little improved, as she almost immediately announced her intention of going to bed.
'My instructor says I need early nights,' she said.
As the phrase 'my instructor says' had peppered the conversation for the last two hours Lee felt that Mark could be forgiven for grinding his teeth. Daniel became notably more cheerful. Lee's brother had never been his favourite person, and his hostility had increased after the night Phoebe had taken his hand as a gesture of defiance. Mark had come to symbolise the malign fate that was distancing Phoebe from her father.
'What are you smiling at?' Lee demanded as they did the washing up.
'It's dawned on me that there may be an up side to this, after all. Think of the young men Phoebe will meet- young men with proper cars and not hoary old bangers. Men who know how to cherish a lovely girl and don't throw a fit of the sulks.'
'I think Mark was entitled to feel a little peeved,' Lee said indignantly. 'It took him ages to get those tickets, just to please her, and she simply forgot.'
'Nonetheless, it wasn't clever of him to descend into a self-pitying sulk.'
'So what should he have done, according to you?'
'Endured it with an air of noble suffering,' Daniel said with a wicked grin. 'Tossed the tickets away. What use are they if they don't please his lady? And if he could have contrived to suggest a broken heart bravely concealed beneath a casual air he'd have done himself a lot more good than he actually did.'
'That's what you'd have done, I suppose? In fact you've probably done just that at some time.'
'Well, the ladies I used to escort didn't usually forget,' Daniel admitted, with an air of false modesty that didn't fool her. 'But if they had, I'd have handled it better than that. I think I may just remind Phoebe how undignified he looked.'
Lee chuckled. 'You're a devious so-and-so. You're doing it again-arranging the world and everyone in it.'
'Don't you dare say I arrange things. I'm the helpless victim of events. But if Phoebe's career does bring this little romance to an end I shan't be sorry.' He glanced at the door, and finding that they were safely alone, sneaked a kiss. 'Do you have to go back early?' he murmured.
'Sonya's staying the night with a friend.'
'Thank heavens!'
'But I'm going home, Daniel. I know Phoebe's a modern girl, but-'
'I know,' he sighed. 'I feel the same. There's only one answer. You'll have to marry me.'
'We've got a lot of things to. get out of the way first,' she prevaricated.
He searched her face and read in it everything she dared not say. Their reconciliation was fragile. Beneath the jokes and the affection they had retreated a little from each other. Who knew when they would recover the lost ground? Or whether it would ever be recovered?
She drove home and found Mark sitting in the kitchen, staring at a cup of cocoa. Lee patted his shoulder kindly. He really had been badly treated.
'Fifty quid those tickets cost me,' he muttered. 'Fifty flaming quid. And I had to queue in the rain. But what does she care?'
'Phoebe's very young, Mark,' Lee said sympathetically. 'At her age she doesn't want to get too serious.'
'That's not what she- Oh, hell, never mind!'
'You mean she made you think she was ready for a deep relationship?'
Mark shrugged disconsolately.
'But that was before her horizons broadened, wasn't it? Things are bound to change, my dear.'
'Yes, I'm just going to be a student to her, aren't I?'
'I don't think it's fair to ask any sort of commitment from her. Phoebe needs time to find her feet.'
'But I think about her all the time. You can't understand, Lee.'
'Can't I?' she asked, smiling a little at the age-old accusation.
'I don't suppose you even remember what it was like to be my age.'
Eighteen, she thought. When she'd been eighteen she'd already thought of her life as effectively over.
'Yes, I remember,' she said. 'Too well.'
CHAPTER EIGHT
At the end of the month-long course the modelling school gave a reception at which the students had the chance to put themselves on display. There was a small fashion show, with clothes provided by aspiring designers from a nearby fashion college. The audience was made up mostly of proud parents and friends, but there was also a smattering of fashion editors and photographers, seeking new talent.
'There are more professionals here than I've ever seen before,' Lee commented.
'I bet it's because of Phoebe,' Sonya said. She lowered her voice dramatically. 'A ripple has gone round the fashion world, and no one wants to miss the debut of this new star.'
'That would be lovely, darling, but it's the wrong time of year for Santa Claus,' Lee said with a smile.
But it seemed that Sonya was right. A fellow photographer accosted Lee with the words, 'They say the big discovery is all down to you'.
'I beg your pardon?'
'Phoebe Raife. Everyone's talking about her. Mind you, Brenda's playing it cool. She's turned down a couple of jobs already because they 'weren't quite right for Phoebe'. So now the pack's out in force to see if the reality lives up to the expectation.'
The show began. As soon as Phoebe appeared Lee knew that she'd made good use of the course. This was a subtly different creature from the eager girl she'd photographed only a couple of months ago. She was still young and fresh, but she'd acquired poise. Lee could hear again the clear, arrogant young voice saying 'I'm going to the top' and she wondered how they'd ever imagined that this young woman could be told what to do.
Perhaps Daniel thought the same, for his eyes were fixed on his daughter with a kind of awe mixed with sadness.
Sonya was simply thrilled.
'Wasn't she wonderful?' she demanded afterwards. 'Like Phoebe and yet-not like Phoebe at all.'
'No,' Daniel said with a sigh. 'Not like Phoebe at all.'
Sonya looked at him with sympathy and slipped a comforting hand into his. Recently it had become common for her and Lee to dine with him, and for Sonya to retire to his study afterwards to do her homework. One evening Daniel took her in a cup of tea and remained away for nearly half an hour. Going to find him, Lee had discovered them earnestly discussing her history essay. Sonya's eyes had been bright with interest, and Daniel had seemed equally absorbed. After that they became firm friends, and she called him Daniel.
When the fashion show was over they drank champagne and waited for the models to reappear. Phoebe bounded over, an eager youngster again, and Daniel fixed an enthusiastic smile on his face by sheer effort of will.
'You were wonderful, darling,' he said.
'Did you really think so? You're not just-?'
'Wonderful,' he repeated firmly, determined to do the thing properly.
'Lee?' Phoebe turned to her in appeal.
'You made a sensation,' Lee told her truthfully. 'There's already a lot of interest in you.'
Phoebe gave a little delighted scream, then looked around the crowded room. 'Where's Mark?'
'He really wanted to come,' Lee said awkwardly. 'But now that term has started again… He's working on an essay that has to be in on Monday. He sent you his best wishes.'
Phoebe's face fell. 'Yes, of course,' she said bravely.
In fact Mark had sulkily refused to attend. He'd pleaded pressure of work, but he'd always been able to get out of that before when he wanted to, and of course Phoebe knew this. Mark was jealous, and it made him unkind.
There were a dozen people eager to claim Phoebe's attention. Sonya slipped away into a corner where she could take a sip of champagne in defiance of her mother's prohibition. Lee was left alone with Daniel, who was scowling.
