Paradise Park (37 page)

When she walked into the drawing room Richard Frost was standing near the fireplace and smiled at her. At that moment Rhiannon saw that Sal had been right: the doctor was taken with her. But he was smitten by the businesswoman she had become. He didn't know anything about her past.

‘Rhiannon.' He moved uneasily from one foot to the other. ‘I spoke to Bull Beynon earlier today and asked him about any family you might have.'

‘I see.' Rhiannon felt a dart of unease. What had Bull said about her? He would never speak ill of her but he did not tell lies. ‘Well, he probably told you I had no family.'

‘Yes, and he told me that he and you were not related in spite of having the same name.'

‘That's right. Please, Richard, do sit down, you're making me feel uncomfortable.'

‘I feel at a loss, I should be speaking to a male relative about my feelings but as you have none I must, of necessity, speak directly to you.' He took her hand. ‘Rhiannon, I have feelings for you, very deep feelings, and I want to ask you to do me the honour of walking out with me.'

Rhiannon's first impulse was to draw away her hand and tell the doctor the truth about her past life, but on reflection she thought that perhaps it would not be kind of her: perhaps he would feel foolish if he knew he was all but proposing to a harlot. ‘You are very kind, Richard, but please, don't ask me to make up my mind to anything as important as that when I've so many other things to think about.'

‘What things?' He seemed puzzled – he didn't know how much planning it had taken to organize the opening of the hotel.

‘Well, there's Mrs Paisley, and you know that she's more of a hindrance than a help these days.' She sighed. ‘Can we talk about this after the Grand Opening? Just give me time to think about it with all of my mind rather than half of it.'

‘Very well.' He sounded disgruntled. ‘You do understand what an honour I'm offering, don't you?'

‘Of course I do, and I'm flattered, but my recent illness has made me weak and indecisive. Please, Richard, give me a few days and then we'll talk properly.'

‘All right, then.' He moved to the door. ‘We'll talk again when you're in a better frame of mind.'

As the door closed behind him, Rhiannon felt only a sense of relief. She must tell him the truth about her past and then, if he still wanted to walk out with her, she would make up her mind if that was what
she
wanted.

Sal was in the hall. She took one look at Rhiannon's face and smiled broadly. ‘I told you, didn't I?' She caught Rhiannon's arm. ‘He proposed, didn't he?'

‘Oh, you and your questions! He didn't exactly propose but he wanted me to walk out with him, as he put it.'

‘And you said yes?'

‘I said I needed time to think about it.'

‘You're mad! A fine upstanding doctor asks for your hand and you put him off! When are you going to get a better offer, Rhiannon?'

‘I don't think I want any man, if the truth be told,' Rhiannon said quietly.

‘And we know why, don't we?' Sal shook her head. ‘Forget Bull Beynon, you're never going to get him. Do you want to end up an old maid?'

Rhiannon didn't reply. She was too busy wiping the tears from her eyes.

Richard Frost stood in the foyer of the hotel looking around him. It was a fine hotel, a thriving hotel, and if he married Rhiannon he would be part of it. He was surprised that she hadn't fallen into his arms right away but women were known to be coy. Keeping a man waiting was part of the game they played.

The large doors of the hotel swung open and he stepped back courteously as a well-dressed couple approached the reception area. He couldn't fail to hear what they were saying as they booked a room for the night. He was about to turn away when he realized the lady was Mrs Jayne Buchan, but the man she was clinging to, as if she would never let him go, was not her husband.

He watched, outraged, as they strolled hand in hand towards the ornate stairs. Their behaviour was beyond the bounds of decency. He must speak to Rhiannon at once, tell her exactly what was going on in the hotel. Perhaps there were other irregularities that should be drawn to her attention.

He decided he would like to look round the place, see what he could find out. He wasn't being inquisitive, he was merely protecting Rhiannon's reputation and the good name of the hotel.

In spite of his distaste at the scene he'd just witnessed, he felt a sense of pride in what she had achieved. He could see for himself how well she had done in turning the old building into a veritable palace. Rich curtains hung at the windows and fine carpet covered the floors. The walls were lined with silk paper and several paintings gave the hotel an air of solidity, as if it had been a grand hotel for many years. He wandered downstairs and found himself looking in on a busy kitchen; the cook was getting on in years but she ran her domain like a good captain would run a ship. The floors were spotless and the mouthwatering smell of roasting beef was enough to tempt any man's appetite.

He was backing out as the cook looked up at him. ‘Sorry, I took a wrong turning,' he said. Another staircase led him towards the back entrance of the hotel and he decided to leave. As he made for the door he heard the sound of a woman's laughter. Curious, he opened the door and as it swung wide he stared at the two people before him. One of the maids was in the arms of a gardener, and her face was flushed.

‘What is going on here?' His tone was stern. ‘Does Mrs Beynon know that her servants cavort like heathens under her nose? Give me your name, man, so that I can advise Mrs Beynon whom she should dismiss.'

The pair sprang apart. ‘I'm Seth, sir, and this is Sal. We're walking out.'

‘That does not excuse unseemly behaviour. I'm leaving but later I intend to bring this matter to Mrs Beynon's attention.'

Seth indicated the back door. ‘Quicker if you go this way rather than back through the hotel.'

The man was so brazen he was actually smiling. ‘I don't know what you have to laugh about, man. I'm sure Mrs Beynon won't see the funny side of all this. First I find people booking rooms who are not even man and wife, and now I find the servants acting as though such behaviour was the order of the day.'

‘Lor' bless you, sir,' Seth opened the big back doors. ‘Rhiannon wouldn't say a word about me and Sal getting together. She done it all herself, see?'

‘What on earth do you mean?' Richard stared at the man. He was talking gibberish. Rhiannon would be as shocked as he was if she knew what was going on in her hotel.

‘I mean, she was one of the girls herself,' Seth said easily. ‘She don't try to hide it neither. Rhiannon was a shanty-town woman and now she's bettered herself and I take my hat off to her.'

Richard felt a rush of horror, quickly followed by incandescent rage. ‘Mrs Beynon a whore? I don't believe you – I should knock your head off for even thinking such a thing.'

Seth looked puzzled. ‘Didn't you know about her past, then, sir? She was all right when she lived with Bull Beynon, see, got respectable then, no more walking the streets, like.'

‘Oh, my good Lord!' Richard said, as the blood rushed to his head. He'd been a fool – he'd offered for the hand of a woman no better than she should be.

Seth put his hand over his mouth. ‘Sorry, sir, I thought everyone knew about Rhiannon. And then there's Sal, same thing, she was a street girl but I don't mind that. I love Sal and I mean to marry her one day when she's older, never mind what she used to be.'

Richard pushed the man aside and stepped out on to the quiet back-street, feeling as though the whole world was tumbling around him. He had practically proposed to a whore!

Well, he would never forgive Rhiannon Beynon for this. He would make her pay dearly for humiliating him in such a way and what better time to do it than at the Grand Opening of which she was so proud? He began to walk more swiftly, not seeing the street pedlars or the sun-dappled roadway: his mind was on something much more important. He was plotting his revenge.

RHIANNON WOKE EARLY
and sat up to gaze at the mellow sun streaking into the room. She ran her fingers through her long hair, unaware of how the cloud of dark tresses accentuated her fine-boned face. Excitement gripped her. Her hotel, the Paradise Park, had become one of the best in Swansea and she had played an important part in its success.

Violet came into the room with a tray of tea and biscuits, and set it on the table beside the bed. ‘Tomorrow's the big day, in't it exciting?'

Rhiannon smiled. ‘It is exciting, Vi, and whoever thought we'd come this far?' She picked up the cup and sipped the hot tea with a sense of pleasure. She was now looked on as a respectable businesswoman and the shame of her past was gone, lost in the mist of time.

It was not surprising really, though: the men she slept with had been from the ordinary working classes, navvies mainly, and most of them had moved on with the railway. A few of the ladies of the town might remember Mrs Buchan taking her in, training her to be a housekeeper, but none of them had ever set eyes on her. No, her past was not going to interfere with her life as she lived it now.

She put down her cup and picked up the list of guests who would be attending the opening. Most of the town dignitaries, including the mayor, had accepted the invitation and quite a few of the more respected families of the town too.

Rhiannon had left invitations in all of the bedrooms for the guests so the ceremony was going to be well attended, there was no doubt about that.

She must run over her speech of welcome, make sure it was dignified, yet with a touch of humour; the servants would have handed round liberal amounts of good wine by the time she got up to speak and, hopefully, the atmosphere in the ballroom would be genial. Rhiannon had butterflies in her stomach as she thought of standing before a roomful of strangers. It was a pity Mrs Paisley didn't feel up to conducting the opening ceremony – she was much more used to public occasions.

The old woman was still lying in her bed when, a little while later, Rhiannon went to talk to her. She was looking careworn and her eyes, usually bright as a bird's, were dull.

‘Good morning, Rhiannon.' Mrs Paisley sat up with difficulty and did her best to smile. ‘Are you all ready for the big day, then?'

‘I will be when you promise to be at the ceremony. It's not until tomorrow and perhaps you'll have more strength by then.' Rhiannon took the old lady's hand. ‘How are you feeling today?'

‘I'm all right, Rhiannon. Don't forget you've been ill yourself and you're still looking peaky – you should think of yourself more.'

‘I'm much better now.' Rhiannon felt a tug at her heartstrings. ‘Bull nursed me like a mother and I can't tell you how kind he was to me.'

‘You still love him, don't you?'

Rhiannon was taken aback at Mrs Paisley's forthright question but she decided she might as well be honest. ‘I'll always love him.'

‘But you've got the doctor paying court to you now and you'd be a fool to turn him down.'

‘Aye, Richard might be keen now but if he knew of my past he'd run a mile.'

‘How do you know that?'

‘You forget, I've known many men. I know what makes them happy and it's not marrying a whore.' She shook her head. ‘Whores will do things for money that a wife would not countenance.'

‘It's not like you to be so blunt,' Mrs Paisley said gently. ‘Look, girl, you know I'm very fond of you, don't you? Well, I've made a will leaving my share of the business to you.'

‘Don't talk like that, please!' Rhiannon said. ‘You're strong, you'll outlive me, don't you worry!'

Mrs Paisley pursed her lips. ‘That's nonsense, and we both know it. But when I go, you'll be all right. You've made this hotel what it is. All I did was to put down the deposit on the building but you furnished the place and decorated it, then kept it running with your friends when we had little or no money.' She smiled, and Rhiannon saw how beautiful Mrs Paisley must have been when she was young. ‘It's because of you that our venture paid off.' Mrs Paisley finished the sentence on a huge yawn.

Rhiannon tucked the blankets around her. ‘Rest now so you'll be bright and breezy to face tomorrow.'

‘Very well, I'll do as you say. But, Rhiannon, whatever happens, the opening ceremony must go on, promise me.'

Her words made Rhiannon feel uneasy. ‘Of course the ceremony will go on. What on earth could happen to stop it?'

‘Quite right.' Mrs Paisley snuggled down under the blankets. ‘Now, go away and stop pestering me. I want to sleep.'

Rhiannon left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. In the passageway the sun was still shining but, all at once, the day seemed dark.

‘She's gone away with that fellow and she didn't even say goodbye to me. I can't understand it.' Eynon slumped in his chair.

‘Jayne had to follow her heart, my love. She didn't mean to hurt you, I can promise you that.'

‘Well, she has hurt me,' Eynon said.

Llinos hid a smile. He sounded just like a sulky child. She put her arms round him and held him close. ‘Jayne has her own life to lead now, and though we might not be easy with the path she's chosen we have to accept it's what she wants. She loves Guy, really loves him, and would you want her to live most of her life without love?'

He looked up into her face. ‘That's what I did.'

Llinos kissed him and his lips tasted sweet. Her heart ached with love for him. She had always loved him, even though she might not have known it. It didn't diminish her love for Joe: her husband had been as close to her as her own heartbeat. Yet Eynon had always been there deep inside her. ‘And did it make you happy, my love, pining for what you couldn't have?'