Robyn Donald – Iceberg (23 page)

slipped down to check on a now peacefully sleeping and quite cool Sarah while he had put a record on—
one
of

her favourites, d'Indy's 'Symphony on a French Mountain Air'. It was unusual enough for her to be surprised at

his possession of it, but at least it appealed that they had the same taste in music.

He had sat down beside her on the sofa, but had made no attempt to touch her, or move closer, except at the

door of the flat, where he had bent and kissed her with all the passion of an uncle saluting his favourite niece.

Of course she was glad, she told herself, turning so that the stinging needles of water played across her face.

She did not want him to kiss her as if he really loved her, that would be hypocritical. Although his passion

excited her it also degraded her. Better by far to be treated with consideration, with respect. If tier instinct told

her that it couldn't last
she
ignored it, refusing to look any further than the ordeal of buying the engagement

ring.

Naturally she chose her clothes carefully, finally settling upon a cream dress with a gently draped vee-neckline

and long sleeves. It was more sophisticated than her usual clothes and the colour did wonders for her skin and

hair, but even so she had to add blusher to hide the traces of a sleepless night.

The occasion wasn't as bad as she had expected, although it was harrowing enough. Justin was known there;

that was obvious, as was the fact that although the manager was too well trained to reveal his curiosity he was

definitely agog beneath the. pleasantly deferential manner. And Justin must have been on the telephone, for they

were met and whisked into a viewing room with all dispatch while two trays of rings were brought in—none of

them priced.

All of them obviously expensive. The glitter and sparkle frightened Linnet; she bit her Up as her eyes roved

over the beautiful things, lowering her head so that neither man could catch her expression. But with that odd

sensitivity she had noticed before, Justin sensed her unease.

'We'll 'choose,' he said, with a note of authority underlying the pleasant tones.

When the manager had gone he asked calmly, 'Do you see any that you like?'

Linnet bit her lip. They're all beautiful.'

She wouldn't have been surprised to hear impatience in his voice, but he seemed to have himself well in hand.

'Take your time.'

So she took her time. How well he understood her! The rings were none of them conventional; instead they

were exquisite examples of the jeweller's art, none of them ostentatious, but all possessing that essential

tightness which gladdens the eye.

Linnet sat quietly, touching nothing, her eyes roving across the rich brilliance with a wistful glance which only

partly hid her sadness.

At last she realised that one particular ring held her eyes for longer and longer moments each time, a thing of

topaz and diamonds with the sun in its heart.

As if her choice was made known to him by some esoteric method of communication—perhaps there was such

a thing as E.S.P.—-Justin stretched out his hand and picked up the glowing, glittering thing; it fitted perfectly.

'It^ the same colour as your eyes,' he said matter-of-factly, and when Linnet looked up at him he kissed her

briefly.

His mouth was warm and firm, the glance which rested on her flushed cheeks faintly ironic.

'It has a wedding ring to match,' he said. 'Do you want to see it?'

It fitted beautifully too. Without protesting Linnet tried it on, gave it up to the salesman, and agreed with Justin

that a wide platinum band looked best on his finger. Somehow she had not thought that he would want to wear a

wedding ring. Unbidden a query about his choke of a wedding band for his, first marriage popped into her brain,

bringing with it the shattering assault of jealousy which always accompanied her vision of Alison's lovely,

laughing countenance. He had been madly in love with Alison, even if it had later turned to hatred; a for cry

from the emotions he felt for his second wife.

Then they were out of the shop, and he was escorting her towards the car, observing that he had decided not to

publish an announcement of their engagement until after her mother had arrived.

'And if she objects, I suppose you'll call the whole thing off?'

His smile was saturnine. 'You know me better man that, Linnet. I'll simply change her mind.'

'You must be the most conceited man I know,' she retorted sharply.

Justin laughed outright at that, real amusement colouring his voice. 'And you, my darling, rise so very swiftly to

the bait. Don't you think I could persuade your mother that I'm suitable to be her son-in-law?'

Of course he could; Jennifer would be no match for him. But Linnet said stubbornly, 'She wants my happiness

very much, and if she thinks I'm not happy she won't be at all agreeable.'

'I'm quite sure I can convince her that any hesitation she observes in you is mere' maidenly modesty,' he

observed with biting sarcasm.

'Oh, come off it! She's not------'

'Not particularly observant, certainly, or she would have noticed that her daughter had fallen in love with her

fiancé.' He ushered her into a building, nodded at someone and stepped with her into a lift, pressing a button as

the doors closed before turning to face her, his expression coldly speculative, 'From all that I've heard she

sounds like a pleasant, scatterbrained creature with an enviable knack of viewing the world through glasses

fashioned by her own needs and desires.'

He watched as Linnet struggled for words, the expressions chasing each other across the smooth contours of her

face.

After a moment she turned away, facing for the first time the unpalatable fact that he had described Jennifer

exactly.

But her love and loyalty made her say quietly, 'She .loves me—and I love her.'

'I don't think anyone had questioned that,' he agreed, more gently. 'Even Bronwyn, who's hated her for years,

credits her with maternal affection.'

'If you've got your information from Bronwyn you must remember that she fought a battle with my mother for

the custody of my father,' Linnet said stiffly, angry that he should discuss her family with Bronwyn, aware that

her anger was irrational, for after all, he had every right to discuss things with the woman he had thought of

marrying.

'I know," Justin smiled at her as the lift came to a halt. 'But she's an astute woman, your half-sister, able to see

both sides to a question. And she was always fond of you. Now, I've a little work to do. Do you mind waiting

for me?'

'A. very conventional question,' she observed drily. 'You've hardly given me an option, have you? I'll wait if

you'll tell me a little about what you do.'

'It's a bargain.'

His personal assistant was an attractive fortyish woman, a Mrs Cottle, who gave Linnet coffee, found a

magazine and then left her in her office while she disappeared into Justin's sanctum. It was quite impossible to

discover from her attitude whether Justin made a habit of bringing his girl-friends up here, so after a few

moments Linnet gave up brooding and lost herself in the magazine, an interesting if somewhat heavy volume

about exports.

She was still deep in one of the more fascinating byways, the growing of goats for mohair, when Justin

appeared. A swift glance at her watch revealed that he had been gone an hour, but she had certainly not been

bored. Exports were fascinating.

Determined not to give him any further openings to shoot his shafts at her mother, she chatted about the

magazine as they dropped down in the lift. He seemed somewhat surprised by her interest; rather waspishly she

decided that he was even more surprised by the fact that she could take an intelligent interest in such a subject.

However, the truce continued through lunch in a small, smartly casual restaurant noted for its magnificent

salads. Justin told her about his business—an umbrella, so he said, for an assortment of interests ranging from

farms to a plant which manufactured plastics from casein to a stud where racehorses were bred to win races in

New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the United States.

It was a pleasant time, perhaps the least tense moments she had spent with him, but at last he said, 'We'd better

be off. You have that librarian to see.'

And the trapped sensation was back, the feeling that her life was closing around her into a prison house, herself

the prisoner of her own love and compassion.

'Cheer up,' he said, perceptive as ever. 'Tell her that you're engaged and she'll forgive you anything.'

Linnet stopped. 'You don't think much of women, do you, Justin?’

'By and-large, no, but don't let your feminist instincts get the better of you. I don't think much of most men,

either.’

She waited until they were in the car park beneath before retorting angrily, 'You must be the most arrogant man

it's ever been my misfortune to-meet! What the hell have you done, that you can afford to look down on the rest

of humanity from your mountain?'

He lifted his brows, faint hauteur transforming him into someone very different from the pleasant lunch cornpardon.

'I admire positive qualities,' he said crisply. And although I like individual people, I find it quite impossible to

profess any affection for the human race as such, most of whom seem to be fools or hypocrites, or both.

However, I'll admit' that
my
comment about the librarian was unfair. I don't know her.'

Which left Linnet with a curiously cheated feeling. But she rallied, suggesting defiantly, 'What you mean is that

people have to measure up to your standards before you'll accept them!'

'Unworthy of you,' he mocked. 'That applies to everyone. Even you, Linnet.'

Somewhat to her own astonishment she smiled. 'Yes, of course,’ she conceded reluctantly.

And there the matter rested, although the curious exchange remained in the back of her mind throughout the rest

of the day.

The interview with the librarian was unpleasant; Linnet felt that she, had let her down and her guilt made her

conscious of the ineptness of her excuse. She left the library shaken and depressed; it was as though the life she

had chosen for herself had been forcibly snatched from her grasp.

Then she had to tell Bronwyn that she and Justin were engaged.

Bronwyn was very still after Linnet, losing any vestige of tact she possessed, blurted out her bombshell. Then

the turned towards her; her expression carefully schooled into placid acceptance.

'I'm not madly surprised,' she said, 'but, Linnet, are you sure you know what you're doing? Justin isn't your

average Kiwi male, and any woman who takes him on is going to need a lot of luck. Remember what happened

"to his first wife.'

'I can hardly forget it,' said Linnet with a faint smile. 'But she didn't commit suicide, Bron.'

'Oh, I know
that!
Just the same, she had a very hard time of it, as anyone who knew them will tell you. Once

she let Justin down, that was the finish; he had no more time for her. Apparently he retired behind that wall of

ice he wears so effectively and no one could get through to him. She really did suffer, Lin. In her own way she

was fond of ban.'

'You make him out to be a monster,' Linnet returned in a low voice. 'Yet you were prepared to marry him.'

Her sister shrugged. 'I don't know that I'd have gone through with it, when it came to the crunch. But even if I

had, I was one up on poor Alison. He loved her, Lin, was hopelessly, besottedly in love with her, so that when

disillusionment came it was shattering. I knew he didn't love me, so there'd be no disillusionment.'

Linnet turned away from her sister's shrewd glance. There were beads of perspiration along her top lip, perhaps

from the heat, perhaps because of the dangerous ground which Bronwyn had steered them on to.

Slowly she answered, That happened years ago, when Justin was very young. He's matured since then.'

'Of course,' Bronwyn said soberly. 'Goodness, I'm acting like the proverbial wet blanket, aren't I? Sorry, honey.

I hope you'll both be very happy. Just promise me something, will you?'

'What?'

'Don't be so suspicious, it's not like you. Just that you'll keep up your writing.’

Linnet looked at her in astonishment. 'Well, yes, I can't imagine life without it—but why, Bron?'

'Because? I think you've got something. I've been reading it and really, I'm quite impressed. It's rather odd to

discover that one's little sister can. stir one to tears and make one laugh.' As if afraid that she had revealed too

much of herself, Bronwyn bent and opened the door of me drinks cupboard, continuing airily, 'We'd better have

something to toast your happiness in, hadn't we? Have you let your mother know yet?'

'Yes.' Linnet found it hard to speak of her mother now, still raw from Justin's unsparing summing-up of her

character. 'She might be on her way here now.'

‘I’ll bet she is?'

For the next few minutes Bronwyn was cheerful, almost coy, obviously trying to make up for her less than

flattering reception of the news of the engagement. Linnet reciprocated, her pride refusing to allow herself to

reveal .just how unsure she was. Then Justin came down, was urbane and very sophisticated with Bronwyn,

before carrying Linnet off to dine with him and a riotously excited Sarah. Perhaps he understood how she felt,