by Jane Corrie
`You'll go when I say so, and not before,' Janus
said quietly. 'You haven't answered my question. Where did you find it?'
Rebecca glared at him. What a persistent devil he was, she thought, as she sought for an answer. `I don't see why I should answer that,' she said haughtily, 'or what right you have in putting me through this third degree,' and as she said this, she moved to one side and started to make for the door. At least that was the idea, but Janus Leon had other ideas, and she found herself swung round to face him again.
This latest unceremonious manhandling of his was the last straw for Rebecca, and her hand was automatically raised to deliver a sharp slap at his handsome face in rebuke for such treatment, but she never made the contact. Her hand was caught in a vice-like hold that made her wince in pain.
`I'm not one of your admirers,' he said harshly. `You'd do well to remember that, particularly as we're going to' see a lot of each other in the future. I'm going to make you a proposition that you'll be wise to accept, unless you want to find yourself behind bars.' He gave her a wolfish grin. 'I think I can afford you now, Miss Lindsey,' he added meaningly.
Rebecca's eyes gave their reply before she said slowly, 'Are you blackmailing me, Mr Leon?'
Janus Leon's dark brows shot up at this. 'Now who said anything about blackmail?' he asked blandly. 'I do you a favour and you do me one. It's as simple as that,' he said smoothly.
`And if I refuse?' she asked, knowing the answer
full well, but she wanted to be clear about' it.
He gave a nonchalant shrug of his broad shoulders. 'I should have thought that would have been' obvious.' His eyes went slowly over her slight figure. 'You are attractive. I'll give you that, but I'm not interested in your vital statistics. I happen to be old-fashioned enough to look beyond a pretty face. It's what's underneath that counts. Strip you of that gorgeous wrapping and what do we have? A pushing little go-getter who happens to have light fingers. You know,' he drawled, 'I could even forget all that, it must be hard for you mixing with the wealthy, so from your point it's understandable. What I'm not prepared to overlook are your high minded views, your innate snobbery. I loathe snobs, and it's time someone pulled you off that pedestal you've put yourself on. I shall enjoy every moment of it, too,' he added harshly.
Rebecca's eyes fell away from his disdainful look, and she studied the hem of her dress. She was in a tight spot and it was too late to wish they were on better terms so that she could appeal to his sense of fair play. He was out for revenge and in no mood for compromise. She sighed inwardly, if only she could get him to take the brooch to Sir George and make his accusation to him, but if he did as he had threatened, and took it to Caroline Carmichael—she swallowed. There was a lot she was prepared to do for Laura, but there were limits. Perhaps, she thought hopefully, if she told him the whole story he would see how it was; and why it was so imperative to keep Laura's part out of it.
`Look,' she said quietly, 'I'll tell you what really
happened, and if you still want to make trouble then there's nothing I can do about it,' and she went on to tell him how she had found the brooch in Laura's room. 'She found it in 'the passage,' she said. 'She only wanted to annoy Mrs Carmichael. You must have noticed that they don't get on,' she added. 'There was no question of her keeping the brooch, but when there was such a hue and cry about it, and Mrs Carmichael practically accused her of taking it, which Laura rightly denied at the time, she saw how stupid she'd been, and I offered to help her get rid of it.' She took a deep breath. 'I was going to leave it in the conservatory, as I told you.'
Her eyes watched Janus Leon's expression and seeing a sceptical look appear in his blue eyes, she knew he refused to believe her. 'That's a bit low, isn't it?' he said silkily. 'Involving John's sister. Got it in for her, have you, because she doesn't see you as John's wife?'
Rebecca was back to the mad stage. She had told him the truth. The fact of the matter was that he couldn't bear to lose an opportunity of paying her out. 'Ask her!' she snapped furiously. 'I wouldn't have told you, only I had no choice. All I ask is that you keep quiet about it for Laura's sake.'
`I see,' he said blandly. 'I just go up to her and enquire politely if she swiped Mrs Carmichael's brooch, is that it?' he asked sarcastically. 'I'm not such a fool. I've no intention of letting myself in for a defamation of character suit, thank you, particularly as I don't believe a word of it!' He studied her for a long moment, then said, smoothly, as if
talking about the weather, 'Now I'll tell you what I shall do. I shall "find" the brooch in the conservatory. Under the circumstances, I'm sure you won't mind if I use your idea on that,' he said smoothly. 'In return for my co-operation you will accept the post of my private secretary.' He gave her a long calculating stare. 'I've a yen for a glamorous secretary,' he added, giving her a wolfish grin. 'Like a status symbol, I guess. Some folk go for a Rolls-Royce, but my taste is a little more exotic.'
During this time Rebecca felt as though a net had been thrown over her, she could almost feel the silken strands weaving around her figure, and knew a moment's panic. He, couldn't be serious, surely? Was he just enjoying himself? she Wondered.
She was not long left in doubt. 'We shall travel,' Janus went on. 'Madeira for a start. I've some unfinished business there.' He gave her another of those bright stares of his. 'If you've not got an up-to-date passport, I'd advise you to get cracking and get it in order. We'll be leaving in about three weeks' time. After that, there'll be a visit back to the old country,' he went on, apparently unaware of Rebecca's stunned expression. `Dad'll be tickled pink to meet you. That was one piece of advice he gave me in the early days,' he added, with a wicked grin. 'He told me to get myself a pretty secretary, then he'd know I'd made it.'
Rebecca's lovely blue eyes stared at him. 'You're mad!' she gasped breathlessly, and took a deep breath. 'If this is a joke, then it's gone far enough!'
she declared coldly.
His expression hardened. 'I mean every word, and you'd better believe it,' he said harshly. 'You have until tomorrow to make up your mind. Take an early breakfast. I'll be waiting,' he advised her grimly. 'If you refuse then I go to Mrs Carmichael with the facts,' and so saying, he turned and opened the door, allowing Rebecca to make her escape. ,`Sleep on it,' he said hatefully. But don't underestimate me.'
CHAPTER SIX
REBECCA went straight to her room. She was in no mood to talk to Laura, not even to reassure her that all was well.
It might be all well with Laura, but Rebecca could hardly say the same about her own state of affairs! Through no fault of her own, she had landed herself in trouble up to her neck.
When she was in her room, she walked towards her bed and sat down wearily. How on earth had she allowed herself to be talked into doing something she did not want to do? Her smooth brow creased in a frown. Well, she had not said yes yet. She sighed. What was the use of pretending? She was going to do exactly what Janus wanted her to do. She had no choice, and he knew it. He had ended all speculation in that line when he had casually said he would hand her over to Caroline
Carmichael to deal with.
Her small hands clenched as she recalled his voice as he had uttered this threat. Almost as if he had known that that was the last thing that Rebecca had wanted, not to mention Laura, and the ensuing result of such an action.
Her soft lips twisted. He was clever; she had to give him that, as much as she disliked him. She drew in a deep breath. It was no use trying to think up some way she could extricate herself from his clutches. He had meant every word. To be strictly honest with herself, she could understand his reasoning. She had continually snubbed him that whole week, and he was not used to that kind of treatment, certainly not from a woman! He was experienced enough to know that she was not in love with John and had assumed she was only after a title and the money to go with it.
On the face of things, she must appear pretty cheap to him, she thought wearily, not that she cared wha
t he thought about her—She frowned again. No, that was not strictly true. She did care, she wouldn't have been human if she didn't. Perhaps she was a snob, and he was right in that. It was a fact that she had never fallen in love, and had never been attracted by any man. She was much too critical, expected much more of them. In fact, the kind of man she might have loved simply did not exist, and she was most certainly not going to settle for second best.
She moved restlessly. Janus knew none of this, so it was easy for him to condemn her. She got up, and straightened her back. It was time she put
Laura into the picture. There would be no occasion to have a quick word with her in the morning, Laura was nearly always the last down to breakfast, and what she had to tell her was going to take some explaining, especially after her previous assertion that she did not care for Janus Leon. If the news that she was going to work for him was suddenly sprung on her the following morning, the chances were that she would put two and two together and come up with the right answer, forcing her to own up.
After giving a light tap on Laura's door, she slipped into her friend's room and found her ready for bed, but still stretched out on the counterpane reading her paperback, and when she glanced up and saw Rebecca, she gave a lift of her eyebrows and asked, 'All clear on the Western Front?'
Rebecca nodded. 'It will be "found",' she said, and sat down on the bed beside her.
Laura's sigh of relief showed that she must have been holding her breath until Rebecca's return, and making Rebecca glad that she had decided to call in on her. 'What do I do?' Laura asked with a grin, 'wander into the conservatory, and say "Hey presto!" and produce it?'
Rebecca shook her head. 'Too obvious,' she said, with her tongue in her cheek, because that was probably how Janus Leon was going to play it. 'I should leave it for another enterprising soul to discover it—probably your father,' she added for good measure, and at Laura's nod of agreement, went on hastily, 'Laura, what would you say if I told you that Janus Leon's offered me the job of
private secretary?' she asked.
Laura's eyebrows shot up at this. 'I'd say you're a lucky devil,' she said forthrightly, and gave Rebecca a hard stare. 'You're not going to refuse it, are you?' she asked with a look of incredulity. `You are!' she exclaimed accusingly. 'Honestly,' she added with exasperation, 'what wouldn't I give for such a chance! Why—I'd take a secretarial course right now if I thought he'd wait that long,' she declared fervently, and added indignantly, 'and I think it's pretty good of him, considering the way you've given him the run-around this week.'
Rebecca's brows lifted. 'I've done no such thing,' she declared, equally indignant. 'He was only out to annoy John, anyway. And I took those notes for him, didn't I?' she finished.
`Was that when he asked you?' asked Laura interestedly. 'I'll bet you turned him down then, didn't you? He looked a bit put out, I thought, at dinner.'
Rebecca looked away from Laura and stared at the rich carpet on the floor. 'I said I'd think about it,' she lied, 'and tonight he asked me again,' this time telling the truth, only there was no asking, only telling, on that occasion.
`I see,' Laura replied thoughtfully, 'and he wants your reply before he leaves in the morning, does he? Well, what are you going to do? Take it? You'd be a fool to turn it down, you know. I suppose,' she added candidly, 'you don't fancy being chased round the office desk on the odd occasion.' She grinned. 'I told you he'd got his eye on you, didn't I? That you should be so lucky,' she ended envi-
ously. 'I think he's gorgeous!'
Rebecca gave her a pitying look. 'I've worked for him before, remember, and there was no horseplay then. It was strictly business—I wouldn't contemplate it otherwise,' she added firmly.
Laura looked up at her swiftly. 'You've decided to take it, then?' she asked.
Rebecca nodded. 'As you said, it's a chance I can't really turn down. Especially as he mentioned travel.' She kept her eyes averted from her friend. `I've always wanted to travel,' she added. 'I suppose,' she tacked on diffidently, 'I just want a push. That's why I wanted to talk it over with you.'
Laura's eyes shot up to heaven. 'The woman's mad!' she declared emphatically. 'Well, if you want my advice, I'd say, accept the job. Chances like that come only once. You'll only be kicking yourself if you turn it down, especially when you get back to the College and all those dull dons.'
`They're not dull!' Rebecca replied half indignantly and half amused, 'just a bit absentminded—the older ones, anyway.'
`Well, that's settled, then,' Laura said firmly, and scrambled off the bed. 'Now, off you go to bed, before I turn green with envy,' and she walked over to the door and opened it before Rebecca could say anything more, and gave her a gentle shove out into the passage.
As Rebecca prepared herself for bed, she told herself she ought to be congratulated on carrying out her mission so successfully, since there was no chance now of Laura suspecting any foul play and all she had to do was accept Janus Leon's ultimatum.
Now that it was done, Rebecca felt an odd sense of relief. She had burnt her boats, and curious as it seemed, was not in any panic over the thought.
If anything did worry her it was how she was going to explain her extraordinary turn-around in Janus Leon's favour to John, and she vaguely hoped she would get Janus's co-operation in keeping the matter quiet until she had had a chance to speak to John about it.
There was also her job at the College. Giving in
her notice was not going to be easy. They would find someone else, of course, she was not vain enough to think that she was irreplaceable, but there was no doubt that several of the College intellectuals would be very put out by her leaving. They were used to her, and she was used to them, and each had their own way of going about things, little idiosyncrasies that would have to be learned the hard way by whoever took over the post.
Rebecca sighed. It might be as well if she just took off. They would have to accept someone else then, and she was not looking forward to the fort-night's training she would have to give her successor either, for she knew only too well the little tricks her learned employers would get up to to discourage the unfortunate applicant. Her mind was still busy on these thoughts when sleep claimed her.
When she awoke the following morning, she was aware of a feeling of expectation, of a lightness of heart that she had never felt before, and as she dressed after her bath, she tried to pinpoint this extraordinary happening.
On the face of things, she should have been
dreading what looked like a very uncertain future, yet deep inside df her she could only realise a sense of release. Release from a sameness that bad been her life's pattern until now, and a release from the fear that she was wasting time. A fear that had been with her since Barbara's amused but accurate remarks about her cloistered existence at the College.
When she had brushed her hair, her thoughts turned inevitably to Janus Leon, and as she stared at her reflection in the dressing table mirror, she recalled what he had said about not being attracted to her.
Was it this that had decided her? she wondered, for had he shown any inclination towards a romantic dalliance with her she would have found some way out of her dilemma, although what, she had no idea, for men like Janus Leon did not make idle threats, and she was certain he had read the situation right, hence his veiled threat of giving the brooch to Caroline Carmichael, and that was the last thing Rebecca hdd wanted. Her soft mouth twisted wryly. Had she stolen the brooch, she would have considered herself lucky to have got off so lightly.
In spite of her earlier expectant feelings, Rebecca experienced a twinge of anxiety as she went down to breakfast, mainly on Laura's behalf in case things did not go right, and the whole wretched business was exposed.
To her surprise, she found Laura already at breakfast, an almost unheard-of state of affairs, as she, like Caroline, was always the last down, and this only increased Rebecca's anxiety, as it was
apparent that she was not the only one worrying about the
outcome.
This, however, was not the only thing on Rebecca's mind. There was the delicate task of giving her reply to Janus, for until she did, the brooch would not be 'found.' This thought seemed to conjure up his presence, because at that precise moment he walked into the dining room, and bade the girls a hearty, 'Good morning.'
John arrived shortly after this, and by now Rebecca was getting slightly desperate and could not see any way of communicating her reply to Janus. She could hardly announce her acceptance of the job in front of John, who would be bound to be shocked, if not absolutely furious!
It only wanted Mrs Carmichael's presence, she thought miserably, to put the cap on things. There was no possibility of privacy while she was around. Her insensitive way of intruding upon others' conversation ensured this.
While she toyed with the frugal breakfast she had helped herself to, she watched Janus and John help themselves liberally to the selection on the sideboard, and was acutely aware of Janus, and how his bright blue stare rested on her face in a contemplative manner before he turned his attention to his food.
Had Rebecca but known it, this was the lull before Laura put a spanner in the works by calmly saying to Janus as he sat down beside her, 'So you've pinched our Rebecca, have you? You wouldn't like to wait until I've gone through a secretarial course, would you?' she added hopefully,
then grinned. 'Of course, I wouldn't be half so efficient as she is.'
Rebecca's startled eyes went from Laura to Janus, whose self-satisfied smile made her want to refute Laura's words, and then went to John, who had just started to tackle his food but now stared at her, his meal forgotten.
