Her One Obsession (14 page)

‘My mind is made up, Gideon.’

‘Then will you break the news to your parents, and tell them I will be in touch with them?’

Too close to tears to say another word to him, Dendre simply nodded her head.

He left the room, and Dendre went once more to the fireplace. She threw several logs on the fire and sat on the chaise watching the wood catch and the flames grow bright. She was feeling such pain, loss, numbed by what Gideon had done to her and the action she had taken. She was distracted from her feelings for a moment by the flashing light on the telephone. The studio light. She sat mesmerised by it for a long time. Gideon was on the telephone to Adair with his good news. Now, Adair,
you
will know the pain that goes with being married to him, she thought vengefully.

Dendre looked at her watch. If she hurried she could make the last boat of the day to Athens. She quickly changed into her leather trouser suit, found her handbag and checked that her credit cards and cheque book were there. She opened the drawer where they kept cash and took half of it. There was no need to pack anything, the house was hers. When she left the room she could not help but notice the light on the telephone still flashing. She fled from the bedroom to the kitchen and found Yukio. ‘I have to go to New York. I’ll call you from the city and explain things.’

‘I’ll see you to the boat, but we’ll have to hurry. Only one question, Dendre. Are the children all right?’ he asked.

‘Fine,’ she told him, and the two of them fled from the house down the narrow cobblestone lanes.

Chapter 14

On arrival in New York, Dendre went directly to the apartment. It was in darkness and no one else was there. She turned on every light as she walked through the rooms. In her bedroom, she sat down and cried. It took her a long time before she was able to stop and when she had herself under a semblance of control she called California and woke Orlando.

‘I’m divorcing Gideon,’ she blurted out.

‘Are you all right? Able to handle this? Oh, my dear girl, I never thought he would do this to you.’

She had been about to burst into tears, then her anger returned and she felt strong as steel. ‘No, Orlando, you’ve got it wrong,
I’ve
left Gideon. It is I who asked for a divorce.’

‘Why, for heaven’s sake?’

‘It’s actually too sordid to talk about, but the upshot of it is I’m divorcing him so I can get him back on
my
terms. You told me I was more obsessive than truly in love with Gideon. You were right about being obsessive but wrong about the love bit. I am in love with Gideon and always will be. And he – well, he doesn’t realise how much he loves me. You can consider this a strategic withdrawal. I lost the battle but I intend to win the war.’

‘Dendre, can’t you patch it up?’

‘There is nothing to patch, this divorce is amicable. I get half of everything and he leaves all the details to me to handle.’

‘Do you want me to come to New York?’

‘Not for the moment.’

‘Get a good lawyer. Call me as often as you like, any time you’re feeling blue.’

They spoke for several minutes more and when she put down the telephone she realised that all she had said to her brother was
true. She had better stop feeling blue, sorry for herself, and get on with her life.

In California, Orlando sat up in bed and thought about Dendre’s call and the sad news that he had anticipated for such a long time. He loved and admired his sister for her courage, the certainty of her love for Gideon, which enabled her to take such a drastic step. He turned to look at his sleeping friend and kissed him gently on the lips, stroking the back of his hand down his lover’s cheek. Until that moment, he had not realised that, like his sister, he wanted to reveal his true self, come out of the closet for all the world to see.

Dendre went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. About to pour it, she went cold and shivery. The kettle still in her hand, she could think of nothing save that a ghost was walking over her grave. Dendre dropped the kettle and jumped back to avoid the boiling water that seemed to be flying everywhere. She mopped the floor and the table. Aloud she said, ‘That was Adair,’ and began to laugh.

Dendre picked up the pieces of broken cup that had been shattered when the kettle struck it as it hit the table. It quite frightened her, she had never before broken a dish. She sat down and looked around the kitchen, her domain, the place from which she had run her husband’s and children’s lives, and a life of her own which she had loved. It was over. She felt like a stranger in her own home now. Well, if not a stranger she would in future be a guest. That realisation brought her to her feet. She couldn’t stay here. She picked up the telephone and called several hotels in the city. All their rooms were booked.

She was thinking where else she should call, because she had no intention of spending one night in what would soon be Adair’s home, when the shrilling of the telephone broke the silence. She let it ring several times before she picked it up. It was Gideon.

‘I wanted to make certain you’d arrived safely. It’s strange your not being here. It was a vile thing, what I did to you, inexcusable. You didn’t deserve that.’

‘No, you’re quite right, I didn’t. Don’t let’s talk about it, Gideon. Let time heal that wound while we get on with our lives. I won’t be staying here, I’m going to a hotel until I find an apartment.’

‘Which hotel?’

‘I don’t know. So far the ones I’ve called are all booked up.’

‘Fax me once you’ve found somewhere.’

‘Gideon, would you mind if I took Yukio? There’s so much to do and I’m sure Adair would prefer to have staff she can train herself.’

There was a moment of silence and then he said, ‘Of course, I hadn’t thought of that. I’m sure you are right. Have you called the children yet?’

‘No, I intend to do that in the morning.’

‘Then I can leave everything to you?’

‘Yes, I told you so when we parted.’

‘Goodbye,’ said Gideon, and Dendre hung up the telephone.

She sat back in her chair and smiled. She knew him better than anyone else in the world. Aloud she said to the empty room, ‘I give Adair a year, eighteen months at the most, then I’ll be back here to stay.’

It then occurred to her that she had been penny pinching in her choice of hotel, and what for when she was a wealthy woman? She could afford any hotel she wanted. She remembered what Yukio always told her: ‘Name drop first then ask for what you want.’

She called the Sherry Netherland, and for the first time in all her married years to Gideon used her name to gain an advantage. ‘Hello,’ she said to the switchboard, ‘my name is Mrs Gideon Palenberg. May I speak to the manager?’

Dendre knew from years of experience that Gideon would not get involved with anything as mundane as explaining to the staff what had happened. So she called the Hydra house, next feeling she owed Yukio and Kitty an explanation for her sudden disappearance.

It was Kitty who answered the telephone.

‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

Dendre closed her eyes and sighed. She was irritated with that question. Did people think she was going to lie down and die because she had walked out on her marriage? No, of course she wasn’t all right but she wasn’t going to die either. Dendre ignored the question and asked Kitty if Yukio was there.

‘He’s just walked in,’ her faithful helper told her.

‘Fine, tell him to stand by, I want a word with him too.’

Dendre’s mind was racing, her will kept it from fragmenting.
From somewhere deep within her, she found enough strength to follow her instincts. She made a vow to focus on her objective and do whatever she had to do to achieve it.

Dendre could hear her talking to Yukio. Then she was back on the line. ‘I’m here,’ she said.

‘Kitty, I’m not coming back to Hydra. Gideon and I have come to an amicable agreement – I am suing him for divorce. Now, I want you to do something for me. I want you to stay on with him and take care of him. Do your job as you always have done it, but without me. When Adair has moved in with Gideon, which she will, if you are happy to be working for her, fine. If not, I want you to come work for me. The door is always open for you wherever I am. Will you do that?’

Dendre could hear her crying but finally Kitty did agree to do as she was asked.

Yukio was next on the line. She told him of the pending divorce and asked him to come to her as soon as possible. He was more controlled, asked no questions and said that Gideon had only a few minutes ago told him to leave for New York, nothing else. Dendre gave him the address where she would be. She asked for Kitty to be put on the line again and told her how grateful she had always been for everything the housekeeper had done for her and the family. That she was certain it would only be a matter of months before they would be working together again. Reassured, Kitty thanked her for being so honest with her and said that she would stay with Gideon until Adair was able to take over.

Dendre was more disturbed by the conversation than she’d thought she would be. Kitty and Yukio had been through a great deal with her. They had seen other women come and go but nothing had shaken the Palenbergs’ marriage. Until Adair.

It was eight o’clock and Dendre suddenly felt pangs of hunger. She rose from her chair, gave a great sigh and went to her bedroom to pack a few things. From there she let herself into Gideon’s studio and turned on the lights. Monumental beauty, passion, the essence of life jumped out of the darkness. She walked slowly down the spiral staircase, reluctant to take her eyes off the paintings, the bed with its fur cover, the brushes, the racks of pots and tubes of colour, the naked canvasses waiting for the touch of the master. She filled her lungs with the aroma
of linseed oil and turpentine. Tears rolled slowly down her face and she sunk to her knees and begged God to give her strength. She had no idea how long she had been there when finally the tears dried up and she rose and left the studio.

Carrying a shoulder bag and a small case with a few things in it, she was just about to close the door to the apartment when she heard the telephone ringing. She very nearly went back inside. She had even taken a step towards doing so before she said, ‘Oh, fuck it,’ and slammed the door shut and double locked it. In the cab on the way to the Sherry Netherland she felt disorientated. She had never stayed in a hotel by herself. She had never stayed in such a grand place. What would Gideon say? ‘You haven’t done badly for a little Jewish girl from Brooklyn.’ And he would have been right.

The unanswered call had been from Adair. She slammed the phone down in a temper, desperate to talk to Dendre about what had happened. To tell her herself that she was leaving for Hydra in a few days to move in with Gideon. The call would really be to try and create some sort of dialogue with Dendre where they might be friendly acquaintances, if not friends, for Gideon’s sake.

Her temper ebbed quickly. She was really too happy to be angry. At last, an end to hiding their love for each other. She and Gideon could now walk hand in hand, kiss, go out as a normal couple in love. Adair had never realised how much she had wanted to be
the
woman in his life before Gideon told her Dendre and he were divorcing. To sleep the night through with him – sheer bliss! He was now at the peak of his career and she intended for him to rise higher even than that.

She hugged herself, she felt so joyful. Adair had never really believed Dendre would leave Gideon. Now they were free
she
would be the woman he needed, had yearned for.

And what of Dendre? She would slip back to Brooklyn probably, maybe go to Florida to be near her parents, or Los Angeles to work in her brother’s clinic, go with him to some third-world country with his international team of surgeons who treated the needy.

Or maybe not. Adair was certain Gideon would have settled a decent monthly allowance on her. If she lived that penny pinching life she loved so much, she need not even look for a job, just stay home and tend her garden. As for the girls … Well, she did have
to admit they were terrifically good fun and adored Gideon and herself. They loved their mother, of course, but there would be no fun living with her. Adair would keep her own apartment and she and Gideon would live between his and her homes. The girls would be tolerated in his apartment, so long as they did not intrude.

All these things kept going through her mind. Well, I did tell Dendre not to leave him, she thought. Now he’s mine, on my terms. I did warn her that trying to get rid of me would backfire and it sure has! She wondered how long she would have to stay in Hydra. Though she loved the island she was easily bored there. She needed cities like New York, Paris, London, Rome, Florence, great museums, art world pundits and scholars, dealers who revered her and her opinions. How wonderful, that Gideon and she could now travel to those places together.

When the telephone rang she ran to it, believing it was him. They were so desperate to be together without Dendre hovering in the background that they had been calling each other all day long. Adair was mad with lust for Gideon. No man before had ever been able to exploit that side of her nature to such an extent that sex was always in the forefront of her mind. They wanted each other so badly in that particular way that it was constant torment. Gideon had seduced her and held her to him in lust and love, and now they were free to tell the world about it.

She was sorely disappointed when she heard Haver’s voice. She would call Gideon the moment he got off the line, she decided. She had no time even to say hello before she heard Haver talking.

‘Congratulations! You must be one of the happiest women in the world right now.’

‘Well, I hadn’t measured my joy in quite that way but I suppose I am.’

‘You’ve got to help me, Adair.’

‘Of course, anything. All favours granted today. The Brooklyn Queen is dead, long live the Queen! Oh, dear, a bit bitchy but she did actually hand him to me.’

‘You can’t imagine what Gideon has done! He’s given half of everything he owns to her as a divorce settlement, and that includes all his paintings and other works of art.’

Adair gasped then shouted, ‘What!’ She composed herself and in an icy calm voice said, ‘That is simply not possible. It’s like handing her a live bomb. That many Palenbergs in Dendre’s hands? It is complete madness.’

‘Precisely, and that’s why you have to talk Gideon out of it. The money doesn’t matter, but the paintings do. What if she held a revenge sale, flooded the market with them? It would badly devalue his work. She knows that and is just stupid enough to go right ahead. I know her very well. Great wealth means little or nothing to Dendre. She’s in her element when she’s pinching pennies. As long as I’ve known her there was only one thing she ever did right and that was loving Gideon. Now she doesn’t even have that.’

‘She’ll ruin him!’

‘Not if I can help it.’

‘What are you going to do?’ asked Adair.

‘Go and see her and make her give me control of all his works. Then call Orlando. If I win him over, and I believe I can, she may listen to what he says. But, of course, before I make any such move I must see her. Gideon said he would fax me where she’s staying as soon as he has word from her.’

‘Nothing has been signed, has it?’

‘Yes, they drew up an agreement, dictated and signed by him.’

‘Oh, damn! She really held him for ransom, didn’t she? He fell for it, gave her everything she asked for, he was so anxious to be rid of her.’

‘Well, not quite. The way he tells it she asked for nothing, he merely offered what he thought was fair. Hang on, there’s a fax coming through.’