We'll Meet Again (7 page)

‘I’ve got a better idea.’

He led her to where the white Rolls-Royce was parked. Meg studied his face in the moonlight. She was certain that he must be able to hear her heart pounding as she waited for him to say something, anything. He had chosen to be alone with her, ignoring all the attractive and clever girls of his acquaintance. She could hardly believe that something as romantic and unexpected was happening to her. She was alone in the night with a young man she
hardly knew, and he wanted to take her for a drive. She dreaded to think what her mother would say if she ever found out. Covering her nervousness with an attempt at levity, she smiled up at him. ‘I hope your intentions are honourable, Herr Weiss?’

He opened the car door. ‘I don’t seduce young girls, Meg. Especially one who is the sister of my good friend.’

‘I’m not sure whether I should be relieved or offended.’

‘You said that you wanted to drive a Rolls-Royce.’

‘I wasn’t really serious. I mean, I was just teasing David.’

‘I think you meant it. Now you can show me what you can do.’

She gazed at the dashboard, which was infinitely more complicated than the one on the farm truck. ‘I’ve just drunk two glasses of champagne.’

‘All the better. It will make you more relaxed. But if you’re scared …’

It was a definite challenge, but she was still wary. ‘I’m not scared, but what if I prang the car? Whose is it?’

‘It’s mine for the night. I hired it so it’s insured. Get in, Meg. Let me see what you can do.’

She picked up her skirts and slid onto the driver’s seat. She studied the control panel while she waited for Rayner to get in beside her.

He closed the door. ‘Off you go then. Just think of it as driving the vehicle at home.’

The huge expanse of white bonnet seemed to stretch into infinity. She was scared, but she was determined to conquer her fear, and her nervousness began to dissipate as she manoeuvred the Rolls out of the car park and into the street. She drove slowly at first but she gained confidence as they left the city streets and headed north on the Woodstock Road.

She cast a quick glance at Rayner to see if he was suitably impressed, but he seemed disappointingly calm and unruffled. ‘Where shall we go?’

‘Wherever you like. Go faster. Enjoy yourself.’

‘You’re mad, you know that.’ She pressed her foot gently on the accelerator and felt the power of the engine as the vehicle surged forward. She gripped the wheel with perspiring hands, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead. When they reached the wide main street of Woodstock, she pulled in to the kerb.

‘Why have we stopped?’

‘Because this is crazy. I’ve just driven over ten miles and I think we should go back to the ball before they send out a search party.’

‘And I thought you wanted to prove a point.’

She eyed him curiously. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘David and Adele treat you like a baby. I thought you wanted to show them that they are wrong.’

He was right, of course, but it came as a shock to hear the truth from someone else’s lips. She stared at her hands clenched round the steering wheel. ‘That makes me sound very childish.’

‘No. That isn’t so.’

She turned her head to give him a direct look, but his face was in shadow and she could not read his expression. ‘Why did you ask me to come with you? Was it just to annoy David?’

‘No. I wouldn’t do anything to upset my friend.’

‘Then why?’ She felt she had to know. Was he just amusing himself, or was there something more behind his mask of reserve?

He shifted in his seat and she could see his face clearly in the lamplight. He was smiling. ‘Don’t forget that your life belongs to me now, Meg. That was what you said, wasn’t it?’

The humour in his eyes drew an immediate response from her and she chuckled. ‘I think I might live to regret that remark.’

He laid his hand on his heart. ‘Never. But perhaps we’d better get you back to the ball now. I think you’ve proved yourself. Shall I drive?’

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I’m just beginning to enjoy myself.’ She started the engine, turning the car easily in one large sweep outside the Bear Hotel. As soon as they were clear of the village she gunned the accelerator and they skimmed along the A44 back to Oxford. ‘This is something you can never do in Guernsey,’ she said happily. ‘The roads at home are so narrow and twisting. I love my home, but sometimes I think I would like to live on the mainland.’

‘You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.’

‘Like driving a Rolls-Royce, I suppose.’

‘Exactly so.’

She drove a little faster just for the satisfaction of doing something dangerous and out of the ordinary. She glanced at him to see if he was alarmed by her daring, but whatever he was feeling, he maintained his outward calm. ‘My mother would say you’re a bad influence, Rayner.’

‘I would be honoured to meet her and prove her wrong.’

The vision that this conjured up in Meg’s mind was disconcerting. She wondered what her mother would make of the self-possessed young German, and she found herself hoping that both her parents would like him. They lapsed into companionable silence as she concentrated on the road ahead and the exhilaration of controlling a powerful motor car. When they reached the college she drove into the parking place that they had vacated less than an hour previously.

‘I’ve done it,’ she said proudly. ‘And not a scratch on the paintwork.’

Before he had a chance to respond, the car door was wrenched open. ‘Bloody hell. This is worse than I thought.’ David’s eyes glittered strangely and Meg could smell the alcohol on his breath. ‘I can’t believe he allowed you to drive.’

Rayner stepped out of the car and rounded the bonnet to face him. ‘Calm down, David. It wasn’t Meg’s fault.’

Struggling with her full skirts, Meg climbed out onto the tarmac. ‘Please don’t make a fuss.’ Her heart sank as she saw Adele, Frank and Walter standing behind David. She could tell by their expressions that they were at once anxious and angry.

‘What were you thinking of?’ Adele said in a voice that shook with emotion. ‘You might have been killed.’

David’s face was ashen in the light of the street lamp. ‘Are you completely out of your mind allowing my sister to drive a powerful machine like this, and at night? She’s only ever driven a truck and that was on private land. You could have had a terrible accident.’

‘There was no danger,’ Rayner said calmly. ‘She drove well.’

‘You’re insane,’ David muttered through clenched teeth. ‘Didn’t it occur to you that we would be worried sick because we didn’t know where you’d gone? What would I have told our parents if anything had happened to Meg?’

Walter stepped forward and clutched David’s arm. ‘Come on, old chap. This isn’t the time or place. I think we should get the girls home and sort everything out in the morning.’

‘Quite right,’ Frank said quietly. ‘There’s no real harm done, David.’

He shook off Walter’s restraining hand. ‘No real harm?’ he repeated angrily. ‘My sister has been gallivanting about alone with him.’ He rounded on
Rayner, clenching his fists. ‘I thought you were a better man than this.’

To Meg’s horror he swung a punch at Rayner but due to his unsteady state the blow missed its mark and David fell against the bonnet of the Rolls. Frank rushed forward to hold him back as he staggered to his feet. ‘That’s enough. This sort of behaviour won’t help anyone.’

Rayner held out his hand. ‘I’m sorry, David. I was in the wrong and I apologise.’

But Meg could see that her brother was too far gone in drink to be reasonable. He was struggling to free himself from Frank’s grasp when a warning from Walter came too late.

‘My God, it’s the Dean. He’s coming this way. Now we really are in trouble.’

Meg finished her packing with a sigh. Her punishment for risking life and limb, not to mention the possibility of damaging an extremely expensive motor car, was the curtailment of her holiday in Oxford. The matter might have been hushed up but for the untimely appearance of the Dean, who had threatened to send both David and Rayner down for brawling in public. He had not carried out that threat, but next morning had reported the sorry affair to Paul Shelmerdine. Meg was shocked to discover that this was not the first time her brother had been reprimanded for his misdemeanours, which included missing lectures and failing his exams. Uncle
Paul had not been amused, particularly as the Dean was an old friend, and David’s indiscretions reflected badly on the family. Then, of course, the finger of blame had been pointed at Meg herself, and their uncle had decided that she was as much at fault as her brother. Unfortunately, and Meg thought unfairly, Adele was to accompany her on the journey back to the island, and of course she was extremely upset.

Meg shot a wary glance at her sister who was flinging clothes into her battered leather suitcase without bothering to fold them. This in itself was a bad sign, as normally Adele was obsessively neat and tidy. Eventually the heavy silence became too much for Meg. ‘Look, Addie. How many more times have I got to say sorry for what I did? There’s no need for you to cut your holiday short because of me.’

‘Uncle Paul doesn’t trust you to travel on your own. There’s no chance that he’ll let me stay.’ She tossed her best silk dress on top of the jumble in her case. ‘Frank and I were getting on so well. Everything was unutterably wonderful.’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘And now we’ve got to go home tomorrow and I’ll probably never see him again.’

‘If he’s half the man I think he is he won’t let something like that put him off.’

Adele sank onto the bed, covering her face with her hands. ‘I – I think I love him, Meg. What am I going to do?’

Stricken with remorse, Meg struggled to find
words of comfort. ‘I didn’t mean it to end like this. I’m truly sorry for what I did. I didn’t think …’

Adele dropped her hands to her lap. ‘No, that’s your trouble. You don’t think before you do things. You’ve ruined my life, Meg.’ She bent her head and her shoulders shook.

Meg gazed at her helplessly. She had apologised until her throat was sore and her head ached. She knew that she had behaved foolishly and she did not blame them all for being angry, but she was at a loss to know how to make things right.

The sound of the doorbell echoing round the entrance hall brought her back to the present, and she hurried from the room. Perhaps, she thought wistfully, it might be Rayner arriving like a knight in shining armour to carry her off on a white charger, although the white Rolls-Royce would be more comfortable and a lot quicker. It was two days now since the ball and she had been confined to the house in disgrace. She had not been allowed to contact Rayner and, as far as she knew, he had not called at the house.

If Uncle Paul had been draconian in his handling of the matter, Aunt Josie had been utterly splendid. She had admitted that she had done much worse things when she was a girl, although she said in a whisper it would be better if they did not mention that to anyone, especially her husband. She had tried her best to comfort Adele, but her words fell on deaf ears. Adele was past reasoning.

Meg crossed the landing to lean over the highly polished oak banisters. She could hear familiar voices and she craned her neck in order to get a better view. Although she could only see the tops of their heads, she recognised Frank and Walter, but there was no sign of Rayner or David. She ran down the stairs to greet them. ‘Have you come to say goodbye?’

‘Well, we couldn’t let you go home without seeing you first.’ Walter stared at her anxiously. ‘Are you all right, Meg?’

‘Absolutely fine. They didn’t beat me too much.’ She could see from their shocked expressions that they actually believed her and she smiled ruefully. ‘Just joking, but I’m in deep disgrace.’

‘Rayner was more at fault than you, and David only made things worse,’ Frank said, frowning. ‘I’ve taken him to task and I believe your uncle has too.’

‘Yes. You were not entirely to blame,’ Walter added earnestly. ‘I’m really sorry you’re going away so soon.’

‘I don’t want to go, of course. But the worst thing is that Addie is being sent home too. I feel awful about spoiling her holiday.’ Meg turned to Frank with a meaningful look. ‘She’s very upset.’

‘I’d like to see her, Meg. I really need to talk to her in private.’

She breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps all was not lost. ‘If you’d like to wait in the conservatory, I’ll fetch her.’ She grabbed Walter by the arm as he
started to follow Frank. ‘Why don’t you wait here, Walter? I’ll be back in two ticks.’

She raced up the stairs and burst into the bedroom. ‘Addie. Stop crying and fix your makeup. You look like a panda. Frank is downstairs in the conservatory and he wants to see you urgently.’

Adele reached for her hanky. ‘I must look a perfect fright.’

‘No you don’t,’ Meg said stoutly. ‘At least, it’s nothing that a touch of mascara and lipstick won’t fix.’ She pulled Adele to her feet. ‘Wash your face and put on your war paint. I’ve a feeling that Frank is very serious, if you get my meaning.’ She picked up a silver-backed hairbrush and thrust it into her sister’s hand. ‘Do your stuff, Addie. And good luck.’

Downstairs in the entrance hall, Meg kept Walter chatting while Adele went to find Frank. She was running out of conversation when Josie emerged from Paul’s study. She looked pale beneath her makeup but her serious expression melted into a smile when she saw them. ‘Hello, Walter, how nice of you to call. But why are you two skulking around out here?’

‘Frank and Addie are having a heart to heart in the conservatory,’ Meg said earnestly. ‘We’re giving them a bit of privacy.’

‘Then I suggest we go into the drawing room and have a drink before dinner. You will stay, won’t you, Walter? I’m sure Cook could stretch the meal for another two hungry undergraduates. David is supposed to be coming, but he’s always late.’

Walter nodded eagerly. ‘Thank you, Mrs Shelmerdine. I mean, Josie. That would be super.’

‘Good, that’s settled then.’ She opened the drawing-room door and went straight to the cocktail cabinet. ‘Would you like a glass of sherry or would you prefer beer, Walter?’