Читать книгу Carole Mortimer Romance Collection - Кэрол Мортимер, Carole Mortimer - Страница 34

‘WOLF can be—difficult,’ Rebecca told her awkwardly.

Tell me about it, Cyn thought ruefully, remembering all too clearly that last conversation she had had with him. Not that she could tell this girl about that.

The two of them had met for lunch as arranged, and almost as soon as their food had been ordered Rebecca had launched into an explanation as to why she had thought it best to talk to Cyn in privacy concerning her wish not to hurry the wedding arrangements. Cyn had sat quietly and listened to it all during the soup course—the claim again that there was plenty of time yet until the wedding, that the invitations didn’t need to go out for weeks yet, that Rebecca knew exactly what sort of wedding-gown she wanted, bridesmaid’s dresses too, and they could all be made a bit nearer the time. Besides, Rebecca had added lightly, she wanted to lose a bit of weight before the wedding, which only meant the wedding-gown would have to be altered to fit her if it were made now.

Looking at her, at Rebecca’s slenderness already bordering on delicacy, Cyn didn’t think the other girl needed to lose any weight at all, just as she didn’t think any of these excuses had anything to do with Rebecca’s request for space and time over the wedding arrangements. Although she still hoped the young gardener wasn’t the real reason for Rebecca’s reluctance to get the wedding arrangements under way.

‘Difficult?’ she echoed the girl’s description now, Rebecca having once again been defending the fact that she would rather Wolf knew nothing of this conversation.

A flush darkened Rebecca’s cheeks, almost the same vivid red as her shoulder-length hair. ‘He wouldn’t understand my need for—well, less haste,’ she explained awkwardly. ‘He might think it was a reluctance to marry him at all that’s prompted these—feelings.’ She couldn’t quite seem to meet Cyn’s sympathetic gaze.

‘And might he be right?’ Cyn prompted gently.

‘Certainly not!’ Rebecca protested instantly—too instantly? ‘I’ve told you my reasons for not wanting to be rushed.’ She was becoming agitated now, absently crumbling the bread roll that had accompanied her soup, seeming unaware of the fact that she was totally demolishing it. ‘Wolf is a wonderful man. Wonderful,’ she repeated shakily. ‘And he cares for me very much.’

‘And you?’ Cyn watched the younger girl with narrowed eyes; there was something very wrong here, no matter what Rebecca might try to claim to the contrary. ‘Do you care for him very much in return?’

‘Of course,’ Rebecca told her defensively, her eyes deeply blue. ‘Why else would I be marrying him?’ she asked lightly.

Why else, indeed? Cyn’s feelings of unease about the whole situation had increased as she talked to Rebecca, and she had not been reassured. She didn’t doubt for a moment that Rebecca truly cared about Wolf, the affection was there in her voice when she talked of him, but did she care for him the way a bride should care about the man she was going to marry in four months’ time? That was the question. And it was one Cyn wasn’t really in a position to ask without totally offending someone who should, after all, have been just another client to her. The fact that Rebecca wasn’t, and, in the circumstances, never could be, was something the girl was totally unaware of. And would remain unaware of!

She gave Rebecca a warm smile, trying her best to relax her as their soup bowls were removed and their main course was brought over to them; although if Rebecca ate as much of that as she had the soup and roll they might as well remove the plate now! Which posed another question; was Rebecca’s appetite always this tiny, or was it the strain she was obviously under that was causing it?

‘Maybe you should try talking to your fiancé about this,’ Cyn broached again cautiously. ‘He’s sure to understand if you explain— No?’ she frowned as Rebecca shook her head at the suggestion before she had even finished.

‘It isn’t only Wolf,’ Rebecca sighed. ‘Daddy would be so disappointed if—’ She chewed on her bottom lip, looking very unhappy. ‘He and Wolf are great friends.’

That was exactly what Gerald had claimed about Rebecca and Wolf! But no matter what Gerald might think to the contrary, people who were friends, just friends, shouldn’t really be contemplating marrying each other. Not when the girl involved obviously had more than a passing interest in her father’s gardener... And the more Cyn talked to Rebecca the more convinced she became that this was the main reason for the other girl’s reluctance to start her wedding arrangements. The mere idea of it seemed to make it too real to her...!

‘Your father isn’t the one marrying Wolf,’ she pointed out drily.

Rebecca gave a wan smile in answer to Cyn’s attempt at humour. ‘No,’ she acknowledged slowly. ‘I had the distinct impression that my father’s interest lay somewhere else entirely.’ She gave Cyn a speculative glance.

Rebecca’s own emotions might be in turmoil, but obviously that hadn’t prevented her being well aware of what was going on in her father’s life too! And how neatly she had turned the tables on Cyn. Maybe this girl was a fitting wife for Wolf, after all; she certainly knew how to stand up for herself when the situation presented itself.

Cyn’s cheeks were the ones to feel hot now. ‘Your father and I had dinner together last night, yes, but—’

‘You didn’t tell him we were meeting today, did you?’ Rebecca put in quickly, instantly looking worried.

‘No,’ Cyn reassured her. ‘Although I think perhaps you should,’ she added softly.

‘Why?’ The other girl eyed her warily.

Cyn looked at her with gentle rebuke. ‘I think you know why, Rebecca— You don’t mind if I call you Rebecca, do you?’ she prompted lightly.

‘Well, as you’re dating my father it would be a little—’

‘I’m not dating your father, Rebecca,’ Cyn told her firmly, determined not to be put on the defensive, which she was sure Rebecca was trying to do in an effort to divert the attention away from the real issue, an issue they had been skirting around all during lunch—and that was that Rebecca, for all she obviously liked and respected Wolf, certainly didn’t want to marry him! ‘I’ve been out with him once, because I half promised that I would, but I’m not expecting to repeat it.’

Rebecca’s eyes widened at her certainty, a rueful smile suddenly lighting her lovely features. ‘That must have been a surprise for Daddy,’ she chuckled softly.

Cyn returned the smile. ‘I believe it was!’

‘Poor Daddy!’ Rebecca shook her head.

‘Look, Rebecca,’ Cyn sobered, leaning across the table to lightly touch the other girl’s hand, ‘I have no objection whatsoever in holding off on your wedding arrangements,’ she told her seriously. ‘Just give me a call when, or if, you decide you do want me to proceed with them. OK?’

Rebecca’s cheeks were flushed. ‘What do you mean, “if”?’

‘I liked your father’s house, Rebecca,’ Cyn told her lightly, picking up her fork to eat the salad she had ordered as her main course. She could see from Rebecca’s expression that she was slightly unsure of this sudden change of subject. But if she would just hear Cyn out, she would see it wasn’t a change of subject at all. ‘The sitting-room we were in yesterday was very elegant, very restful too—with that magnificent view of the garden.’ She forked some of the salad into her mouth, eating it with obvious enjoyment, deliberately not meeting Rebecca’s gaze as the truth slowly dawned on the other girl.

‘Yes,’ Rebecca agreed dazedly, ‘it’s lovely. I—Oh, God!’ she suddenly choked, bending her head so that no one else in the restaurant should see her tears. ‘You saw!’ she groaned raggedly.

‘I saw the young mistress of the house talking to the gardener, that’s all,’ Cyn assured her gently. ‘I just want you to realise that I’m in no hurry to begin making your wedding arrangements for you, but that I’ll be happy to help when you do feel more comfortable with them. And the identity of the bridegroom,’ she added softly. ‘After all, this isn’t just about a wedding, is it? There’s the rest of your life afterwards to consider.’

Rebecca drew in a shaky breath, her tears firmly under control again now, her shoulders taut as she straightened, picking up her own fork ready to eat. ‘Thank you,’ she accepted with quiet dignity.

Cyn couldn’t help but admire the girl. She liked her! She had never believed she would say that about any woman Wolf had decided to marry, but there was something so vulnerable about Rebecca; she made Cyn feel slightly maternal, she realised disgustedly.

‘Let’s eat, shall we?’ she said more sharply than she had meant to. But how could she possibly feel maternal about Wolf’s bride? It was totally ridiculous!

* * *

‘How did your dinner with Gerald go yesterday?’

Cyn eyed Wolf incredulously, as she sat across the width of his desk from him.

There had been a lot of work for her to catch up on when she returned from her lunch with Rebecca, and she had been totally caught up in the menu for a dinner party she was catering for next week, when the telephone call came through from Wolf’s office, and his secretary informed her that Wolf would like to see her, if it wasn’t too much trouble.

If it wasn’t too much trouble! Wolf and Rebecca both seemed to think she had nothing more to do with her time than run around after the pair of them; they must think she had no other clients other than them! And then she had remembered that Wolf had seen her appointment book yesterday when he wandered about her office, that he must have seen then that she wasn’t exactly inundated with appointments for the next few weeks; there was usually a short lull in weddings directly after Easter, picking up again in June. That was still no reason for him to assume she could just drop everything and drive into London to see him!

But his secretary, polite as ever, had firmly told her that no, Mr Thornton wasn’t able to drive out to see her, that he was in a meeting at the moment, and didn’t expect to be out of it until shortly after five o’clock. Which meant Cyn couldn’t even talk to him personally to find out what all this was about! She had tersely informed the woman at the other end of the telephone that she would be in to see Wolf at five-thirty, before ringing off abruptly.

She had then spent the rest of the afternoon totally unable to concentrate on what she was doing, so she might just as well have driven up to see Wolf immediately after the call came in. Except that he was in a meeting and couldn’t even see her until after five!

She wished she had never met Gerald Harcourt at that Easter wedding, never heard of his daughter Rebecca, certainly that she had never met Wolf again!

Especially now that it seemed the only reason Wolf had wanted to see her at all was to ask her how her date with Gerald had gone the evening before. It was none of his business, dammit!

She stood up restlessly, the slight heel on her shoes immediately sinking into the deep pile of the cool blue carpet. It seemed that no expense had been spared on the Thornton Industries’ head offices, everywhere she had seen being decorated and furnished in the height of luxury.

Cyn hadn’t been here in the past, the office not being one of the places Wolf had been interested in going to then, although she had to admit that this harsher, more arrogant Wolf was much more suited to the world of business than to being artistically creative. Although she still couldn’t help but feel sad for the loss of that other, more relaxed and teasing Wolf...

This would never do; she brought her wandering thoughts back in check. This Wolf was harsh, arrogant, was coldly forceful, and she would do well to remember that!

‘What did you want to see me about, Wolf?’ she asked briskly, totally ignoring his probing question, her humour not improved after driving into London for the second time today.

He leant back in his leather chair, his eyes narrowed, his three-piece suit a dark navy today, with a stark white shirt and pale blue tie, the dark blond hair brushed severely back from his face, making him look every inch his thirty-five years. Also every inch the successful businessman he obviously now was.

His mouth twisted harshly. ‘Not going to answer my question about your date with Gerald?’ He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘He’s been unusually quiet about it too,’ he drawled drily. ‘Which can only mean one of two things—’

‘You asked Gerald about our date?’ Cyn at last managed to gasp, too incredulous at first to be able to say anything.

‘—either the two of you being together was a dismal failure never to be repeated,’ Wolf continued as if she hadn’t just interrupted, ‘or the two of you became lovers.’ His voice had hardened now, his eyes narrowed. ‘In which case Gerald, being the gentleman that he is where the ladies in his life are concerned, wouldn’t discuss you with me or anyone else.’

‘It’s a pity the same can’t be said for you!’ Cyn snapped heatedly, eyes flashing deeply violet.

Wolf hadn’t moved, and yet there was a tension about him now that hadn’t been quite so pronounced minutes ago. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ His voice was dangerously soft.

She glared across the desk at him. ‘Obviously you didn’t feel the same compunction about discussing me with him!’ she accused. ‘Or is it just that you don’t consider me a lady?’ she challenged defensively. After all, seven years ago she had become Wolf’s lover after knowing him only a few days; maybe he believed she had known a string of other lovers since then!

The truth of it was that there had been no other men that close to her since Wolf. Oh, she and Roger had fallen back into the easy relationship they had had before she met Wolf, going out together a couple of times a week, and they still did meet occasionally now, but she hadn’t allowed anyone close enough to her for there to even be the possibility of a physical relationship between them; Wolf had been the man she loved, and it hadn’t worked out, so instead she gained her happiness vicariously by arranging other people’s weddings.

‘I didn’t discuss you with Gerald, at any time,’ Wolf’s voice was icily controlled as he answered her, ‘but in the circumstances, it’s a little odd, considering we had a business lunch together today, that he didn’t mention seeing you last night.’

Cyn relaxed slightly, although it was a little odd to think that Wolf and Gerald had been lunching together while she and Rebecca were doing the same thing. Thank God they hadn’t all decided to lunch at the same restaurant; wouldn’t that have made an interesting meeting! ‘Maybe having dinner with me was particularly unmemorable for him,’ she suggested drily.

Wolf met her gaze steadily. ‘I doubt that,’ he said quietly.

Cyn looked at him sharply, but his expression remained enigmatic, giving her no insight as to what he might have meant by that remark. She sighed, putting up a hand to her throbbing temple; the strain of driving in London had certainly taken its toll on her today. ‘Could you just tell me why I’m here, Wolf, so I can go home, have a soak in the bath, some dinner, and then put my feet up for the rest of the weekend?’ After the last two days she felt desperately in need of the rest!

‘Hmm, sounds tempting.’ He gave a rueful grimace that told her he wouldn’t be doing anything as relaxing with his weekend.

Her mouth twisted. ‘I’m sure the head of Thornton Industries could do the same thing—if he chose to.’

‘Are you?’ he sighed. ‘I’m not so sure. Although I may be able to find some time to relax this weekend.’ He frowned suddenly. ‘Now that Rebecca has gone away for a couple of days.’

‘I’m sure you— Rebecca’s gone away?’ Cyn hoped her voice sounded as innocently curious as she wanted it to!

Rebecca had made no mention about going away when the two of them had talked earlier, so maybe her decision to do so had been a sudden one, so that she could think very carefully before committing herself to a marriage—and a man!—she didn’t seem totally sure of? Cyn sincerely hoped so; Rebecca was too young to tie herself to a relationship she wasn’t a hundred per cent sure about. Although she doubted if Wolf would see it in quite the same way, especially if it had been anything Cyn had said to the girl that had caused her to rethink the situation!

She could be totally wrong about that, Cyn acknowledged, and maybe Rebecca would come back having realised just how lucky she was to be marrying someone like Wolf, after all. Although there was still the question of that young gardener...

‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,’ Wolf nodded abruptly. ‘Rebecca has—been under a lot of strain the last few months, with our engagement and other things,’ he dismissed briskly. ‘So if you have any questions about the wedding arrangements during the next few days, perhaps you could come to me with them?’

Cyn had noticed the young girl’s engagement ring, the single large diamond, had guessed by the way she unconsciously sought its presence, twisting it around on her finger, that it was a fairly new acquisition. In which case the wedding must now seem to be absolutely rushing towards her—hence her near-panic, Cyn would guess. Even Rebecca’s confused feelings over the gardener might just be part of her pre-wedding nerves too. Cyn was no longer sure whether she wished that were the case or not...

‘I don’t usually work weekends,’ she told Wolf impatiently. ‘And you could have said all this on the telephone.’ She sighed as she realised that her second trip in here today had been a waste of time, and picked up her handbag in preparation to leave. ‘Maybe you have time to waste, Wolf, but I—’

‘Sit down!’ Wolf ordered thunderously, sitting forward in his chair now to rest his arms on the top of his desk, all pretence of relaxing totally gone. ‘I don’t have time to waste either,’ he rasped harshly. ‘I never did,’ he added enigmatically.

He used to say that concerning his painting, Cyn remembered painfully. What had happened to that? This office had several originals on its walls, but even a cursory glance told her that none of them were Wolf’s own. ‘Why don’t you paint any more, Wolf?’ The question was blurted out before she even had time to think about it. And as Wolf’s face darkened ominously, she knew she shouldn’t have asked the question at all, let alone as bluntly as she had. But she wanted to know, dammit!

‘I’ve just told you,’ he grated coldly, ‘I don’t have any time to waste!’

Cyn gasped. ‘Your painting was never a waste, Wolf!’

His eyes narrowed. ‘And what would you know about it?’

She paled, swallowing hard. Wolf had never been cruel in the past, but she realised he was a master at it now, that he had meant to be insulting—and that he had succeeded! ‘I’d better go—’

‘I haven’t finished!’ he said impatiently. ‘We keep being side-tracked by the past. Which is something else I wanted to talk to you about—except not the parts we keep discussing.’ He looked grim. ‘I realised after I’d left you yesterday and had time to think things over—’

‘That you behaved like an overbearing, autocratic pig!’ Cyn accused with feeling, recovering slightly from his deliberate taunt; she couldn’t allow herself to be destroyed all over again by this man.

His mouth twisted. ‘That we hadn’t discussed Rebecca not being told of our past—association,’ he completed pointedly. ‘Of course she knows I was engaged to someone else seven years ago—’

‘Big of you to have told her even that,’ Cyn snapped, resentful of this whole conversation; as if she had any wish for Rebecca, or anyone else, to realise she had once been going to marry Wolf herself!

Wolf’s eyes narrowed to icy-cold slits. ‘It would have been pointless to have kept that from her,’ he bit out tersely. ‘But I saw no reason to bore her with the details.’

‘Of course not,’ Cyn scorned, stung by his attitude. ‘Although you didn’t really have to tell her anything; there were so few people who even knew we were engaged at all!’

‘And whose fault was that?’ Wolf accused harshly.

Hers, she freely admitted that. But although she had been sure of her love for Wolf, she had still been insecure about his wealthy background, even if he did choose to dismiss it most of the time. He was still a Thornton, had known a much more privileged childhood than her, had never known what it was like to want something so badly that when it actually came to her she had been terrified of losing it. Wolf’s love had been like that to her. And, in retrospect, she had been wise to step warily where any kind of permanent future for them was concerned. Because it just hadn’t happened.

‘This is all past history, Wolf,’ she sighed wearily.

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ he nodded abruptly. ‘And I want it to remain that way,’ he added warningly.

‘Consider it forgotten,’ Cyn told him resentfully, knowing she would never forget it. And from the thunderous expression on Wolf’s face, neither would he—but for different reasons, Cyn didn’t doubt! ‘Now I—’ She broke off abruptly as the door behind her suddenly opened; most of the staff had been leaving the building as she arrived at five-thirty, and Wolf had dismissed his efficient secretary once she had shown Cyn into his office, so who was this walking unannounced into Wolf’s office in this familiar—?

Cyn only needed one glance across the office to know exactly who would dare to do such a thing.

Barbara!

It might have been almost seven years since she had last seen the other woman, but Cyn would know the beautiful Barbara Thornton anywhere. Besides, the other woman had changed little; her hair was still an ebony cloud, although styled shorter than it used to be, her beautifully perfect features still as glowingly youthful, despite the fact that she had to be thirty-three now. And she still wore her clothes, a tailored black dress this evening, with all the style and elegance she had learnt during her years as a top-class model. Yes, Cyn would know the beautiful Barbara Thornton. Anywhere.

‘Sorry, Wolf,’ the other woman drawled without any sign of real apology in her voice. ‘I didn’t realise you had someone with you.’ She gave Cyn a bright, meaningless smile—a smile that told Cyn, at least, that this woman wouldn’t have acted any differently if she had realised Wolf wasn’t alone, that she felt perfectly within her rights to walk in on him unannounced in his office. As Alex Thornton’s widow, Barbara had inherited Alex’s shares of Thornton Industries at the time of his death seven years ago, so she was probably right about that!

But as Cyn knew only too well, Barbara had never needed those shares to feel this peremptory right in Wolf’s life!

Barbara turned back to Wolf now. ‘I just wanted to remind you that dinner—is at eight—’ She broke off suddenly, turning sharply back to Cyn, her breath sharply indrawn as she looked at her more closely. ‘You!’ she accused, green eyes wide with recognition.

There had never been any love lost between the two women. Barbara had treated Cyn, at best, with cool condescension after Wolf had introduced them seven years ago.

Cyn hadn’t been too troubled by the other woman’s attitude at the time; she had known from the first that Wolf’s family wouldn’t exactly welcome her with open arms, that she was far from an ideal choice, in the haughty Thornton family’s eyes, as the wife of one of the Thornton heirs. After all, she worked as a receptionist in one of their hotels, and her family background was nonexistent, as was her social standing; it was only natural, Cyn had accepted, that they should treat her with a certain amount of wariness until she had shown them that it was Wolf she loved and not his money. Wolf hadn’t given a damn what his family thought; he had told them he was marrying her, and that was exactly what he intended doing, whether they approved of her or not!

Only Barbara Thornton’s antagonism towards Cyn had had nothing to do with approving or disapproving of her; she had hated her on sight. And from the way she was looking at Cyn now, that feeling had never changed!

But Cyn was seven years older now, she inwardly chided herself as she briefly experienced those familiar feelings of inadequacy where this woman was concerned; she was a successful businesswoman in her own right, even if it was on a much smaller scale than the Thornton company.

She met the other woman’s gaze steadily, knowing that, if Barbara appeared not to have changed, then she at least had; never again would she allow herself to be cowed by any member of this powerful family. Besides, she had had the advantage of realising for a couple of days that a meeting like this, when Wolf married Rebecca, was inevitable. She hadn’t liked the idea, but she had known that it had to happen. Barbara, in the meantime, still looked completely stunned to see her again after all this time.

‘Barbara,’ she greeted her drily. ‘You’re looking well,’ she added lightly.

‘I’m—!’ Barbara broke off, incredulous at Cyn’s cool command, and turned those flashing green eyes on Wolf now. ‘You didn’t tell me you and Lucynda had met again.’ She had difficulty controlling the sharp, almost shrill edge to her voice as she tried not to sound accusing.

Barbara, and Wolf’s mother Claudia, had both persisted in using her full first name once they had learnt that was what Cyn was short for, both of them claiming to dislike diminutives of names, especially ones as ridiculous as Cyn! Wolf hadn’t liked them calling her Lucynda at all, but at the time Cyn hadn’t thought it was worth causing an argument over, although she had winced every time they called her Lucynda; it reminded her too much of her years in the orphanage.

How naïvely trusting she had been seven years ago; now she could see the other women’s behaviour for exactly what it was, yet another way of the two powerful Thornton women keeping her at a distance from them, and firmly in her place, of letting her know she would never be accepted as one of them.

‘My name is Cyn. Or Miss Smith,’ she told the other woman before turning back to Wolf—a Wolf who sat watching the two of them with narrowed eyes; probably waiting to see if they scratched each other’s eyes out, Cyn acknowledged angrily. She wouldn’t give Barbara, or Wolf, the satisfaction! ‘I think that’s our business concluded for today,’ she said coolly, knowing by the way his mouth tightened and his eyes narrowed ominously that he didn’t like the way she was talking to him at all. Tough!

‘Business?’ Barbara echoed sharply. ‘What on earth sort of business could the two of you—?’

‘I really do have to go,’ Cyn cut in, impatient with the way this family assumed she had nothing else to do this evening but stand here listening to them. ‘I have a date—with my bath,’ she added pointedly as she saw Wolf’s eyes narrow questioningly. ‘It was—interesting, meeting you again, Barbara,’ she told the other woman drily. Barbara was still looking slightly dazed from the encounter.

‘Interesting?’ the other woman echoed incredulously. ‘Wolf, I don’t—’

‘Bye!’ Cyn called lightly as she left the office without haste—only to find herself brought to a sudden halt as familiar fingers grasped tightly about her arm. ‘What do you want now, Wolf?’ she asked wearily as she turned to face him in the corridor, all the time aware of Barbara waiting inside his office for him.

He looked intently down at her pale face. ‘Will you have dinner with me tonight?’ he asked gruffly.

Cyn’s eyes widened. ‘But I thought Barbara just said the two of you were having dinner together?’ she frowned.

‘We only made the arrangement an hour ago,’ Wolf shrugged dismissively. ‘I don’t have to go.’

He had only learnt late this afternoon that his fiancée was going to be out of town for a couple of days! But immediately he and Barbara had made plans of their own. Nothing had changed, it seemed!

‘I wouldn’t have dinner with you if I were starving to death!’ Cyn told him scornfully, pulling roughly out of his grasp; God, she was going to be covered in bruises at this rate! ‘Go back to Barbara,’ she advised disgustedly. ‘The two of you obviously deserve each other!’

‘Cyn—’

‘Leave—me—alone, Wolf!’ The tone of her voice must have warned him she was close to doing some physical damage of her own if he didn’t, because he stepped back from her abruptly—although she was aware of him watching her as she strode forcefully down the corridor to the lift, viciously jabbing at the button, stepping inside the plush lift once the doors had glided open, her violet gaze clashing with his golden one before the doors silently closed again and she began her smooth descent to the ground floor.

Cyn only wished her thoughts were as smoothly untroubled!

She couldn’t believe Wolf and Barbara, just couldn’t believe the two of them!

Seven years ago Cyn had been left in no doubt of the fact that Wolf and Barbara were having an affair, that they had been doing so since the early days of Barbara’s marriage to Alex. Just as she didn’t doubt now, in spite of Wolf’s engagement to Rebecca—an engagement that seemed to be founded on business on Wolf’s side rather than love!—that they were still having an affair.

If she only knew where Rebecca had gone for the weekend, she would go and see her and tell her how right she was to feel unsure about marrying Wolf, that she should give him his damned ring back and tell him to go to hell!

As Cyn had...