Secret Passion
Page 12
‘Aura,’ she greeted her with a warm smile. ‘You’re looking very—bright, today.’
Jeanne caught her eye as the two of them looked down at her dress, the lime green colour definitely ‘bright’! But her mood hadn’t been all that sunny when she had got up this morning, and the dazzling colour had helped lift her spirits.
‘Thank you,’ she accepted drily, turning away from Jeanne’s knowing look.
Selina looked as beautiful as usual, the pale lemon dress—another designer-label sewn into the back, Aura felt sure—again complementing her deep tan. She had certainly taken advantage of the sunshine in Antigua!
‘Did I thank you for the lovely dinner-service you and James gave us on Saturday?’ Selina continued lightly. ‘It was such a crush, I’m sure I forgot to thank half our guests for their presents.’
‘You did thank me,’ said Aura, her expression wary, wondering why this woman was really here; it definitely wasn’t to express gratitude for presents. ‘Although the dinner-service actually came from James.’
Selina’s smile seemed to say she had already known that. ‘It was lovely, anyway. I’ll think of you and James every time I use it.’
Think what of her and James? She very much doubted the other woman would get any pleasure from thinking of her doing anything with James!
‘Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else.’ Selina looked pointedly at Jeanne.
‘Don’t mind me,’ Jeanne drawled drily. ‘I have a phone call to make.’
‘I’ll make the call after Mrs Mayhew and I have talked,’ Aura assured her, getting the feeling that what Selina wanted to say to her would be better said in private. ‘Would you like to come through to my office, Selina?’ she invited. ‘Such as it is.’
It was really a small store-room that was too small to store anything of great quantity, the little room only just big enough for two people and her tiny desk near the window.
‘What can I do for you, Selina?’ she prompted as soon as the door was closed behind them, sitting on the edge of her desk to give them more room.
‘Don’t you get claustrophobic in here?’ Selina asked.
She shrugged. ‘I rarely spend enough time in here to do that.’ She dusted off the chair that stood behind the desk, bringing it out into the middle of the room. ‘Would you like to sit down?’ She moved back to the edge of the desk, lacing her fingers together so that the other woman shouldn’t see the slight tremble of her hands.
Selina did so gingerly, sitting on the very edge of the chair. Despite the disparity in their positions, Aura being higher than the other woman, it was Selina who was very much in control as she looked at Aura with hard blue eyes.
‘I trust you’re fully recovered from your migraine?’ she bit out.
Aura nodded. ‘Fully.’
The violet-blue eyes narrowed. ‘I hope none of our guests did—anything, to upset you?’
She stiffened warily. ‘I don’t believe I spoke to any of them,’ she said.
‘You seemed perfectly all right when you and James came in from the garden,’ Selina said lightly.
‘I think it must have been the perfume from the flowers; they can be so heady, can’t they?’
‘Can they?’ the other woman drawled. ‘I’ve never heard of the perfume of flowers bringing on a sudden migraine before.’
‘Then perhaps it was something else,’ said Aura. ‘I’m feeling fine now.’
‘You weren’t the only one of our guests that had to leave early because she wasn’t feeling well,’ Selina told her casually.
Aura became rigidly still. ‘Oh?’
‘No,’ the other woman confirmed with a sigh. ‘Another friend had to leave just after you because she suddenly felt nauseous.’
Aura drew in a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. ‘What a pity,’ she said lamely, sure she knew exactly which guest it had been.
‘I don’t know if you know her?’ Selina prompted softly. ‘Penelope Dalby,’ she said. ‘She was the only pregnant woman at the party on Saturday night.’
‘No, I—I don’t believe I know her,’ lied Aura.
‘No?’ Selina arched ebony brows.
‘No!’
‘Strange,’ the other woman drawled. ‘She seemed to know you; she went extremely pale when she first caught sight of you.’
She should have known that this woman didn’t miss anything that concerned James, and if she had watched the two of them come in from the garden then she had obviously observed her reaction to Penelope Sutcliffe—Dalby, too! Aura waited tensely to hear what else Selina had seen.
Selina stood up, her brows raised as she looked down at Aura. ‘But then,’ she said slowly, ‘I suppose it must be difficult to remain calm when you come face to face with the woman who had an affair with your father!’
CHAPTER TEN
JEANNE had warned her that this woman would devour her if she got too close, and by accompanying James to the party on Saturday she had definitely been too close!
‘You seemed familiar to me the first time I saw you,’ Selina continued conversationally. ‘But I thought it must be because Adrian always indulges himself with cute little blondes—’
‘You know about—about that, too?’ Aura gasped.
The other woman looked at her contemptuously. ‘Adrian is never subtle,’ she said with disgust. ‘He thinks that by letting me know about his—little affairs, I’ll care enough to be jealous. I never am,’ she added with distaste.
Aura swallowed hard. ‘Adrian told you he had—he had taken me out a few times?’
‘He never tells me, Aura,’ the other woman dismissed tauntingly. ‘He leaves receipts for flowers—and jewellery, lying about for me to “accidentally” find,’ she drawled in a bored voice.
The flowers he had sent her. And the bracelet! My God, the bracelet… She stared at it as it gleamed brightly on the other woman’s slender wrist.
‘Yes, this jewellery,’ Selina held her wrist up mockingly. ‘Such a pretty bauble. Why on earth did you refuse it, Aura?’ she derided. ‘If you didn’t like it you could always have sold it. I would have thought a woman like you would be aware of the fact that it’s worth several thousand pounds.’
‘A woman like you…’ She had no doubt what this woman believed her to be!
‘Adrian and I only ever went out to dinner together,’ she said stiffly. ‘At the time I had no idea he was married and had a child.’
‘Would it have made any difference if you had known?’ Selina scorned.
‘Yes!’ she rasped. ‘No matter what you’ve heard, I am not a home-wrecker!’
‘Nigel Sutcliffe died in your bed, my dear,’ the other woman drawled. ‘He had a wife and two children; I would class that as home-wrecking!’ she derided.
Aura felt faint, closing her eyes to stop the room swaying precariously. What could she say in answer to the truth!
‘Such a scandal,’ Selina tutted. ‘The Sutcliffes are socially one of the most prominent families in the country. And the head of that family died in your bed!’ She laughed softly. ‘It took me a while to put all the pieces together, your migraine at the sight of Penelope, her sudden attack of nausea for the same reason, seeing you. Penelope wouldn’t tell me anything, denied ever seeing you before, but I wasn’t fooled for a moment.’
Aura’s eyes blazed. ‘You knew there was some dirt you could dig up somewhere!’
‘My dear,’ the other woman chided. ‘The truth has a way of being heard.’
She drew in as ragged breath. ‘Why have you told me all this? What do you want from me?’
Selina’s mouth twisted. ‘Oh, I think you know the answer to that.’
She wanted her out of James’s life! Wanted her as far away from him as possible. Because although she posed no threat to Selina’s marriage, the other woman not caring enough about Adrian to give a damn about his affairs, she wasn’t about to let her remain in James’s life, possibly to have him fall in love with her!
‘It was all perfectly innocent between us,’ Aura insisted tightly.
‘Do you really think I care one way or the other?’ the other woman scorned. ‘Adrian’s little affairs ceased to interest me a long time ago. As I’m sure they did James. But there’s no way you can explain away the death of your lover in your bed!’ she added with satisfaction. ‘I remember the newspapers were full of it at the time. It isn’t surprising the poor man expired,’ she mocked. ‘A fifty-two-year-old man trying to keep up with the demands of a twenty-two-year-old woman!’
‘Don’t be disgusting!’ Aura snapped, her hands clenched into fists.
Dark brows rose. ‘I wasn’t the one that was disgusting, Aura,’ Selina drawled.
Her mouth was tight. ‘If you think James would be so interested in this, why don’t you go and tell him?’ she challenged.
Selina gave a malicious smile. ‘I thought I would leave that to you.’
Aura gasped. ‘You expect me—’
‘I expect you,’ the other woman cut in firmly, ‘to tell James you can’t see him any more. No more need be said about this—other business, if you do that.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I would have thought you would enjoy telling him about me!’
‘James is a very proud man,’ Selina bit out coldly. ‘He is hardly likely to turn to me for comfort if I were the one to tell him what a fool he’s been.’
‘Especially as you did so much worse to him ten years ago!’ Aura glared. ‘What on earth makes you think James would turn to you in any circumstances?’ she scorned.
Selina looked at her with dislike. ‘James has never stopped caring for me,’ she told her scornfully. ‘It’s only his pride that’s stood in our way.’
Aura’s one consolation in having to tell James the truth was that, no matter what the outcome of their conversation, she knew he would never turn to this woman for anything!
Selina watched her fleeting expression of satisfaction with narrowed eyes. ‘I’d rather not do it,’ she told her softly. ‘But, believe me, if it becomes necessary, I will tell James about you!’
‘I’ll talk to him,’ rasped Aura. ‘But I wouldn’t start making any long-term plans for the two of you!’
The other woman gave a disbelieving laugh. ‘You don’t seriously expect him to stay with you if I have to tell him about your deceased lover, do you?’
‘I don’t seriously expect him to turn to you if there were only the two of you left on earth!’ Aura told her derisively.
Selina’s mouth tightened in an ugly sneer. ‘He was once going to marry me; I doubt he’s offered you anything more than a few hours in his bed!’
Aura met her bitter gaze calmly. ‘I thought we had just agreed that’s something I’m very good at.’
‘We’ll see who’s laughing by this time tomorrow!’ the other woman challenged.
‘Oh, I get twenty-four hours to tell James, do I?’ she derided. ‘That means I needn’t tell him until the morning,’ she added pointedly, wishing this woman gone, wishing she could curl up in a foetal ball and forget the world existed.
Angry colour darkened the other woman’s cheeks. ‘You’ll tell him tonight,’ she rasped. ‘Because if you don’t he’ll get a visit from me tomorrow!’
Aura was shaking so badly by the time the other woman left that she sat trembling on the edge of her desk for several minutes after she had gone.
Selina knew, not just about Adrian, although God knows that was bad enough, but about that other scandal, the death of Nigel Sutcliffe in her bed that had made her run from all that was familiar to her, hiding behind the façade of London’s anonynimity.
Was she going to have to run again? Where could she go that the past didn’t find her?
She could have wept for Penelope Dalby on Saturday, knew how hurt the other woman had been when she heard how her father had died. Thank God Penelope’s brother Giles hadn’t been at the party too; Giles had been very vocal, to Aura and the press, about his opinion of the little gold-digger who had tricked his father into an affair. If they had met on Saturday he would no doubt have loudly repeated his disgust for all the other guests to hear.
Aura could understand their pain, knew how deeply they had loved and respected their father. And she could understand his wife’s bitterness. What none of them seemed to have understood was that she had loved him too…
‘Are you all right?’ Jeanne looked at her worriedly.
She straightened, giving a wry smile. ‘I think the Venus Flytrap just went into action,’ she revealed wanly. ‘Although I think I resent being a fly!’ she added in an attempt at lightness.
Jeanne sighed. ‘I thought she looked pretty smug when she went out of here,’ she said disgustedly. ‘You—’ she broke off as the telephone rang. ‘Maybe that’s David to explain why he hasn’t delivered the vegetables yet,’ she grimaced.
Aura was relieved to have to deal with such a mundane task, although she nearly dropped the receiver when the woman on the other end of the line identified herself. Penelope Dalby!
‘Miss Jones?’ she prompted as she received only silence after the announcement. ‘Aura?’ she said again quietly.
Aura’s palm was so wet with perspiration she was in danger of dropping the receiver. ‘I’m sorry,’ she finally managed to choke out, ‘there’s no one of that name here.’
‘Aura, I want to talk to you,’ said the other woman.
So that she could throw out more accusations? She had had enough for one day! ‘I told you there’s no one of that name here,’ she snapped, evading Jeanne’s puzzled gaze. ‘You must have the wrong number!’
‘No, I—’
‘I’m sorry,’ Aura said again before slamming the receiver back down on its cradle, staring at it as if it were a viper about to strike. When it instantly began ringing again she backed away from the desk. ‘Jeanne, I— There’s someone on the end of that line I don’t want to talk to.’ She looked up with frantic eyes. ‘Could you tell her that Aura Jones isn’t here?’
‘Of course.’ Jeanne didn’t question her desperation, picking up the receiver. ‘I understand, Mrs Dalby, but I’m afraid we have no Miss Jones here,’ she answered patiently. ‘No, I’m not the woman you were talking to a moment ago,’ she acknowledged softly. ‘No, that wasn’t Miss Jones either. I’m sorry, Mrs Dalby, I think you must have the wrong number,’ she added firmly before ringing off. She turned to Aura. ‘I don’t think she’s going to give up,’ she said regretfully.
Couldn’t the Sutcliffes leave her alone? Hadn’t they done enough to her in the past?
‘Jeanne, I’m going out for the rest of the day,’ she decided. ‘Can you manage on your own?’
‘Of course,’ her assistant answered. ‘Are you going to be all right?’ she frowned.
‘Probably not,’ she grimaced. ‘I need to be on my own for a while, to think. I have some working out to do.’
‘What shall I tell Mr Ballantine if he calls?’
It was what she was going to tell James that she had to think about! ‘He shouldn’t call.’ She shook her head. ‘We’re meeting later tonight. But if he does—’ She chewed on her bottom lip. ‘Just tell him I’ll see him later.’ She shrugged uncertainly.
She drove to the spot that had been her secret place as a child, the spot she always went to when she needed to be alone, to dream, to think, or just to admire the beauty of the countryside surrounding the hill she sat up on the top of.
The small village of Stadford nestled just behind her, and in front of her were rolling hills and patchwork fields as far as the eye could see, cows munching happily on grass, crops growing in the remaining fields.
>
This had been the home of her childhood, uncomplicated, with every new adventure exciting. And even when she had stopped being a child, life had still seemed full of possibilities—not quite as untarnished as she had always dreamt, but full of challenge nonetheless. Until the night Nigel Sutcliffe died in her arms.
A nightmare couldn’t begin to describe that night, the pain of loss, the sudden glare of publicity that had surrounded her once the press learnt where the rich industrialist had died. She had run, hidden from her accusers, but now, today, she had to face them all over again, had to tell the man she loved of the horror of that night.
She was going to tell him all of it, and hoped he loved her enough to understand. She had no other choice!
She was tired but resigned when she returned to the shop later that afternoon, had spent the whole day sitting on top of that hill, the simplicity of her surroundings giving her the strength to face James.
Jeanne had locked up for the night, had just finished doing the books. She looked up as Aura quietly let herself into the office. What she saw in Aura’s face seemed to reassure her.
‘Mr Ballantine did call,’ she told her briskly. ‘Just to remind you he’ll pick you up at eight.’
‘Thanks,’ she nodded.
Jeanne sighed, clearing away. ‘That Mrs Dalby called three more times after you left. Each time I told her there was no Aura Jones here. The last time she asked me to give the non-existent Miss Jones her telephone number. It’s on the pad over there.’ She pointed in the direction of the telephone.
Aura didn’t even glance towards it. ‘Thanks, Jeanne. You get along home now,’ she said.
She locked up after her assistant, turned off the lights, and went upstairs, all without looking at the notepad containing Penelope Dalby’s telephone number.
Her mother was in her usual spot in front of the television, watching a children’s programme if the childlike laughter on the sound-track was anything to go by. Almost as if yesterday had never happened. And maybe it hadn’t. One picnic didn’t mean her mother would ever be normal.
She got her mother’s dinner and cleared away, fed the completely recovered cat, and then went up to change before James arrived.