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couldn't bear it if - I don't ever want to have to see him again. Can't you
understand that?'
Tim nodded, his shoulders heavy. 'All right, Caroline, I won't say any more.
A year's not such a long time. You might change your mind.'
Caroline smiled sadly. It was a vain hope after all these years.
The following week was filled with activities, shopping " for a hotter
climate, getting the necessary injections, checking travel arrangements with
Miles Barstow, her new employer. Caroline was glad she had things to do.
They kept her from thinking about James, from considering the thousands of
miles she was about to put between them again. One afternoon she returned
from shopping to find Tim in the flat, looking rather hot and flustered. But
when she asked him what was wrong, he denied that anything was, and she
assumed she had been mistaken.
The flight to Nairobi was leaving at eight o'clock on Friday morning, and on
Thursday afternoon Caroline found herself on the Embankment, only a few
yards from the Booth building. It was a crazy impulse which had brought her
there on the eve of her departure, but in spite of all she had told Tim, she
ached to see James, even from a distance.
As she strolled nearer, discouraged by the blankness of the windows, a black
limousine pulled out of a side street and cruised to a halt outside the
building. Two men got out of the limousine, also dressed in black, and
Caroline realized with a feeling of trembling anticipation that one of them
was James. Both men mounted the steps to the building as the limousine
pulled away, James standing back to allow the other man to enter the swing
door first. As he waited, he looked round, and across the stretch of the
Embankment his eyes met Caroline's.
There was a moment when she stood transfixed, staring at him, and then
with a gasp she turned away, hurrying back the way she had come. She
heard him call her name, but ignored it, breaking into a run, but he had
longer legs and was probably in better condition, she conceded, because he
overtook her easily, grasping her arm and bringing her to a standstill. His
action brought a few surprised stares from passers-by, but he seemed
oblivious of them. He stared down at her as if he couldn't believe his eyes,
and returning his stare she saw how pale and drawn he looked.
'Caroline!' he muttered, getting his breath back. 'God, he told me you were in
Kenya!'
Caroline's lips worked soundlessly for a moment. Then she managed:
'Who?'
'Frankland. Your friend Tim Frankland! My God, I'll kill him!'
Caroline moved her head confusedly, hardly aware of the pain his fingers
were inflicting on her arm. 'T - Tim?' she stammered. 'You've seen Tim?'
'Didn't he tell you?' James glared at her, and then shook his head
incredulously. 'Oh, God, we can't talk here!'
Caroline partially came to her senses. 'There - there's nothing to talk about!'
'Damn you, isn't there?' He took several short breaths. 'Well, I say there is.
Come with me.'
He strode off along the street, dragging her after him, and she stumbled to
keep up. 'James - let me go!'
'No. You're coming with me. We're going to have this out, once and for all!'
'But - Deborah ' .
'Deborah!' He halted abruptly, glaring down at her again. Then his eyes
narrowed. 'You mean - you don't know?'
'Don't know what?'
'Deborah's dead, Caroline. She was buried yesterday.'
'Wh - what?' Caroline swayed, feeling suddenly faint. 'I-I didn't know.'
James stared at her for a few moments longer, almost as if he couldn't tear
his eyes away from her, and then he strode on, still taking her with him.
'Wh - where are we going?' she protested.
'To the office. We can be alone there.'
'James, it makes no difference, you know!'
He halted again, and this time she ran into him, aware of the hard strength of
his body against hers for a " moment. 'What do you mean?' he demanded. 'Of
course it makes a difference.'
The tall bulk of the Booth building towered beside them, and looking up at
it, Caroline moved her head slowly from side to side. 'You - you didn't
believe me,' she faltered, and he uttered a savage oath, startling Charles, the
commissionaire, who had come to stand curiously at the entrance.
'What in hell are you talking about?' he muttered, shaking his head. 'Look,
let's go inside. I don't enjoy making a scene where everyone can enjoy it!'
Caroline hung back. 'It's no use, James. I-I leave for Nairobi in the morning.'
'Like hell you do!' he retorted angrily, and swinging her slight body into his
arms, he carried her past the astounded commissionaire and into the
building.
There was a receptionist on duty at the desk in the foyer, and she looked
wide-eyed at the spectacle of her boss's son carrying a strange young woman
into the lift. But then the lift doors closed and Caroline and James were
alone.
He looked down at her, struggling in his arms, and a strange expression
crossed his face. Then he set her on her feet, and leaned back against the wall
of the lift, arms folded, waiting for it to reach the top floor.
'You have no right bringing me in here!' she protested, smoothing down her
skirt. 'What will your staff think?'
James ignored her, his mouth a thin cruel line in his unexpectedly pale face.
The high-powered lift whined swiftly upwards, and within seconds the
doors opened at the penthouse floor.
Taking her by the arm, James hustled her along the corridor towards his
office. Remembering the last time she had been in the building, when there
had been no sound of voices or the clatter of typewriters, as there was now,
Caroline shivered. But she must not think of that, she told herself. She must
remember that awful final evening at Maitlands, when James had held John
Mooney's letter in his hands.
James's secretary looked up in surprise when they entered her office. 'Your
father wants to see you, Mr. James,' she said, as he barely acknowledged her
presence, intent on steering Caroline into his office.
'Ring him and tell him I'm busy for the moment,' he told her shortly. 'And on
no account am I to be disturbed, do you understand?'
'Yes, Mr. James.'
The woman raised her eyebrows, and Caroline felt dreadful. What must
these people be thinking of her - of either of them? She looked indignantly
up at James, but he was opening his office door and did not return her
scrutiny.
Once inside, however, Caroline pulled herself free of him, and hurried
across to the windows, putting the width of the room between them.
Whatever he said, she had to stand firm, and not be swayed by the disturbing
magnetism he had for her. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]