She drew in her breath shakily. 'No,' she said at last. 'In that case I don't rate our chances too high.'
'Don't you see?' Claudia leaned towards her urgently. 'That's why I've been in such a state this past week. I'd have had to tell you—I just didn't know how.' She paused. 'You see, Julius has been brought in to overhaul the firm in his father's absence. As soon as I heard that, I knew it was only a matter of time anyway. Oh, Lou!' She gave a wail of despair. 'He'll find out. He's ordered a complete audit. And once he knows…' She broke off, and looked down.
'You think he'd prosecute?' Luisa said shakily.
'I know he'd prosecute! He'd probably take on the case himself!'
'Even if I explained… if we give back the money…'
'It won't make a shred of difference. You know how ruthless he is. And he hates us! He hated Mother—you've always said so! Don't you see—he'd be delighted!'
Luisa felt her mind go numb with despair; everything Claudia was saying was true, she thought desperately. He would do that, it would be a kind of revenge, belated but savage, none the less sweet for being delayed. Claudia tugged at her hand.
'Don't you understand, Lou?' she cried. 'If that happens, I'm finished. Harry will never marry me then. Can't you just imagine his mother? She'd be delighted, of course… Oh, Lou, I wish I were dead!'
Automatically Luisa put her arms around her, trying to comfort her, though she felt like ice.
'There must be something we can do…'
'There's only one thing.' Claudia's voice was muffled, her face buried in Luisa's arms. Luisa felt her stiffen, hesitate. 'We… I… could go to Kit.' She broke off and gave another sob. 'Oh, Lou, I can't bear it. There's more, I can't tell you…'
'More?' Luisa reached down and lifted Claudia up, so her sister had to face her. She looked at her sternly, feeling suddenly sick. 'It's nothing to do with Kit, I hope?'
Claudia gave a wail of despair. 'Oh, I know what you think about Kit,' she said. 'But he's not so bad! He's better than his horrible brother. At least he's not cold, he…'
Luisa looked away. Her head had begun to ache; little sharp darts of pain moved behind her eyelids. She closed her eyes. Julius, and Kit. Would the past never go away?
'Luisa, listen, I'll have to tell you…' Claudia knelt up, and met her sister's eyes pleadingly. 'I… I told Kit. I told him yesterday. Well, I was out of my mind with worry, and he guessed something was wrong… so I told him. He said he'd help, Lou, he promised he would…'
'Help?' Luisa stared at her blankly. 'You mean, talk to Julius?'
'Of course not! He wouldn't give a damn what Kit said. No…' Claudia hesitated. 'He said he… could cover up for me.'
'Cover up for you?' Luisa gazed at her sister, her face hardening.
'Yes, listen, don't look like that! He said… if I could find a way of repaying the money, he'd see the books were fixed before the audit—so nothing showed, so they'd never be able to see anything had happened. Oh, Lou, can't you see—it's our only chance?'
'More lies, you mean?' Luisa could not keep the disgust from her voice.
'What does that matter?' Claudia stared at her angrily. 'That stupid old woman would have her money back, wouldn't she? We'd all be back to square one, minus the scandal. And then Harry and I…' She broke off. 'There's only one problem,' she muttered. 'Kit made a condition.'
'A condition?' Luisa drew in her breath sharply.
Claudia lowered her eyes. 'He said… he said he'd do it for me… if I… if I went to bed with him.'
'What?' Luisa felt the blood rush to her face; she stared at Claudia in horror. Defiantly Claudia looked up.
'Well,' she cried accusingly, 'is that so awful? He's always fancied me. He knows I'm not like you… I mean, it's scarcely a secret round the office that I'm… well, modern. He knows I sleep with Harry. Oh, for God's sake, Lou—I went on the pill when I was sixteen. Don't you see, it's a kind of a joke! Except he means it,' she finished dully.
'You think that's a joke?' Luisa's eyes blazed at her. 'It's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard!'
'Oh, don't be such a bloody prude!' Claudia glared at her, her face flushed, her eyes still shining with tears.
Something inside Luisa snapped. 'A prude? Is that what you call it?'
Claudia blushed; her mouth turned down sulkily. 'It would get me out of trouble,' she said hesitantly.
'If you had any moral sense whatsoever, you'd never have got into it in the first place.'
'Oh, shut up!' Claudia sprang angrily to her feet. 'I hate you sometimes, Luisa. Always preaching, always holier than thou. It's all very well for you to talk. You've never been in love in your life—you've never let a man so much as touch you as far as I can make out. So how can you possibly understand? I was desperate, can't you see? Desperate. And Julius is away. He's gone to Italy on that Red Brigade kidnapping case; he's coming back next week. By that time the audit will be done, and then I'm finished. Kit was my last chance, can't you see that?'
Luisa stared at her sister in silence.
'Julius is in Italy?' she said at last.
'Yes! But Kit's there as usual. He knows the place backwards, he's been there long enough. He has the key to the safe where the books are stored—he can fix it, Luisa, don't you see? No one else can.'
Luisa drew in her breath slowly, fighting the pain that shot behind her eyes. Her palms felt damp, and she rubbed them impatiently against her dress.
'Could I see Kit?' she said finally.
'Oh, Lou, would you!' Claudia sank to her knees again and took her hand. 'It would be all right then, I'm sure. If you offered to pay the money back. If Kit realises you know about it—I'm sure he'd back down about his… little bargain. You could explain about Harry… Please, Lou. I think it might work. Kit's so keen on you—he's always asking about you, and he doesn't like Julius much either. What good would it do Kit to tell his brother? Nothing! Please, Lou…'
Luisa looked at Claudia's flushed tearful face, and a wave of love and protectiveness moved her heart. She didn't want to see either of them, she thought; just the idea of meeting them, now, made her throat dry; but if it had to be, better Kit than Julius.
'If I do this…' she spoke hesitantly. 'If I see him, Claudia, will you promise me, absolutely, that you'll never do anything like that again?'
Impulsively Claudia flung her arms around her.
'Of course I will!' she cried. 'Oh, Luisa, bless you! I knew you would help me…'
Luisa looked away. 'Because of Harry,' she said gently. 'Because you love him…'
Claudia smiled happily, ignoring the tone of her sister's voice.
'You darling!' she cried. 'Oh, Lou, what should I do without you?'
'I can't imagine,' Luisa said drily. She stood up, slightly unsteadily. 'Could I see Kit tomorrow?'
'The sooner the better!' Claudia paused. 'How quickly can you get the money?'
'Quickly enough. Kit could arrange it, I expect. He handles the investments.' Luisa rubbed her hand against her forehead, trying to ease the pain, feeling suddenly exhausted. So many memories all jumbled and indistinct, were crowding in on her.
'It's strange,' she said. 'We saw them quite a lot once, when we were little. Especially Kit. Julius was older, always away at school. You wouldn't remember, of course.' She paused. 'We went to Scotland once, for the whole summer, just the four of us, with Aunt Con. Do you remember?'
'Vaguely. You and Julius were always going off together. It was pretty boring. I remember the house, though. It was on the edge of a loch, wasn't it?'
'Yes. Yes, it was.' Luisa shivered; the fire had burned very low. Absently she bent and poked at the coals, watching small darts of flame, blue and gold, flicker up, then die away again.
She sighed. 'It's so long ago. I'm not sure I'd recognise… Kit now.'
Claudia laughed. 'And whose fault is that? He was always trying to arrange a meeting, ever since I went to work there. It was you who wouldn't. You're stupid about all that.'
'Yes, maybe I am.' Luisa straightened up. 'Well, I'll see him tomorrow, shan't I?'
'Go in the morning,' Claudia said quickly. 'He's always there then. He uses his father's old office—the one at the head of the first stairs.' She paused. 'You will tread carefully, won't you, Lou—don't antagonise him.'
Luisa nodded. 'Maybe you'd better stay home tomorrow,' she said. 'Just till I've sorted everything out.'
'Fine by me. I can think of much better things to do anyway.' Claudia hesitated in the doorway, as Luisa turned away from her and crouched down before the dying fire, cradling the cat in her arms.
'Lou…' She hesitated. 'Do you think it'll really be all right? Will you be able to handle it?'
'Oh yes,' said Luisa, her voice level. 'I'll be able to handle it. I may only be a woman, but I'm more than a match for Kit Morrell.'
'And Julius?' Claudia called mockingly as she shut the door.
Luisa shivered, and did not answer. No, she thought silently, not for Julius. But that was all right; it was only Kit she had to deal with, not his celebrated barrister brother.
Unsought the memory of those cold grey eyes came back, and she shuddered involuntarily. It was the first time in her life she had seen hatred in another human being's face, she thought suddenly. She had been sixteen years old. Even then, she realised, even then it had carried such force that she had recognised it.
Oh no, she never wanted to encounter Julius Morrell again, and the one good thing in this whole horrible mess was that she still didn't need to.
CHAPTER TWO
The bus crawled. Anxiously Luisa looked at her watch, then leaned to the window, craning her neck to see down to the street below. They were still only in Piccadilly. The side streets, she saw, had been cordoned off; police cars were parked, blocking them off, their blue lights flashing. There had been another bomb scare that morning, in a Middle Eastern consulate, she had heard it on the radio. The centre of London seemed to have come to a complete halt. She hesitated; perhaps it would be quicker to walk?
But she decided against it. Deliberately she sat back in her seat, trying to calm herself. Claudia had said Kit would be there all morning. There was still plenty of time. She'd checked her last inventory from Morrell & Kennedy the previous, night. If she sold the last bonds, there would be enough: just. She could give it to Kit in cash if need be, within a couple of days.
She drew in a deep breath, fighting her rising nervousness. There was so little left now. And she'd had another letter from her father that morning, from Rome this time, with all the usual pleas, the usual excuses. She would have to send him something too, and then… She sighed. How much better it would have been, she thought sadly, if Aunt Con had never left it to her in the first place. Aunt Con had never liked Claudia. 'You might as well know, Luisa,' she'd said, in that clipped brisk voice of hers, 'that when I die, it's all coming to you. Not that there's much, but it's something.' She had laughed. 'If you've as much sense as I think you have, and you never marry, you'll find it useful some day.'
Luisa smiled sadly to herself at the memory. It was so typical of Aunt Con, who'd detested men all her life. Of course her prophecy had turned out to be only too true; she would never marry, she thought. And she wouldn't have Aunt Con's nest-egg either. But that didn't matter. It had come in useful. It had bought her father air tickets and whisky and the nearest thing he knew to peace of mind; it had bought Claudia an education. And now… What did it buy now? she thought bitterly. An ugly obscene cover-up, that was what it bought.
As the bus suddenly jolted forward again, she felt a terrible trapped panic start to rise up in her chest. She must, somehow, handle it, because if it all got to Julius…
Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a scene from her childhood. Kit, flushed, persuasive, trying to talk his way out of trouble. She couldn't remember what it was, the memory was elliptic, shifting… But she saw Kit clearly, swinging round to where she watched, mute, in a corner, while Julius strode up and down the room, his face white with anger. Julius hated lies, even then, she thought miserably. Oh, if Julius found out, it was all over.
Her hands shook as carefully she pushed back the heavy mahogany doors she remembered so well from her childhood. In the hall she paused. It was just as she had pictured it, unchanged in the ten years she had carefully avoided coming here. The photographs of the firm's founders on the walls: Mr Kennedy, long dead, without issue. Old Mr Morrell, pictured when he was in his thirties perhaps, outside the Law Courts… She paused. The reception desk was where it had always been, off a small room to the left. If she was quick, and quiet…
She tiptoed across the hall, making for the stairs. Yes, she was in luck. The girl at the desk was absorbed in some magazine; she didn't even look up. Luisa hurried silently up the stairs. At the first landing she paused, making sure she was obeying Claudia's instructions, and her own memory. Yes, there was the small corridor away from the main offices. From above came the muffled sound of typewriters. It was the end door; all the other rooms on that little wing were for filing.
She drew in her breath, fighting down the panic. There was a carpet here, and her feet made no sound. Quickly she reached the door, and, giving herself no time to hesitate, her breath coming quickly and painfully, she tapped lightly, opened it, and went in.
There was a man behind the desk. As she opened the door he straightened up from some papers, obviously startled. He stood there, unmoving, just looking at her, as if frozen, and Luisa also stood still, her mouth suddenly dry, staring at him. He had gone white, seemed incapable of movement, as if he were seeing a ghost, and as they looked at each other she saw the papers he held flutter from his hand to the floor. Neither spoke, but the sudden movement of the papers seemed to bring him back to life. His expression changed; fleetingly his eyes travelled over her, from her feet, back to her face. They rested there, too long. Then he smiled, a smile she disliked instantly, for it managed to register both admiration and insolence. He did not bend to pick up the papers. Quietly Luisa pushed the door shut behind her.
The room felt oppressively hot and airless, and charged with a peculiar tension. It was all Luisa could do to force herself to stand her ground. Hesitantly she stared at the man. He was dressed with an unexpected severity in a black suit, with a white shirt and plain dark tie. She would have expected something more flashy from Kit, she thought, a little wildly, and he was much older than she had anticipated. Don't be stupid, she told herself, it's ten years since you saw him, what do you expect? Not this, her mind said.
The man was startlingly handsome; there was now no trace in his face of the weakness she remembered. The planes of his face were harsh; deep lines were etched from nose to humourless mouth; the dark auburn hair that fell forward over his forehead did nothing to soften the drawn brows, the cold distrust of his eyes. You've changed, she wanted to say, but she could force no words out. Only a second or two had passed, but they stretched, seemed endless. It was he who spoke first.
'What a visitation,' he said. She saw his eyes fall to her long slender legs, back over her body to her hair, her face. Then he smiled, crookedly, insolently, and the curious spell was broken. Luisa found she was suddenly furiously angry. All the rage she had suppressed since speaking to Claudia welled up inside her with a terrifying force. This cheap, hateful man! How dared he smile at her like that, so knowingly, after what he had said to her sister! The room blurred for a second, re-focussed. She stepped forward.
'Mr Morrell?' she said coldly. 'You won't remember me…'
'On the contrary. I remember you perfectly well.' His voice, incisively cold, cut her off. 'It's Luisa, isn't it? Luisa Valway.'
Surprise, and something in the way in which he said her name, made Luisa hesitate. He sat down behind the desk, and crossed his legs, leaning back composedly, watching her.
'Don't look so surprised.' He gestured to a chair in front of the desk. 'Do sit down. After all, you've a very memorable face. So have all your family, of course.'
Luisa felt the colour flame into her cheeks. She had not expected this, and he was so much more formidable than she had remembered. She cleared her throat.
'I won't sit down,' she said quietly. 'This won't take long. I think you must know why I'm here.'
'Must I?' He raised his eyebrows, and Luisa felt her temper rise again.
'I would have thought so,' she said scornfully. 'I've come about my sister.'
'Really?' he drawled. 'You mean you're still devoting your life to protecting her?'
He spoke quietly, and as he did so, his eyes met hers. His gaze, grey-eyed, cold, did not falter, and for a moment Luisa was reminded of his brother. She drew in her breath and steadied herself. It would do no good to get angry, she thought desperately, she mustn't antagonise him, somehow she had to be persuasive. She hesitated and then gave him the sweetest smile she could manage.
'Maybe I will sit down after all.'
'Do.'
He made no move, and so, nervously, she drew out the heavy chair. When she was seated, she clasped her hands together and leaned forward, fixing him with her eyes.
'Claudia's told me everything, you see,' she began. 'She told me last night.'
'Everything?' For a moment she saw his face change, saw something like anxiety come into his eyes and it gave her courage. She rushed on.
'Yes. She told me about the money and…' She broke off. 'Please, can't you understand?' She looked at him pleadingly. 'She should never have done what she did, but she does realise that now. It will never happen again. She's terribly ashamed, she's ill with worry about it. But we could repair the damage, I know we could!' She paused. 'I… I've checked all my investments. If they're sold, I can let you have all the money she took. As soon as you like. In cash if need be, so that it can be repaid immediately.' She broke off. His face had darkened, and the expression on it terrified her, but he said nothing.
The Devil's Advocate Page 2
