Melting Fire Page 2

  She settled back to enjoy what remained of the journey. It was pleasant in the Mercedes, with the open roof fanning her forehead, and the breeze blowing across them from the open windows. There was nowhere like England on a hot summer’s day, she thought reluctantly, though Richard’s absence still had the power to sour her mood.

  Copley lay on the borders of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. It was a small estate which Richard had bought eight years ago, and from the first Olivia had loved it. She had tried not to, telling herself it was only her home so long as Richard remained a bachelor, and that being his stepsister gave her no rights to organise his house. But it hadn’t worked that way. Because Richard spent so much time abroad, her visits to Copley often encompassed weeks when she had the place to herself, excluding the staff and dear Bella, of course, and as a matter of course, they all deferred to her as Richard’s deputy.

  Alex had turned off the motorway towards Wallingford, and just inside the Oxfordshire border he swung on to the narrow country road which led to the village of West Cross. Copley lay a couple of miles beyond the village, and Olivia couldn’t prevent the glow of excitement she felt as they left the narrow streets of the village behind and approached the gates of her home.

  The estate comprised some fifteen acres of orchard and parkland, and the area immediately surrounding the house provided tennis courts and a swimming pool, as well as cultivated gardens and a pergola-hung patio. Richard kept horses, too, but for stud purposes mostly, although he had several hunters which he ran at point-to-point meetings.

  The house itself was of traditional design, with gabled windows, and ivy-hung walls. Parts of it were said to date from the eighteenth century, but the main building had been largely restored, and boasted no particular period. It was just a very attractive country house, Olivia had stated, when her love affair with the place first began, and Richard had agreed that it served the purpose.

  Miss Ponsonby appeared long before Alex had circled the courtyard that fronted the house and brought the limousine to a halt at the foot of the steps leading up to the porch. Small and bustling, she fretted impatiently as he parked the powerful car, and then tugged open Olivia’s door herself. Olivia scrambled out and was immediately enfolded in the nursemaid’s warm embrace, inhaling again the fragrance of Devonshire violets she always associated with Miss Ponsonby.

  ‘It’s so good to see you!’ the older woman exclaimed, half annoyed at the tears that moistened her eyes. ‘All these months, and never a visit! How could you treat your old Bella so?’

  Olivia sighed as she extricated herself, smoothing her tumbled hair with a careless hand. ‘Oh, Bella, I wanted to see you!’ she protested smilingly, ‘but Michelle invited me to stay with them at Easter and as Richard was away …’

  ‘I know. You didn’t give a thought to me, here on my own,’ retorted Bella reprovingly, but there was no censure in the words. ‘Come along, then. I’ve got tea waiting, and while we have it you can tell me all your news.’

  ‘Yes,’ Olivia murmured, as Alex extracted her cases from the boot and carried them up the steps and into the house, but now that she was actually here, she felt a certain reluctance to expose her feelings for Jules to the cold light of day. Richard would be scathing, she expected that, but she didn’t think she could bear it if Bella was not enthusiastic. She felt too unsure of herself, too vulnerable, to withstand anyone’s criticism, and she had a ridiculous desire to keep her secret just a little longer.

  The hall of Copley was cool after the dusty heat outside. The drone of a distant tractor was muted within its maple panelling, dark and polished, reflecting the colours of a vase of asters and lupins that occupied the antique table in the curve of the stairs. A warm gold and blue carpet was soft to the feet, and Jess, Richard’s Irish wolfhound, came yawning across it to greet her. Fondling the bitch’s grey head, Olivia chided her for the lazy animal she was, pushing the probing tongue away and informing her that she didn’t earn her keep.

  Alex had apparently carried her cases upstairs, and Olivia followed Bella into the sitting room, flopping down lazily on to the squashy cushions of the velvet sofa. Looking about her, she was struck anew by the beauty of this room that was so lived-in, and yet retained its air of casual elegance. Its pale walls were hung with some of Richard’s collection of miniatures, and in the window embrasure a baby grand piano supported a bowl of cream roses. Occasionally Richard could be persuaded to play to them in the evenings, but mostly he spent his time closeted in his study across the hall, and woe betide anyone who dared to interrupt him when he was working.

  The room was kept cool by the french doors open on to the terrace beyond, and the long cream curtains moved languidly in the faint breeze that stirred the wind chimes Richard had brought back from Japan. A tea trolley resided on the hearth before the marble fireplace, which was still used on winter evenings, and Bella had seated herself beside it and was presently pouring tea. The exquisite bone china service had been a gift to Richard’s father and his new wife on the occasion of their wedding, and Olivia accepted her cup eagerly, looking forward to the ritual. She liked coffee, and indeed at breakfast time she would drink nothing else, but there was something intensely satisfying about afternoon tea.

  ‘So …’ Bella offered her a wafer-thin sandwich, and after Olivia had bitten into its smoked salmon filling, she added: ‘Tell me about Paris. Is it still as exciting as you thought? Or are you glad to be home again?’

  Olivia chose her words with caution. ‘Paris is always exciting,’ she remarked offhandedly, helping herself to another sandwich. ‘Mmm, these are delicious, Bella. And are those strawberries under that cover? Ooh, gorgeous! I love strawberries and cream on a hot afternoon.’

  Bella contained her curiosity, and spooned some of the juicy berries into a dish. ‘Thomas picked them this morning, especially for you,’ she observed dryly. ‘He told me there were none yesterday when Mrs Morrison came to tea, and then this afternoon, he produced all these.’

  Olivia chuckled, touched that the old gardener should have wanted to please her, when she had neglected Copley for so long. ‘I’ll go and thank him afterwards. He knows they’re my favourite fruit.’

  ‘Yes.’ Bella eyed her candidly. ‘Well, you look all right, I must say. A bit skinny perhaps, but I expect that’s all that fancy French cooking.’

  ‘I beg your pardon!’ Olivia pretended offence, sitting up and pushing her breasts forward. ‘I’ll have you know, my figure was the envy of a lot of girls.’ She looked down in mock appraisal. ‘I must say, I thought it wasn’t bad myself.’

  ‘Excuse me …’

  Alex was standing in the doorway, watching the proceedings, and Olivia subsided with an embarrassed giggle. Bella looked at the young man ruefully, and smiling said: ‘Come along in, Alex. You’re not interrupting anything. Do you want some tea?’

  ‘Oh, no, thank you.’ Alex’s thin face was still a little flushed. ‘I—er—I’ve put Olivia’s cases in her room and now I thought I’d go to the bank. Is there anything you want in Chelmsbury?’

  Bella hesitated. ‘I don’t think so, Alex, thank you. How about you, Olivia? Can Alex get anything for you?’

  Olivia forced herself to sit up, shaking her head. ‘I’ve got everything I need,’ she assured him, smilingly. ‘But if you’re going in tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have a lift with you. I can always trot around the shops while you attend to your own affairs.’

  Alex’s responding smile was stiff. ‘I’ll take you into Chelmsbury, any time you want to go,’ he assured her politely, and then left them as abruptly as he had appeared.

  A few moments later, the sound of the Mercedes’ engine started up and the crunch of the tyres on the gravelled drive signified his departure, and Bella heaved a sigh of relief.

  ‘Honestly, that man is so intense,’ she declared. ‘And you mustn’t tease him. I’d hate for there to be complications.’

  ‘Complications?’ Olivia frowned. ‘What kind of complications?’

>   ‘Oh …’ Bella shifted uncomfortably, pouring herself a second cup of tea. ‘You know! If he should get the wrong ideas about you. I know Richard would never countenance such a thing, and Alex would get terribly hurt in the process.’

  Olivia gasped. ‘You’re not serious!’

  ‘Why ever not? You’re a very attractive young woman, as well you know, and Alex is a man, just like any other. Don’t let his controlled manner fool you. He’s just as susceptible to flattery as anyone else.’

  Olivia moved her slim shoulders in a helpless gesture. ‘I never thought … I mean, heavens, he’s at least twelve years older than I am.’

  ‘What’s that to the purpose? Richard’s father was almost twenty years older than your mother,’ retorted Bella severely, and then left the matter to ask about the friends Olivia had made in France, and the Charpentiers, whom she had stayed with at Easter.

  It was easy enough for Olivia to talk about Michelle and her family. They lived at Tours, in the Loire valley, and Olivia had been enchanted by their home and the surrounding countryside. There were orchards and vineyards, and the chateaux which were world-famous, and Michelle and her two brothers had enjoyed showing her their historic heritage. They had driven to Angers and Orleans, visited Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci had lived and died, and eaten some of the most superb food Olivia had ever tasted. They had even attended a wine fair, she confessed, but noticing how put out Bella was looking, she quickly assured her that she was glad to be home, and that Copley was her first love.

  ‘These young men,’ said Bella, as Olivia attacked her dish of strawberries and cream, ‘Michelle’s brothers: they were attracted to you?’

  Olivia felt the colour invading her cheeks, and delved more deeply into her bowl. ‘I suppose so,’ she mumbled, remembering the older one, Paul, who had taught her there was more to kissing than the pressure of two pairs of lips, and saw Bella’s mouth turn down at the corners. ‘They were boys, that’s all,’ she protested, half laughing now. ‘Seventeen and eighteen, I think. They didn’t seduce me, if that’s what you’re afraid of.’

  Bella snorted, but her eyes were piercing. ‘Has anyone?’

  ‘No!’ Olivia was indignant. ‘Of course not.’ But she knew Jules would have tried to if they had known one another longer. It was the way, after all. All the girls said so, even Michelle, who was engaged to a young medical student from the hospital in Tours. His name had been Charles, and Olivia had found him quite amusing until he tried to corner her on the first floor landing of the Charpentiers’ house one evening when his fiancée was watching television downstairs. She hadn’t liked that. It had made her feel dirty. And she had been glad they were returning to Paris the next day so that Michelle should not find out and be hurt.

  ‘I never approved of your going to that French academy,’ Bella was saying now, as Olivia finished her strawberries and pushed the dish aside. ‘An innocent young girl in a place like that. Asking for trouble, that’s what I say.’

  ‘But Richard wanted me to go,’ exclaimed Olivia patiently. ‘I think he wanted me to grow up, to be independent. He knew that boarding school in England hadn’t achieved so much, and going away, to another country, was bound to make me more self-reliant.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Bella sounded unconvinced. ‘Well, I can’t say I’m not glad you’re back, and for good. There’s plenty for you to do here, and I’ve no doubt the telephone will start ringing just as soon as your friends hear that you’re home.’

  ‘Oh, but …’ Olivia caught her lower lip between her teeth, and then released it again. ‘I can’t stay here for ever, Bella. I mean—sooner or later I’m bound to go away, aren’t I? And if I took a job, or got married——’

  ‘Married!’ Bella sounded horrified. ‘And who are you going to marry, may I ask?’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Are you keeping something from me? Is there something I should know about? You’ve not met some young man you’re not telling me about, have you?’

  ‘Oh, no. No!’

  Olivia rose abruptly to her feet, unable to sit still beneath Bella’s penetrating appraisal. She walked quickly across to the french doors, thrusting her hands into the pockets of her dress and staring out broodingly on to the manicured green lawns beyond the terrace. She couldn’t confide in Bella yet, she decided uneasily. She needed time, time to adjust to her new freedom, to the possibilities that now faced her. When the time was right, she would tell her about Jules, but until then …

  ‘Aren’t the rhododendrons beautiful?’

  Bella’s voice at her elbow startled her, but she managed to answer casually enough. The huge banks of flowering shrubs were a splendid sight, and the scents of a dozen different species of plant-life filled the air with their perfume. Copley was beautiful, there was no denying it, and she would miss all this when she had to leave. But it was what Richard expected of her, and besides, she was almost a woman. She needed more than the sanctuary of Copley could give her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  OLIVIA ran the shower cold, and was shivering when she emerged from the cubicle. Clutching a huge yellow bath-sheet about her, she padded into the bedroom, her bare feet making damp patches on the soft white carpet. Standing before the long wardrobe mirror, she towelled herself dry vigorously, and then allowed the folds of towelling to fall about her ankles.

  The reflection facing her was of a girl of nineteen or so, with a wealth of curly red-gold hair tumbling about her shoulders. Her breasts were firm and well-developed, and her waist was small, and long shapely legs drew attention to narrow ankles. An appealing combination, no doubt, but Olivia was not impressed by her attributes. She had viewed them too many times to feel any sense of accomplishment in her appearance, and her greatest concern at the moment was how best to explain to Bella—and Richard—that she wanted to get a job. She hadn’t yet decided what kind of job she wanted. Office work of some kind, she supposed, or maybe as she was good at languages, she could get a job as an interpreter. But where? Not in Chelmsbury, she realised. London was the only likely place, which would mean either travelling the forty or so miles every day to the city, or getting accommodation in town.

  She sighed, turning away to rummage through her dressing table drawers for clean underwear. Richard travelled every day, when he was at home. He drove to Chelmsbury, and caught the early morning commuter train into the city. So long as he was at home, she might travel with him. He did keep an apartment in town, but it was for entertainment purposes mostly, and almost every evening when he was at home he returned to Copley. But when he was away …

  Frowning, she stepped into bikini briefs, and followed them with a pair of cream-coloured Levis. Then she knotted a sleeveless shirt beneath her breasts, and began to pull her hairbrush through the tangled weight of hair. It was much too long, she thought, tugging viciously at a recalcitrant strand, and she would certainly have it cut before she took up any employment. Why couldn’t it have been straight, like Richard’s hair? she wondered impatiently, and flung the brush down in disgust as it refused to respond to such rough treatment.

  A tentative knock at her bedroom door dissipated her annoyance, and she called: ‘Who is it?’ smiling affectionately when Bella’s grey head appeared.

  ‘Oh, you are up,’ she said, coming right into the room. ‘I sent Eliza up with your breakfast, just in case you wanted to spend the morning in bed.’

  ‘On a day like this!’ Olivia indicated the cloudless sky beyond her open windows. ‘I can’t wait to get outside. I intend to get really brown before——’

  She broke off abruptly, half expecting Bella to take her up on it, but the older woman was busy straightening the pale green undersheet on the bed, plumping the lace-edged pillows.

  ‘I’m going to cycle into West Cross this morning,’ Bella declared, straightening with Olivia’s striped cotton nightshirt in her hands. ‘I promised Mrs Morrison I’d call and see old Mr Raynor. He hasn’t been at all well lately, and I thought I’d take him some of my home-made strawberry jam. I
want to call at the church anyway with some flowers, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, as they say. Do you want to come?’

  Olivia hesitated. Mrs Morrison was the vicar’s wife, and although she was good-hearted enough, she was a terrible gossip. She would welcome Olivia’s return as a new source of conversation, and it was too nice a day to waste in idle chatter.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ she answered now, sorry she had to disappoint Bella. ‘I thought I might sunbathe. Can I use the pool?’

  ‘Considering Richard left orders for Thomas to clean it out specially before he went away, I think perhaps you might,’ retorted Bella shortly, and Olivia flushed.

  ‘That was kind of him,’ she offered awkwardly, and Bella sniffed.

  ‘Yes—well, people try to be kind to you,’ she averred, picking up Olivia’s used breakfast tray and marching towards the door. ‘They may not understand these newfangled ideas you have about independence, though,’ she added, and left the room.

  Olivia watched her go with troubled eyes. She knew Bella was referring to the conversation they had had over the dinner table the previous evening. Olivia had tried, not very successfully, to persuade her old nursemaid that she couldn’t remain a drain on Richard’s resources any longer, but Bella had been obstinately stubborn. If Olivia was a drain, then what was she? she insisted, deliberately ignoring the fact that she had a job running the household, supplementing her argument with the opinion that to a man of Richard’s means, the support of his stepsister was not only his duty, but his pleasure. Olivia’s protest that Richard’s means had nothing to do with it met with blank indifference, and Bella had retired to bed soon afterwards, complaining of a severe headache.

  Now Olivia left her bedroom and walked slowly along the hall to the landing. Her room was at the back of the house, overlooking the tennis courts and the stables beyond, and as she passed Richard’s door she felt her lips tighten. She guessed that he would share Bella’s opinion, and it was frustrating to realise that their feelings were justified.