma belle; what do you suppose my grandmother or Jean Cordet or even Michel—especially Michel—^would make of this situation, eli? And yet I am not making love to you, am I, Charlotte?'
The truth dawned at last and Charlotte stared at him. She had been so wild in her accusations that she could no
longer bear to face him and she got quickly to her feet. She said nothing for the moment because she simply could not think of anything to say, and after a second or two she heard him move. An arm encircled her shoulders and she was turned towards him, her head still lowered and the fall of tawny hair hiding her face.
*I went to see her to ask her—to tell her that the association with Michel must end,* he said quiedy, and the warmth of his breath stirred the hair on her crown. *I offered her compensation and another post with another firm, a long way away, but I did not have time to convince her before you came, Charlotte. That is why I was there— will you beheve me?' She nodded silently. *Then look at me and say so,' he added softly, sliding a finger beneath her chin. 'Hmm?'
*I—^I believe you and I'm sorry, RaouL'
*I knew that you would be,' he told her with a hint of smile, then he lifted her chin just a litde higher so that his lips were barely a breath away. *You always inisjudge me, ma helhy and I can do nothing about it, it seems.'
Unwilling to be the only one taking blame, and desperate to do something about the wild response of her senses, Charlotte lifted her chin of her own accord and looked at him direcdy. 7ust as you misjudged me,' she claimed. *When you suspected I'd taken that wretched plan!'
'Notii non, jamais!' Raoul denied firmly. *I'did not for one moment believe that you had taken it! Again you misjudged me! How can I convince you that I never for a moment considered you as an—international spy? The idea is ludicrous! You do not have the cunning or the face to disguise your feelings so well to be able to get away with it!' Something else occurred to him then and he took her face between his big hands, the warm palms pressed to her cheeks while he looked down at her. *But I forget your own personal secret, eh, ma belle? That is something that
you manage to conceal very well, for I am no closer to knowing what it is!'
*0r even if it exists?' Charlotte suggested breathlessly; it was too dangerous ground at the moment and she must tread warily.
The hands tightened their hold and his thumbs stroked over her cheek bones caressingly. *It exists, ma chere^' he said sofdy and confidendy, *and it makes you vulnerable.' He bent his head lower and pressed his lips to the soft warmth of her mouth, lingering for a moment with their lips still touching. 'Very vulnerable, petite, eh?'
He drew her closer, his arms closing around her until she was pressed tight to the lean muscular body that could arouse such exciting sensations in her, then his mouth sought hers again and took possession of it firmly and without quarter. Charlotte reached up her arms and put them around his neck, her fingers lighdy stroking the thick black hair at the back of his head while her body yielded to the firm gende persuasion of his touch.
When he raised his head at last it was to look down into a face that was faindy flushed and eyes that seemed huge and lustrous between thick tawny lashes, and he smiled. *One day,' he said, *I will persuade you to tell me, ma belle Charlotte, and then I will have to find another reason for kissing you, eh?' Gleaming grey eyes searched her face for a moment, then he kissed her lighdy on her mouth again. * And now, ma chere, I must return to my desk. I have spent enough of my time with pretty girls this morning, hmm?*
His words served to remind Charlotte that he had been with Annette Villeaux, and just for a moment she wondered what means he had used to try to persuade her to his way of thinking. Just for a moment she felt such resentment that she hastily hid her eyes from him for fear they showed how she felt, and sought a safer subject.
*I suppose at the moment I'm virtually unemployed,' she
said, and Raoul raised her face to him once more, his breath warming her mouth when he spoke.
*You would not think of trying to break your contract with us, would you, Charlotte?' he asked, and she looked up at him briefly, remembering how he had once threatened to have her sent packing because he did not trust her.
Isn't it an opportunity to get rid of me?' she ventured, and
he studied her for a moment before he answered.
*No,' he said after several seconds. *You are, as Grand'-mere has said, the ideal person for the post you have, and Lizette will have need of good friends when she returns to
us.'
It was the first time Charlotte had sensed how deep his compassion was for his cousin's neglected wife, and her own mother, and it did curious things to her emotions for a moment. *You care!' she whispered, as if she had made some marvellous discovery, and, without stopping to think, she tiptoed to kiss his mouth impemously.
Raoul regarded her steadily for a moment, then turned her around and placed his arm around her shoulders as they walked back through the apple orchard to the car. *0f course I care, Charlotte,' he said with a suggestion of reproach. *Did you doubt it?'
Glancing up at the strong tanned face Charlotte asked herself the same question, then she shook her head. 'No,' she^said, 'I don't think I did really.'
CHAPTER EIGHT
The following morning Charlotte once more found herself standing in for Raoul's secretary. Apparendy Mademoiselle Duclair was required at the hospitalior a check-up after her iUness, and in this instance Charlotte was only too willing to
oblige and take her place. In fact her unhesitating response drew Raoul's comment.
*Ah, then you do not object to helping me out?' he asked when she reported to him, and Charlotte shook her head.
A suggestion of mockery in his eyes made her wonder if she had perhaps been a litde too obviously willing to help, and she assumed a carelessness she did not feel in her reply. *Not in the least,' she said. Tm at rather a loose end with Madame lizettc in hospital.*
He made a face. 'Otherwise you would not have been so willing?' he suggested, and the half-smile she felt was meant to remind her of how very adamant she had been on the first occasion he had sought her help.
On that occasion she had been very outright about saying she hoped he would never need to call on her again, but now his needing her help gave her a pleasant glow of satisfaction and she was ready to stand in for Mademoiselle Duclair any time he wanted her to, although she did not propose telling him so.
1 didn't make an issue of coming down here, did I?' she asked. I've never msde that much fuss about working for you, have I, Raoul?'
He paused in the act of gathering papers together and putting them into a briefcase, and smiled as he regarded her steadily for a moment. 'Let us say,' he said after due consideratimi, 'that if you had been employed on a permanent basis by me and not by Lizette, I would have been tempted on more than one occasion to dismiss you—give you the sack, hmm?' ^
'Oh, I see.' She stood beside him while he went on filling the briefcase, and was not quite sure how to react to his apparent frankness. 'I didn't realise I was quite so inefficient!'
She took a brief look at his mouth and noticed how it curved slightly without actually smiling, and he paused
once more in what he was doing to look at her. 'I did not say you were inefficient, ma belle,' he told her, and a long finger traced a line from her brow to the corner of her mouth as he smiled. *More—disturbingly insubordinate, I would say. I am not accustomed to having my decisions questioned nor my manhood challenged as you so often do.' The finger-tip Hghdy traced the outline of her mouth, then pulled down her bottom Up before he bent his head and kissed her, his lips firm but Ught, and lingering long enough to stir a response from her senses. ^Definitely disturbing,' he whispered, and with his hand still under her chin he once more brushed her lips widi his.
He gazed down at her for several seconds before letting her go, then he continued with what he had been doing, leaving Charlotte silent and sUghdy dazed for a moment. Then it occurred to her that all the signs pointed to the possibiUty of his leaving, and she eyed the bulging briefcase doubtfully. ., J r . ,
*Are you going out?' she asked, and he smiled famtly
before he confirmed it.
*Only for an hour,' he told her, fastening the briefcase. 'You are well able to cope widi anything that might arise in that time, Charlotte, I know.'
Still a littie dazed and undeniably disappointed, Charlotte managed a smile. *I hope you're right,' she told him. *MademoiseUe Duclair will never forgive me if I mess up her immaculate filing system.'
'Then see that you do not, ma chereV He took a last verifying look around to see diat he had left nothing behind, then nodded. 1 am sure you will manage perfecdy well, but if you get into difficulties one of the other ladies
will help you.'
*You mean Uke Mademoise^e Villeaux?' Charlotte suggested impulsively, and Raoul gave her a slow quizzical look before he shook his head.
*I would suggest rather Mademoiselle Lebnin,' he said with apparent seriousness. *And now I must leave you, Charlotte, or I shall be late. O.K.?' He waited for her nod of agreement, then took the briefcase in one hand and gave her a casual wave with the other. *Au revoir, ma belle!*
The big room seemed oddly lonely when he was gone, and Charlotte set about the various small jobs he had left for her with a vaguely absent air, not bothering t^ hurry be-ciause perhaps if she took her time over them he would be back before she had finished.
It was startling to realise the way her mind was working, but it seemed that so much had changed since yesterday when Raoul had come after her to explain what he was doing at Annette Villeaux's house. Her attitude towards him, for one thing, had changed and for the first time it occurred to her just how close she was to falling in love with Raoul.
The strength of his arms and the hard warm pressure of his mouth on hers were not easily forgotten, nor that light but disturbing kiss he had left her with earlier. But there was another matter that must take priority at the moment; no matter what else overshadowed it she must not lose sight of her original quest.
Nevertheless when she heard the door open behind her she swung round swifdy with a welcoming smile on her face. 'You've been very '
The words died as did the smile when she found not Raoul standing there, but Annette Villeaux. After yesterday's incident the Frenchwoman was the last person she wanted to see, and her expression must have conveyed as much, for she had never been very good at disguising her feelings.
'Bonjour!'
The greeting was curt and bold dark eyes made a sweeping survey of Raoul's neat and tidy office, noting the ab-
sence of its owner before coming back to Charlotte, who stood rather uneasily beside the filing cabinet. She returned the greeting half-heartedly and watched the woman come strutting across the room on her high heels. Elegant and confident as ever, it seemed to Charlotte who eyed her warily. Although Raoul's presence yesterday at her house had been satisfactorily explained, Charlotte was reminded that this woman had not only witoessed her shock at finding him there, but also her hasty and tearful departure when she realised her mistake.
'So you have m-anaged to get Simone Duclair's position for yourself!' said Annette, carefully placing the papers she carried on Raoul's desk, and the observation took Charlotte so much by surprise that she simply stared at her. *I had thought Raoul so impressed with her efficiency that he would never part with her, even for someone like you! But you arranged it, eh ?'
She laughed and Charlotte was appalled to realise how gauche she must appear with the colour burning bright in her cheeks. But she meant to dispose of any misconceptions in that direction and she met her eyes determinedly as she set about it.
* You've got it all wrong,/Mademoiselle Villeaux,' she told her. I'm here this morning simply because Mademoiselle Duclair has an appointment at the hospital. I haven't the slightest desire to take over permanendy!'
'So?' The dark eyes mocked her, bright and speculative. 'Maybe I should teach you the way to get what it is you wish from a man, eh?'
Charlotte held her temper with difficulty, her hand holding tightiy to the edge of the steel cabinet. 'I'm rather busy, mademoiselle^ if you'll excuse me.'
'Hah!' Clearly she was not believed and the dark eyes mocked h
er reluctance. 'You think to fool me? I am not so easily fooled, mademoiselle^ and I foUow your intention
easily! You must have been very—desperate to have followed him to my house yesterday!'
ToUowed '
Charlotte turned and gazed at her unbelievingly, but Annette was too convinced to be easily changed now. *Did you not follow him?' she jibed. *You came to my house, angry and weeping—^why else if not because you suspected that he was with me?'
Charlotte recalled her own first starded reaction at seeing Raoul and not Michel there, and wondered how on earth it could have been so misinterpreted. *I hadn't ±e slightest idea that I'd find Raoul at your home,' she insisted. *I was expecting to find Michel, and I meant to tell the pair of you exactiy what I thought of you! The last person I expected to see was Raoul, I assure you I'
Tou ass-ure me!' Annette mocked harshly. *I will tell you what I believe—that you are afraid of losing an easy position and of being sent back to England when Madame Lizette does not recover, and Raoul is—how is it?—your insurance!'
*Oh, what rubbish!'
*So?' Annette extended one hand in front of her and studied the red nails that tipped her flexed fingers. 'There is a good possibility that she will not return,' she declared confidentiy. *Then what will you do?'
Charlotte felt chilled suddenly. Such malice as Annette Villeaux exhibited was beyond her comprehension and she dared not contemplate the possibility of Lizette not recovering. Obviously Michel had been very forthcoming with his paramour, and the idea of the two of them discussing Lizette's chances of survival and its possible effect on their relationship was sickening.
*Michel told you that?'
Aimette looked vaguely sulky and gave her hands something to do while she answered. *No, he did not tell me, but
I have a cousin who is working at Vhopital and she told me.'
She imparted the news with such obvious reluctance that Charlotte looked at her curiously. She did not recall seeing Michel that morning yet and she eyed Annette with a small flutter of hope stirring in her breast. *Where is Michel this morning?' she asked.
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