Rachel Lindsay - Moonlight and Magic

by Rachel Lindsay

  'I don't want any more orange juice, thanks.'

  'Then let me order something exotic for you.' He signalled for the waiter. 'I know just the sort of drink for you. Champagne and peach juice.'

  'That sounds frightfully exotic and expensive.'

  Lord Rupert tilted his head in an arrogant gesture that made him look like a well-bred horse. 'What's money for if not to be spent on a pretty girl?'

  She nodded, too bored to continue the conversation, and watched as he conferred with the waiter, telling him the exact proportions of champagne to peach juice which he required. They sat silently in the hot, glaring sun until their drinks arrived, and she sipped hers, her nose wrinkling with appreciation.

  'Hm, it really is good.'

  'It's a little thing I picked up from an American I know.'

  He continued to chatter vacuously and again she wondered whether it was an act. But to continue talking with him would not give her the answer, and she decided to cable her father and ask him to let her know all he could about Rupert Copinger. If his answer substantiated her own suspicions she would watch him carefully. If it did not, she would have to look elsewhere.

  Her eyes returned to Stephen, jealously rising strongly as she saw Claire leaning close to him, one arm on his shoulder.

  She pushed back her chair and Lord Rupert stood up. 'You're not going to leave me, are you, Janey? I thought we'd have lunch together.'

  'The sun's given me a headache. I want to go back under the shade.'

  'I'll get you an umbrella. Don't go.'

  He rushed off, all arms and legs, and Jane waited until he was out of sight before walking back to her mattress.

  Stephen did not look at her as she sat down and Claire continued her low-toned conversation with him.

  'I'll change into a dry suit,' she said in a louder voice, 'and I'll be right back.'

  With a supple gesture she got to her feet, but even when she had gone Stephen did not turn to look at Jane.

  'Lord Rupert's an awfully silly young man,' she said casually. 'He talks on and on and says absolutely nothing.'

  'I thought you realized that when you first met him. I'm surprised you needed further confirmation.'

  Deciding it was ridiculous to pretend she did not know he was annoyed, Jane brought the reason into the open.

  'There's no need to be cross just because I had a drink with him.'

  'My dear, you're free to have a drink with anyone you like. I merely found it strange that one minute you say Rupert's a bore and the next minute you rush off for a tete-a-tete with him.'

  'He asked me for a drink and I couldn't refuse.'

  'You were ogling him while he was at the pool. I saw it.'

  It was useless to deny the truth. She bit her lip, wishing she could tell him the reasons for her behaviour.

  'Anyway, Jane, there's no reason for you to justify yourself with me. If you'd prefer to be with Rupert by all means go. It'll at least satisfy your father.'

  'You can't blame me for my father's actions,' she protested.

  'I can blame you for carrying them out! Not that I do blame you,' he said hastily. 'As I've just told you, you're free to do as you wish.'

  Her reply was forestalled by Claire's return, and Stephen stood up and walked towards her.

  'I never believed you when you said you wouldn't be long,' he said

  'I'm hungry, that's why. Come on now, where's that lunch you promised me?"

  With her hand on his arm they walked away, and Jane, her cheeks burning, remained behind How rude of them to ignore her, for she was, after all, a member of their party,: She glanced round and saw the Texan couple having a drink at the bar with Colin.

  'I might as well join them,' she thought, and was threading her way through the tables when she was hailed by Lady Pendlebury. Even in the Riviera sunshine, miles away from England, there was no mistaking the woman's background, for nothing could have been more symbolic of her class than her linen skirt and blouse, the white gloves on the table next to her white handbag and the battered white felt hat with its brim pulled uncompromisingly down over her greying hair. Her husband sat perspiring beside her, and he waved genially as his wife heralded Jane.

  'Come and join us for a drink, child,' Lady Pendlebury called 'We never see anything of you except in the dining- room.'

  Knowing herself caught and not wishing to be rude, Jane sat down at the table with them. Maybe she would find some copy for the Morning Star. Sir Brian was always good for a controversial quote of the Colonel Blimp variety.

  'I saw you talking to dear Rupert just now,' Lady Pendlebury went on. 'Such a charming boy. I was at school with his mother. Maybe you could go and find him, Brian, and see if he'd like to join us for lunch?'

  Sir Brian disappeared in the direction of his wife's pointing hand and the two women were left alone.

  'A most eligible young man,' Lady Pendlebury droned on. 'Poor, of course, but then so many of the better families are these days. But a dear boy who tries desperately hard to help his mother and sisters. Not cut out for business, though.' She looked at her husband's broad, retreating back in a disapproving way that said more than words. 'I know his mother hopes he'll settle down with some nice girl who'll be able to help him.'

  'Help him?' Jane asked gently. 'In what way?'

  Lady Pendlebury hesitated, not sure how guileless the question was.

  'In all the ways a wife can help her husband,' she replied. 'After all, though Rupert hasn't any money he has other things to offer. Breeding and background and a title are important these days.'

  'Yes. Lord Rupert told me so.'

  'And he should know.' Lady Pendlebury laughed. Tor the last few years he's used it to great benefit. He organized safaris to Kenya. Can you imagine poor Rupert doing that when he absolutely loathes anything to do with animals? His mother thought it terribly brave of him and I must say I agree. For the last three years the poor boy's been rushing all over Kenya with rich Americans.'

  'I thought he was in publicity,' Jane said.

  'He was. At least it was the firm who did all the advertising. They put little notices in American papers: "Lord Rupert Copinger has room for a few additional guests on his next safari to Kenya." You know the sort of thing I mean.'

  Jane nodded, her thoughts chaotic. If Rupert had been in Kenya for the last three years surely he would not have had the opportunity to commit the burglaries? Or had his trips to Kenya been for the main purpose of disposing of the articles he had stolen? Lady Pendlebury's next words, however, answered the unspoken question.

  'His mother missed him dreadfully. She's terribly attached to Rupert, and not to see him even for a day for three years was really most trying for her. Still, he's back in England now and we all hope he'll settle down and find something really worth while to do.'

  Jane sighed. Much though she would have liked Lord Rupert to be a suspect, Lady Pendlebury had completely exonerated him from guilt. She would have to think again.

  The thought of suffering Rupert at lunch, when there was no longer any need, was more than she could bear and, blurting out an incoherent apology, she retreated in the direction of Colin who, with the Texan couple, was moving away from his bar stool.

  'I was just coming over to rescue you,' he said as she came within earshot

  'If I'd known I'd have remained where I was,' she replied. 'I'm sure Lady Pendlebury thinks I'm mad.'

  'Better be mad than bored.' He glanced behind her. 'And you would have been bored, I can tell you. Lord Rupert's just arrived.'

  'I know. That's why I ran away!'

  Colin laughed and caught her arm. Well you're in time for lunch. And then how about going in a speedboat afterwards?'

  'Sounds lovely.'

  Jane had never been in a speedboat before and she was enthralled with the experience, loving the fierce tug of the wind at her hair, the sharp feel of the spray on her skin and the exhilaration of speed that made her body tingle. She could have stayed out on the water f
or hours, but eventually the Texan girl declared that she wanted to rest, and they returned to the shore.

  Without the wind taking away the heat it seemed hotter than ever, and Jane was glad to lie under the shade of a parasol and close her eyes. Clare and Stephen were not to be seen, and their absence increased her depression. Better at least for them to be here, where she could know what they were doing, than for them to be out of sight. She did not blame Stephen for being annoyed with her. In his position she would have felt the same. If only she had not told him Cedric Belton had lined Rupert up as a would-be suitor, and she had not made disparaging remarks about him, for all this had made her subsequent behaviour even mote inexplicable. No wonder Stephen had put the wrong interpretation on it.

  How complicated life was. And yet it could have been so happy. What more could one have asked from fate than to go on a cruise with unlimited clothes and the company of a man like Stephen? If only she had not had to worry about the Lorenz Diamond. Yet had it not been for the diamond she would not have been on the cruise at all, and Janey Belton would have been forced to go. Somehow she knew Stephen would have had nothing in common with the real Belton heiress, for she was like many of the women in his circle - rich, spoilt and uncaring for anyone except themselves.

  She turned over on her stomach and rested her head in her arms. Was the Lorenz Diamond on board, or had the thief already smuggled it out of England? And if so, was he on his way to pick it up? What would he do with it once it was in his possession? Maybe even now it was reposing in a velvet-lined box in some hidden recess of Stephen's house.

  Without realizing it, she groaned, and Colin lifted his head up.

  'You all right, Janey?'

  She turned. 'I must have been dreaming.'

  'It's that lobster you had! What you need is a nice cup of tea.'

  'What I need is exercise. I've never done so much lazing around in my life.'

  'You talk as if this was your first holiday in years,' he laughed.

  'Even though I don't work I'm always busy at home,' she told him.

  'I'm sure you are.' His voice was teasing. 'But even so, you're one of the world's spoilt darlings who've never had to worry about money.'

  'And you have, I suppose?'

  Colin's eyes narrowed, making him look older and serious. 'Yes, I have - in the last few years, anyway.'

  'When we first met you told me you weren't worried about the future.'

  'I'm not really worried. It's just that… Oh, let's forget it.'

  'Is there anything I can do to help?'

  As she spoke Jane wished she were actually Janey Belton and in a position to do something for him; as a reporter living on her salary she had no hope of helping him. Yet she had felt impelled to say something and the was rewarded when she saw the pleasure on his face.

  'What a sweet thing to say, Janey. But don't get me wrong. I'm not short of money. It's just that sometimes one sets oneself a goal and is then so busy achieving it that one doesn't see that the goal is moving further away with every step one takes towards it.'

  Jane knew he was speaking in allegorical terms, knew too that if she questioned him further she would learn nothing. Yet feminine perversity impelled her to do so.

  'What was your goal, Colin?'

  'I had two,' he replied. 'The first was a woman and the second was enough money to keep her happy.'

  'I should have thought the second goal was easy,' she said, and remembered how happy her own parents had been, living within an income that Colin would have considered ludicrously inadequate. For the first time since she had come on the cruise she was irritated into indiscretion. 'So much talk about money! So much pretence and indolence. Gosh, you all work so hard trying not to be bored and trying to pretend you're all as rich as kings that…' She stopped, aware of his amazement. 'I'm sorry, Colin, I—'

  'Don't apologize for being your father's daughter,' he said drily. 'I don't wonder you find us a poor lot. We are, you know. And though I grant you that riches are relative, you can't keep the Queen of Sheba unless you're King Solomon. And now,' he said, standing up in one swift movement, 'I'll go and get you that cup of tea.'

  He walked away, his pale hair more grey than blond in the sunlight. Their conversation had been surprising, showing her an aspect of his character she had not suspected until now. By most standards Colin was not a poor man and by her own standards he was a rich one. Yet he was dissatisfied because he did not have enough to possess the woman he loved. She sat up and rested her head against her bended knees. 'The Queen of Sheba,' he had said in describing the woman he loved. Curiously, she wondered who his Queen of Sheba could be.

  It was not until dusk that Jane and Colin returned to the Cambrian. In the purple gloom the ship looked like a fairytale palace, lights ablaze as it floated on the sapphire blue water. Music wafted out on the still air and from the bar came the chink of ice in glasses and the buzz of voices.

  Dinky Howard was poised at the top of the gangway and he chirped excitedly as they came into view.

  'I'm so glad you got back early. There'll be great excitement tonight and I don't want you to be tired. We're having a fancy dress party.'

  'What a pity you didn't tell us before,' Jane said. 'I haven't a thing to wear!'

  'That's what all the women say,' Dinky Howard laughed. 'But if I'd told you earlier you'd have rushed to the shops and bought something elaborate, whereas this way you'll have to rely on your inventiveness, and that's much more fun. Dinner's at the usual time and the party itself begins at ten.'

  He minced away, and Jane looked at Colin with dismay.

  'I haven't really a thing to wear. Not one of my dresses can be altered.'

  'I'm sure you'll find something.' He looked at her speculatively and then snapped his fingers. 'I've got it! We can go as a pair. I'll dress up as a pirate and you can be my captive - the Princess Fatima. Have you a gauzy sort of dress?' 'Will chiffon do?'

  'Perfectly. But darken your skin a bit and smother yourself in jewellery.'

  'I haven't got any.'

  Colin stared at her. 1 thought you'd given your jewel- case to the Purser?'

  'I have, and I don't want to wear any. I may lose it,'

  'It's insured, isn't it?'

  'Yes - but I don't like wearing jewellery.'

  Irritation flickered in the grey eyes. 'You don't have to like it in order to wear it! And if you won't put any on it'll spoil the whole effect. I'm supposed to have captured you for your jewellery!'

  Realizing that it would seem strange if she continued to demur, Jane presented herself at the Purser's office for her jewel-case, and Colin walked back with her to the cabin.

  'It wasn't such a terrible thing to get it out, was it?' he said, tapping the lid. 'You must make yourself look as expensive as possible, so mix it all up if you can. Pearls and diamonds and rubies and—'

  Hey, I'm not the Woolworth heiress!'

  'Maybe not. But you look as if you've got a pretty good collection in there. Open it and let me see. If I leave it to you I'm sure you'll arrive wearing one rope of pearls.'

  Carefully Jane inserted the key in the jewel-case and lifted the lid. A necklace of rubies, each one the size of a farthing, gleamed redly up at her, while underneath it a rope of diamonds glittered like a neon snake.

  'I can see why you don't like wearing these,' Colin murmured. They're a bit much for a girl of your age.'

  That's what I told my father, but he wouldn't listen. You can't blame him. He's got no other woman to dress up.'

  Colin lifted out the ruby necklace and then the diamond one, his hands as gentle as if he were handling a baby.

  'Wear both of these, but with the diamond earrings, and try and fasten some jewels in your hair. Oh, and put on all the bracelets too."

  'Would you like me to fasten a few around my ankle?' she joked.

  'Most certainly. In for a penny, in for a pound!'

  'In for half a million you mean.' The smile left her face as she entered he
r cabin and closed the door. Carefully she put the jewel-case on the dressing-table and looked at it. How stupidly careless of Janey not to have taken it with her.

  The knowledge that a master criminal was on board, possibly not more than a stone's throw away, increased her apprehension. Here, within his grasp, lay yet another fortune, and all of it in jewels that could easily be broken down and sold.

  'It's back to the Purser with that as soon as the party's over,' she vowed. She certainly had no intention of going to bed that night with the jewellery in her cabin.

  Jane decided not to go down to dinner, for it would mean changing twice, and instead she ordered it in her cabin, using the time before it arrived to write a further article for her paper.

  This time she concentrated on Dinky Howard and, feeling no compunction whatever, penned what she considered to be her best satirical piece. She wondered what Frank Preston would think of it, for she had known him tear to shreds some of her best copy and yet accept without a murmur stuff which she considered her worst. But that was like all features editors the world over, she thought, as she wrote the final line and quickly stuffed the article into a drawer as the steward came in with a tray.

  As soon as she had finished eating, she pulled out three chiffon dresses from the wardrobe and laid them on the bed, staring at them critically as she decided which one to wear.

  Her choice fell on the most exotic, a harem-skirted chiffon in pink and lavender, with a silver lame underskirt adding a delicate lustre. Carefully she stepped into it and did up the minute hooks and eyes. It was no easy task, and she was panting and flushed by the time she had finished. Only as she came to the last hook did she chide herself for not having rung for the maid.

  'You're not used to gracious living,' she addressed her reflection. That's your trouble, Jane Berry.'

  But her reflection gave no hint of this and looked back at her, aloof and exotic.

  Remembering Colin's instructions to make up more heavily than usual, she enjoyed herself slapping blue eyeshadow on her lids and outlining her eyes with black liquid. Then came the jewellery - the diamond necklace and the ruby one burned with their own fires around her neck while long pendant earrings flashed and glittered each time she turned her head. Ruby and diamond bracelets sparkled on one ankle and her left arm was heavy with emeralds and sapphires. It was not easy to place jewels in her hair, for she was terribly afraid of losing some of them during the dancing, and instead she piled her hair on the top of her head and entwined a long rope of pearls around it.