Thank you. She dabbed away the tears, still smiling softly.
What must I do, Nicholas? call in a team of auditors,, he began, but
she shook her head and cut him short You don't know Duncan , she
repeated.
There is nothing he could do. He could do anything, she contradicted
him. He is capable of anything. I am afraid, Nicholas, terribly
afraid, not only for myself, but for Peter also. Nicholas sat erect
then.
Peter. Do you mean you are afraid of something physical? I don't know,
Nicholas. I'm so confused and alone. You are the only person in the
world I can trust. He could no longer remain seated. He stood up and
began to pace about the room, frowning heavily, looking down at the
glass in his hand and swirling the ice so that it tinkled softly.
All right/ he said at last. I will do what I can. The first thing is
to find out just how much substance there is to your fears. How will you
do that? It's best you don't know, yet. He drained his glass and she
stood up, quick with alarm You aren't going, are you?/ 'There is nothing
else to discuss now. I will contact you when or if I learn anything.
I'll see you down. in the hall she dismissed the uniformed West Indian
maid with a shake of her head, and fetched Nicholas top coat from the
closet herself.
Shall I send for the car? You'll not get a cab at five o'clock. 'I'll
walk/he said.
Nicholas, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I had forgotten how safe
and secure it is to be with you. Now she was standing very close to
him, her head lifted, and her lips were soft and glossy and ripe, her
eyes still flooded and bright. He knew he should leave immediately. I
know it's going to be all right now. She placed one of those dainty
ivory hands on his lapel, adjusting it unnecessarily with that
proprietary feminine gesture, and she moistened her lips.
We are all fools, Nicholas, every one of us. We all complicate our
lives - when it's so easy to be happy. The trick is to recognize
happiness when you stumble on it, I suppose. I'm sorry, Nicholas.
That's the first time I've ever apologized to you. It's a day of many
first times, isn't it? But I am truly sorry for everything I have ever
done to hurt you. I wish with all my heart that it were possible to
wipe it all out and begin again. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that
way. With a major effort of will he broke the spell, and stepped back.
In another moment he would have stooped to those soft red lips.
I'll call you if I learn anything/ he said, as he buttoned the top of
his coat and opened the front door.
Nicholas stepped out furiously with the cold striking colour into his
cheeks, but her presence kept pace with him and his blood raced not from
physical exertion alone.
He knew then, beyond all doubt, that he was not a man who could switch
love on and off at will.
You old-fashioned thing. Samantha's words came back to him clearly -
and she was right, of course. He was cursed by a constancy of loyalty
and emotion that restricted his freedom of action. He was breaking one
of his own rules now, he was no longer moving ahead. He was circling
