laid a finger on me, I’d die of frustration?’
Cory looked up — the weary eyes suddenly alert.
‘Don’t you understand,’ she went on slowly, ‘that I only ran away because Noel said she was coming back to you, and I just couldn’t take it?’
‘Go on, go on,’ he said, his face as white as hers.
‘Don’t you understand,’ she sobbed, ‘that I love you? Love you more than anything else in the world. And I can’t live without you!’
She didn’t need to say any more. He was across the room, the great arms she had been waiting for closed round her, and he was kissing her so fiercely she almost lost consciousness.
Then he said despairingly, ‘Oh, darling Harriet. I love you. But it wouldn’t work. I’m too old and tired and bitter for you.’
‘You’re not,’ she jibbered. ‘Just thinking about you turns me to jelly,’ she went on. ‘I’ve never been crazy over anyone as I am over you.’
Cory stared down at her, at the parted lips, the burning eyes, the flushed cheeks, the dishevelled hair.
‘Hey,’ he said wonderingly. ‘You do love me, don’t you? What the hell am I going to do about it?’
‘You will do something, won’t you?’ she said nuzzling against him, so he could feel the frantic beating of her heart.
‘Be careful,’ he said, trying to smile.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m beginning to feel as though I can be consoled,’ and he kissed her forehead, and then her cheeks, salt with tears, and then her lips.
‘Oh, darling,’ he muttered. ‘Don’t give me time to be ashamed of what I’m doing. I’m going to keep you. What else can I do, when you’re so adorable? But you don’t know what you’re in for. I shall make a bloody awful husband.’
Harriet leapt away in horror. ‘I didn’t mean that! You don’t have to marry me.’
Cory smiled. ‘You’re not the only one who’s allowed to dictate terms. You’ve just said you’ll never come back to Yorkshire unless I devote every minute of the day to laying fingers on you.’
Harriet blushed. ‘I never said that.’
‘So if I take you, it’s for good. For ever and ever.’
She was trembling now, really perturbed.
‘But I forced you into it.’
He sat down and pulled her onto his knee.
‘Sweetheart,’ he said very gently. ‘I know what a shy, reserved person you are, except when you get sloshed at Hunt Balls, and I know what it cost you to come here and tell me you loved me. But if you knew what it meant to me, for the first time in ten years, the miracle of hearing the girl I love tell me she loves me, and really mean it.
‘It’s strange,’ he went on, pushing her hair back from her forehead. ‘I can’t even place the moment I started loving you. It’s so mixed up with convincing myself I was acting for your own good — dragging you away from Billy, bawling you out for going out with Kit, because he was a wolf, trying to persuade you not to go off with Simon because he’d make you a rotten husband, but all the time I must have been eaten up with jealousy because I wanted you for myself. I got so used to being hung-up on Noel, I never believed I could love anyone else, and then you ran away and the house was like a morgue. I knew I ought to give you and Simon a chance, but after five days I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I came South. And. . look.’
He pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, on which was scribbled a telephone number.
‘That’s Simon’s number,’ said Harriet.
He nodded. ‘I was going to ring up and try to persuade you to come back.’
And then Harriet realized that this awkward, difficult, beautiful man really did love her.
‘Oh, I’m so happy,’ she said, bursting into tears and flinging her arms round his neck. ‘You’re really over Noel?’
‘Really, really. She’s like measles — you don’t catch her twice.’
Harriet giggled. ‘That sounds more like Kit. Where is she now?’
‘I don’t know. Conserving her energies somewhere for her appearance in the divorce courts next week.’ His face hardened. ‘I’m afraid it’s going to be very nasty. She’ll probably cite you.’
‘I don’t care,’ and she began to kiss him.
‘Are the children really all right?’ she said later. ‘God, I’ve missed them so much.’
‘They’ve missed you — if I hadn’t come down here, they were threatening to get on a train to London and fetch you themselves. We’ll ring them up and give them the good news in a minute. Christ, it is good news.’
Only one thing was nagging Harriet. ‘How’s Sevenoaks?’ she said.
‘Well actually he’s here,’ said Cory. ‘I thought he’d have withdrawal symptoms if we both abandoned him, so I brought him with me.’
‘Oh, you
‘Sure, he’s in my bedroom, down the passage.’
He followed Harriet to the door, adding, ‘He’s greatly improved by the way. In your absence, I took the opportunity of teaching him a few manners. In actual fact he’s quite trainable if one’s firm. He sits and stays now, and comes when he’s called. And at least I’ve stopped him climbing onto beds and chewing everything up.’
‘That’s amazing,’ said Harriet, opening the bedroom door, and looking inside.
On the bed sprawled Sevenoaks, his shaggy grey head on the pillow, snoring loudly. Beside him, chewed to bits, lay the remains of a pair of suede shoes.
‘Oh doesn’t he look sweet lying there?’ said Harriet.
Sevenoaks opened an eye, and suddenly saw Harriet.
‘Stay,’ thundered Cory. ‘Stay.’
Sevenoaks took a flying leap through the air, and landing at Harriet’s feet threw himself on her in ecstasy, nearly knocking her sideways, moaning with joy.
‘Stay,’ howled Cory.
Sevenoaks gave Cory an old-fashioned look and took no notice at all.
Harriet caught Cory’s eye and went off into peals of laughter.
‘Oh, darling,’ she said, ‘are you sure you really want to marry me? You won’t get fed up?’
‘Of course I will, but not for very long,’ said Cory, pulling Sevenoaks off. ‘I mean we’re virtually married already. We’ve got three children and a problem dog between us. We’ve spent long evenings discussing their education and what we feel about life, you’ve cooked and washed and kept house for me. The only thing we haven’t done is slept together, and I don’t have any major hangups about that.’
‘We’ve eaten all the gingerbread,’ said Harriet ecstatically, ‘and now we can enjoy the lovely, lovely gilt.’
‘Exactly,’ said Cory, and he began kissing her. .
THE END
