Impetuous Masquerade

by Anne Mather

  ‘Oh, but—’ Rhia exchanged a pregnant glance with Jared, and then subsided. ‘Yes. Yes, all right,’ she agreed, a little flatly, realising she had said she would wait and speak to Glyn again. ‘Thank you. I’d like to sit with him.’

  ‘Mr Frazer?’

  Sister Harris turned to Jared in polite enquiry, but to Rhia’s relief, he shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘No, I don’t think he needs both of us sitting by his bed. I—er—I want to ring his mother, and I need a wash. I’ll go back to the hotel—Val. Ring me if you need me.’

  Rhia’s smile was frosty, a mere observance of the formalities for Sister Harris’s benefit, and she knew he knew it by the sudden twisting of his mouth.

  ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll see you later.’ And with a wry smile of acknowledgement, he left them.

  * * *

  A nurse brought her a cup of tea at five o’clock, indicating that there was sugar if Rhia wanted it.

  ‘No, thanks.’ Rhia mouthed the words, but she took the tea gratefully, and was glad of the diversion.

  It had been a long afternoon, and after she had drunk the tea and placed the empty cup on the plastic-topped tray on its metal stand that was pushed to the end of the bed; the minutes dragged on.

  She supposed if she had been Glyn’s girl-friend, or at the very least, someone who knew him and cared about him, this time spent watching him sleep would be a time of rest and renewal. But he was a stranger to her. Even though she had spoken to him, even though she had kissed him, she knew next to nothing about him, and she felt terrified at the thought that he might wake up and expose her. He could do it in so many different ways—her voice, her behaviour, her appearance! He had only to touch her hair to realise that unless Val was wearing a wig, she was not her sister, and her heartbeat quickened at the realisation that she had not considered this when she bent over him. If her hair had brushed his face…

  She brought herself up sharply at this point. It hadn’t. So far, Glyn did not suspect anything, and surely time was on their side. Valentina could not keep out of sight indefinitely, and when she returned…

  Once again, her mind blanked out. She didn’t want to think about what would happen when her sister returned. Val had Jared Frazer to face, as well as his nephew, and she could have no idea how ruthless he could be.

  Thinking of Jared Frazer was not conducive to her peace of mind, and determinedly, she looked at the young man in the bed. With his eyes closed and the scars the glass had inflicted showing up strongly against his pale skin, he looked drained and vulnerable, and Rhia wondered anew how Valentina could have abandoned him as she had. Didn’t she want to know how he was? Didn’t she care if he got better? Or was her own skin so precious to her that she was prepared to sacrifice anything to save it?

  Frowning, she leant forward to study Glyn’s features more intently. Surprisingly, the resemblance between him and his uncle was slight: a certain likeness in the shape of his cheekbones perhaps, a similarity in colouring. But whereas Jared Frazer’s face had strength and determination, Glyn’s was gentle—weaker, some might say, thought Rhia candidly—though she herself preferred the former connotation. He was good-looking, certainly, in spite of the splinter cuts around his closed eyes, and judging by his length in the bed, he was not far short of his uncle’s six feet two or three inches.

  Relaxing back in the chair again, Rhia tried not to think about Jared Frazer, but it wasn’t easy. She couldn’t help wondering what he had said to Glyn’s mother about the situation here, what explanations he had made to her. Had he told her Val had disappeared, or like Glyn, was he prepared to let her believe that all was well? If he had no qualms about deceiving his nephew, why should he not deceive his sister-in-law? He could always appease his conscience with the thought that it would do no good to worry her unnecessarily.

  Sighing, Rhia glanced at her watch again. Nearly seven o’clock. How much longer was she expected to stay here? How much longer was Glyn likely to sleep? Surely, even if she really was his girl-friend, no one could expect her to sit here indefinitely. Her spine was beginning to feel numb, and a certain resentment was rising inside her at Jared Frazer’s prolonged absence. He wasn’t spending his time sitting by his nephew’s bedside. Oh, no, she thought indignantly, he was at his hotel, relaxing in far more attractive surroundings, secure in the knowledge that she was confined here, imprisoned by the fabrication he had invented.

  The sound of a movement behind her brought her head round with a start, and she drew a deep breath as the object of her silent recriminations allowed the heavy door to swing closed behind him.

  ‘Hi,’ he greeted her softly. ‘No change?’

  ‘No change,’ agreed Rhia shortly, without looking at him again. ‘How good of you to come back!’

  Jared Frazer strolled over to the bed and stood looking down at his nephew, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of a pair of dark green corded slacks. They were worn with a matching jacket over a cream silk sweater, and Rhia brooded on the time it had taken for him to change his clothes.

  ‘Sorry I’ve been so long,’ he remarked now, turning his head in her direction. ‘Lisa wasn’t home when I called the first time. I didn’t get through to her until lunchtime.’

  ‘Lunchtime?’ Rhia looked at her watch again and saw that it was nearing half past seven.

  ‘Yes.’ Jared moved his shoulders indifferently as he walked round the bed to where she was sitting. ‘I guess it’s a little after noon back home right now. Mountain time.’

  ‘Mountain time!’ Rhia couldn’t help the slightly scathing note that entered her voice. ‘Do you live in the mountains, Mr Frazer?’

  ‘Close by,’ he conceded, not rising to her attempt at ridicule. ‘A place called Moose Falls. I guess you haven’t heard of it.’

  ‘Should I have?’

  He shrugged. ‘I guess not. But you have heard of Calgary, I’m sure. That’s not too far away.’

  Rhia refused to be diverted by this discussion of his home town. Looking up at him angrily, her eyes wide and resentful, she exclaimed: ‘How much longer do you expect me to sit here, Mr Frazer? I’m just wasting my time!’

  His mouth hardened. ‘You said you’d stay until Glyn woke up,’ he reminded her. ‘I didn’t guarantee how long that might be.’

  ‘But he could sleep all night!’

  ‘I’m well aware of that—Val!’

  Rhia bent her head. ‘I need to use the bathroom,’ she mumbled, avoiding his eyes.

  ‘Do you?’ He didn’t sound convinced. ‘You’ve got no plans of walking out on me, have you?’

  ‘No!’ Rhia was sulky. ‘I have been sitting here for more than four hours, you know.’

  ‘Okay.’ After a moment’s hesitation, he acknowledged the veracity of her claim. ‘You’ll find the washrooms just down the corridor.’ He paused. ‘Hurry back.’

  Rhia said nothing. She merely rose rather stiffly to her feet and walked to the door, pushing it open firmly, and experiencing a distinct sense of relief when it glided shut behind her.

  When she came back, Jared was lounging in the chair she had been occupying, but he got to his feet at her entry and came towards her.

  ‘The night Sister has just been in,’ he told her in a low voice. ‘She’s of the opinion that Glyn could sleep for another three or four hours. She suggests I take you for something to eat and come back later.’

  ‘No!’ Rhia stared up at him. ‘I can’t do that.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to,’ he averred flatly.

  Rhia seethed. ‘But—Simon—’

  Jared put an impatient finger to his lips, indicating the man in the bed behind them, and Rhia was forced to stifle what she had been about to say.

  ‘One day—is that too much to ask?’ he enquired, impaling her with an ebony gaze, and with a weary sigh she shook her head.

  ‘I can’t go out with you like this,’ she insisted, however. She felt hot and uncomfortable, and she badly needed a wash and a change o
f clothes. ‘Let me go back to the apartment. I can take a taxi. If you’re here, Glyn won’t need me.’

  ‘And you’ll come back?’

  ‘Afterwards, yes.’

  Jared frowned, and then, after giving her suggestion some consideration, he shook his head. ‘I’ll come with you,’ he declared. ‘I’ll wait and bring you back again. It’ll be quicker that way.’

  ‘What you mean is—you don’t trust me to come back!’ Rhia had the greatest difficulty in keeping her voice down. ‘I don’t lie, Mr Frazer. If I say I—’

  ‘For God’s sake, stop calling me Mr Frazer,’ he muttered harshly. ‘And I am coming with you, whatever you say. I don’t want Travis turning up and persuading you to abandon the whole idea.’

  ‘He couldn’t do that—’

  ‘Couldn’t he?’ Jared shrugged. ‘Whatever—I’m coming too.’

  Glyn was left in the capable hands of another nurse, whose sympathies were all with Rhia. ‘Don’t you worry,’ she assured her warmly. ‘We’ll take care of him. You enjoy the break. You look as if you need it.’

  ‘Do I?’ murmured Rhia ruefully to herself, as they walked towards the lifts, and Jared gave her a wry look.

  ‘You play the part very well,’ he remarked, infuriatingly. ‘I even begin to believe you care myself.’

  ‘I do care,’ exclaimed Rhia, stung by his cynicism. ‘I’d care about anyone in a similar situation.’

  ‘How much, I wonder?’ he commented obscurely, as the lift took them to the ground floor, and all the way back to the flat, Rhia pondered this imponderable.

  She was relieved to find there was no sign of Simon’s car in the parking area. Obviously, he had taken her at her word and was waiting for her to contact him. She would have to ring him again, she supposed, not looking forward to it. If only Simon had been a little more understanding; as it was, she felt guilty on two counts.

  It was quite a chilly evening, and going up in the lift Rhia was intensely conscious of the shabbiness of her surroundings and the absence of any heating. The walls of the lift were covered with scribbled comments and the overpowering smell of pine disinfectant, that was designed to disguise any more noxious elements, seemed to cling to her clothes. She was unutterably relieved to reach the comparative sanctuary of the flat, which at least mirrored her own personality, and not that of some faceless council employee.

  Aware of Jared behind her, Rhia had her key ready when she reached the door. She had wondered on the way over here whether he would wait downstairs in the car, but evidently this had not been his intention. Instead, he followed her into the hall, almost tripping over her when she bent to pick up the envelope she found lying there.

  It was a telegram, a plain unadorned telegram, with a London postmark and Rhia’s name printed on the envelope. Immediately, her heart somersaulted. Who but Val could be sending her a telegram, and she glanced over her shoulder at Jared, as if seeking his confirmation.

  Jared closed the door and leaned back against it, his nearness a disturbing reality in the confines of the hall. ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’ he asked, as she turned the envelope over in her hands, and Rhia’s nerves tightened in anticipation of what it might hold.

  ‘Do you want me to do it?’ he suggested after a moment, but Rhia could only shake her head. If he thought she was shocked, so much the better. The truth was, she was full of apprehension, and she dreaded the possibilities of what it might say.

  Turning away from him, she stumbled down the hall, slitting the flap with her thumb and pulling out the single sheet of paper. It was very short, and very simple. It was from Val, as she had suspected. It read:

  GONE TO JO’BURG STOP

  DON’T WORRY STOP DADDY WILL

  LOOK AFTER ME STOP VAL.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  JARED took the telegram from her unresisting fingers as Rhia sank down weakly on to the couch. There was no point in trying to hide it from him. He would find out soon enough. And besides, just at that moment, she had no strength left to try and bluff it out.

  ‘I assume your father lives in Johannesburg,’ Jared remarked at last, and Rhia looked up at him with dazed eyes.

  ‘He—he works there,’ she admitted, moistening her lips. ‘But he’s never asked either Val or myself to join him.’

  ‘I doubt your sister cares about that,’ answered Jared dryly. ‘She’s evidently only interested in her own skin. What I find hardest to take is the realisation that she didn’t even wait to find out if Glyn was going to live or die.’

  Rhia shook her head. That thought had occurred to her, too, and her sister’s indifference was the most painful thing to confess. How could Val have acted so recklessly, knowing full well that Rhia would be forced to bear the brunt of her selfishness?

  Jared tossed the telegram on to the table. ‘Well, at least you now know where she’s gone.’

  ‘Yes.’ The sigh Rhia expelled left her weak. ‘What will happen now?’

  Jared shrugged. ‘Don’t look so shattered. I’ll think of something. Go and take a shower or whatever you planned to do, when we came here. Do you have any coffee?’

  Rhia got unsteadily to her feet. ‘Not proper coffee, just instant. Why?’

  ‘You look like you could do with some,’ he responded laconically. ‘Go on. I do know how to make coffee.’

  Rhia went, primarily because she was too stunned to do anything other than obey. Valentina had gone: she had actually packed her things and left the country, without even leaving her sister a note to explain her whereabouts. Oh, she had sent the telegram, probably from Heathrow, but she had known that would not arrive until she was safely out of reach.

  Bundling her hair inside a shower cap, Rhia turned on the taps and allowed the cascade of water to restore feeling to her numbed body. But even after towelling herself dry and feeling the blood circulating through her torpid veins, she was still in a state of raw bemusement.

  She was searching through her drawer for fresh underwear when there was a tap at her bedroom door. For a moment, she was so caught up with what she was doing, she hardly realised who it might be, and her silence encouraged the man outside to believe that she was still in the bathroom. Her door opened, and she clutched belatedly for the towel as Jared entered the room carrying an earthenware mug of coffee.

  ‘What do you—’

  Her startled protest was automatic, but Jared, after only a momentary hesitation, set the mug down on the chest of drawers. ‘Okay. I’m sorry,’ he said, his tone half impatient. ‘But I thought when you didn’t answer that you must still be in the bathroom.’

  ‘Well, as you can see, I’m not.’ With a gradual return of emotion, Rhia heard the rising note of hysteria in her voice. ‘Get—get out!’

  ‘I’m going.’ Jared turned obediently towards the door, but in the aperture he halted and looked back at her. ‘I have seen the naked female form before, you know,’ he added, with infuriating mildness. ‘Enjoy your coffee.’

  Even when Rhia joined him in the living room some fifteen minutes later, her colour had not entirely subsided. It didn’t help to find him lounging on her couch, one ankle resting loosely across his knee, scanning the morning paper. He had discarded his jacket and loosened his tie, and he looked very much at home. He had the ability to adapt himself, whatever his surroundings, she reflected unwillingly, and dismissed the unwelcome awareness of his unconscious sexuality as he turned to look at her.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked, thrusting the paper aside and getting to his feet.

  ‘Ready?’ Rhia looked down blankly at the brown velvet pants and amber knitted shirt she was wearing. ‘Ready for what?’

  His expression narrowed. ‘We don’t have to go into all that again, do we?’

  ‘Mr Frazer—’

  ‘Jared!’

  ‘Jared, then—surely—Val’s telegram alters everything.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘In what way?’ she repeated. ‘Why, in every way. Mr—Jared!—Val’s not coming back
. You know that. And unless they have extradition proceedings for driving offences in South Africa, I don’t see how you’re going to make her.’

  Jared’s nostrils flared. ‘You’re right. I can’t.’

  ‘Well then…’

  ‘Well then—what? Are you telling me you’re not going to come back to the hospital? That you’re going to take the chance of Glyn’s having a relapse when he discovers what your sister has done?’

  ‘That’s not fair!’

  ‘Damn you, I know it’s not fair. But was any of this fair?’

  Rhia’s lips trembled. ‘Your—your nephew shouldn’t have let Val drive his car.’

  ‘Right.’ Jared inclined his head. ‘So for that, he’s to be made to suffer?’

  ‘No.’ Rhia was confused. ‘Jared, please—you must see I can’t go on with this now!’

  ‘Why not?’ Jared’s brooding gaze was disconcerting. ‘It was never intended to be anything more than a temporary measure. Once Glyn regains his sight, obviously he’s going to know you’re not your sister. Is it so much to ask that you prolong the pretence until he’s sufficiently recovered to bear the truth?’

  Rhia moved her head from side to side. ‘You don’t know what you’re asking—’

  ‘I think I do.’

  ‘Simon won’t like—’

  ‘No, I’m sure he won’t,’ Jared interrupted harshly. ‘But Travis isn’t hovering on a knife point between life and death!’

  ‘Nor—nor is Glyn,’ she protested.

  ‘Not right now, no,’ Jared agreed bleakly. ‘But God help him, he loves your sister, Rhia. Are you prepared to tell him she’s run out on him?’

  Rhia had turned away, too strung up to know what to think, when the doorbell rang. It could only be Simon, she knew that, and her nerves prickled at the prospect of another encounter between these two. But she had to answer it. She had to let him in. And with a helpless little gesture she moved towards the door.

  Jared moved, too, more swiftly than she did, insinuating himself in the aperture between her and the hall beyond. ‘Well?’ he said, in a low voice, his arm barring her way. ‘What’s your decision?’