The Guilty Wife Read online

  Lucie was tired and had dozed, not waking until she heard the commotion and saw Rick come rushing towards her. But a policeman raced after him. Lucie didn't know that Rick had a gun. He shot the poor policeman twice then threw his loot away and escaped through an alleyway, abandoning Lucie to her fate. Perhaps he'd thought that she was so besotted by him that she wouldn't tell the police who he was, and maybe she wouldn't have done if they hadn't taken her to see the policeman in hospital for herself, all wired up to machines and drips, fighting for his life. She told them everything then, answered all their questions, completely devastated, her eyes opened to the life she'd been leading, to the even more terrible life she was heading for. She had to stand trial, but the police assured her that she'd get off lightly because this was her first offence and because she'd helped them. They were been kind enough, but she was kept in custody and didn't see Rick again until the trial. He knew there was no hope for him after she gave her testimony, but she never forgot the venom in his eyes as he looked at her. So then he did his best to implicate her, saying that she'd always known about the gun, that she'd helped him on lots of burglaries. Lucie protested her innocence but the jury believed him, and maybe the judge was having a bad day, because he sent her to prison too, for three years. Rick laughed at that, kept on laughing as they took him away to the cells.

  The solicitor she'd been given wanted Lucie to! appeal against the sentence, but she was so completely intimidated by what had happened to her, was so overcome by misery that she did nothing. She withdrew yet deeper into herself, lived in a kind of stupor, doing what she was told, just going around like a zombie. But then Kate Brownlow was appointed as her prison visitor and gradually everything changed for the better and led to her meeting Seton.

  But Aunt Kate had been right, Lucie thought; the older woman had tried hard to persuade her to tell Seton of her past, but Lucie had been so afraid that it would spoil things, had been so intimidated by his background and his job, that she hadn't listened, instead had begged Kate to keep her secret, made her promise never to tell. Should she confess everything to Seton now? Lucie wondered fretfully. She didn't want to. He had always thought that there was complete openness between them. What would he think when he knew that she had deceived him like this? But he loved her, and surely he would understand?

  She tossed anxiously in the bed, wondering what to do, afraid of losing the perfect happiness they shared. One moment she decided that she would tell him, the next that she couldn't possibly. Her mind filled with apprehension when she thought how appalled Seton would be that he, a barrister, had a wife who had been to prison, that his son had an ex-convict for a mother. No matter that she had been innocent of any crime, that stain was on her record and always would be.

  Lucie realised she'd been living in a fool's paradise—but had anything really changed? she thought, more hopefully. OK, Rick was out of prison, but why should that make any difference to her? They might still go on as they had always done, and then she would have told Seton for no reason at all. She didn't know what to do and thumped the pillows in angry indecision. But she remembered her aunt telling her it was always best to be completely honest, and she had almost made up her mind that she must tell him when he finally came home at last. She was still lying awake in the darkness, dreading having to tell him, and trying from somewhere to find the courage.

  'Are you asleep?' he murmured. Lucie didn't answer but he knew she wasn't. He undressed, slipped into bed and reached for her.

  She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him everything, but then sensed a feeling of excitement in him. 'What is it?'

  'My meeting tonight—it was at the local political party headquarters. The sitting MP wants to retire before the next election so they have to choose a candidate to replace him. They decided they want a local man. They asked me if I would be interested.'

  Lucie sat up with a jerk and switched on the light. She had been right; there was a blaze of excitement in Seton's eyes.

  'What did you say?' she asked hollowly.

  "That I would have to think about it, discuss it with you.'

  'But you want to do it.' It wasn't a question.

  There was no hesitation in his voice as Seton said, 'Yes. It would be a beginning, Lucie. And who knows what it might lead to? Think of the challenge. Think how exciting life could be.'

  She groped at straws. 'You might not get elected.'

  'I might not even get picked as the candidate.' He took her hand. 'I'd like to take a shot at it. But it's entirely up to you. If you hate the idea I'll forget it, of course. You must want it as much as I do; it must be a joint thing/Aspiring candidates are judged on their wives as much as on their own merits.'

  'But what if I'm pregnant? What if you want another baby?' was all Lucie could think of to say. Seton laughed. 'Even MPs are capable of fathering children. If you'd like a demonstration...'

  He reached to pull her down to kiss her, but for the first time since their marriage she pushed him away. 'You really want this, don't you?'

  'Yes. Very much. What do you say?'

  She switched off the light, not wanting him to see the worry hi her eyes. ‘I’ll think about it.'

  But that wasn't what she thought about as she heard him fall asleep beside her. Seton had seldom asked anything of her; it had always been he who had given her everything she wanted. But now he was asking for this great commitment from her, asking her to back him in something that he really wanted. And such a career would be exactly right for him; he would make a hard-working, dedicated MP. But who would want him if they knew that she had been to prison? If she told Seton tonight, he would immediately back down, withdraw his name. He would lose his one chance to achieve the ambition of a lifetime—and all because she had let him down. Lucie put off giving him a decision for as long as she could. Seton was very patient but the local party wasn't and demanded an answer. There was only one she could give; Lucie had known that all along. Maybe she had been waiting for a miracle, for the party or Seton to change his mind, but life was short on miracles. She agreed that he should go ahead, that he should try to fulfill his ambition.

  Only a short time later, when Seton had been selected to contest the next election, the phone rang while Lucie was doing the housework one afternoon. 'Hello?'

  'Mrs Lucie Wallace?' It was a man's voice, stiff, formal.

  'Yes. Who's calling?'

  The voice changed, became silky, the London accent showing as the man said, 'Why, Lucie, darlin', don't you remember me?'

  And she knew that Rick Ravena had found her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  LUCIE stood completely frozen, numb with shock. But then Rick started to speak again and she immediately slammed down the phone. All the strength seemed to have gone from her legs and Lucie staggered out of the kitchen, her arms held out before her, like a blind person groping her way. Reaching the downstairs cloakroom, she leaned against the wall, fighting sickness, her breath coming in agonised gasps of terror and despair. Dimly she heard the phone start to ring again and then stop as the answering machine cut in. Panic seized her. She mustn't let him leave a message. She had to stop him. Half running, half falling, Lucie went into Seton's study, crashed down onto her knees and yanked the plug of the answering machine from its socket. Then, with hands that were shaking uncontrollably, she scrabbled at the machine, sobbing in frustration when she couldn't open it at first, but at last took out the cassette. Still on her knees, she crawled back into the kitchen, pulled things haphazardly out of a cupboard until she found a large saucepan. Her breath still coming in moaning sobs, Lucie tore the endless snake of tape loose from the cassette, put it in the saucepan and somehow managed to find the matches and set light to it.

  Leaning back against a cupboard, she watched the tape flame, tears running down her face and choked by sobs. She put her head in her hands, knowing that her peace was broken, her happiness gone. For about half an hour Lucie just sat there, crouched into herself, but then she heard the cloc
k in the hall strike four and knew that Sam, who was at Anna's house playing with her son, Adam, would be brought home soon.

  She mustn't let him see her like this, mustn't let Anna realise that anything was wrong. Hauling herself to her feet, Lucie picked up the saucepan and took the remains of the cassette out to the dustbin, burying it deep. The saucepan went into the dishwasher and she found a new cassette for the answering machine, managing somehow to record a message.

  An idea occurred to her and she rang the phone company, told them she wanted her number changed immediately. They were unhelpful at first, but when Lucie threatened to go to another company they agreed to change the number the following day and to make it ex-directory. She left the receiver off and went upstairs to wash her face. Lifting her head, she saw herself in the mirror on the bathroom cabinet. All the colour had drained from her face; she looked ill, punch-drunk. Oh, God, she thought, with a dejection close to anger. Why? Why have you done this to me? Hadn't she been punished enough? She'd served her sentence; why couldn't she be left in peace? Because you lied, some inner voice accused her. Because you lied to Seton.

  With a moan she thrust the thought away. Her hands still unsteady, Lucie put on some make-up, trying to hide her pallor under a bright, painted mask. Luckily Seton was away on circuit and wasn't due back until the weekend. Lucie's mind stopped short and she gave a gasp of horror; never before had she been glad that Seton was away. The call from Rick Ravena had come only a hour ago and already her thinking, her priorities had changed for the worse. But what else could you expect when evil was let loose in your life?

  Going into the sitting-room, Lucie knelt on the window-seat, watching out for the car that would bring Sam home. She desperately needed him now, needed the comfort of his solid little body held close in her arms, the sound of his innocent prattle in her ears to drown out the sound of that other voice. The drive, partially screened by fir trees, curved away towards the gate and the road. A figure, only dimly seen, walked along the road, looking towards the house, then seemed to pause at the open gate.

  Lucie's hair seemed to stand on end as she suddenly realised that if Rick had her telephone number then he would also know her address. The figure turned into the drive, began to walk towards the house. It was a man, quite tall, his features hidden by the upturned collar of his coat. Lucie drew back, her heart pounding so much that she felt faint.

  The man reached the door, rang the bell. With a sudden surge of rage, LUCK ran into the hall and flung the door open. It wasn't Rick. The man was much older, dressed in clean but shabby clothes.

  'Sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you needed any odd jobs or gardening done? I can turn my hand to anything and—'

  Lucie, usually so kind and understanding to the underprivileged, who had been there herself and knew what it was like, shouted, 'No! Go away,' and slammed the door in the man's face.

  Hurriedly, she bolted the door, put the safety-catch on, then leaned against it trembling all over. Lucie tried to steady herself, took deep breaths, told herself that she was overreacting. Above her head, the bell rang again, startling her out of her skin, making her give a scream of fright. 'Go away!' she yelled through the door. 'I told you to go away!'

  'Lucie?' Anna's voice sounded from the other side. 'Lucie, are you all right?'

  With a sob of relief Lucie undid the bolt and chain and opened the door to find Anna gazing at her in concern.

  'What on earth's the matter?'

  'Oh. I... Nothing.'

  'It doesn't look like nothing. You look terrible.'

  'Mummy?' Sam, standing beside her, stepped forward and took hold of Lucie's hand. His little face was troubled as he looked up at her.

  Bending, Lucie swept him up into her arms—not such an easy task now that he was four years old. 'It's OK,' she reassured him, trying to smile, to keep her voice light. 'I was just being silly, that's all.'

  They went inside, Lucie still carrying Sam because she needed to have him close, but she made herself put him down when they reached the kitchen.

  Anna wrinkled her nose. 'I can smell burning.'

  'Yes, I—I burnt some toast,' Lucie lied in desperation.

  'Toast at this time of the day?'

  'Late lunch.' She turned away. 'Go and hang your coat up in the cupboard, Sam, and then find your slippers.'

  Sam went off happily; he was such a good child, so content, always so obedient.

  'So what was that scene at the door all about?' Anna demanded as soon as he was out of earshot.

  'A man came to the door. I didn't like the look of him,' Lucie fabricated.

  'Have you phoned the police?'

  'No, of course not.' Lucie tried to laugh it off, having visions of the poor man being hounded. 'I'm sure he was perfectly harmless. He just took me by surprise, really. I thought it was you, you see, and... Like I told Sam, I was just being silly.'

  'But still, if he's going round all the houses frightening people—'

  'He wasn't! It was just me,' Lucie cut in sharply. Then she bit her lips. 'Sorry, I'm a bit on edge today.'

  'Oh, I know just how you feel,' Anna agreed in heartfelt tones. 'Why, only last month...' She started on a rather involved anecdote and Lucie waited as patiently as she could for her to finish, not listening, wanting only to be alone. But Anna was in a chatty mood and it was nearly an hour before she left. Usually, when Seton was away, Lucie was glad of her friend's company, but today she gave Anna no encouragement to stay and shut the door behind her with profound relief.

  But having to act normally, as if nothing had happened to turn her world upside down, had helped. It had made the panic subside a little so that Lucie was able to think. She gave Sam his supper then let him watch one of his videos white she went back into the kitchen and called Aunt Kate.

  'He must have seen that photo of me in the paper,' she said miserably, after she'd explained what had happened.

  'You must get your number changed at once,' her aunt advised.

  'I've already put that in hand. But it's going to be so difficult now that Seton has been selected as the next parliamentary candidate; all sorts of people keep phoning him up.'

  'Well, that can't be helped. You'll have to tell Seton that you've been having nuisance calls.'

  Which was true enough, Lucie thought grimly. 'What shall I do? Can't he be stopped?'

  'Did he threaten you or anything?'

  'No, I put the phone down on him,' Lucie admitted. 'And when he rang again and left a message on the answer phone I destroyed the tape before I listened to it.'

  'Oh, dear, that wasn't such a good idea. If he didn't actually threaten you, then there's not much that we can do. Except to have your number changed, and you've already done that.'

  'Yes, but-'

  'We can only deal with this short-term at the moment,' the older woman cut in. 'Would you like me to come and stay with you so that we can talk about what's best to do later?'

  'But you're going on holiday in a couple of days.'

  'I can quite easily put that off.'

  But Lucie knew that this was a trip to South America that her aunt had set her heart on and had been saving up to pay for for ages. 'No, I can't possibly let you do that. But I would like to come over and spend the day with you tomorrow, if that's OK.'

  'Of course it is. Will you bring Sam with you or leave him with your mother-in-law?'

  ‘I’ll bring him.'

  ‘Then drive very carefully. And don't let this phone call upset you too much. We'll deal with it. Hell be stopped. I'll see you tomorrow, in time for lunch.'

  Lucie replaced the receiver, then immediately took it off again, afraid that Rick might be trying to call. But Seton would be calling too, later on, as he rang every night when he was away from home. Sometimes he called early, to catch Sam, but more often he rang later when he knew she would be in bed, so that their conversation was loving, intimate. Luckily she had a mobile phone that she used whenever she went out in the car, so Lucie f
ound it and turned it on. If Seton couldn't get through on the permanent line then he would undoubtedly try the mobile. Which he did, about ten-thirty that evening. Only, Lucie wasn't in bed but in the sitting-room, the curtains closed, the lights and lamps on, and all the doors and windows securely bolted. This intrusion into her life had immediately killed her sense of security, and she was hating being alone.

  'Hello, darling,' Seton greeted her. 'Did you know that Sam has been playing with the phone again and left one off the hook?'

  'Seton.' There was an ache and longing in her voice, a desperate need for his strength and comfort, but Lucie bit her lip, knowing that she must try to hide it.

  But her husband knew every nuance of her voice and immediately sensed that something was wrong. 'What is it?'

  he demanded sharply.

  'I left the phone off on purpose. I—I had some nuisance calls.'

  'A heavy breather, you mean?'

  'Yes.' She clutched at the idea. 'So I left the phone off.'

  'Damn the man!' Seton cursed. 'Did you try to trace the call?'

  'Yes, but he'd pre-dialled to prevent it,' Lucie improvised, angry for not having thought of mat herself.

  'If only I'd been there. You should have rung me so that I could have come home.'

  'Drive all that way, and back again tomorrow, just because of some stupid pervert? Of course not. I'm all right. Really.' Lucie tried to make her voice convincing, not wanting him to worry. 'But I've decided to have the number changed. They're going to see to it tomorrow. And—and I've asked them to make it ex-directory. I'm sorry, I know it's a nuisance b u t - '

  'Of course not,' Seton cut in. 'I would have suggested it myself.'

  She gave an audible sigh of relief and, because she knew it was safe to do so, Lucie was able to make a token protest. 'But your agent and your office?'

  ‘I’ll give them the new number, of course, but letting friends and business colleagues know is far different from having it printed in a directory for every damn nutcase to read.' Seton's voice was still angry; he was frustrated at not being with her. 'Are you sure you're all right, darling? Shall I ask my parents to come round and keep you company?'