Players

by Karen Swan

  Cress watched, intrigued by nature at work. Or rather, at play. For there, behind the pear tree thirty yards down the garden, shadows were moving. She leant out of the chair and squinted, trying to make out what they were, but the tree obscured her view.

  The fox was less interested in deciphering the situation than in getting the hell away from it, and it galloped over to the boundary fence, dipping beneath a partly broken-off section of panelling and disappearing from sight.

  Cress blinked at the dusk. She was sure it wasn’t another animal, even though the sounds coming from the pear tree suggested as much. The shape was moving but then split, the sapphire blue sky leaping between the inky silhouettes.

  The shadows stood up and moved around the tree looking for a suitable spot, before conjoining again and carrying on as before. Cress inhaled sharply as she realized what she was seeing. The couple’s bare skin gleamed like alabaster as they inched into the moonbeams, and when one of the figures tipped back its head, her blonde hair streamed down like weeping willow to a pond. She was facing the tree, her arms braced against a branch, her breasts bouncing rhythmically.

  Cress stiffened, flooded with outrage that this was happening in her own garden. What if one of the children was to see? Or the neighbours? She got up, in a fury, and rushed into the kitchen to turn on the switch for the outdoor lights. She hesitated as she tried to remember which one was which. The lighting system, inside and out, was state of the art but it still didn’t mean she knew how to use it. She was determined to stop their little peepshow once and for all.

  But then something else occurred to her. Something better. Even Mark wouldn’t tolerate this. It was what she’d been waiting for – the sackable offence. Finally, Little Miss Perfect had strayed and now she could get rid of her. Out of their lives, for good.

  Cress skipped silently up the stairs and across the landing. The door was ajar and she peeked in, already anticipating her husband’s comforting shape beneath the blankets, his pillow pushed up against the headboard, one long leg thrown out as he slowly and customarily overheated.

  Except that he wasn’t there. He was standing at the window. And the curtains were wide, wide open.

  ‘I wonder if I can stain it?’ Harry asked idly, twiddling a strawberry in Kate’s belly-button. ‘Then you’ll look like you’re studded with rubies and you can join my harem. You do belly-dance, I take it?’

  He laughed as Kate whacked him over the head with a cushion.

  ‘Thought not. You’re just not that kind of girl,’ he said, popping the strawberry in her mouth and pulling himself on top of her again, pinning her arms above her head. ‘But then you’re not like any girl I’ve ever met. And I’ve met a few.’

  He kissed her deeply, feeling hungry for her all over again. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her. She’d been everything he predicted – wanton, athletic, fierce and demanding. His match.

  ‘I guess I should have believed what I read after all,’ she laughed, pulling away for air. ‘You’re insatiable.’

  ‘You can’t say you weren’t warned,’ he said, running a finger down her nose.

  ‘I need more . . .’ she raised her eyebrows provocatively, watching the smile creep on to his lips. ‘Water. I don’t want to get drunk and let you have your wicked way with me.’

  ‘If you don’t consider everything we’ve just done to be wicked, then you really are my dream woman,’ he said, kissing her hard, before reluctantly getting up and crossing the room to the fridge. For an impromptu seduction, they’d done pretty well: the poolhouse boasted piles and piles of towels and blankets, and a basket of strawberries, a hand of bananas and an unopened bottle of Bollinger had kept their energy levels up for their twilight tryst.

  Harry poured her a glass of water and watched as she got up from the sofa and walked over to the doors, looking out at the dawn, which was already burning the sky into hot coral. She stretched easily, like a cat, and he admired her physique. She was so unlike his usual cadaverous conquests. Her body was strong, responsive, ripe. Well, in all but one capacity. Which reminded him . . .

  He walked up behind her and handed her the glass, sweeping her hair away with a hand to kiss the back of her neck. ‘So. Are you going to tell me what happened last night? Or just leaving me to assume that you couldn’t resist my legendary charms a second longer?’

  He put a hand on her chin and turned her face to him, kissing her lightly on the mouth. He drew back, his eyes twinkling. But tears were standing on guard in Kate’s, her bottom lip trembling.

  ‘Hey, hey,’ he said, drawing her in to him and enfolding her in his warm chest. He walked her over to the sofa and sat her on his lap, smoothing her hair rhythmically as the tears dropped and she recounted the overheard conversation in the loos.

  ‘If you hadn’t made the comment about playing happy families,’ she hiccupped. ‘We’d still be none the wiser. How much longer would it have gone on for? Months? Years? Forever?’

  Harry shook his head. ‘I’m so sorry. I thought you knew. I never would have said it if I’d thought for a moment you didn’t. It was just a flippant comment.’ He kissed her shoulder. ‘It just made me see red. After seeing your distress at Lucy’s – and then to watch them flaunting their family in front of you like that, playing “father and son” in the water, while you had to look on and swallow it . . .’

  Kate nodded, looking back on the previous day’s merriment with fresh eyes, new anger. What about all the holidays they’d shared with them? The Christmases? And now the cottage in Burnham Market – bought at their hearty encouragement.

  ‘I feel so betrayed by them. By the entire family. How could they keep us so close to them? I’m Billy’s godmother, for God’s sake. What kind of family are they?’

  ‘One I keep well away from,’ Harry said darkly. ‘They’ve brought me nothing but misery.’

  Kate looked at him, remembering the animosity she’d seen between the two men at every encounter.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  There was a pause and Harry dropped his head.

  ‘White made my life a misery at Eton,’ he said. ‘My father was a beak there – a Latin master. It meant I was entitled to go there too. But White’s a snob, always hung with the aristo crowd. Never saw me as a fully paid-up member. Said I got in through the back door. That kind of thing. ’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘White was in the same house as me. And our fathers were good friends – had gone to Cambridge together – so it became quite usual for me to go and stay with them all in the holidays. My mother died when I was fourteen and Pa often used to go on sabbaticals after term ended, so I’d stay with them over Easter and some of the summer.’

  ‘So what changed?’ Kate prompted.

  ‘I had a fling with Lily. Nothing serious. Just a one-time thing but they all totally flipped. Banged on about boundaries and honour. They’re big on honour in that family. They take their royal connection pretty seriously.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, they booted me out, and ever since then, I’ve been in the deep freeze.’

  Kate smiled. ‘Well, I can’t say I blame him entirely. You do seem to have a track record for going off with his women.’ Harry looked at her. ‘Coralie?’

  ‘Oh, her! Right.’ He shrugged and chuckled. ‘Well, what can I say? He may find them first but it’s hardly my fault if they end up choosing me when there’s a choice.’

  Kate rolled her eyes. ‘God, you’re a conceited pig.’

  He reached an arm out and started massaging her neck. ‘You never had a thing with him, did you?’

  She raised an eyebrow, amused. ‘Why? Would it make me more attractive to you if I had?’

  ‘No. You couldn’t possibly be more irresistible to me.’ He paused. ‘But did you?’

  She giggled. ‘No. He’s spent far too much time examining my bits to see me as anything other than a medical conundrum.’ She sniffed. ‘Besides, I was very happily married at the time. Wasn’t looking.’

  ‘Well, I
promise you one thing. I too intend to spend a very long time examining your bits, because the only conundrum I have is why I can’t get enough of you.’ His hand drifted down between her thighs and began to explore, expertly, exquisitely.

  ‘Mmmmmm.’ She tipped her head back, eyes closed, as she felt the tip of his tongue at the base of her throat.

  ‘It’s obviously not a hard and fast rule though,’ she mumbled.

  ‘What isn’t?’

  ‘Not seeing his patients as sexual beings.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  But Kate couldn’t answer. He had started doing something with his thumb that made it very hard to concentrate.

  When she didn’t answer, he took the thumb away and looked at her, his eyes inquisitive.

  ‘Huh? Why’ve you stopped?’ she gasped.

  ‘Are you saying he sleeps with his patients?’

  ‘What? Oh no! God, no!’ she laughed. ‘That would be one helluvan allegation to make.’

  ‘So what did you mean then?’

  ‘Last night, I walked in on him and Tor – a former patient. I found them in bed together. It was just after I had found out about Billy. I needed to talk to someone and . . . well, I interrupted them. In flagrante delicto, as your father would no doubt say.’ She winked.

  Harry’s mind raced. James White and the pretty little interiors girl. Well, well. He hadn’t predicted that. He looked back at Kate.

  ‘Do you think it’s been going on for long?’

  Kate shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I doubt it. Tor’s not the kind of woman to have an affair.’

  Harry looked at her, his eyes aflame. ‘There’s no such thing as a woman who doesn’t cheat.’

  Kate gasped. ‘You bloody misogynist!’ she cried, slapping his arm.

  He grabbed her wrist and held it fast. ‘Well, answer me this. Up until last night, did you think you would?’

  She looked at him, lost for words. He was hurting her wrist a bit and his intensity was unsettling. He loosened the grip and pressed her wrist between his lips.

  ‘I’m not trying to call anyone names,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m just saying, none of us is immune to temptation. Not even your prim friend.’

  ‘Tor’s not prim. She just happened to have the perfect marriage. There’s no way she would have cheated on Hugh when he was alive. And she probably only slept with James because she was drunk and lonely, and he was a shoulder to cry on. I’ll bet they’re both regretting it this morning.’

  He kissed the palm of her hand, his previous focus gone.

  ‘I’m sure you’re right. About Tor, anyway. But don’t be fooled by James. Lord White isn’t quite as honourable as he likes everyone to think. He’s every bit as capable as me at doing whatever it takes to get what he wants.’ He smiled. ‘It’s what makes him such a worthy opponent.’

  Kate looked at him. ‘You actually enjoy warring with him, don’t you?’

  Harry looked at her, his eyes hooded and dancing.

  ‘Of course. I don’t believe that it’s love that makes the world go round, Kate. It’s hate that drives us forward. It makes us try to get away from things, to change things. You can never be complacent with hate. Love just makes you lazy and takes your eye off the ball.’

  ‘That’s unbelievably cynical.’

  Harry shrugged. ‘It’s the truth, though no one else will dare say it. But I’m not interested in living my life by tired old clichés. I accept life for what it is and squeeze what I need from it. I’m not looking for reconciliation or forgiveness from the Whites. I’m where I am now largely because of events which have happened between me and that family.’

  ‘Sleeping with Lily, you mean?’

  ‘That was the springboard, yes. It was the catalyst for the feud. They threw me out and I had to sink or swim. So I swam, and became an icon in the process. And that’s pissed them off no end, ever since. It isn’t “just” that I should be unrepentant or successful following my grievous transgression. Make no mistake, James is after me. And he won’t stop. Not until he’s satisfied he’s broken me.’

  Kate put her hands out in puzzlement. ‘Won’t stop what? I don’t understand. What is it he’s doing to you?’

  Harry looked at her, one hand idly cupping her naked breast. The moment couldn’t be more perfect. ‘He’s blackmailing me.’

  Kate jumped up in shock.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ she cried. ‘James wouldn’t do a thing like that!’

  ‘Wouldn’t he? You don’t think he’s capable of deception? Even in light of his lies to you and Monty?’ Harry shrugged. ‘I’m not going to try and convince you of anything Kate. It’s my problem. I’ll sort it out.’

  Kate stalked the room, her hands rubbing her temples, trying to make her brain work. ‘But why? What does he want? Not money surely? James is minted.’

  ‘No. This isn’t about money. Revenge? Honour? Who knows? He won’t admit to anything.’

  ‘So if he’s not getting money out of you, then what?’

  ‘Power.’

  Kate stared at him.

  ‘He’s got Cressida in his pocket.’

  ‘Cressida? Cress, your publisher?’

  ‘Cress, my publisher. Your friend.’ He watched her closely. ‘So you didn’t know, then?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t!’ she cried indignantly. ‘Why on earth would I?’

  She seemed genuine.

  Kate turned her back to him and looked out at the grounds. Her dress was still floating in the pool. She couldn’t believe her friend was being implicated in this mess.

  She turned back and leaned against the back of a chair, her arms folded but beneath rather than across her breasts, causing them to swell pleasingly. Her long legs were crossed at the ankles and her chin had tipped up, making her look haughty and austere. It was a pose he had seen her strike many times in her starched pinstripes, and the sight of her doing it now, butt naked, made him instantly hard again.

  ‘Tell me everything,’ she demanded.

  ‘When we were at Eton, a boy in our house died. Fell off the roof of the boarding house. There was a route where the buildings were close enough for you to jump between the Brewhouse Gallery and Baldwin’s Bec, our house. After lights out, we’d stuff our beds with clothes and scramble out of the windows and on to the roof. It was an initiation thing.

  ‘Anyway, one night, I was going up with another boy, Hillier, who hadn’t done it before. He was supposed to follow my path. No one knew we were going, but White saw me as we climbed on to the guttering. He said Hillier was too young and that he’d get a beak if we didn’t come down. I just ignored him. I knew he wouldn’t rat on us. But he did.’ Harry’s mouth set in a bitter line. ‘We were nearly round when I saw some of the lights come on in the dorm. I knew we had to get back and pretend we’d been in the loos. So I rushed ahead, thinking he could keep up. All I could think was – if I was rusticated, it could hurt my father’s career. Next thing, I heard a scream and . . .’ His hands had gone to his ears, as though he could still hear it, twenty years later.

  He stood still, staring at his feet. ‘I never told anyone I had been up there with him. And neither did White, surprisingly. I think he felt guilty that his dobbing may have played a part in Hillier’s fall. We never even talked to each other about it. It was our shared secret. I thought we’d go to our graves with it.’

  ‘But what has this got to do with Cress?’

  ‘When my contract was up for grabs, she contacted me saying she’d go public about Hillier unless I signed with her. The only way she could possibly have known about him was through White. She was his patient too, right?’

  Kate nodded.

  ‘So it looks like he keeps in touch with his patients – former or otherwise – for all sorts of reasons.’

  Kate nodded, but didn’t speak. She was absorbing his words, trying to re-cast the James of old in this new mould which had been poured in the past twelve hours. As for Cress, well – she’d known she was ambitious
, but this was beyond the pale. She didn’t know whether to hate her friend for being so unscrupulous, or whether to admire her balls for blackmailing one of the biggest icons in the world.

  ‘And you didn’t mention this before – when we were discussing the issue of blackmail – because . . . ?’

  ‘Because with my reputation, shagging a girl four months before her fifteenth birthday probably isn’t that surprising. But being on the roof when a boy fell to his death? I don’t think the public could forgive that. Even though I had no direct hand in it, White was right. I never should have let him come up there with me. And anyway, it’s not like White’s trying to expose me. He’s not extorting me. He’s just shackled me. It’s control by proxy.’

  Kate felt her anger steadily rise at James’s self-righteousness and arrogance. She’d had enough of him.

  ‘But that’s not fair! It was an accident. He has no right to use this over you, just because he’s angry you slept with Lily,’ Kate said indignantly.

  Harry shrugged.

  She picked up his crumpled dinner shirt and slung it on. She had to get back to the Lodge before Monty woke up.

  ‘Well,’ she said, regaining her calm. ‘Let’s keep it between us for now. We’ll find a way out of this.’

  Harry walked over to her. ‘You’re probably right.’ A wolfish grin crossed his face. ‘I’m coming to realize you usually are.’

  Kate grinned back, as she buttoned up. ‘Damn right, baby.’

  Then, ‘I need to get back,’ she said defensively, recognizing the hungry look in his eyes.

  There was a long silence as they both thought about her going back to her sleeping husband.