Sweet Sanctuary (5 page)

She started to give Nicholas her views, and he listened eagerly, nodding.

"Of course, you're right. So right! That's why you must help me. Only someone from outside could do anything, and you're the perfect person to intervene."

"No," she protested.

"Yes—Aunt Elaine likes you, I saw that. She's really taken to you—been singing your praises ever since you arrived. She would listen to you. You could influence her."

"I'm not talking your aunt into leaving her home," said Kate coldly.

He took her hand and held it between his, looking at her with such a hopeful air that she was tempted to laugh. "I've bought her a cottage just across the road. She could keep some of the animals there. I'll keep the rest at Sanctuary until they die of natural causes. After that, no more animals, of course. But surely she can accept that compromise? It means that she gets some of her own way."

"You do know that she has a dream of making Sanctuary a permanent animal rest home, a sort of old pensioner's home for animals?"

"It's impractical," he said impatiently. "I can't afford to run the house like that."

"She means to leave her own money to support it."

"In my house? She has no right to make such arrangements. She has allowed a natural kindness to become an obsession. I hate to hurt her, but I'm going to marry Sylvia whether Aunt Elaine likes it or not. She can't expect to choose my wife for me." He looked at Kate frankly. "Aunt Elaine will be very much more hurt if this war goes on, you know. You can save her from some of that pain if you agree to my suggestion."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" She spoke in sad resignation, knowing that she was already half committed to caring what happened to these people, and that such care meant action on her part.

"Stay, as she wants you to, and tell her frankly what the alternatives mean. I'm determined, Kate. I have to choose between my aunt and my future wife. The natural choice is obvious, even to my aunt. She'll only be badly hurt if she continues to oppose our marriage. Talk her round, help her to see that my suggestion will work. The animals here will always be cared for, but there must be no more of them."

Kate walked away from him, her shoulders hunched. She was a small, wistful figure, in her old cherry-red sweater and much-washed and patched jeans. From behind she looked rather like a young boy, slender and graceful, except for the soft fall of silky hair.

She turned suddenly, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "Yes, I'll help," she said on a sigh.

He caught hold of her shoulders, exultant, and smiled down into her face. "Thank you, Kate. I knew you would!" He suddenly hugged her, in a brotherly fashion, his rough cheek grazing hers briefly. Kate felt a shiver of premonition trickle down her spine. At the back of her mind there flickered an image of them both, held together, in the growing dusk, against the backcloth of the fast vanishing green of the parkland. She knew instinctively that that image would be recorded in her memory for the rest of her life, but she was not yet sure quite why.

She drew away from him, pushing at his chest, and he stared at her in surprise, then grinned.

"Sorry, did I alarm you? I wasn't making a pass, you know! Just showing my gratitude."

"Then please show it in another way," she said stiffly.

"Haven't you ever been kissed before?" he asked with great amusement.

"Of course I have—that doesn't mean I want to be kissed by any Tom, Dick or Harry."

"Or Nick, apparently," he said, still in a state of euphoric glee. "And it was only the merest peck, a fraternal embrace!"

"I didn't like it," she said crossly.

"So it seems!" He was suddenly angry and turned away with an offended air, stalking off with the dogs gambolling around him in uncertain mood, watching him anxiously for some sign of their own position in his graces.

Kate trailed after him, feeling very silly. Why, she asked herself furiously, had she made such a ridiculous fuss over nothing? She had never had a serious relationship with anyone, had really very little experience of men. He had startled her by his sudden hug.

The moon was rising. It swam, reflected, in the waters of the lake below the house, a pale crescent half veiled in mist. From the dew-wet grasses of the park rose a pale vaporous mist which hovered, waist-high, especially in the hollow around the lake. The house seemed to float above, standing clearly against the sky, a sturdy, safe outline, promising security.

She caught up with Nicholas and he glanced at her grimly, his face unsmiling in the dusk.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I don't know why I was so touchy about such a silly thing."

The cold mask dissolved. He smiled, crinkling eyes and nose in the charming amusement which could make such a difference to his face. "Forget it! Do you know 'Old MacDonald had a farm'?"

She laughed. "Yes, of course."

He began to sing, and she joined in, their voices blending well together. They walked up towards the house, singing loudly, and startling the rooks, on their nests in the elms, sending them cawing in disgust up into the darkening skies.

The door of Sanctuary stood open, sending a shaft of bright gold winging into the dark. Their voices faltered and fell silent as someone emerged.

Nick dropped his arm from around Kate's shoulders.

"What," demanded Sylvia in a voice like splintering ice, "is
she
doing here?"

"What are
you
doing here?" Nicholas asked Sylvia sternly. "I thought we'd agreed that for the time being you would stay away from Sanctuary?"

"Yes, you talked me into that, didn't you, Nick— and your reasons were so good!" Sylvia's voice was scathing. "But you had a reason you didn't mention, hadn't you?" Her eyes flicked over Kate, the stiletto stab of her hostility visible. "So again—what is she doing here?"

"By pure coincidence she was on her way here," he began, giving her a smile. "My aunt had given her a job."

"A job?" Sylvia's voice was brittle.

"Yes. Odd that we should meet on the way here, wasn't it?"

"Oh, very!" Sylvia's voice was loaded with sarcasm. Nicholas looked at her, one eyebrow lifting in surprise.

"Look here, I don't know what you're implying, but I can assure you that it was strictly a coincidence, Sylvia! Why on earth should I lie to you?" His voice was chilly, and the well-cut mouth stern.

Sylvia shot him a look, and Kate saw her visibly struggle with her temper. The lovely face was turned away from Nicholas for a moment, hiding the conflicting expressions raging in it. Kate watched in stricken fascination. Then the exquisite features relaxed and a smile curved on the pink mouth.

"Oh, Nick!" the other girl sighed, taking his hand in both her own. "I'm sorry, I've been a beast. But your aunt has been putting ideas into my head…"

"Ideas? What sort of ideas?"

A pretty shrug. Sylvia looked up at him, lashes fluttering. "I somehow got the impression that this girl was your guest. I didn't know she was an employee!"

Nicholas looked down at her sharply, his grey eyes alert. "You misunderstood Aunt Elaine. We had a difference of opinion over Kate…"

"Kate? You seem to have got on intimate terms very rapidly, considering you claim she's a stranger!" Sylvia spat the words at him angrily.

Nicholas's face froze, then softened. "My dear girl, you aren't jealous?" A smile dawned on his face. He looked amused and, Kate suspected, flattered.

Sylvia drew breath to retort, then relaxed again. Coaxingly, she murmured, "Have I any reason to feel jealous? Can you blame me, with your aunt implying things? She isn't frightfully subtle, you know. And I'm only human."

"You silly girl," he murmured, slipping his arms around her and bending his head. She lifted her face, compliant and tender, the silky blonde hair outlining her like a halo.

Kate, hot-cheeked and embarrassed, slid past them into the house.

When Nicholas released her, Sylvia put up a hand to her ruffled hair. "Darling, you take my breath away!" Her eyes were lit with a hot glow as she smiled at him.

Nicholas grinned. "Glad to hear it!" He watched her as she looked at herself in her tiny compact mirror, dabbing at her nose and retouching her lipstick.

"You'll have to get rid of that girl," she said softly. "Your aunt will use her as a weapon against us, you know. After all, it means you have one more displaced person to worry about."

"That was Aunt Elaine's intention," he nodded. "She picked the perfect lame duck, too. An orphan without family or home! I'd have to be a Herod to kick her out into the storm."

Sylvia's face tightened with irritation. "Soft-hearted Nick— how your aunt plays on your generosity."

"I'm being practical this time," he said. "Kate has agreed to stay as my ally. I've turned the tables on Aunt Elaine."

Sylvia looked doubtful. "I shouldn't be too triumphant! Your aunt is a very shrewd manipulator."

"We'll see," he said complacently. "Kate is an honest girl. I think Aunt Elaine may listen to her where she won't to us. Kate has no axe to grind. That will be her strength."

"And because you've let her stay she'll be grateful to you, Nick," said Sylvia slowly. "Now that is clever, darling!"

"Good lord, the last thing I want! Gratitude poisons."

Sylvia laughed. "You are funny, Nick. I hope your little scheme works. The sooner we get married the happier I shall be—people are beginning to talk."

"Talk about what?" His voice was abstracted. She shot him a glance of irritated curiosity.

"You aren't listening to me, darling! What are you thinking about? Don't you care that I'm unhappy?"

He turned back to her, face gentle. "Unhappy, darling? What do you mean?"

"I hate to feel a fool, and that's what I look, being engaged all this time, and no date set for the wedding. I've been showered with catty remarks from other girls." Her lids lowered and she gave him a secretive look. "And I'm getting invitations again."

He looked puzzled. "Invitations?"

"From other men! After we announced our engagement the phone stopped ringing and I didn't get invitations any more. Now I get them again… and the implication is obvious. People suspect we'll soon be breaking up."

She watched his face closely, but his expression was enigmatic. The strong nose and chin had a hint of sternness. The mouth was unsmiling, but the eyes remained mild.

"You only have to reject the invitations once or twice, and they'll stop coming," he said softly.

"Perhaps I don't want to," she said defiantly.

He was silent for a second, then he lifted her chin with one long finger, and looked into her face. "You don't mean that, Sylvia. You're upset tonight. I'll drive you home."

"I'll drive myself," she said furiously, her eyes full of disappointment. He watched her disappear into the darkness with a frown.

Kate, meanwhile, had been explaining to Mrs. Butler that she had accepted Nick's offer of a job. "He prefers to employ me himself as the job can only be a temporary one."

The vivid blue eyes probed hers. "What's he up to? This sounds like tactics to me! He means to have you fighting on his side, does he?"