Act of Betrayal (19 page)

just start to develop a complex.' Bethany grinned at her. 'Ah,

but one of the negative replies was from you,' she said. 'You

can't have forgotten the nursing home with hot and cold running

cockroaches.' Laura shuddered, 'No, but I'm trying to.' She

tapped the envelope with her nail. 'It's a pleasant letter. She

thinks I'm too young, like the others did.' Bethany studied her

through narrowed eyes. 'You need about another ten years in age,

and two stone in weight. Cooks shouldn't look as if a breath of

wind might blow them away. It's a bad ^advertisement.' She patted

Laura's hand. 'But all isn't lost." You can always stay on and

work here, you know that. Mike was saying yesterday that he

didn't know how we were going to manage without you.' Laura

smiled. 'You've both been darlings, and you'll never know how

grateful, I am but it wouldn't work. I have to get right away

somehow.'

She had been able to use the excuse of being needed at the

restaurant to absent herself from the house as much as possible

over the past month, so she didn't have to watch Jason and Celia

there together, although she knew his visits were an almost daily

event. She knew because Celia told her so, her eyes bright with

triumphant malice. Celia was enjoying herself, showing Jason off

even as she showed him round the locality. She talked constantly

about him when he wasn't there, describing the houses they had

looked at, the meals they had shared, all the points they had in

common. And it was no consolation for Laura to suspect that Uncle

Martin found Celia's carefully artless confidences as painful as

she did herself. Her uricle, she thought with compunction, was

beginning to look his age. That bluff, hale look was deserting

him, and there was a sallow tinge to his skin, although he denied

testily that there was anything physically wrong with him. He was

worried, she knew. The Tristan name was all over town. The

hoardings had gone up around the earmarked sites, and the

bulldozers had moved in, but the contract with Caswells was still

unsigned, even though the new fibre was in production. Caswells

were being stalled, politely but inexorably. When any decision

was made, they would be informed, was the invariable reply to

their queries, and all Laura's early misgivings had been aroused

again. But she didn't speak of them to her uncle. He had problems

enough already, and she was aware that the remainder of the board

were becoming restive as the days passed. For herself, Laura

found it was hardly possible to go anywhere in the town without

being reminded of her ex-husband, through the company he

controlled, nor was it always feasible to avoid him at the house.

There were times when she had to face him there, and it was never

easy or painless for her, yet she had to behave as if it was,

aware all the time of Celia's watchful malicious gaze. She could

tell herself she was managing very well. Most of the time, Jason

treated her as if she was merely an acquaintance, and Laura began

to feel that perhaps he had thought better of his threat, and was

too involved in his building projects, and perhaps too charmed by

her cousin, to bother about her any more. But then she would look

up suddenly and see him watching her, like a cat with a mouse,

and she would know, with heart-stopping certainty, that he hadn't

finished with her yet. If he was trying to find the best way to

hurt her, then he had already succeeded beyond his wildest

dreams, she thought bitterly. Simply to see his dark head bent

towards Celia, to hear him laugh at one of her deliberately

outrageous remarks was a punishment far worse than anything he

could have deliberately devised. And with every day which passed,

it became more imperative for Laura to get away. The trouble was

it had never occurred to her how difficult it might be. There

were plenty of posts advertised in magazines and daily

newspapers, and so far she had chosen carefully, picking those

which sounded congenial at least, but she was now beginning to

realise she couldn't go on being so fastidious. One prospective

employer, she was sure, had turned her down at interview because

she had an unmarried son in his late twenties living with her,

and regarded Laura as a threat of some kind to this happy

situation. Douglas Meade was inclined to plumpness, and had a

humourless face, and Laura wished there was some way of assuring

his doting mother that she wouldn't have him gift-wrapped, but

that of course had been impossible and instead she had to listen

without comment to his mother's flurried excuses about her lack

of years and experience.

She had been circumspect too about her job applications because

she didn't want Celia to find out what she was doing. In ordinary

circumstances, she received little mail, and a sudden heavy

increase in letters for her would have attracted Celia's

attention and led to the kind of questions she didn't want to

answer. Whether or not her uncle knew what she was doing, Laura

couldn't be sure. He didn't ask, and she didn't volunteer the

information. There would be time enough, she thought, when she

had a job and a new home to go to. Now, she gave a little sigh

and got up from the table. 'Well back to the drawing board. This

time I'm going to apply for everything, no matter how grotty it

sounds.' 'Yuck,' Bethany said despondently. She hesitated for a

moment. 'Laurie do you really have to get a job? You told me your

uncle makes you an allowance, so couldn't you just go away for a

while, get things into a fresh perspective.' Laura smiled wrily.

'The allowance wouldn't cover that for very long,' she said. 'Not

these days, anyway, and besides . . . ' she paused. 'Besides,

Caswells has been on the spot financially for a while, and I

haven't been drawing the full amount.' 'Isn't that rather silly?'

Bethany frowned a little. 'After all, you need it now and . . . '

' I need to be independent,' Laura interrupted gently. 'Which is

a rather different thing, and that's why I need a job any job,

but preferably one that offers accommodation, at first anyway.

I'll look at more ads and write more letters, and hope for the

best.' She had the house to herself when she arrived back with

her little haul of newspapers and periodicals. She made herself a

tray of tea and carried it into the drawing room where she sat,

poring through the 'Situations Vacant' columns, and ringing in

pencil anything that seemed remotely promising.

She was so absorbed that she didn't hear the sound of a car

drawing up outside, and the. first hint she received that she was

no longer alone was Celia's laughing voice in the hall. Laura

swore under her breath and bundled her newspapers under one of

the sofa cushions. It made the cushion lop-sided and she was

smoothing it hastily when the drawing room door opened and her

cousin walked in, with Jason just behind her. Laura straightened

aware that the colour had deepened in her face, and hoping that

it could be explained by the fact that she'd been stooping.

Celia's brows lifted. ' I didn't expect to find you here. I

thought you'd be laying tables at your little cafe, or whatever

it is you do there.' ' I make puddings,' Laura returned

pleasantly. 'And tonight I shall serve them, but in the meantime

I'll go up to my room.' Jason said coolly, 'Please don't go on my

account,' and the irony of that seemed to grip her by the throat.

Without looking at him, she said, 'I'm not. I'm going to have a

rest before I change. It's always hectic at the restaurant on

Friday evenings.' On her way upstairs, she wished she hadn't

panicked over her newspapers. If she'd just hung on to them and

left the room carrying them, Celia would probably have thought

nothing of it, but for Laura to have started searching around

under sofa cushions would have aroused all her curiosity, so

she'd been forced to leave them where they were until later.

She took a leisurely bath, then lay "down on her bed, making

herself relax quite deliberately, trying to shut her ears to the

small noises in the house, trying not to wonder whether Celia was

in Jason's arms. Later, she heard Mrs Fraser return from her

shopping expedition, and later still the sound of her uncle's

car. She dressed reluctantly and went downstairs. The drawing

room door stood open and she could see the room was empty, and

also that it had been tidied for the evening in Mrs Fraser's

usual impeccable manner. Tidied rather too well, Laura decided

ruefully, when she lifted the cushion and found her papers gone.

'Looking for something?' Laura jumped, and turned swiftly to find

Jason framed in the french windows, watching her. She bit her

lip. 'N-no. Just tidying up.' His brows rose. T thought your

dragon lady did that. It was to escape from her ministrations

that I went into the garden.' She said, T thought you'd gone' and

coloured, wishing the words unspoken. He sent her a mocking

glance. 'Sorry to disappoint you. Your cousin has invited me to

stay for dinner. We have something to celebrate.' Laura's mouth

was as dry as a bone. 'Really?' Her tone suggested a total lack

of interest. ' I f you'll excuse me, I'll see if Mrs Fraser needs

a hand with anything.' 'I'm sure she doesn't.' He walked forward

into the room. 'She seems terrifyingly efficient to me.' He

stopped, resting his hands lightly on his hips and looked at her,

'Don't you want to hear my good news?' Cat and mouse again. She

stared back, her eyes flashing with resentment. 'Not

particularly. Nothing you do concerns me anymore.' He said

softly, T can think of a number of things I could do which would

concern you very deeply, my darling, and if we weren't likely to

be interrupted at any moment, I might be tempted to demonstrate.'

Her colour deepened hectically, and she took a hasty step

backwards. 'Don't you dare 'Then don't you be provocative,' he

came back at her sharply. 'Don't you ever learn?' She shrugged.

'It seems not. Well tell me your news, if it's so important.'

'It's important to me,' he said. 'I've bought a house at last.'

She'd been so sure he was going to tell her that he and Celia

were engaged, that she felt almost sick with relief. She

moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. 'At last? It

hasn't been that arduous, surely? You've only been house-hunting

for about a month and and you've had Celia to help you.' I have

indeed,' he agreed. 'She's been indispensable, although I'm

afraid she's a little disappointed over my final choice. She

wanted me to pick Hartley Grange, but instead I've signed the

contract for Mill Cottage.' Laura stared at him, her eyes

widening. She knew the house, of course. It was a charming, old-

world place, near the river. No-one knew if a miller had ever

actually lived there, but the ruins of the mill itself were not

far away. The house had been empty for some months after one of

the elderly sisters who had lived there had died, and the other

had elected to move to a comfortable private hotel for company.

It was spacious enough, she thought, but it was secluded with a

pretty walled garden at the rear, and the last place on earth she

could imagine Jason choosing. At last she said, ' I imagine it

will need quite a lot doing to it?' 'I've had a survey done.

There's a little damp which can be speedily rectified. The rest

is simply a matter of up-dating things like the kitchen and

bathrooms and that won't take long.' 'Naturally,' she said

lightly. 'Ne--sooner said than done. Hartley Grange, of course,

has had everything done already including a swimming pool and

tennis courts. No wonder Celia is disappointed. I hope you

haven't made too hasty a choice.' He shook his head, a faint

smile playing about his lips. 'No. I know what I want, and when I

see it, I take it as you, of all people, should know.'

She flushed again. In a low voice, she said, 'Don't...' 'I'll do

what I damned well please.' His voice held suppressed violence.

His hands reached and gripped her by the shoulders. He felt her

flinch, and his smile deepened cruelly. 'Frightened, sweet wife?

So you should be. Or did you think I'd relented—decided to

forgive and forget?' She said quietly, 'No. I don't think either