All at once she realized the childishness of continuing to run from him. She opened her eyes and looked at him. ' Your devotion is touching, Paul, but I can't see that we've anything left to say to each other.'
A cold wind came biting round the corner of the street, a wind as cold as her voice had been. She saw him shiver and thrust his hands deep into his pockets. She realized suddenly he was wearing no overcoat, and in the pale lamplight saw that his face was pinched with cold and that his eyes were glittering feverishly.
'You must be half frozen,' she exclaimed involuntarily.
Another gust of. wind hit them and he said quickly: ' Having once found you, I'd have been happy to wait here all night. All the same, since my car is only round the corner, perhaps we can continue this conversation inside it?'
She allowed him to lead her to the silver-grey Rolls. The chauffeur opened the door for them and she entered and sat in the corner as far from Paul as she could..
' Drive through the Park,' he ordered, and pulled the curtain across the glass partition. Only then did he turn and look at her.
' I realize you hate the sight of me, but at least give me the opportunity of apologizing.'
' If it will make you feel better,' she shrugged, ' I'll accept your apology. Now if you could stop the car I'd like to get out.'
'Still running away? It's the last thing I'd have expected of you, Lucy.'
' I've always done the unexpected,' she said coldly. ' I don't suppose you imagined I'd have been a thief either!'
' Don't!' His voice was anguished. ' I know you're bitter, but these last months have been unbearable for one.'
' For you!' She tried to laugh, but no laughter came, and she stared at him in silence.
He massaged his numb fingers. ' Since the night Barry brought me those photographs I've lived through hell. No one could find you: not the police, not even three firms of private detectives. It didn't seem possible that anyone could vanish so completely. At one stage I thought you'd committed suicide.'
' What made you look for .me at the opera?'
' It was Cindy's idea. It was such a long shot I still can't believe it came off. When I looked along those lows of heads and saw your hair gleaming in the darkness…' His voice cracked and he turned away from her.
Emotion, treacherous and warm, began to infiltrate the icy barrier with which she had protected herself, and only the knowledge that he had misjudged her. so badly prevented her from throwing herself into his arms. 'How is Cindy?' she asked carefully.
' A much wiser, if sadder girl. After Barry showed me the photographs I flew straight out to her. The moment she learned the truth, she packed her bags and came back.
' Poor Cindy,' he sighed. ' I think she could have forgiven Murray the theft of the vase, but knowing what he had done to you, the girl who had saved her life, finished him for her. It was as if a whole episode in her life had been blotted out. When Cindy falls in love again, it'll be with a very different sort of man.'
Lucy laughed abruptly. 'Someone her brother can approve of, no doubt.'
He looked at her sadly. ' You hate me, don't you, Lucy?'
' Not hate,' she replied. ' Never that. I just find it impossible to forget you had such a low opinion of me. No matter what evidence anyone had given me about you, I could never had believed you were a thief.'
' I didn't think it about you either,' he said sharply. ' At least, not after I'd come to my senses, which was the very next morning. But by that time you'd gone. I called in detectives at once, but they couldn't trace you. It wasn't till Barry came to see me with those photographs that I knew he'd been in touch with you.'
A wild surge of hope set her trembling. ' You mean you were—were searching for me before you saw the photos?'
' Of course.' He moved nearer. ' If I hadn't loved you so much—been so jealous of you—I wouldn't have believed Murray's letter for one single moment. As it was, I came to my senses overnight, but by that time it was too late, you'd already gone.'
' But why wouldn't you talk about me to Barry? He said you couldn't even bear to hear my name mentioned.'
' Only because I hated myself so much, I couldn't talk about you to anyone. Oh, Lucy!' He caught her hand. ' I know you despise me for having doubted you, but I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it.'
The knowledge that Paul had ceased to suspect her long before he had seen Barry's photograph dissolved all the bitterness she had felt, and she moved into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder. He was trembling violently, and she remembered how sure she had been that he was too arrogant ever to plead with anyone.
' Don't be so humble, my darling,' she said shakily ' I've forgiven you already.'
' I'll only believe that when you're my wife. We've wasted so much time.'
' Your wife,' she whispered. ' When, Paul?'
' By special licence. I've got one in my pocket.'
' What about your business?'
'You're my business,' he said firmly. 'Everything else is unimportant.'
They were words she had never expected to hear, and she pulled his head down and rubbed her cheek against his chin. ' We've so much to say to each other, Paul. I don't know where to begin.'
' Then wait till we're on our honeymoon. Right now there's only one thing I want to do.'
There was no need for him to say what it was. The warm pressure of his mouth on hers told her all she needed to know. At last her future was assured. Happiness was here, in Paul's arms for ever.
Rachel Lindsay - Love and Lucy Granger Page 19
