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‘Then that’s settled. Thank you, Beth. I can’t tell you how pleased I am.’ Maggie hugged her, her face alight with pleasure as she looked from Beth to David. ‘I have to go now, but I’ll ring you soon and let you know all the details. All right?’
Beth nodded, murmuring goodbye as she watched her leave the shop, then drew in a shaky little breath, all too aware of the silence. She shot a look sideways at David and felt her heart contract at the fury on his face.
‘Damn you, woman, what gave you the right to start interfering in my life? Who gave you permission to meddle in things you know nothing at all about?’
‘I…I’m your wife, David. Surely that gives me some rights?’ Her voice shook, her whole body trembling as she held herself rigid against the bitter attack.
‘Wife?’ His grey eyes ran over her, cold as steel and filled with contempt. ‘You’re that all right and at this moment I wish with all my heart you weren’t! Marrying you, Beth, must have been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made!’
He swung round on his heel and strode away, leaving her staring after him half blinded by tears. If he had made a mistake then so had she: a mistake agreeing to marry him, a mistake imagining for a moment that it could ever work out, a mistake letting herself believe that David Kane was the sort of warm, compassionate man she might come to love! Now all that was left was to rectify the mistakes as fast as she could.
* * *
The suitcase was heavy. Beth eased it off the bed then looked round the room to check she’d left nothing. It had taken longer to pack than she’d thought it would, her actions hampered by the stupid tears which kept blurring her vision. But now she was ready and there was no reason to linger.
She walked into the hall, straining against the weight of the case, then felt her heart lurch when she heard the sound of a key in the lock. She glanced wildly at her watch, desperately trying to reassure herself that it couldn’t be David yet, but then the front door opened and he stepped inside.
He stopped when he saw her in the middle of the hall with the suitcase in her hand, his eyes taking in the scene with one swift, all-encompassing glance before his mouth curled derisively. ‘You don’t waste much time, do you, Beth? I must get you to do my packing next time I take a trip abroad. I could never have accomplished so much in such a short time!’
Her face flamed at the cold mockery and she looked away, desperate to avoid yet another confrontation, but it seemed it wasn’t to be.
‘Well, aren’t you going to tell me where you’re off to?’ He looked round, feigning puzzlement. ‘I can’t see a note. Where did you leave it…in the sitting-room, or the study? Or didn’t you bother to write me a note?’ Suddenly the mockery disappeared to be replaced by a cold fury which made her take an involuntary step back.
‘I…no. I didn’t write you a note. I didn’t see the need.’
‘Didn’t you? Not even for the sake of good manners? And I thought you were such a well-brought-up young woman. Yet you didn’t see any reason to put pen to paper just to say thank you and goodbye?’ He moved closer, his eyes like quicksilver in a face carved from stone. ‘You were going to walk out of here and leave me guessing, weren’t you?’
It was an effort to stand and face him, but she did. ‘Yes!’ She took a deep breath, feeling her chest aching from the pain as all the hurt welled up. ‘You don’t give a damn what happens to me, David Kane, so stop pretending. You made your feelings plain before, so plain that I don’t owe you either thanks or explanations! Now please get out of my way. I have a taxi booked and I want to be downstairs when it arrives.’
‘But I don’t intend to get out of your way, Beth. What sort of husband would I be if I let you walk out like this?’ He took the case from her hand and tossed it carelessly aside so that it hit the wall.
‘Stop that! How dare you?’ Beth went to push past him, but he caught her arms and held her.
‘Oh, I dare all right. I dare do anything when you have the gall to plan on walking out without a word!’ He shook her, not hard, not roughly, but with sufficient force to make her breath catch. ‘Imagine how I would have felt if I’d come back and found you’d packed your things and left. Damn it, Beth! Don’t you owe me anything at all?’
