No Gentle Possession Page 6

  ‘I understand very well. I understand that Karen and Ray have been out since just after seven, and I’ve no doubt they’re dying for some coffee and something to eat. Aren’t you, Ray?’ She patted his shoulder encouragingly.

  ‘That would be nice,’ admitted Ray with a smile, and Karen’s father snorted grudgingly.

  ‘Oh, I know, I do go on about it. Anyway, as you say, Laura, nothing’s been decided yet. They can’t do anything until I’m back in harness.’

  Two days later, Shirley Scott, the headmaster’s secretary, came to the staff room while Karen and her colleagues were having their morning coffee.

  ‘There’s a telephone call for you, Karen,’ she said, from the doorway, and Karen who had been standing talking to Stephen Sheridan, the art master, looked round in surprise.

  ‘For me?’ she said.

  The staff were not encouraged to have personal calls in school hours, and apart from her mother she couldn’t think of anyone who might phone her. Perhaps her father had had a relapse.

  ‘It’s a man,’ remarked Shirley dryly, dispelling this thought, and Karen was aware of Ray watching her as she walked across the room to join the other girl.

  As they walked along the corridor Karen said: ‘Did he give his name?’

  Shirley shook her head. ‘No. But he sounds dishy. Did you see Ray’s face when I said it was a man?’ she giggled.

  Karen felt impatient. Impatient with Shirley for deliberately baiting Ray, and impatient with herself for feeling this pulsating sense of excitement invading her system. It had to be Alexis Whitney; who else could it be?

  Shirley was tactful enough to leave her alone to take the call in the secretary’s office, and Karen lifted the receiver nervously. ‘H – hello! Karen Sinclair speaking.’

  ‘Hello, Karen.’ His voice was just as attractive over the phone and her palms moistened. ‘I hope I’ve not rung at an inconvenient time.’

  ‘We’re not supposed to have private calls in school hours,’ replied Karen stiffly.

  ‘I see. Well, I didn’t see how else I could get in touch with you. Other than at home, of course, which didn’t seem such a good idea.’

  ‘Why did you want to get in touch with me, Mr. Whitney?’ Karen managed to maintain a formal tone.

  There was a moment’s pause, and then he went on: ‘I’ve been invited to a dinner party at the Summertons’. They’ve asked me to bring a guest. I wondered if you’d like to come.’

  Karen sank down weakly into Shirley’s chair. That he should think he could simply ring her and invite her out without possessing any right to do so!

  ‘You’ve got a nerve!’ she burst out hotly.

  ‘I know. I’ve got several.’ His tone was mocking.

  ‘You think you can just ring me up and I’ll jump at the opportunity, is that it?’

  ‘If you want my honest opinion, I think you’ll refuse,’ he replied coolly. ‘But there’s no harm in asking, is there?’

  ‘Why invite me? I shouldn’t have thought you’d have had any difficulty in finding someone eager and willing to go out with you.’

  ‘Did I say I had had difficulty?’

  ‘No. But – well, you wouldn’t have asked me, unless … unless …’

  ‘Unless what? Unless there was no one else?’ He sounded amused. ‘Just for your information, I haven’t asked anyone else – yet.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘I don’t lie.’ His tone had hardened slightly, and she felt a momentary regret.

  ‘Well, anyway, I’m sorry …’

  ‘You’re not coming?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Right.’ There was a short pause. ‘Be seeing you—’

  ‘Wait! Wait a minute!’ Ever afterwards Karen could not explain what it was that made her say that. But she had arrested his attention, and he said, rather shortly:

  ‘Yes? What is it?’

  Karen sought about for words, ignoring her conscience which was appalled at this unexpected turn of events. ‘I –I – when is this dinner party?’

  ‘Tomorrow evening.’

  ‘Oh! Friday.’ Karen wet her dry lips with her tongue. On Fridays she usually stayed in. Ray had his choir practice at the school and then went on down to his club for a few drinks with his colleagues.

  ‘Yes, Friday.’ Alexis was beginning to sound bored with the whole proceedings.

  Karen ran her finger round the mouthpiece of the receiver. ‘Will John McMullen be there?’

  ‘I shouldn’t think so. Why? Do I take it you’re changing your mind?’

  Karen was glad he could not see her embarrassment. ‘And if I did? Would you mind?’

  He uttered an exclamation. ‘Are you coming, or are you not?’

  Karen hesitated, and then she took the plunge. ‘I’ll come.’

  ‘Fine. I’ll pick you up about seven—’

  ‘No!’ Karen was anxious. ‘No, don’t do that. I’ll – I’ll meet you. In the High Street.’

  ‘I see. This is to be a secret assignation.’ His voice was cool.

  ‘I think it would be better not to antagonize my father at this time,’ she answered carefully.

  There was silence for a moment and then he sighed. ‘Very well. Outside the George Hotel at seven.’

  ‘All right.’ Karen swallowed hard. ‘ ’Bye!’

  He did not reply, but she heard his receiver click back on to its rest and she replaced hers slowly. She was committed; and while given the same circumstances she would probably have done the same thing, that didn’t stop her from feeling nervous.

  The ringing of a bell indicated that breaktime was over and before Karen could gather her scattered composure Shirley came breezing back into the room.

  ‘Come on!’ she said. ‘Everyone’s gone back to their classrooms but you.’

  Karen got to her feet, her manner rather absent, and Shirley regarded her critically. ‘Who was it?’ she asked without ceremony. ‘Ray was dying to know.’

  Karen heaved a sigh. ‘Oh, just my cousin,’ she answered, walking towards the door.

  ‘Hmm.’ Shirley sounded sceptical. ‘You don’t look as though you’ve been talking to your cousin. You look sort of – well, dreamy.’

  That was enough to bring Karen to her senses. ‘Don’t be silly! Dreamy indeed! I was thinking, that’s all.’

  ‘Well, you’d better have your explanations prepared before Ray sees you at lunchtime,’ remarked Shirley, with annoying perspicacity. ‘I don’t somehow think he’s going to be as easily put off as me!’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  KAREN had lunch with Ray in the staff canteen, and just as Shirley had warned, he was most inquisitive about her unexpected phone call.

  ‘It was just my cousin Bryan from Keswick,’ she exclaimed, disgusted with her own capacity for lying.

  ‘What was he ringing you for?’ Ray poured salt on to the side of his plate.

  Karen hesitated. ‘Oh, he wondered whether I’d like to go over there for the week-end. He – he’d tried to ring me at home last night but couldn’t get through, and as it’s Thursday already …’ She shrugged.

  ‘And what did you say?’

  ‘I said I couldn’t manage it.’

  ‘We could have gone. On Saturday. We could have stayed overnight and come back Sunday. It would have been a break.’

  Karen pushed her potatoes and turnip round her plate. She didn’t feel much like eating, but she had to look as though she was enjoying it. ‘You know Bryan. He would have expected me to go alone.’

  ‘Well, what of it? Just because he’s fond of you it doesn’t mean that you have to pander to it.’

  ‘I don’t. But anyway, it doesn’t matter, does it? Because I’m not going either way.’

  Ray grunted. ‘The sooner you decide to get engaged to me the better. Then people will know where we stand. You won’t constantly have to explain that you’re not free any longer.’

  ‘Yes.’

  Karen managed a smile and to her r
elief the subject was dropped. But that didn’t stop her from feeling on edge for the rest of the day in case Ray inadvertently mentioned it to her parents.

  On Friday afternoon, Karen hurried home from school to wash her hair. She was drying it in front of the fire when her mother returned from a shopping expedition. She raised her eyebrows when she saw Karen, and said: ‘You’re early, aren’t you? What’s the panic?’

  Karen was glad of the heat of the fire to hide her embarrassment. ‘No panic, Mum. But I’ve promised to go to that new disco with Melanie, and I wanted to wash my hair.’ She was almost shocked by her own deviousness, but she had to have a reason to wear a long dress or her parents would be suspicious.

  Even so, her mother looked disapproving. ‘Does Ray know you’re planning to go out with Melanie?’

  Karen sighed. ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘I think so. I don’t think he’d like you to go to a discotheque without him.’

  ‘He’s not my keeper, Mum.’

  ‘I know that. But it’s obvious he’s serious about you, and I don’t think you should do anything to hurt him.’

  Karen knelt before the fire, combing her fingers through her hair. She knew her mother was right and she was only courting trouble by going out with Alexis Whitney, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to go.

  ‘I haven’t promised to marry Ray or anything,’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Not for the want of asking, I’m sure,’ retorted Laura tartly. ‘Karen, there are times when you infuriate me! You’re twenty-four, you know, not a teenager any longer. Don’t you want to get married?’

  Karen glanced round. ‘I think so. But not just because it’s expedient to do so.’

  ‘What do you mean? Ray’s a nice boy. Attractive, too, and he comes from a decent family.’

  ‘I just want to be absolutely certain I’m doing the right thing,’ Karen persisted. ‘Sometimes I’m not sure about Ray. I mean – well – he’s not very – demonstrative.’

  ‘If you mean he doesn’t indulge in careless petting, then I should think that’s all to the good. He respects you. He doesn’t go off to discotheques with his pals behind your back.’

  Karen turned back to the fire, and did not reply, and eventually her mother took herself off to the kitchen to prepare the evening meal. Realizing she was expected to eat out, Karen scrambled to her feet.

  ‘Oh, by the way, don’t make anything for me,’ she said. ‘I – er – Melanie and I are going to eat at the Chinese before going on to the disco.’

  Laura accepted this without question. Karen often ate out with Ray. All the same, Karen’s nerves were back on edge again, and she couldn’t wait to get away from the house and be free of all this deception.

  She wore a long black velvet dress she had had for some time and which she had seldom had occasion to wear. It complemented the pink and white quality of her skin, and with her raven black hair swinging silkily about her shoulders, she looked quite startlingly attractive. Her only jewellery was a pair of huge silver hoops which she wore in her ears and which showed glintingly through the darkness of her hair.

  She hadn’t an evening coat, but she did have a maxi-length cape in dark green which looked almost as good. She came downstairs wearing the cape, hoping no one would notice the dress beneath, but her mother did.

  ‘Isn’t that rather good to wear to a discotheque?’ she inquired, with raised eyebrows.

  Karen shrugged. ‘I never seem to get a chance to wear it. I thought it would make a change.’

  Her mother made an indifferent gesture while her father looked up from his newspaper. ‘I think she looks very nice,’ he said, surprising them both. ‘Where’s Ray taking you?’

  Karen coloured and looked towards her mother helplessly. ‘Ray’s taking her nowhere,’ she said, ignoring her daughter’s appealing gaze. ‘She’s going out with Melanie Trafford.’

  But to Karen’s relief, her father merely shrugged. ‘Oh, well, enjoy yourself.’

  Karen thanked him, and with another appealing glance towards her mother she went to the front door. But as she walked the short distance to the High Street she couldn’t help feeling terribly guilty. She had only ever deceived her parents once before in her life, and the reasons in both cases were the same.

  She reached the George Hotel at one minute past seven, but there was no sign of the green Aston Martin. She looked round uneasily, hoping no one she knew would come along to recognize her, and then almost jumped out of her skin when a voice right behind her said: ‘So you made it.’

  She swung round and found Alexis regarding her musingly, tall and attractive in a dark overcoat, his hands thrust deep into the pockets.

  ‘I – I was looking for the car,’ she said, as his gaze slid over her.

  ‘There are parking restrictions,’ he observed dryly. ‘It’s just round here.’

  Karen accompanied him round a corner into a side street and they stopped beside the sleek green sports limousine. It was the first time she had ever been in an Aston Martin; seven years ago he had had an old souped-up M.G.

  Alexis put her into the car, and then walked round the bonnet and got in beside her. Flicking the ignition, he said: ‘What made you change your mind?’

  Karen sought about for a suitable reply. ‘Perhaps I thought you wouldn’t go through with it,’ she murmured insinuatively.

  He glanced her way. ‘Why?’

  ‘Well – taking me to Mr. Summerton’s house. He might not like it.’

  Alexis swung the powerful car out into the main road. ‘Why should Jim Summerton’s likes and dislikes concern me?’

  Karen bent her head. ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘Oh, yes. What you mean is, will Jim Summerton tell your father that you were a guest in his house,’ remarked Alexis sardonically.

  ‘Well? Will he?’

  ‘Not if I ask him not to. But Jim Summerton won’t be the only one there, you know.’

  ‘I’m not likely to know anyone else, am I?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Alexis shrugged. ‘Maybe – maybe not.’

  ‘You’re being deliberately provocative,’ she exclaimed.

  ‘And you’re being childish,’ he returned, stopping at some traffic lights. ‘I should have thought by now you’d have been mature enough to choose your own associates without resorting to deceit.’

  Karen’s face burned. ‘It’s not as simple as that.’

  ‘Why? Because of your father?’

  ‘Partly.’

  ‘And what’s the rest?’ The car moved smoothly forward taking the incline towards Moorcourt, the more select part of Wakeley. ‘Is it this man Nichols?’

  Karen looked through the car’s windows. ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘You don’t wear a ring. You’re not engaged, are you?’

  ‘No.’

  Alexis shook his head impatiently. ‘Then where’s the problem?’

  ‘You don’t understand. Wakeley isn’t like London.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Ray and I have been going out together for more than a year.’

  ‘Have you?’ His glance licked over her insolently. ‘I never would have guessed.’

  ‘I don’t understand you.’ Karen was frustrated.

  ‘Don’t you?’ A flicker of amusement crossed his face. ‘No? Then perhaps you should.’

  Suddenly Karen knew what he meant and she hated him for his cool contempt. ‘Going to bed together need not necessarily form part of the relationship between a man and a woman,’ she snapped. ‘Don’t judge everyone by your own standards!’

  He smiled. ‘Obviously that’s a raw point with you.’

  Karen seethed. ‘It is not a raw point! As I said before, Wakeley is not like London. Here we have respect for one another.’

  ‘Oh! Is that what it is?’ He was mocking her, and all of a sudden she wished she had not agreed to come. ‘Incredible!’ he went on, turning the car between stone gateposts and driving up a short slope to
a rambling old house with light spilling from most of the windows. ‘You’re just as – old-fashioned now as you were seven years ago. I can hardly believe it.’

  He brought the car to a halt and Karen sat mutinously in her seat, wondering whether she dare demand that he drive her home again. But he had got out and walked round the vehicle, and presently he swung open her door and looked down at her lazily.

  ‘Are you going to stay there all evening?’

  ‘I wish I could!’ Karen’s fingers curled inside her cape.

  ‘Why? Have I hurt your feelings?’ She had the distinct feeling he was laughing at her. ‘All right, I apologize if I’ve offended you – if I’ve shown – disrespect!’

  Now she was sure he was amusing himself at her expense, and she clenched her fists angrily. ‘I want to go home!’

  ‘Do you?’ Alexis’s expression hardened slightly. ‘Well, I’m afraid that’s out of the question.’

  She looked up at him. ‘Why? Why is it? I don’t know why you brought me here. You obviously find me very amusing.’

  ‘Perhaps that’s why,’ he replied, and she didn’t know whether he was serious or otherwise.

  Realizing he was not about to give in to her and take her home, Karen pushed her legs out of the car and stood up. Alexis closed the door behind her and then indicated that she should precede him up the steps to the door. A uniformed maid admitted them, and they entered an old oak-panelled hall, warmly carpeted in shades of red and orange.

  The maid offered to take their coats and Karen unfastened her cape reluctantly. Although the black dress had long sleeves, it had a low round neckline that showed off her skin to advantage, and she was self-consciously aware of Alexis watching her. He was not wearing a dinner jacket but a dark blue suit with pale blue shirt and tie, and the darkness of the material accentuated the silvery lightness of his hair and the deep tan of his skin.

  Although Alexis appraised her appearance thoroughly he did not have time to say anything before a door to the side of the hall opened and a man came to greet them. From the room behind him there drifted the sound of voices and laughter, and Karen quivered in anticipation.

  Jim Summerton was a stocky man of medium height. Karen didn’t know him very well, although she had met him from time to time, most recently when he came to the house to see her father. Her impressions of him, coloured by her father’s opinion, had been of a rather stern Scotsman, without much sense of humour, but this evening he seemed entirely different.