The Australian Heiress

by Way, Margaret

  When Camille arrived at Linda’s one day for a visit, she found another car parked in the driveway.

  Linda came to the door, so visibly upset Camille moved forward quickly to grasp her hand.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Before she had a chance to answer, Madelaine Carghill moved into the hallway. “You may well ask, Camille, as you’ve been such a bad influence on my daughter-in-law.” Her daughter Ann appeared at her shoulder. Like Linda both women were white-faced and upset but in a different way, Ann, shaky, her mother self-righteous. Upset herself, Camille felt a rush of red rage.

  “Come in, Milly,” Linda implored, “though I won’t blame you if you take to your heels. As you can see ‘the family’ has come to call.”

  “Understand me well, Linda, we’re seriously concerned about Stephen,” Madelaine Carghill declared. “About the state of his marriage.” Her manner suggested all blame lay with Linda.

  “Mightn’t it be better, Mrs. Carghill, if you allowed Stephen to work out his own problems?” Camille said. “He must be nearly thirty.”

  Mrs. Carghill looked at her coldly. “There speaks a young woman who knows nothing about being a mother. Stephen will always be my son. He’ll always come to me for advice and support.”

  Bolstered by Camille’s presence, Linda mustered a sharp comment. “Maybe it’s time the cord was cut.”

  “Why don’t we go back into the living room?” Ann suggested in anguish. She led the way. Her mother followed. Linda and Camille were obliged to do the same.

  “I’m sorry,” Linda whispered. “I had no idea they’d turn up.”

  “Just so long as they don’t stay.”

  Both Carghill women sat on the sofa, backs straight, Madelaine Carghill’s blue eyes astonishingly hard. This was her opportunity to state the family case. She picked up where she’d left off, chastising Linda and Camille like schoolgirls in need of the right direction. Her direction.

  Camille was beginning to get very hot under the collar, but she held her tongue, willing Linda to speak. Finally she did. “The thing is, Madelaine, you love Stephen, but you don’t care about me. My wants and needs don’t concern you at all. Surely you can understand I need to establish my own worth.”

  “At the expense of your husband? Your marriage?” Madelaine Carghill asked incredulously. “When, for instance, are you going to try again for a child?”

  “That’s my business.”

  “It is, Mama.” Ann unexpectedly took Linda’s side.

  “It’s my business, too,” her mother corrected her. “I’ll be the grandmother. Can’t you see, Linda, you’re driving Stephen away? Is that what you want?”

  “I don’t want that at all,” Linda said miserably. “I love Stephen very much. I know I failed him when I lost the baby.”

  “Linda, you didn’t.” Camille said vehemently. “A miscarriage can happen to anyone, you know that.”

  “No one blames you, Linda, for losing the baby.” Ann looked at her sister-in-law aghast. “Certainly not Stephen. Wherever did you get that idea? I mean, apart from being so unfair, it’s cruel.”

  “But it’s just what your mother has implied, Ann,” Linda said quietly. “She’s almost brainwashed Stephen into thinking I hadn’t taken proper care of myself.”

  “Nonsense!” Ann shook her head vigorously. “That can’t be true. You didn’t do anything like that, did you, Mama?”

  Madelaine Carghill’s lips tightened. “I thought it my duty to tell Stephen Linda hadn’t taken her pregnancy seriously enough. I saw her with my very eyes lift a heavy terra-cotta pot.”

  “Plastic,” Linda interjected sharply. “It was plastic.”

  “We all know she was doing far too much around the garden,” Mrs. Carghill continued as though Linda hadn’t spoken. “In view of her frail construction, I advised her to take it easy, but she refuses to heed advice. Especially from me. At heart I know she bitterly resents Stephen’s love for me.”

  “Mama!” Ann turned to stare at her mother as if she’d never seen her before.

  “Why look so surprised, Ann?” Linda asked painfully. “Don’t you know your mother hates me?”

  “No, Linda, no.” There was a sick shock in Ann’s eyes. Even her voice sounded tremulous.

  “Think about it, Ann,” Linda went on. “Don’t dismiss what I’m saying as you’ve done in the past. Hasn’t she always encouraged you to look on me as an interloper? A poor substitute for someone like Fiona Duncan? I admit Fiona would probably do a lot better interacting with your mother. Maybe they’re two of a kind. Your father is the only one in the family who’s been sympathetic to me. Shown me any liking.”

  Ann looked off sightlessly. “Oh, Linda. I’m so sorry. I should have spoken to you myself, but Mama has been the go-between, keeping us all informed. She’s the one Stephen talks to.”

  Madelaine Carghill nodded in triumph. “That’s the thing you need to learn, Linda. Stephen always comes to me. I suppose you know, my dear, now that you mention Fiona, Stephen has had to turn to her for comfort.”

  At that Linda sprang up like a startled gazelle. “What are you saying?”

  Madelaine Carghill smiled thinly. “Surely Camille has told you. She saw them together some weeks ago.

  “Camille?” Linda looked to her friend for the truth.

  “Wait a second!” Camille said. “They were having a coffee together, Lindy. That’s all I saw. Stephen came up to say hello. He ran into Fiona by accident.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Madelaine Carghill smirked. “I expect he’d have to.” She turned to Linda. “No, my dear, you stand a good chance of losing my son.”

  Again Ann intervened. “That’s not true, Mama. Stephen loves her. He may have considered Fiona once, but Linda blew Fiona’s chances out of the water. I thought you’d accepted that.”

  Madelaine Carghill subjected her daughter to an intense quelling stare. “You may be supporting your sister-in-law now, but I have to tell you I have serious doubts about this marriage. Look how Linda has acted since she lost the baby. She’s avoided us like the plague. She won’t let Stephen near her—”

  “He told you that?” Linda looked as though she was about to cry.

  “The hell I did!”

  The sound of Stephen’s voice startled them all. Madelaine Carghill swung her head, her face washed with high color.

  “Lindy, come here to me,” Stephen begged, putting out his arm. “Please, darling. Come here.”

  Without a moment’s hesitation Linda went into her husband’s embrace, feeling his arms close strongly around her.

  Stephen addressed them all. “I came back for a file. I’m going to need it this afternoon. I heard you, Mom, lecturing Lindy and Camille. I heard Camille say I should be allowed to work out my own problems. I am nearly thirty. I heard all the rest, too. I heard your exact tone. It was an eye-opener, I can tell you.” He looked at his wife. “You’ve been telling me all along my mother was working against you—and I wouldn’t accept it because I didn’t want to.”

  “And Fiona?”

  He held her eyes. “I did meet her for coffee. Once. It was just something that happened. Fiona rang. I was feeling pretty low.”

  “So then you bought me an expensive bracelet?”

  Stephen gave her a little shake. “I bought you the bracelet because I love you. I wanted to please you. But you didn’t say a word, so I didn’t think I had.”

  “You didn’t give me time.”

  As she watched the couple, Camille realized it was the right moment for an exit. “Speaking of time—” she glanced at her watch “—I must be off.”

  Ann stood up, too. “We should be going, as well, Mama. I have to pick up the children.” She walked toward her brother and Linda, who were standing arms entwined. “Please forgive me for any hurt I’ve caused you, Linda. Believe me, that’s all over.” She kissed Linda, then her brother. “I’d really hate to see you two lose each other.”

  Madelaine Ca
rghill, however, couldn’t hold back her bitterness. She rose heavily to her feet, looking betrayed. “Ever since you’ve come into the family, Linda, you’ve been tearing us apart.” she lashed out. “We used to be a single unit You’ve brought divisiveness.”

  Stephen shook his head in pain. “I think you’d better search your own conscience, Mom. I love you. But that would change if I thought you were deliberately trying to break up my marriage.”

  The woman shrank back, grim-faced and hostile. “Don’t try to turn the tables on me, Stephen. You’re the one who’s been doing all the complaining. I was only trying to help you with your problems.”

  “I thought so, too. Once. Now I don’t know. I heard you, Mom. I heard the things you said and the way you said them. I didn’t think it possible that, as my mother, you’d want to destroy my marriage. I’d be finished without Linda. So we’ve hit a bad patch—we’ll get through it. I have to listen to Linda more. I’ve been selfish seeing her only in terms of my wife. What I wanted had to be. I’ve been denying Lindy any life outside me.”

  His mother laughed contemptuously. “Now there’s a strange idea. Countless women would love to swap places with Linda. She’s got a handsome clever husband, a respected young lawyer from one of the best families. She has a beautiful home in an exclusive suburb. She has the money to buy just about anything she wants. For many that would be heaven. So she miscarries? Instead of getting on with the business of making you happy, she turns a setback into a major emotional crisis. Now she wants to return to work.”

  Madelaine Carghill snorted. “She’ll never succeed, in my opinion. She doesn’t have what it takes. Who’s going to consult a woman so obviously weak and vulnerable? I find myself totally out of patience. Having Camille Guilford for a friend has only made her worse. She’s encouraged Linda to go against your wishes, Stephen, and those of the family.”

  The woman swung her angry gaze to. Camille. “There’s bad blood in you, my girl. I’ve known it for quite a while.”

  Camille had a shocking thought. “Are you sure you haven’t done something about it? Tried to harm me?”

  “You offensive little bitch!”

  Ann, the blood gone from her face, caught her mother’s arm. “Please stop, Mother. No one wants to listen to any more.”

  Her mother, threw her hand off. “What I said I hold to. This marriage will only bring misery. You’ve stolen my son, Linda.”

  “Stop, Mom, please.” Stephen’s mouth was set in a tense line.

  “I’m sorry, Stephen.” Ann grabbed her mother’s arm again and turned to face Camille. “I can’t think what you mean, Camille. My mother has never sought to harm you.”

  AS SHE DROVE BACK into the city, Camille continued to see Madelaine Carghill’s cold austere face, the frozen eyes.

  She parked in a department-store parking lot and stayed far longer than she’d intended, wandering around the shops without really seeing anything. When at last she emerged from the parking lot, it was raining heavily. Conditions along the Eastern Seaboard had been unsettled for some time as one cyclone after another hit the North Queensland coast. Mostly they’d blown themselves out to sea. Nevertheless it was one of the wettest summers they’d experienced in years.

  Back at her apartment building she again parked in the outdoor visitors’ zone. Events had made her uneasy. She took a shortcut through the gardens and was almost onto the path when a small figure shot out of the bushes and hurled itself at her, white-faced and shrieking.

  Melissa.

  Camille’s own problems flew out of her mind. She put her arm around the child, steering her quickly through the security door and into the lift. Mercifully it was empty, because Melissa broke into a noisy torrent of wailing.

  “I hate her! I hate her! I’m never going back! I’m going to live with you! Please let me, Camille. I’ll be good. I promise. I won’t give you any trouble!”

  “Hush, pet, hush. We’ll talk as soon as we get you dry.”

  Fifteen minutes later Melissa was dried, dressed in Camille’s smallest T-shirt and settled in her bed.

  “You know I must call your home,” she said, holding Melissa’s hand.

  “No, please, Camille. I don’t want anyone to know where I am.”

  “Not even your father?”

  “Daddy’s not at home,” Melissa said in a small voice. “We’ll ring him late when it’s dark.”

  “Sweetheart, trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?”

  Melissa nodded emphatically.

  “Then I must tell Nanny where you are. No matter what you think, she’ll be frantic with worry. How did you get here, anyway?”

  Melissa grinned. “I took a cab. I have money.”

  “But what did the cabdriver say? He shouldn’t have picked up a child. How did you know my address?”

  There was satisfaction in Melissa’s dark eyes. “It’s written down in Daddy’s study. I told the driver I missed my bus home.”

  Camille was momentarily speechless. “And he let you off at my building just like that?”

  “He was calling out to me, but a man wanted to get in the taxi. I walked to the front door. When the cab left, I hid in the bushes. Then I buzzed your number, but you didn’t answer. I had to wait until you got home. It was awful waiting in the rain. I’ll probably get a cold.”

  “You might not.” Camille shook her head. “It’s quite warm. How did you get out without Miss Larkins or anyone of the staff seeing you?”

  Again Melissa’s voice held a note of pride. “It was easy. I hid in the back of Arthur’s car. He drove through the gate. When he stopped at the shops, I got out.”

  “Who’s Arthur?” It was part query, part amazement.

  “He does the garden. He’s worked for us for ages. I was going to ask him to help me, but I thought he might tell.”

  “And no one at the shopping center came up to you to ask you what you were doing on your own?”

  “Some ladies did,” Melissa answered with a smile. “I said I was waiting for Mommy. She was doing some shopping.”

  “Good grief!” Camille felt a grudging admiration. “You are resourceful, but you must never do something like that again, Melissa. There are lots of nice people who would only want to help you, but there are a few who could cause you harm.”

  Melissa gave a little grimace. “I know all about them. If anyone tried to grab me, I’d scream the place down. Daddy said that should do it.”

  Camille’s face softened and she hugged the child close. Then she got to her feet and said, “You snuggle up there while I go ring the house. What was it Miss Larkins did to upset you so badly?”

  Melissa looked surprised. “It wasn’t Miss Larkins. It was Clare.”

  “She was at the house?” Camille asked sharply. “What did she want?”

  “She brings me things. This time it was a book. She told me it was about time I learned to read properly.”

  “Then let everyone know they’re wrong. You can read. You’re smart and good-looking. Don’t forget it. When you grow up, you’ll be a real head turner.”

  Melissa’s eyes flashed. “Never like you, though.”

  “Why would you want to be like me. You’re you.” Camille tickled her. “You. You. You. Now I must go and phone.”

  Miss Larkins answered, sounding so distraught Camille barely recognized her voice. Camille quickly explained the situation, asking finally what had caused Melissa to run away.

  “I can’t understand it, Miss Guilford.” The nanny spoke more calmly now that she knew Melissa was safe. “The child was in her playroom drawing. Quite happily, I thought. She’s been much improved of late, but even you must admit she can be very mercurial in her moods. Mrs. Tennant called in with such a lovely book for her. She showed me. These beautifully illustrated fairy tales. So kind of her.”

  Camille murmured an unfelt agreement, then Miss Larkins went on, “Mrs. Tennant went up to the playroom, and after that I really don’t know. When I discovered Melissa had gone,
I went.into shock. I alerted the staff and we searched the house and grounds. We haven’t been able to contact Mr. Lombard, either. He’s not in his office and no one can raise him on his mobile. I dread to think what he’ll say to me even when he knows Melissa is quite safe. Frankly I never thought Melissa was capable of such a thing. It would take a very bright child indeed.”

  “But she is very bright, Miss Larkins,” Camille said. “That’s what you’ve missed.”

  Less than twenty minutes later Nicholas arrived at Camille’s apartment, having finally been reached on his car phone.

  He came through the door like a Thoroughbred at the starting gate, grasping Camille by the waist, his black eyes taking in the living area at a glance.

  “She’s in the bedroom resting,” Camille explained. “You’ve spoken to someone, obviously.”

  “Miss Larkins—who looks like being out of a job,” he answered crisply.

  Camille felt an unexpected stab of sympathy for the woman. “You have to admit Melissa showed considerable ingenuity. She had her wits about her from beginning to end.”

  “Didn’t she just, the little terror. I’ll be having a word with the cabdriver. They’re not supposed to take children on board without an accompanying adult. He should have taken her to the police station.”

  “Of course, but she gave him a plausible story. She said she missed her bus. And she was in her school uniform.”

  “Not good enough.”

  Outside the door Camille tried to calm him. “Don’t be too hard on her, Nicholas.”

  “I have to be certain she won’t try it again.”

  As soon as she laid eyes on her father, Melissa burst into tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again.”

  There was exasperation in her father’s voice; also incredible relief. “Melissa, if I had a dollar for all your promises, I’d be the richest man in Australia.”

  “But you are!” Melissa stopped her tears, her tone matter-of-fact.

  “Of course I’m not.” He walked to the bed, pulled her to him and hugged her. “Camille must have been shocked when you turned up on her doorstep. Miss Larkins has been reduced to jelly. Cook can’t handle cooking the dinner. The whole household is in an uproar. Even our chauffeur was involved in a minor accident while out looking for you.”