A Question of Marriage

by Lindsay Armstrong

  Aurora groaned.

  ‘That’s highly complimentary,’ he remarked, his eyes bright with devilry.

  ‘I was only groaning because the thought of more food after that barbecue is enough to sink me!’ she informed him.

  ‘I’m demolished,’ he murmured.

  She kissed him back. ‘No, you’re not. In fact, you’re still playing games with me, Luke. I haven’t quite figured out what they are, but I will!’ She removed his hands from her waist and slipped off the table. ‘See you at tea,’ she said pertly, and left him watching her with a rather wry expression.

  But once she was out of sight, she paused to ask herself what kind of games she thought she was playing. And groaned inwardly this time.

  The rest of their stay at Beltrees passed without incident—until a couple of hours before they were due to leave and Sir David fell off his horse and broke his arm, as well as concussing himself. With the result that he and Luke were flown to the Charleville hospital, and Aurora continued on alone to Brisbane.

  She’d assured Luke that she quite understood and he was not to worry about her. He’d kissed her briefly and openly, and told her he’d be in touch as soon as he got back to Brisbane, himself.

  She did wonder if he’d instruct Miss Hillier to return her diaries to her, but, when a few days went by and nothing happened, consoled herself with the thought that Luke probably had his safe keys on him. But when a few more days went by with no word from him, she began to feel tense and annoyed and, quite irrationally, not only on the subject of her diaries.

  This was a man, after all, who made a habit of either kissing her or thinking about it, then leaving her dangling. Well, it was time she took a stand, she decided. So she rang Miss Hillier, discovered he was due home that day, and informed his secretary that she required an audience with him that evening, come hell or high water.

  Miss Hillier demurred, and even protested that she had no control over his movements, but subsided when Aurora threatened to move into her old home.

  She chose a severely tailored dark green linen suit for the appointment and wore black accessories. She put her hair up in a no-nonsense pleat and put on the minimum of make-up, then added a bit of blusher because she not only looked but felt a bit pale. Finally, there was nothing left to do but drive up the hill to her old home.

  Miss Hillier let her in with an expression of concern on her face. ‘He’s not in a very good mood,’ she said in little more than a whisper.

  ‘Neither am I,’ Aurora whispered back. ‘All right, lead me into the lion’s den.’

  ‘He’s just come in and he’s on the phone. Take a seat in the lounge and I’ll bring you a cup of—’

  ‘Could you make that a brandy and soda?’ Aurora requested. ‘My moral fibre needs a bit of a boost.’

  Surprisingly, Miss Hillier chuckled. ‘I might even have one myself.’

  Ten minutes later, when Aurora had half finished her brandy and soda, Luke strode into the lounge.

  ‘Aurora,’ he said abruptly, ‘sorry to keep you waiting. And I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch but complications set in—my father developed pneumonia.’

  ‘Oh.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. How—?’

  ‘He’s going to be all right, but it was touch and go for a while,’ he interrupted, and his gaze fell on the glass beside her, then came back to rest on her face with a tinge of satire in those dark eyes. Nor was his manner of dress any consolation to Aurora. In a charcoal pinstripe suit with a pale grey shirt and dark tie, he was an impressive but distant figure.

  He also said, with his gaze on the glass again, ‘It would appear you’ve come on a mission, Aurora. Let me guess—your diaries?’

  Aurora took a breath and wondered a little wildly how to proceed. In the light of his father’s health he could conceivably be forgiven for forgetting her diaries, and normally she would have forgiven him, but that wasn’t all there was between them—or was it? Why else would he not have contacted her? Why else would he be this formal, distant stranger to her now? Why should she be made to feel the last thing he needed on his mind was her and her diaries?

  She swallowed, then forced herself to relax. ‘I am very sorry to hear about your father, but I’d rather you didn’t tower over me like this, Luke.’

  He sat down opposite. ‘Better?’ This time there was a tinge of insolence in his expression.

  She eyed him. ‘I believe you’re not in a very good mood?’

  He smiled unamusedly. ‘I believe you and Miss Hillier must be in cahoots again.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Unfortunately I have another appointment shortly, so could we get down to brass tacks?’

  Aurora took a very deep breath this time. ‘All right. This has gone on long enough. I want my diaries back now. I’m about to enter a new era of my life and I need to get this situation sorted out so—’

  ‘All right.’

  ‘So—what did you say?’ Her eyes were huge suddenly.

  ‘I’ll get them.’ He called Miss Hillier, handed over a set of keys to her and requested that she get the two remaining diaries out of his safe.

  While they waited, with Aurora feeling slightly shell-shocked, he recommended that she finish her drink. She did so in one large gulp and, when Miss Hillier returned, accepted her diaries dazedly. Miss Hillier hesitated, glanced at her boss, then retreated, taking Aurora’s glass with her.

  ‘So—what’s this new “era” of your life all about? It seems to have come up pretty suddenly,’ he said.

  Confusion made Aurora blink several times, then tell him. Once she had, she said hollowly, though, ‘I wasn’t going to go into the details.’

  ‘Why not? It sounds like quite a coup for you.’

  ‘All the more reason not to want—I mean, now my public profile—’

  ‘I see,’ he interrupted. ‘You didn’t want your diaries floating around out of your control in case I was tempted to—somehow—damage your public profile with them?’

  She hesitated, then nodded.

  He stood up and went to the terrace doors, where he stood for a while examining the view with his hands shoved into his pockets, then turned back to her. ‘Is that the only reason?’

  ‘Of course not,’ she answered quietly, and willed herself to keep hold of her composure. ‘I hate not knowing where I stand, I hate the thought of anyone reading them—and I don’t much like the thought that you could be that kind of man.’

  He grimaced. ‘I never had the slightest intention of reading them.’

  A little well of hope rose in Aurora’s heart. She said, however, ‘I wasn’t to know that and, even so, it was still a game you were playing with me.’

  ‘And you’re not into playing games with men?’ he drawled.

  Aurora narrowed her eyes. ‘Certainly not men on the rebound—or on the prowl.’

  He raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. ‘Is that how it felt lately?’

  ‘No,’ she conceded after a moment, and with a tinge of pink in her cheeks. ‘But then the “you” of lately is light years away from the “you” of now.’

  He studied her smart suit and elegant shoes. ‘I could say the same of you, Aurora.’

  ‘Have you got back with Leonie—is that what all this is about?’

  ‘Jealous, Aurora?’ he queried softly.

  She stood up and clenched her fists.

  ‘Before you demolish me or try physically to put me in my place,’ he said with patent, hateful amusement, ‘if you’d never known about Leonie, what kind of a judgement would you have placed on us?’

  She paused. ‘How can I? I did know, I still know, so how can I make an unbiased judgement?’

  ‘Surely you must have had some original thoughts into which Leonie didn’t intrude? When you were kissing me, for example?’ The insolence was right out in the open now.

  She clenched her teeth this time. ‘You’re in an impossible mood! I’ll remove my unwanted presence so you can get to your next appointment.’

  ‘You
r presence is not unwanted, Aurora. I’d like nothing better than to remove your “power dressing”—’ his gaze roamed up and down her smart but severe suit ‘—incidentally I preferred your señorita outfit—and make love to you here and now.’

  She gasped. ‘How can you say that?’

  ‘Easily, because it’s true. Making love to you has become something I think about rather a lot lately.’ He smiled slightly. ‘Why do you think I didn’t come in after we’d been to Point Lookout? Why do you think I took you to Beltrees, amongst so many people, not the least my father?’

  She found herself bereft of speech.

  ‘That’s why, Aurora,’ he drawled with lethal satire.

  ‘You know…you know what?’ she said shakily. ‘You’re the kind of man who wants to have his cake and eat it—’

  ‘More sayings, Aurora?’ he mocked. ‘You really are a gold mine of them.’

  ‘Oh!’ She picked up her bag and diaries. ‘That’s it. Don’t you dare darken my door again, Luke Kirwan, and rest assured I shall take great pleasure in never having to lay eyes on you again!’ She all but ran from the room and he didn’t move a muscle to stop her.

  Three days later as she read her morning news bulletin her mind was still almost as churned up as it had been when she’d run away from Luke. In fact, she was reading automatically until she came to an item that made her pause, stumble, then apologize and continue.

  And when the news was finished, Neil, instead of giving her his usual thumbs up, asked her if she was OK because she looked a bit pale and sickly. She told him she was feeling that way, but didn’t tell him why, and gratefully accepted his offer of the rest of the day off.

  When she got home, she leant back against the front door and marvelled at her stupidity. She had completely forgotten, until she’d come to read an item about a home invasion, that the police still had an open file on her. And now that she’d seen the other side of Luke Kirwan, a side she’d hated, how could she be sure it wouldn’t turn out to be the skeleton in her closet Neil had mentioned?

  She spent the rest of the day arguing it out with herself but, in the end, there seemed to be only one thing to do.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THIS time she made no appointment with Miss Hillier.

  She drove up the hill, rang the bell, then knocked on the front door. There was no response but there were lights on in the house so she walked round and let herself in through the sliding doors that opened onto the terrace. And she had no intimation that she was about to encounter the scholarly side of Luke Kirwan, but that was what happened.

  He’d mentioned to her that he’d had the billiard room converted to a study, and that was where she found him, at his desk, surrounded by a sea of papers with his hair rumpled and blue shadows on his jaw.

  He looked up as she appeared in the doorway, and blinked.

  ‘I rang the bell and I knocked,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry if you were deliberately ignoring them in case it was me, but—’

  ‘I…no,’ he broke in. ‘I didn’t hear them.’

  She frowned at him.

  ‘No, I haven’t suddenly gone deaf, I just switch off and ignore things like that when I’m working. Sorry.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘But I must admit this is a surprise,’ he said after a moment and stood up to come round the desk.

  It came as something of a shock to Aurora—her inward reaction to the lean, untidy length of him in faded jeans and an old sweatshirt. Nothing detracted from the fact that the way he was put together was sleek, powerful and simply awesome, she thought with a little pulse of panic. Nor did it help her to be subjected to a brief scrutiny up and down her figure and have an eyebrow slightly raised at her conservative attire—khaki cargo pants and a loose check shirt with long sleeves.

  ‘I came because I forgot something,’ she said stiffly.

  His mouth curved into a wicked grin. ‘Not more diaries, Aurora?’

  ‘No. The police file. It’s really important to me, because of my new programme that it…that you retract it, or something.’ She twisted her hands together.

  ‘Oh, that.’ He gestured casually. ‘I had it expunged weeks ago. Before our first “date”, as a matter of fact.’

  Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. ‘How?’

  ‘I told the police that it was a misunderstanding of a…domestic nature.’

  ‘What?’

  He smiled faintly at her incredulous expression. ‘A dispute between myself and a…lady friend who had come back to claim some of her property but, on finding the front door open, she decided to dispense with making her presence known to me and just nip in and retrieve her things.’

  ‘You…they bought that? In the middle of the night, with a torch, et cetera, et cetera?’

  ‘Lovers who have fallen out are renowned for doing strange things,’ he said and looked at her meaningfully.

  ‘So—so—’ Aurora had difficulty getting her words out ‘—I’m now down on the record as being your estranged lover? That’s…diabolical!’

  ‘Would you prefer to be down on the record as a burglar?’

  ‘Of course not! No…but…’ She trailed off and stared at him, breathing heavily.

  ‘It so happens,’ he said after a moment, ‘your actual name is not down on any record. They quite understood that my natural gallantry, despite having fallen out with you, precluded me wanting to name you.’

  She opened her mouth, shut it, then said feebly, ‘Well, thanks. I didn’t think you had much natural gallantry, to be honest, but…’ She hesitated.

  He said nothing, just observed her idly although somehow comprehensively until the heat began to rush beneath her skin again.

  ‘All right!’ She closed her eyes. ‘That was gallant! But…’ She stopped frustratedly.

  ‘Uh—could I offer you a drink?’ he suggested and, without waiting for a reply, invited her to sit down while he got it.

  She looked around with a frown of concentration while she waited, and a deep feeling of uncertainty because she’d obviously misjudged him, but that didn’t explain away their last encounter…

  He’d had the billiard room completely redecorated. Two walls were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves and stuffed with books, and a third had a built-in desk and shelves that housed an impressive display of computer-ware. The main desk was free-standing and massive and situated so he could see the view from the window but, by simply swivelling his chair round, he was able to work on his computer.

  She was sitting on a leather couch with a coffee-table in front of it, and in front of the window stood a powerful telescope. All the woodwork was beautifully done, the colour scheme of carpet, curtains and the free wall space was a restful combination of mossy green and copper and the main desk was a beauty, mahogany with many drawers and curved brass handles.

  But the aura of the room was much more than tasteful, and not particularly restful. It was very obviously the home of a probing intellect, of a man who had admitted to her that running sheep stations bored him rigid and shown her his first telescope that he’d built when he was ten.

  Then he came back with two drinks and sat down beside her.

  Aurora took a sip of brandy and soda and said, ‘I’m sorry if I—’

  ‘Did you honestly think I’d use that against you, Aurora?’

  She closed her mouth, and sighed. ‘I didn’t know what to think. But, to be honest, after the last time I came here I wasn’t, well, I didn’t know what to think,’ she repeated helplessly.

  ‘Ah. It would be handy if I could expunge that from the record,’ he murmured and looked down at her, ‘but I was under a bit of pressure, unfortunately.’

  ‘Because of your father? Well, I can see that now, I guess.’

  He smiled dryly. ‘You’re very generous, Aurora. And it was because of my father, but not quite in the way you might imagine. Of course, I was really concerned for his health but…a sudden brush with mortality brought out a strange reaction i
n him. He told me it was his dearest wish to see me married and settled down before he departed this life.’

  Aurora did a doubletake.

  ‘Quite,’ he agreed ruefully, then changed the subject. ‘Have you eaten yet?’

  ‘Uh…no.’ She shook her head.

  ‘Neither have I. How about scrambled eggs on toast?’

  ‘You…could do that? What about all this work you were so deeply engrossed in?’ She looked across at the desk.

  He grimaced. ‘I wasn’t getting anywhere with it.’ But his gaze returned to his desk as well with something a touch regretful in it.

  ‘Tell you what,’ Aurora said, ‘why don’t I make the scrambled eggs while you capture any last thoughts you may have on whatever it is that’s so elusive?’

  He turned back to her, took her chin in his fingers, and kissed her lingeringly. ‘You are a peach,’ he said softly.

  But when Aurora had made her escape to the kitchen, she stood for a long moment with her hands on her still-flushed cheeks and a sense of bemusement in her heart because she’d fallen right back under Luke Kirwan’s spell without even trying…

  ‘I’m working on a speech,’ he told her after they’d eaten from trays on their knees in the den, ‘that I’ve been asked to present as the opening address to an international conference on astrophysics to be held on the Gold Coast in two weeks. I’m trying to…blend the old with the new, I guess. Draw a line from Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Halley, Newton, et cetera to the modern day.’

  ‘Ah, I know a bit about that,’ Aurora said. ‘I’ve just finished a lovely book, Galileo’s Daughter. I also read another of Dava Sobell’s books, Longitude, and found it fascinating, as a sailor’s daughter. So I’m actually a mine of information, contrary to what you might have suspected, Professor.’

  He looked amused, then thoughtful. ‘Galileo’s daughter…’

  ‘Does that give you inspiration?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, it’s obviously been done so—and not that I’m suggesting she was humorous—but my speech, because it’s the opening address rather than a paper, needs a bit of humour—’