‘I’ve seen very little of Penang so far, but it is a beautiful place. Yes, the heat and humidity have been a shock but I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually. Even after a few days it’s already a bit easier.’
He looked at her. His eyes were an intense blue. When he frowned, as he was doing now, they narrowed and his face took on an aspect that bordered on cruel. Cold, hard, almost ruthless. It didn’t stop her being attracted to him though. She told herself she was as bad as the heroines in Mrs Shipley-Thomas’s romance novels, but couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be kissed passionately by such a man. To be desired by him. Would she ever find out?
‘My late wife found the climate here unbearable. Most Brits do. Especially the women. Maybe you’re made of sterner stuff.’ His expression implied his doubt about that.
‘I hope so. I’ll try to adapt.’
He gave a little snort of disbelief. ‘Perhaps.’
Dispirited, she wanted to run away. To rush through those French doors, out into the garden and from there into the street. To get away from the rejection. But she stayed where she was, clutching the glass of gin in which the ice had melted.
They fell into a silence that was far from companionable. To break the tension, Evie spoke again. ‘The Leightons told me you have a daughter, Jasmine. Will she be living with us? After the wedding, I mean.’
It sounded presumptuous to refer to their marriage when he had only just offered to arrange her return home, but Evie was both confused and angry. Did he want to wait, to see how they got on before making the commitment to marriage? Yet he had made a clear offer – surely he didn’t expect to back out now. Having come this far she wasn’t going to let him wriggle out of it.
Evie realised she wanted to stay, in spite of Douglas’s coldness and his evident lack of any feeling for her. She was attracted to him and would move heaven and earth to make him feel something for her. It might take years, it might not happen at all, but she’d do her damnedest to make him care for her, or at least to win his respect and possibly some affection. Anything was better than the dead-end she was stuck in back in England. The future was what she would make of it. She would have to be brave. Her only chance was to speak up.
Suppressing her wounded pride, she pressed on. ‘Will I meet Jasmine soon?’ she asked, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tremor in her voice.
‘My daughter is in a convent school. She’s settled down well. I don’t want her education adversely affected. She’s gone through a lot, losing her mother so young. The last thing she needs is constant change and disruption.’
‘But I thought you wanted to have her at home? I got the impression from the Leightons that–’
‘The Leightons don’t know everything. Even if they might think they do.’ He put his pipe down.
The third whisky was dangerously close to being finished. Douglas Barrington clearly had a great tolerance for alcohol. Evie remembered the words she’d overheard Veronica saying, about him writing the letter while the worse for drink. Maybe there was truth in that? Maybe his proposal had been a joke he hadn’t expected to result in an acceptance.
Taking a deep breath, Evie clasped her hands together and leaned forward. ‘I think we need to get a few things straight. You made me an offer of marriage and I accepted. Your proposal was unusual, but that was part of its appeal. My circumstances have been straitened since the death of my father. I have no qualifications. I have no money.’ She was conscious that she was talking at a rapid speed but wanted to get it all out before she lost her nerve. ‘Living in the countryside as a companion to an elderly lady, my horizons were narrow, and my opportunities to meet people extremely limited. Marrying you opens a door to something different in my life.’
Evie took another gulp of air. ‘We barely know each other, but I promise you, I will do my utmost not to disappoint you as a wife. Now that we’ve met again, if you want to back out of this arrangement, that’s your prerogative, but if not, I’m ready to throw in my lot with yours.’ She took a large gulp of her drink.
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Quite a speech.’ He got up and walked over to the French windows and stood looking through the mosquito screen.
It had turned dark outside and Evie could smell the cloying scent of flowers. Douglas stood there for several minutes with his back towards her, gazing into the starlit garden.
Just as she was about to break the tension, he turned back to face her, and said, ‘Forgive me for putting it this way, but as far as I’m concerned, this is a business transaction. You appear to be a strong and healthy woman and you certainly have plenty of courage, so yes, my offer still stands. For my part, I will provide you with a home, a generous allowance, anything material you need. For your part, I will expect you to run this household and, assuming my daughter takes to you, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t live here under your care.’ He looked away. ’The offer is made in the expectation that eventually you will bear my children. I am the last of the Barringtons and I want to pass on the family name and the rubber business to my sons.
Evie blushed, but relief ran through her. ‘When will we
