The Wings of Love Page 6

  Tressy stared up at him incredulously. 'God, if I owned a Rolls-Royce I wouldn't say it was of no importance,' she said feelingly.

  Pulling up a chair, he sat on it the wrong way round, with his hands resting on the back. 'Just why are you so eager to get rid of me? And so reluctant to have a doctor?' he demanded, his eyes watching her keenly.

  Tressy swallowed at what she knew was coming. 'It's an-er-long and involved story. You wouldn't find it at all interesting,' she assured him without much hope.

  'Try me.' Taking a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and looked ready to settle for the rest of the afternoon.

  'Oh, hell!' She looked into his face, but his hard features were completely implacable. 'Well, if you must know, I'm staying here. Jack and Grace Sinclair are my aunt and uncle and Nora is my cousin.'

  'Nora?' His eyebrow rose. 'Leonora.'

  An amused glint came into his eyes. 'And you're on holiday with them? So why all that rigmarole about slaving away in a hotel?'

  'No, I'm not on holiday,' Tressy snapped. 'They're paying me to be a kind of lady's maid and companion to Nora. I'm just the poor relation, and therefore of no interest to you whatsoever.'

  To her surprise he reached forward and caught hold of one of her hands, turning it so that he could look at her palm. There was a small blister from ironing, but apart from that her hand was quite soft. He didn't make any comment, just let it go. 'Did you know that I knew the Sinclairs?' he asked her. When she nodded reluctantly he went on, 'So why didn't you tell me who you were when you were on my boat?'

  'It hardly matters, surely,' Tressy said uncomfortably. 'Look, I'll tell them you were here and .. .'

  But he said insistently, 'You haven't answered my question.'

  Tressy glowered at him. 'I didn't tell you who I was because--well, because I was supposed to keep out of your way.'

  His eyebrows came up at that. 'Go on-what is your name anyway?'

  'It's Tressy Sinclair.' She hesitated, not wanting to put her foot in it more than she could help, but he was waiting expectantly and she knew that eventually she'd have to tell him. With a hunted look, she said, 'Nora well, she's got a bit of a crush on you. You must know that?' But he didn't even blink, and Tressy's voice grew cold. 'They thought they'd be seeing quite a lot of you and they decided it would be better if Ikept out of the way.'

  'So as to give Leonora a clear field?'

  'Yes. Something like that,' Tressy admitted grudgingly, her dislike hardening. 'Anyway, I promised I would, so naturally I didn't want them to know that I'd met you.'

  'So you gave me that load of lies?' He looked at her sardonically and then asked the question she was afraid he'd ask. Trust him not to miss a thing! 'So what were you doing on the quay near my boat if you'd promised to keep away?'

  Inspiration suddenly came to her and Tressy answered glibly, 'I knew that they were going to look for you down at the harbour, so I thought I'd find out whether or not they'd gone. I was hoping to get a lift back, you see.'

  'Why weren't you on your scooter?'

  'I didn't have it then; it was only our first day here.' He seemed to accept the explanation and she gave a sigh of relief, but then realized that she now had to ask him a favour. Her mind rebelled at the idea, but there was no help for it. 'So I'd rather you didn't say anything about me meeting you before to the others,' she remarked as off-handedly as she could.

  'No, I'm sure you'd rather I didn't.' Crispin grinned quite openly and Tressy could have killed him. 'You know, it could be quite interesting having you under an obligation to me. I must make sure that you repay it.'

  Tressy flushed angrily. 'And just how do you propose to do that?'

  The rotten man grinned maddeningly. 'Oh, I expect I'll think of something.'

  Getting to her feet, she began to walk stiffly round to the front of the house. He was beside her at once. 'And where do you think you're going?'

  'To move my scooter so that you can turn your car round and leave.'

  He laughed softly. 'But maybe I don't want to leave.

  Perhaps I'll just wait until the Sinclairs get back.' 'Well, you can wait by yourself, then, because I certainly don't intend to waste my time talking to you any longer.'

  'Temper, temper,' he remonstrated. 'Is that any way to entertain a guest?'

  Tressy rounded on him angrily, ready to let fly and tell him exactly what she thought of him, but they had come round the house and she caught sight of the scooter lying almost under the wheel of the Rolls. The words died in her throat and she turned and walked slowly over to it, staring down at the scooter. 'The wheel's a bit bent,' she observed in a voice unlike her own.

  'Mm.' Crispin stood the bike on its rest to examine it more closely. 'I might be able to do something about that.' Going to the back of the Rolls, he returned with a tool kit and began to straighten the wheel.

  For a few moments Tressy watched him in silence, then said, 'I didn't think that people who owned Rolls-Royces did their own repairs.'

  'Maybe they don't,' Crispin answered without looking up. 'But people who spend a large part of their leisure time on a boat can generally turn their hand to most things. There, that's better.' He spun the wheel with his hands. 'Where did you get the scooter?'

  'From a garage on the road towards Monte Carlo.' 'Far away?'

  'No, only about half a mile.'

  'Well, you should be able to wheel it down there.' He straightened up. 'But don't try to ride it until you've had it checked, understand?'

  'Yes, all right.' Tressy moved to push the bike out of the way, her hair falling a bout her face as she leaned forward.

  'Maybe it would be a good idea if you took it along now. I'll come with you to explain in case you have difficulty with the language, if you like?'

  'No, not right now. I'll take it tomorrow.' Something in her tone caught his attention and he took hold of her arm, reaching up his other hand to the side of her head so that she had to turn and face him. She was very white and there were goose bumps on her skin even though she was standing in direct sunlight. 'You're shaking,' he exclaimed. 'What is it your head? But no, it must be delayed shock. You'd better come back to the house and sit down.'

  He tried to lead her along, but Tressy shook him off angrily. 'I'll be okay in a minute. Leave me alone, can't you?' She turned her back on the scooter, trying desperately to control the stupid trembling in her limbs.

  Crispin put his hands on his hips and looked at her exasperatedly. 'What the hell's wrong with you? Why can't you accept help when people want to give it?'

  'I don't need any help.' Resolutely she swung round and grabbed hold of the scooter before he could stop her, and started wheeling it down the driveway to its hiding place.

  'Why don't you keep it in the garage?' Crispin enquired, watching with interest as she stowed it away. 'And why don't you stop asking questions all the time?' retorted Tressy. 'It's none of your damn business where I keep it!'

  'I see you've recovered,' he observed drily. 'You were almost polite when you felt ill. I suppose you hide it there because your aunt and uncle don't know about it?' The malevolent glare she gave him confirming that he was right, he went on, 'Does Nora know you have it?'

  'Yes, of course she does. She's been on it.'

  'Good grief, I gave her credit for more sense! You'll probably end up by killing the pair of you.'

  'I don't usually drive on the wrong side of the road,' she told him tartly as she marched past him and back towards the front garden.

  'Just how long have you been driving?' But Tressy ignored him and began to search round the hedge and bushes where she'd come off the bike. 'What are you looking for?'

  'My bag. I dropped it when I-when you hit me.' This retort received only a derisive, 'Ha, ha! and then he said, 'You haven't answered my question; how long have you been driving?'

  Tressy was leaning over the hedge, revealing a long length of very shapely leg through the slits in her skirt, but now she straightened up and said angr
ily, 'Oh, all right, three days, if you must know. I never drove before I came here.'

  'My God, you're not fit to be let out!'

  Her bag was hanging from a tree branch a couple of yards past where she'd landed. Tressy pulled it down and hastily took out her door key. 'I am going inside and I am going to shut the door, so you can either go or stay, I couldn't care less.'

  Putting his head on one side, Crispin looked at her measuringly, and for a moment she thought he was going to meet her challenge, but then he gave a crooked kind of grin. 'What time did you say they'd be back?'

  'About five-thirty,' she said with relief.

  'And I suppose you'd rather I didn't say anything about the way we-er-ran into each other this afternoon either?'

  Tressy squirmed, finding it almost impossible to find the words, and he said in mock sympathy, 'Hard, isn't it?'

  'What is?'

  'Having to ask someone to do you a favour.' 'It's hard asking you!' she burst out.

  He grinned maliciously. 'But nevertheless you're going to have to ask if you want me to keep my mouth shut.'

  'Ooh.' Tressy ground her teeth in frustrated anger. 'All right! I don't want you to tell them.'

  'Please, Crispin,' he instructed.

  She almost told him to get stuffed, but the thought of having to put up with her aunt's remonstrance’s for weeks on end held her back. 'Please,' she managed, and added when she saw his face, 'Please, Cris,' hoping that the shortening of his name would annoy him.

  But he didn't seem particularly annoyed, merely saying, 'Hm, I suppose that's the best I can hope to get out of you. Okay, I won't tell them. And now I think you'd be well advised to go in and lie down.' He paused and gave a slight shrug. 'But then, if I tell you to do something, I've an idea you'll do just the opposite to spite me.'

  'You're so right.' Tressy turned the key in the lock and stepped into the doorway.

  He grinned at her mockingly. 'Most children are like that,' then laughed as she slammed the door in his face.

  Nora's first question when they all got back about an hour later was the usual, 'Has he phoned?'

  Tressy answered in the negative and her aunt looked at her suspiciously. 'Are you sure you've been here all afternoon?'

  'Yes. As a matter of fact I was lying down with a headache,' Tressy assured her, thinking that a half truth was better than none.

  She followed Nora into her room where her cousin had dejectedly dropped a pile of parcels on to the bed. 'What did you buy?' she asked.

  'Not a lot. I didn't really feel like it. It's too hot to try on clothes. You can look if you like.'

  'Wow!' The first parcel contained an Hermes beach robe in pale yellow towelling, as thick and soft as fur, with the Hermes monogram embroidered on the pocket just in case anyone didn't recognise it for what it was. And it had probably cost as much as her uncle paid her in a couple of months. Tressy ran her hands over it reverently; it was a beautiful thing and she longed to own one like it-who wouldn't? But she didn't envy it of Nora. Pale yellow was the wrong colour for her and would only make her look sallower; she should have had a deep red to give colour to her face.

  Tressy unpacked the other things and put them away; doing her lady's maid bit. There was a lovely little evening bag, a pair of high-heeled sandals and a whole boxful of cosmetics.

  'What do you want all these for?' she demanded. 'Once you get a tan you'll hardly need any make-up.'

  'But Mummy says I must keep my face out of the sun. It said in one of her magazines that there was nothing worse for prematurely ageing the skin. And if you stay out in the sun too long you could get skin cancer.'

  'Nora, if you listen to your mother you'll never do anything. What's the point of coming to a sunny country if you don't go out in it?' She caught the look on the other girl's face and said tartly, 'Oh, sorry-I forgot you only came here to chase Crispin Fox.'

  'Well, I can hardly chase him if he isn't here, can I?' Nora returned with asperity. 'Still, we have got that date tonight, haven't we?'

  For a moment Tressy toyed with telling her that the scooter was out of commission, but Nora wouldn't want to go out anyway when Crispin turned up, so she decided to let Nora break the date and be the one to feel guilty.

  Her aunt called her and deliberately kept her busy for the next hour, cleaning shoes and generally running around. Tressy's headache grew rapidly worse and she even wished that Crispin would arrive to provide a distraction. But he didn't turn up until nearly seven, in the middle of a big row taking place upstairs between her uncle and aunt. As they'd arranged, Nora had announced that she was tired and didn't want to go out, and her mother immediately said that in that case they would all stay in, but her father was made of sterner stuff and protested that he wanted to go out to dinner and on to a casino they hadn't tried yet in the Avenue de Gaulle. They at once started to argue, Uncle Jack shouting out from his dressing-room where he continued to change, and Aunt Grace wandering backwards and forwards in her underwear not knowing what to dress for.

  Tressy was the only one who heard the bell ring and put her head round Nora's door. 'There's someone at the front door.'

  'Well, I can't answer it, I'm too tired,' Nora retorted from where she was relaxing on the bed, and laughed at Tressy's annoyance.

  So then she went and banged on her aunt's door, trying to make herself heard above the noise they were making. Not one of them had shown any sympathy when she'd told them she'd got a headache, and now it hurt so much she wanted to scream. 'There's someone at the front door!' she shouted.

  'Then go and answer it,' her uncle thundered back. 'That's what you're paid for!'

  Tressy tried again. 'Aunt Grace, there's someone .. .'

  'Well, I can't go, I'm in my underwear.'

  The sound of the bell rang through the house again, impatiently this time, and Tressy groaned. No matter how much she tried to keep her promise to her uncle it seemed that she was doomed to break it. But this time it was his own fault, not hers. Resignedly she went downstairs.

  'All right, I'm coming. You don't have to keep your finger on the doorbell!' she exploded wrathfully as she jerked the door open.

  Crispin burst into laughter. 'Do they know how you open the door to their guests?'

  'They haven't had any other guests.' She stood back to let him in and then stared. He wasn't alone, he'd brought with him the man she had seen on his boat, the Frenchman whose name she couldn't remember.

  'I trust Mr and Mrs Sinclair are at home?' Crispin said smoothly.

  'Why, yes.' Despite herself, Tressy was slightly overawed by their height and casually expensive evening clothes, both men in white jackets with bow ties at their necks. To counteract it she said, 'They're upstairs having a God-Almighty row. But don't worry, it will stop as soon as they know you're here.'

  After showing them into the drawing-room, Tressy went upstairs again, realizing that she was going to enjoy seeing her aunt's face. She banged on their door again and, after the second time, her aunt came to open it, red-faced from the argument that had progressed far past its original disagreement.

  'Well, what is it? Why couldn't you have called through the door?'

  'Because you were arguing so loudly; I could hear you all the way downstairs,' Tressy answered wickedly. 'I just thought you'd like to know that someone called Crispin Fox has arrived, and there's another man with him, a Frenchman.'

  Her aunt's reaction was everything she expected it to be; she went first white and then red again, then she started to rush out in the corridor to go and tell Nora but realized she was still in her petticoat and rushed back in again. 'Go and tell Nora,' she hissed at Tressy. 'Could they really hear us arguing downstairs? Oh, Lord love us! What shall I wear?'

  'Shall I stay out of the way?' asked Tressy.

  'What? Have you offered them a drink? Well, go and ask them what they want. But tell Nora first. Oh, where's Jack? He'll have to go down to them,' she wailed. And then the door was slammed as she literally ran to dres
s.

  Nora's reaction Tressy didn't like. She was instantly transformed, her eyes sparkling as she, too, ran to get ready, pulling clothes out of the wardrobe and throwing them aside as she tried to make up her mind what to wear.

  As she went slowly back downstairs, Tressy realized that all her plans to distract Nora away from Crispin were useless now, she would take his coming here as a definite indication that he was interested in her. And perhaps he was. Why else should he call? Her face grim, Tressy went into the drawing-room and said coldly, 'They'll be down shortly . Would you like a drink?'

  'Thank you.' Crispin's eyes lingered on her disapproving face and his lips curled in amusement. 'A whisky and soda for me, please. And for you, too, I think, Michel?'