Act of Betrayal (12 page)

unhurried, she discovered, as he took her with him on that slow

endless journey into pleasure, controlling the power of his body

to bring her to total acceptance, total passionate surrender.

Afterwards, she supposed she must have slept. When she opened her

eyes, he was lying beside her propped on one elbow, watching her.

He smiled at her, sliding a hand down her body, reminding her of

that final, incredible urgency which had possessed them both. He

said, 'I'm going to paint you again.' His lips brushed the

beginnings of her own smile. ' "Laura fulfilled".' In the

darkness, Laura lay alone, torturing herself with memories. It

was madness to think of these things, to let herself remember how

it had been with them, the wild sensual magic his hands and mouth

had always engendered for her. And it was shaming to realise that

he had lost none of his power over her, even though she knew what

he was, even though the bitter truths of their relationship had

been brought home to her a long time ago. Especially when, now,

he was with Celia. The storm was passing. Above the muted rumble

of the thunder, she heard the sound of the car engine starting

up, saw the glare of headlights sweep her window. She thought,

'He's gone' and tried with a kind of desperation to be glad.

As she walked down Burngate the following morning, it seemed to

Laura as if the previous night's storm had been a figment of her

imagination. The day was cloudless and sunny, and even in town

the air seemed to sparkle. Just beyond the restaurant, she could

see Alan's car still forlornly waiting, a parking ticket tucked

vindictively under one of the windscreen wipers. Something to add

to the hangover he was undoubtedly suffering, Laura thought

wryly. On the pretext of shopping, she'd managed to escape from

the house before Celia came downstairs. She would have to face

her sometime, and the barbed remarks and inferences which would

be coming her way, but not yet. Not until she was fully back in

charge of her emotions. She rang the bell at the restaurant's

side door, and before the sound had died away, the door had

opened, and Bethany's smiling face appeared. 'Come in.' She

tugged Laura over the step. 'What a morning we're having. 'The

'phone has hardly stopped ringing. We have bookings until the end

of next week. It's fantastic' 'Oh, Beth, I'm delighted for you.'

Laura hugged her. 'But you thoroughly deserve it. Your husband is

an inspired cook.' 'He's an inspired everything,' Bethany said

demurely. Superman, who was waiting in the flat upstairs, turned

out to be medium height with brown hair, and smiling eyes, and

Laura liked him at once. They sat at the oval table in the window

overlooking the street, drinking coffee and nibbling at homemade

shortbread while they caught up on the news of mutual

acquaintances. After a while, Mike excused himself and vanished

down to the kitchen to start work on some soup. 'He's so happy,'

Bethany said fondly. 'This was quite a gamble for us in a number

of ways, but one of his aunts bought us some premium bonds as a

wedding present, and we actually won. Oh, not the big prize, or

anything like it,' she added hastily. 'But enough to make us feel

that if we ever were going to work for ourselves it had to be now

or never. But what about you, Laura? Did you ever make use of

your diploma?' Laura hesitated. 'To a certain extent. I help out

at Caswells when anything special is required in the way of food,

but that's all.' Bethany was silent for a moment, her frank blue

eyes studying her friend. She said, 'It's probably none of my

business, but rumour had it that you'd got married.' Laura bit

her lip. ' I did.' She forced a smile. 'It—it didn't work out,

and we're now divorced.' 'Oh,' Bethany said helplessly. 'Laura,

I'm really sorry. I don't know what to say.' Laura shrugged

slightly. 'That's all right. I'm over it now.' Am I? Oh God, am

I? 'Did I ever meet him?' Bethany persisted, and Laura shook her

head. 'He was an artist, then. His name's Jason Wingard,' she

added flatly. 'Wingard?' Bethany frowned. 'Odd—that name rings

a bell.' ' I expect it does,' Laura said drily. 'Look at last

night's cheques, and you'll find it among them.' 'He was in here

last night?' Bethany's brows vanished almost into her hair. Laura

nodded. 'It was quite a family party.'

'Then it was one of those civilised divorces?' Laura wanted to

scream, 'No—it tore me to pieces, and still does,' but instead

she said lightly, T suppose you could say that.' She changed the

subject abruptly. 'What happened to Julie? Do you ever see her

these days?' 'The last I heard of her, she'd gone abroad.'

Bethany reached for the coffee pot, and refilled the cups. While

she was adding cream. Laura looked idly down into the street.

Alan still hadn't moved his car, she noticed, and there was no

sign of him anywhere. If he wasn't careful, it might be towed

away. Burngate itself was relatively quiet for the time of day,

with little traffic and few pedestrians. A boy, his hair dyed

like a cockatoo's and aggressively lacquered, strode along the

pavement, attracting scandalised looks from more conventional

shoppers, and Laura smiled to herself as he sidestepped to let a

girl with a pushchair walk past him to the window of the estate

agent's opposite. Suddenly she could feel the blood drumming in

her head and felt her chest tightening almost unbearably.

'Laura.' Bethany jumped up. 'My God, love, what is -it? You're

ill. Put your head down—that's it. Now, try and breathe deeply,

but don't force it.' Laura obeyed, aware that the room was

swimming nauseatingly round her. Within seconds Mike had appeared

with a glass of water, summoned by Bethany's urgent call. Between

them, they got Laura to lie down on the sofa. She drank some of

the water, and gradually the room stopped revolving. She said at

last, 'I'm sorry. I feel a complete fool. It must be lack of

sleep. The storm kept me awake last night and . . . ' Mike had

discreetly vanished again. Bethany took her hand gently. 'You're

not a fool, love, and neither am I. You looked as if you'd seen a

ghost just then. What is it?' Laura gave her a wan smile. 'No

ghost very much flesh and blood. At least, I think so. I could

have made a mistake.' 'Then who is it, for heaven's sake?'

Bethany dragged forward a chair and sat down. Laura was silent

for a long moment. She said, ' I suppose the simplest way to say

it is my husband's mistress and one of his children.' There was a

charged silence, then Bethany said, 'You're joking surely ' then

caught herself quickly, 'No, it isn't a joke. You don't make

jokes about things like that. But Laura, my God, you said one of

his children. You mean he has more than one? 'One more that I

know about,' Laura said wearily. 'An older boy. I suppose he'll

be at school now.' There was another long pause, then Bethany

said gently, 'You don't have to say any more if you don't want

to, but if it would help to talk about it, then I'm more than

ready to listen.' 'It might help at that.' Laura spoke half to

herself. 'I've managed to keep it all locked away all this time,

because I really thought I'd never have to see him again. But

now, he's back, and obviously she's still with him.' She gave a

little choked laugh. 'Although God knows why. He certainly never

treated her very well. He turned his back on her to marry me,

even if that was only a temporary aberration, and now he's

started an affair with my cousin Celia.' Bethany whistled

soundlessly. She said caustically, 'The gentleman gets around.

Why the hell did you marry him?' 'Because I fell in love.' Laura

looked down at her hands, clenched together in her lap. 'Head

over heels, helplessly, deliriously in love the kind they write

poetry about.'

Only in our case, she thought, all the rhymes were wrong. She

began to tell Bethany about it, going back to the beginning to

the time when she and Jason had become lovers, and the endless

painful three weeks which had followed when she neither saw him

nor heard from him. A l l she could tell herself, all she could

believe was that Julie had been right after all about him. That

maybe his insistence on painting her had been nothing but an

elaborate ploy to get her into bed, and that, having succeeded,

he wanted nothing more from her. She reminded herself over and

over again that she wasn't the first it had happened to, and she

certainly wouldn't be the last, but it did nothing to dispel the

hurt lying like a stone inside her. And then one day, he was

waiting for her outside the school, just like it had been that

first time. There was something watchful in the way he looked at

her, something contained, as if he wasn't altogether sure of his

welcome, but she was holding back too, because her first impulse

had been to run to him, and fling herself into his arms. He made

no attempt to touch her or kiss her. He said abruptly, 'Have you

finished for the day? We need to talk.' 'If you're worried,' she

said, colour rising in her face, 'about what happened between us,

then there's no need. It's all right.' For a moment he stared at

her as if he didn't know what she was talking about, then he gave

a short laugh. 'Do you know, I never gave it a thought. But it

would have made absolutely no difference.' He took her hand and

they began to walk slowly along the street together. He said, ' I

want you to marry me, Laura.' 'Marry?' The breath seemed to stop

in her throat. 'But why?' He shrugged slightly. 'For the usual

reasons, I Suppose and more.' His fingers tightened round hers.

'When I recognised that solitary quality in you, it was because I

possess it myself. It isn't a good way for the human animal to

be. We need mutual support, warmth, comfort.' 'And love?' she

said. He said drily, ' I thought that was what I was talking

about. If you mean physical compatibility, then we seem to have

that too. Isn't that enough? Needs in both of us that the other

can satisfy?' There was a silence, then she said helplessly, T

can't believe that you're serious.' 'How can I convince you?' The

grey eyes were full of laughter suddenly. 'Do you want me to go

down on one knee in the street?' He sank gracefully down in front

of her, holding her hand ageinst his heart. It's beat sounded

strong and unflurried, but her own pulses were going off like

rockets. He said, 'Darling Laura be mine.' 'Oh, get up.' She

tugged at his shoulder. 'People are looking at us.' 'Why not?

We're a handsome couple. And I'm not moving from this spot until

I get an answer to my honourable proposal. Don't be alone any

more, Laura. Come and live with me instead.' It was madness, and

she knew it, but it was also what she wanted more than life

itself. She said on a note of laughter, 'Yes oh, yes.' She was

amazed at the speed with which it was accomplished. Her course

had only another couple of weeks to run, and then they would be

married. She said doubtfully, 'So soon?' 'There's nothing to wait

for. We need a licence and two witnesses, that's all.' 'But isn't

there anyone you'd like to be there?' 'No.' The reply was clipped

and definite. 'And you?' She was hesitant. T should tell Uncle

Martin. He's been my guardian ever since my parents died.' 'Tell

him then.' His eyes challenged her. 'Or are you afraid that he'll

forbid the banns?' 'No.' She shook her head, although she didn't

really know what Uncle Martin's reaction would be. He'd told her

since childhood that she would always have a home with him,

almost as if he expected her to be doomed to everlasting

spinsterhood. And perhaps he did at that, because she was

certainly no match for Celia in looks. But the situation was out

of her hands, because when she telephoned the house, Mrs Fraser

told her that Mr Caswell was abroad on a marketing trip, and

unlikely to be back before the end of the month. The usual faint

curtness in her tone did not encourage Laura to confide in her.

So by the time her uncle returned, the marriage was a fait

accompli, and her wedding ring no longer felt alien on her hand.

She rang him at the works to tell him the news, and ask if she

could bring Jason down for the weekend to meet him. Her words

were greeted initially by a stunned silence, and then with an

explosion of rage. 'Married?' His voice stormed at her. 'Married?