Midnight Wedding Page 17

  Whatever it was, they were looking. And admiring. Envying, even—at least, some of the women were. Which was what she wanted. It meant that they were seeing what they expected to see: Jack Armour’s indulged and wayward wife, not a woman on the edge of despair.

  She said now, ‘Well, the water is warm. Swim when you want. There are towels in the downstairs bathroom.’

  She stood up.

  ‘Don’t rush off. You haven’t finished your drink,’ said Jack.

  He watched her narrowly. Holly felt horribly self-conscious.

  To hide it she pulled a laughing face. ‘I’m sorry, darling. This is absolutely filthy. What is it? Toothpaste and advo-caat?’

  A couple of the group looked uncomfortable. Jack was unmoved.

  ‘I shouldn’t expect you to drink anything but champagne,’ he said smoothly.

  So he had believed the articles. How could he, when he had seen with his own eyes the garret she’d lived in?

  ‘I’ll come in with you and make sure it’s properly chilled.’

  He slid his arm round her waist and strolled her back into the house.

  The muslin was no barrier to the heat of his body. His arm felt like an iron bar straight out of the furnace. The sensation was so strong, Holly could barely speak.

  I’m carrying his child. He has his arm round me. And we’re like strangers.

  Once they were out of sight of the pool party, inside the house, she removed herself from his grip. He did not resist. But he did look at her with that intent, considering look.

  ‘Have you got anything you want to tell me?’

  Holly went very still.

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Maybe a full confession,’ he said. He sounded amused but she knew him well enough to hear the anger licking through.

  She began to tremble. ‘What sort of confession?’

  ‘Well, I’d rather have heard about your adolescent rebellions from you than the morning newspapers,’ he said, suddenly savage.

  She began to feel sick again. Oh, very convenient, Holly.

  ‘We can’t talk about this now.’

  ‘When can we talk about it?’

  Holly’s sense of fair play was offended. ‘When your guests have gone.’

  ‘Oh, no, we’ll talk before then.’ He showed his teeth in an unamused smile. ‘We’ll talk tonight.’

  She did not know how she got through the party, though everyone else had a great time. The village guests brought drink and all the women came bearing food of some sort.

  Holly was grateful. Rushing about among her guests, she managed to avoid coming face to face with Jack.

  Until the end of the evening, of course. Someone had changed the music and the guests were slow dancing dreamily under the stars. Holly had changed into a long cotton skirt and T-shirt by then. But she still shivered.

  Warm arms closed round her.

  ‘Dance with me,’ said Jack in her ear.

  She remembered watching him dance with other women on the beach at their wedding. She unwrapped his arms.

  ‘No.’

  He buried his face in her loosened, expensively scented hair. ‘Are you telling me you don’t want to?’ His arms crept round her waist again.

  How was it possible to hurt this much and still keep smiling? Holly’s face felt as if it had been set with hair spray into an expression of party cheer.

  ‘No, I don’t want to dance,’ she said steadily. ‘You don’t trust me and I—don’t like you in this mood.’

  His arms tightened. ‘What mood is that, darling?’

  ‘Cynical.’

  With sudden energy, she pushed him away and turned. He looked down at her as if he had never seen her before.

  ‘Cynical or not, I still want you.’ His voice was raw. ‘Just like you want me.’ He reached for her.

  Holly could not bear any more. She pushed past him and ran for the house. Tears were spilling down her cheeks.

  He let her go. No one else noticed.

  She ran to the one place in the house where she thought he would not look for her. The minstrels’ gallery was above the main hall, not much more than an extended balcony. But someone had dumped some old furniture up there. She took refuge among decaying damask and wormy pine, huddling down on the floor with her knees under her chin.

  The music died. The dancing stopped. She heard the last of the guests go to bed. And still she sat there, tear-stained but dry-eyed now. Jack put out the lights and started to tread heavily up the stairs. Holly held her breath.

  The door to the gallery opened.

  ‘Time to talk,’ he said, and flicked a switch.

  Holly blinked in the sudden glare. The minstrels’ gallery was lit by one bulb flickering from a fraying cord. The uncertain shadows made him seem taller and nakedly powerful. Holly caught her breath. The little sound resonated like a scream under the echoing rafters.

  ‘Are you afraid of me?’ He sounded incredulous.

  Holly got painfully to her feet, fighting pins and needles. ‘No, of course not.’

  She bent over, rubbing her calf muscles.

  ‘Then why the melodrama?’

  ‘Melodrama? Me?’ She was furious. It was better than dissolving into weak tears. ‘You were the one who couldn’t bear to be alone with me so you brought back your whole damned office.’

  ‘Couldn’t—’ He stopped. ‘Is that what you thought?’

  She stopped rubbing her muscles, although the pain was excruciating.

  ‘Isn’t it true? You saw what those newspapers said about me and you—’ But she couldn’t go on. The weak tears were victorious after all.

  Jack said flatly, ‘They had a full-scale celebration prepared in London. They’ve worked for over a year on this contract. I couldn’t get out of it. But I was desperate to get back to you. The only thing I could think of was to bring the revels with me.’

  ‘Oh.’

  He heard the doubt in her voice.

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen the press cuttings. Yes, I want to know how much truth there is in them. But the main reason I’m here is because I didn’t want you to be on your own.’

  Holly straightened. All she could think was: He’s leaving me.

  ‘On my own? Why? What’s going to happen?’

  ‘I’m afraid Brendan Sugrue has caught up with us. It was only going to be a matter of time, after that damned Elegance article.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Holly blankly.

  Compared with the disaster of Jack leaving, Brendan Sugrue’s pursuit seemed suddenly unimportant.

  Jack misinterpreted her reaction. ‘Don’t look like that. My secretary stalled him. We can handle this.’

  It was his reassuring voice. He was the calm negotiator, preparing to deal with an opponent. Not her lover protecting her. I want the lover, thought Holly rebelliously.

  But Jack did not see it.

  ‘I was half afraid he’d get here before I could. You weren’t picking up the phone and I didn’t want to leave something like that on the machine. He’ll be here tomorrow for sure.’

  He was so convinced that she would be falling apart that Holly did not know how to react. The days when she had been afraid of Brendan Sugrue seemed a century ago instead of just a few months. Her need to get away from Sugrue and the whole family inheritance seemed negligible compared with the need that gnawed at her now.

  She retreated, shrugging. ‘Let him come.’

  ‘You’re ready to face him?’

  She had other, more important concerns now. Her terror of Brendan’s bullying seemed childish in retrospect. She was infinitely more afraid of the way Jack Armour could make her feel just by looking at her. Just by coming up behind her and breathing into her hair.

  ‘Why not?’

  Somehow she had managed to back herself against the edge of the balustrade. Jack did not move. There was the whole width of the balcony between them. But she could feel the heat of his body, his breath.

  She thought: Hold me.

 
The force of her need was so strong it was almost as if she had spoken aloud. With a little moan of shame, she pressed her hands to her cheeks. He had told her in set terms that he did not love her, she was too young for him. Yet here she was virtually throwing herself at him. She could not bear it.

  ‘Go away,’ she said in a muffled voice.

  Suddenly he was no longer several feet away. The balustrade began to dig into her back. Her world swung wildly as he took her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his eyes.

  He said in a low voice, ‘Holly we have got to stop tearing at each other like this. You want me. I want you. If that’s all we have, then let’s build what we can on that.’

  Yesterday, it would have been enough. She would have fallen into his arms weeping. But today she knew she was carrying his child. And it had to be love or nothing.

  She said, ‘I can’t.’

  And put a hand on the top of her stomach in a protective gesture as old as time.

  His eyes flared. Then went utterly blank.

  ‘Don’t ask me to—’ Her voice gave out.

  He could have been turned to marble. She brushed past him and her shoulder felt bruised. He made no move to stop her.

  Holly fled.

  CHAPTER TEN

  HOLLY slept better that night than she had done for weeks but she still woke before dawn. Her eyes drifted open as busy birdsong started in the trees. She was smiling.

  I feel happy? Why do I feel so happy?

  She stirred; and remembered.

  Jack was here. She was carrying his child. And he was here.

  Then, of course, everything else came back. His shock last night. Had he realised that she was pregnant? At the time she had been certain of it. Certain, too, that he was horrified. Now she was not so sure. Surely he would have said something?

  Well, they would have to talk about it today, as soon as the guests had gone. Meanwhile there was a party to clear up after. Holly pulled on jeans and a cotton shirt and went to see what needed doing.

  She had no experience at all in clearing up after parties. Donna had had servants and, before that, her mother had not had parties. But she had learned a lot in Chef Pierre’s kitchen and she enjoyed practical tasks. She loaded the dishwasher in the devastated kitchen and went looking for more debris.

  Outside, the dew was still on the grass. It frosted the glasses and bowls that had been left out last night. The air was cool and full of the scents of grasses, sharp as champagne at the back of her throat. Blackbirds trilled. And last night Jack had held her and said he wanted her.

  Holly gave a sigh of something between pain and delight. Wanting was not enough. It would never be enough. But she suspected it was more than many people had. Maybe he was right, after all, and they could build something on that fragile foundation. Their baby deserved—

  Her thoughts skittered to a halt. No, she wanted Jack to stay with her because he loved her. Not because he was a responsible man who had fathered an unlooked-for child. Her baby would be loved, whatever happened. But if Jack stayed with her it had to be because she, not Susana Montijo, was the love of his life.

  Fat chance, thought Holly, wincing.

  She attacked the clearing up with fury. By the time Jack came down, the kitchen was sparkling. A row of dishes to be returned to their owners was set out in the dining room. And Holly was filled with a grim satisfaction.

  By contrast, Jack looked rough. He had not shaved and his eyes were wild. He looked at her narrowly.

  ‘You all right?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ She was desperate to talk to him; tell him about the baby. But she could not, not with all these people in the house.

  He seemed ill at ease. ‘You shouldn’t have done all that alone. I would have helped.’

  She put on some coffee.

  ‘I like getting things back into order,’ she said with constraint.

  ‘Evidently,’ he said drily. He pushed a hand through his hair. ‘What a crazy weekend to have people to stay. Look, I’ll get rid of them. Send them off sightseeing to Ludlow or something. We need to talk.’

  ‘I know.’

  No matter what happened she loved him, she reminded herself. She would treasure it always, wherever she went. And she would have his child to treasure too.

  Jack banged a fist into the wall. ‘Damn!’

  The house guests were surprisingly accommodating. They took maps and guidebooks and piled into their cars with alacrity. It was the party guests who were the problem. All through the morning there was a steady stream of people dropping by to say thank you and pick up their crockery. The dining room emptied of glass and china and filled up instead with garden produce and bouquets. It was a long time since there had been a party at the castle.

  ‘We must do it again,’ said Jack, between frustration and despairing amusement, as they saw off yet another grateful party goer.

  That got through Holly’s unnatural calm. His laughing remark implied a shared future that they both knew was impossible. Or did it? She turned away.

  ‘Holly?’

  The phone was ringing. She went towards it. Jack stopped her with a word.

  ‘I love you,’ he said quietly.

  She halted as if he had tapped her with a magician’s wand. Her mind reeled.

  She did not turn. Jack did not touch her.

  ‘I can’t take any more of this.’ His voice was low but very level. ‘If you don’t care for me, I can accept that. But I can’t go on pretending.’

  Holly could not believe it. She was shaken to the heart. She began to tremble.

  ‘Jack—’

  But there was no time. The ring of the phone was insistent. And yet another car was coming up the drive.

  ‘This will be the Ransomes,’ she said distractedly. ‘I’ll get their salad bowl if you answer that.’

  ‘And then—’

  She looked at him then. She hardly recognised him: the intentness, the tenderness, the unmistakeable sincerity.

  He touched her cheek briefly.

  Holly was dazed. Disbelieving. But that sincerity made him vulnerable suddenly. It demanded an answer.

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  He went and so did she. But when she came out again, with the wooden bowl in her hands, it was not the Ransomes. The man getting out of the driver’s seat was a tall commanding figure she had been afraid of all her adult life. But Jack loved her. She looked at him with absolute indifference.

  ‘Hello, Brendan.’

  Someone else emerged from the passenger’s seat. Holly’s eyebrows rose.

  ‘And Homer. What a surprise,’ she said faintly.

  Brendan slammed the car door and swaggered over to her. Why had she never noticed that ostentatious gait before? she thought, despising herself. He behaved like a bully in a school playground. If you weren’t afraid of him, he was nothing.

  ‘OK Holly. What mess have you got yourself into now?’

  That was Brendan all over. No pretence at friendliness and straight into the middle of an argument that you had finished weeks ago in another country. Suddenly, gloriously, Holly wanted to laugh.

  ‘No mess,’ she said gravely. ‘But you can congratulate me on my marriage if you like.’

  He loomed over her menacingly.

  ‘Marriage? That’s what that lawyer said! So where’s the fond husband?’

  She stood her ground. She even smiled.

  ‘Inside, taking a phone call.’

  That disconcerted him. He exchanged a look with Homer.

  The shorter man came forward. He hadn’t changed either, Holly saw. Still pale and blank-eyed.

  Homer said, ‘Holly, my dear child, this can’t go on. You must realise you are a very rich young woman.’

  ‘Yes, I realise that,’ Holly said drily. She put the bowl down upon the ground and folded her arms. ‘So?’

  ‘Well, how long have you known this man you say you want to marry?’

  ‘Have married,’ she corrected quietly.

/>   Brendan burst in. ‘Doesn’t sound like a legal ceremony to me. We’re checking.’

  Homer brushed that aside. ‘How long?’

  ‘Since April,’ Holly admitted.

  ‘A few months. Exactly. So what do you really know about him?’

  ‘I—’

  ‘He’s an adventurer. Never stays in one place for two minutes together. No real substance to him. And his company needs money, did you know that?’

  Holly surveyed him for a long, level minute.

  ‘Clever,’ she said at last. ‘I always knew there had to be some reason why Brendan brought you in to run the company. Now I see what it is. You’re a real snake, aren’t you, Homer?’

  He did not lose his smile. ‘If you mean I’m a businessman who recognises the way other businessmen think, then, yes, I’m a snake.’

  There was a small sound behind her. She turned and saw Jack standing in the doorway. He looked appalled.

  Holly could not bear it. She went to him and put her hand in his without even thinking about it.

  ‘He hasn’t asked me for money and I haven’t offered him any. But I will.’

  Jack was taken aback. ‘Holly—’

  She ignored him. ‘It will be an inheritance for our child.’

  Jack jumped as if she had put an electric shock through him. His fingers clenched convulsively round hers.

  Brendan gave a roar. ‘You mean you—’

  Holly smiled. ‘You can congratulate us, Brendan.’

  ‘Darling,’ said Jack, and pulled her roughly back into his arms. She could feel his heart hammering against her shoulder blade.

  Homer, horribly, was still smiling. ‘Even more reason to take you back with us. You must see that as a concerned guardian Brendan really can’t allow you to stay with a man who seduced you and made you go through some dubious marriage ceremony. Especially when you’ve known him for so little time.’

  Brendan took his cue after only the slightest hesitation. ‘Absolutely. I’ll get the lawyers on to it right away.’

  Jack looked down at her. Whatever he saw in her face made his arm go round her, clamping her to him as if they were going to climb a dangerous path side by side.

  ‘Brendan doesn’t get a vote,’ he told her calmly. He looked up and his eyes clashed with Homer’s. ‘Nor, for that matter, do you. On your way, gentlemen.’