Bond of Fate

by Jane Corrie

  For the rest of that day Melanie dozed, and by the early evening she felt capable of taking a light tea. In between her wakeful sessions, which seemed extremely brief to her, she recalled Celia popping in to see her, and had a vague recollection of Julian's presence in the room at one time, but whether this was so she couldn't be sure. When she awoke fully she was dismayed to realise that they had done precisely what she hadn't wanted them to do, and stayed in the hotel all day. Goodness knew what misery that would have brought on Celia's head, with her mother determined to make her presence felt, and her father equally determined to keep them apart.

  A fat lot of good she was, she thought miserably,

  and Julian Cridell must have wondered what evil genius had been at work to make him settle on her as a likely candidate to act as a buffer between the two warring factions. There was little doubt, she thought pithily, that the hotel guests would have got their money's worth at some time during the day, as she recalled Celia's words about her mother revelling in big scenes.

  The least she could do was to give in her notice, she thought wretchedly, and give Julian Cridell the opportunity of taking another candidate for the job. However, a few sober recollections soon quashed this grand gesture. Zara Cridell had actually met her as his wife, and to introduce another Mrs Cridell would be a little beyond the realm of credulity. Melanie shook her head; she was obviously not thinking straight yet, but she was certainly not looking forward to seeing either Celia or her father after the mess she had made of things!

  When she heard Celia's voice call out cheerfully, `Are you compos mends yet?' she had a cowardly urge to feign sleep, but then Celia was in the room and it was too late for any such pretence.

  `I say, you'll never guess,' Celia chattered brightly. `It was the funniest thing I've seen for ages. Can you imagine it? Mother's cleared off in a whiff of perfume, absolutely routed ! This time it's really over!' she declared with shining eyes.

  Melanie sat and stared at her. 'Was there an awful scene?' she enquired worriedly, thinking of Julian's coming fury that was about to land on her head at any moment.

  Celia shook her blonde mane. 'Honestly, it was hilarious!' She frowned slightly. 'Although Dad didn't look all that pleased, which was odd, really, because it

  worked, you see, better than anything else could have done.'

  Melanie felt like shaking her head. 'What are you talking about?' she asked. 'What worked?'

  Celia's black eyes danced mischievously as she regarded Melanie. 'I tried to keep you informed,' she said, 'but you kept nodding off, so I don't suppose anything got through to you. You had a visit from the Duchess, didn't you?'

  Melanie thought back, then recalled the visit. 'Yes; I can't think why. She wanted to know if there was anything she could do for me,' she added with a frown.

  Celia chuckled. 'Well, that's it, you see. The nosey old so-and-so put two and two together and came up with five!'

  Again Melanie had lost her place in the script, and she looked blankly at Celia.

  `Oh,dear,' the girl said, patting her arm with an almost maternal gesture. see I shall have to spell it out for you. Mrs Hounslow Holmes thinks you're pregnant, and has told everybody else,' and at Melanie's horrified look upon this news, she burst out laughing. 'If you could see your face !' she said merrily. `But it's done the trick, don't you see? She couldn't wait to tell Mother—she hates her, you know, because she once told her she looked like a walking Christmas tree, and she's never forgiven her!'

  Melanie closed her eyes. Would Julian ever forgive her? she wondered. No wonder he hadn't looked pleased! He must want to strangle her!

  `Look, it's all right,' Celia insisted. 'Of course, it was a bit of a shock to Dad, but he'll be so pleased that she's gone for good that he'll soon see the funny side of it. Oh, if you'd only been there! Mother walked right up to us in the dining-room and declared outright that

  there were some things that one couldn't contend with, and this was one of them. She tried to make a tragedy out of it by wishing Dad happiness and she hoped that it was a boy, and said that she would never forget Dad.' Celia chuckled. 'It was like a stage play, and I'm sure she hoped Dad was going to stop her before she reached the door, and a big reconciliation scene would take place, but he was so stunned by what she had said, and I couldn't work it out either, that he didn't say a word. But as soon as the rest of the guests started congratulating him, I caught on.'

  Melanie wished she could somehow sink through the bed and the floorboards too. It was getting worse by the minute. 'It's not funny, Celia,' she managed to get out, but the enormity of the situation was closing in on her. 'We'll have to leave,' she said, almost babbling in her anxiety, and flinging the clothes aside, leapt out of bed.

  `Now don't start acting like Zara Tobin,' said Celia sternly, as she steadied the now wobbly-kneed Melanie who was not quite up to leaping out of anywhere. 'It's going to be all right, I tell you. I expect we'll leave now just to save you embarrassment, and you could always have a miscarriage, couldn't you? she added in wicked amusement.

  Shocked, Melanie stared at her. 'You've chosen the right profession!' she said crossly. 'Only a medical student could make light of such a situation. For goodness' sake, Celia, it's frightful! The first thing I'm going to do is to rout out that wretched Mrs Hounslow Holmes and put things straight.' She gave Celia an accusing look. 'You could have stopped it all by telling them what caused my sickness, couldn't you? Why didn't you? Think of your father's embarrassment, let alone mine !'

  `I could have done, I suppose,' Celia replied unrepentantly, 'but I'm jolly glad I didn't, because we won't have any more of those ghastly scenes with Mother—and it just goes to show, doesn't it?' she added heatedly. 'You didn't really believe me when I said she didn't care two hoots for me, did you? Well, she took off fast enough when she heard the news. I could have been Scotch mist for all the notice she took of me. It was Dad she wanted, just like I told you. All right,' she conceded grudgingly, 'blow the gaff if you want to. I don't suppose Mother's left the island yet; I only know that she's left the hotel. She won't be able to get a flight before the morning, anyway, and she's probably staying with some friends of hers.'

  She looked so miserable that Melanie was made to feel mean and ungrateful, which was hardly fair. 'I'll have a word with your father,' she said quietly, 'and see what he thinks.'

  This somewhat brightened Celia's depression. 'And you promise not to say anything to that woman until then?' she demanded persistently.

  Melanie reluctantly gave her promise, and then shooed Celia out of her room while she dressed and got ready to face what she was sure was going to be the worst interview of her life, only remembering to ask Celia where her father was before she took herself off. Celia informed her that he was, 'Probably in the "men only" lounge receiving large whiskies to go with the congratulations,' and only just managed to shut the door between her and the pillow that an irate Melanie flung at her.

  Melanie wasn't sure whether it was a general weakness on her part or the thought of the coming interview she had to have with Julian that made her knees seem to have turned to jelly, but she had to go

  through with it rather than have the sword of Damocles hanging over her head, and she didn't know what she would do if she happened to meet any of the guests on her way to the hotel lounge.

  This, however, was an ordeal she was spared by the arrival of Julian just as she got to the door of their suite, and for a moment their eyes met. Hers with an anxious enquiry in them, and his cold grey ones with an expression that sent her spirits pivoting down to an all-time low.

  `I suppose you know the result of your slight indisposition ?' he asked coldly.

  Melanie looked away from him, and nodded. 'Celia told me,' she said quietly. She knew how embarrassed he must have been by the congratulations, and could only hope he had managed to deny them. 'I hope you were able to put the record straight,' she got out, forcing herself to meet those cold eyes of his.

  `How t
he hell could I?' he demanded exasperatedly. `Whatever you told that old besom Hounslow Holmes, it did the trick, didn't it?' he added with meaning.

  Melanie stared back at him. The colour that had come back into her face since she had been up and about now left her, and the white look was there again. `Would you please explain just what you mean,' she queried icily, completely losing her earlier apologetic manner at the enormity of the implied innuendo.

  `I should have thought that that was obvious,' he said harshly. 'A wedding ring on a woman's finger can go to her head.'

  `Are you suggesting it's gone to mine?' Melanie broke in indignantly.

  `I can't think why else you should have bothered to put such a tale around, can you? If you've some idea of playing for keeps, I suggest that you forget it. Our

  arrangement still stands. The only good thing about this whole wretched business is that my ex-wife's seen the light, and I know her too well to have any worry that she'll persist in her quest. News travels fast in the movie world, and she won't want any adverse publicity; she's got her fans to consider. Her touching farewell in the dining-room will do marvels for her image. And that, my dear Miss Greensmith, means that our little arrangement can be concluded much earlier than I'd supposed. You could not, of course, have foreseen that in your calculations. You can at least be assured that your future is rosy, for I shall stand by the original arrangement and settle my debt.'

  He gave her a contemptuous look. 'I suppose, really, I ought to thank you for the expediency of the conclusion, but I have just had to put up with the most distasteful, not to mention embarrassing few hours of my life. I abhor play-acting in any sense of the word. I am not about to repeat the error that I made in my youth. We shall, of course, have to leave the hotel, and I shall make arrangements for us to take a villa here for the remainder of our holiday as it would look extremely odd if we were to take of back home. I advise you to make the most of your stay in the Caribbean while it lasts,' he ended harshly, before turning on his heel and leaving her.

  Melanie felt her senses reeling as she watched Julian's tall straight back leaving the room. Whatever else he might have accused her of, it had never occurred to her that he would brand her as a scheming gold-digger who would sink so low as to capitalise on an agreement—and in that way!

  Her mind whirled as she tried to come to terms with her position. What had she done to deserve such treatment? He wasn't even prepared to give her the

  benefit of the doubt! In fact, even before this disastrous happening, he had shown his displeasure of her altered appearance, tearing her off a strip when she had had her hair cut, and accusing her of stepping out of line, warning her not to ape her betters!

  It was as well, Melanie thought, that she did get good and mad over the injustice of it all, for she would have sunk without trace if she had allowed herself to take everything he had said to her to heart.

  As it was, she felt a distinct urge to arrange to have an announcement put out over the hotel intercom that Mrs Cridell was not, and never had been, pregnant, and leave the rest to Providence, which up to now had had a whale of a time at her expense anyway!

  The following morning they left for the villa that Julian had managed to rent owing to his not inconsiderable influence in those parts, and a chatty Celia, who hadn't seemed to notice a particular coolness between her father and Melanie, said how pleased she was that they were leaving the hotel. `Podge is okay,' she said, 'but a bit on the silly side sometimes. Kept wanting me to go to one of their disco dances because the boys were there. I can't see what she sees in that spotty son of Mrs

  The villa was roomy and cool and, which was more important, in its own grounds, a fact that it would ensure privacy for its occupants. After their luggage had been seen to by the resident houseman, whose wife did the housework and cooking, Melanie and Celia explored the grounds, while Julian made a few telephone calls giving his new number to his business confederates.

  When a swimming pool was discovered at the back of the villa, Celia was delighted. 'Now you can learn to swim, Melanie,' she said.

  If any such lessons took place, then it would be Celia who would do the teaching, Melanie thought wryly; she was not exactly on cordial terms with her father, who at that moment was probably hoping she would drown herself and save him the trouble of seeking an annulment. However, she kept these thoughts to herself, and replied lightly, 'Too much bother, Celia. I'd rather watch you,' and left it at that.

  Their removal from the hotel gave Melanie some relief from the unenviable position she had found herself in, but it also presented other problems, such as finding herself constantly in Julian Cridell's company.

  She was able to find something to keep her occupied some of the time, such as walking in the extensive grounds of the villa, which overlooked a bay, but meal times were a different proposition altogether, and she had no hope of taking her meals on her own, besides which, from the first day onwards, Celia had a distressing habit of expecting them to spend all their time together, and there was a limit to the various excuses Melanie had had to think up to avoid these outings. Sooner or later, she would have to be told that Melanie's presence was to be of a shorter duration than at first envisaged, and Melanie only hoped she would be able to do this without certain uncomfortable facts coming to light.

  Really, she thought angrily, when she had just made yet another excuse as to why she couldn't accompany them to the pool that afternoon, it was up to her father to explain things to her instead of persisting in putting up a front in Celia's presence. So far, she had managed to avoid their afternoon visits to the pool, and she was aware that Celia was of the opinion that she was afraid of being made to learn to swim and, being fond of Melanie, hadn't pressed the matter. For her part,

  Melanie was content to roam the grounds, and she found a leafy bower where she could sit and look over the bay. Most of the time she would be thinking of her future, and what she would do when she left the Cridells.

  It was true that she would have no financial worries and would be able to find herself a nice flat wherever she decided to settle, and it certainly wouldn't be anywhere near her Aunt Alice, that much was certain. No, she would go somewhere near the coast, she thought, maybe have a dog for company, that she could take out for exercise. This was always as far as Melanie would get in her imaginings, and where she always stopped, for she didn't want to go any further into what looked like an extremely dull and very lonely future.

  Like everything else that had happened to her since she had applied for that advertisement, it simply wasn't real ; nothing was real, and the sooner she came down to earth the better.

  The thing that really troubled her was the large amount that she would receive for services rendered, for the way things had turned out, she couldn't truly claim a successful outcome, although her mission had been accomplished through _methods totally outside her contrivance—a fact that Julian Cridell had not accepted.

  Melanie's brows creased as she watched a yacht with a bright orange sail sweep into view across the bay. Under the circumstances, she didn't feel that she had any right to claim such a large recompense as had been agreed upon at the start of her employment.

  All she could do, she thought, was to agree to accept a much smaller amount, enough to keep her going until she found other employment, and then, she told

  herself with a feeling of relief, she would pay back what she could consider as a loan on account, providing she didn't borrow too much.

  She wouldn't tell Julian Cridell of her decision to pay back what she was given. He was too proud a man to accept this condition, but she had her pride too, and that was something he hadn't bargained for. She had tried to play her part in the agreement, but she owed him far more than he owed her by settling what had been for her a very unpalatable problem concerning her immediate future, when she had been without a home and without a job, and, in spite of her vehement determination to keep her distance from her aunt and her obnoxious husband, would in the end
have had to accept her aunt's offer of a home.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ON the third morning after their arrival at the villa, Julian announced at breakfast that he had some business back at the hotel, and a disappointed Celia accused him of not keeping his promise to take a real holiday with them. 'You promised!' she said crossly.

  Julian's brows lifted at her vehemence. 'And I shall keep my promise,' he said. 'I'm only going for a morning. You've usually got your head in those books of yours, haven't you?' he added adroitly. 'I'll be back for lunch, and we'll have a picnic by the bay. How's that?' he finished.

  Celia, slightly mollified, nodded her head, but she wasn't entirely convinced. 'I know you, once you get embroiled in those meetings,' she said. 'It'll be "something's come up" and off you go!'

  `It will not!' Julian replied with a gleam of amusement in his grey eyes. 'I have to go because my signature is wanted on some documents; that's all I'm letting myself in for.'

  Celia looked across at Melanie, who, as usual, took no part in these discussions. 'You heard him, Melanie,' she said. 'What shall we give him as a forfeit if he lets us down?'

  Embarrassed, Melanie didn't know what to reply to this, but murmured something on the lines that she wouldn't be going to the picnic anyway. 'You know I can't take the sun,' she said.

  Celia stared at her. 'What's the sun got to do with it?' she demanded. 'It was that crab sandwich that

  made you sick.' She turned to her father. 'It was off, you know, and I'm jolly glad Melanie warned me not to take one. I wouldn't have wanted to be as sick as she was.'

  Julian gave Celia a sharp look, 'What sandwich?' he asked abruptly.

  Celia blinked at the sharpness of the question. 'That day we went out,' she said. 'You know, the day before Melanie was sick. It was food poisoning, you see.' She looked across at Melanie. 'Didn't you tell him?' she asked.