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‘Well, bring him down to see me,’ Doctor James reminded her, as he went to take his leave of his host.
She had forgotten about Robbie’s booster injections in the panic of leaving England in such a hurry and was glad that Doctor James had reminded her. St Martins was, fortunately, free of tropical diseases, but it still wouldn’t hurt for him to have some form of protection. She had been remiss in not arranging for it herself, Lisa acknowledged.
‘You’re looking extremely thoughtful. Worrying about the responsibility of looking after Robbie’s inheritance, are you?’
Lisa glared at Rorke. He had materialised at her side unexpectedly, his arm curving round her waist as though to proclaim their intimacy.
‘No, Dr James has just reminded me that Robbie needs to have some injections. I’d completely forgotten about it.’
‘And now you’re suffering from maternal pangs of guilt. You’re very protective of your child, Lisa.’
‘Perhaps because he’s all I’ve got,’ she responded hotly.
‘Whose fault is that? Have you tried reminding his father of his responsibilities towards him? I should have thought Peters would be proud to acknowledge Robbie as his son. He’s a fine boy, Lisa.’
Was it her imagination or had his voice softened slightly? It gave her no satisfaction to know that Rorke was talking about his own child; trying to get the truth through to him was like beating her head against a brick wall, and she was tired of trying.
She disengaged herself, pushing away his arm, and went over to where Leigh was talking to David Neale.
‘Ah, Lisa, my dear, I’m just on the point of leaving,’ the lawyer said with a smile. ‘It’s wonderful to see you back here. I’m glad you and Rorke were able to resolve your differences.’
He was, but his niece didn’t share his feelings, Lisa thought bitterly, but then Helen knew the truth, and no doubt wasn’t worried in the slightest about Lisa’s presence in Rorke’s life.
‘I was just telling him he must come down and see Robbie,’ Leigh added. ‘He’s the image of Rorke at that age,’ he added to David Neale. ‘But unlike Rorke he’s fortunate in having a devoted mother. Elise didn’t really want children, and she always kept Rorke at a distance. He sensed it too. I remember whenever he fell over or hurt himself he would never cry in Elise’s presence, nor would he ever go voluntarily to her.’ He sighed. ‘It all seems such a long time ago now. Elise and I should never have married. Unlike you and Rorke, my dear,’ he said to Lisa. ‘You were made for one another. There’s only one thing I want now…’
‘Oh, what’s that?’ Rorke demanded, joining them at the tail end of the conversation.
‘A granddaughter who looks as much like her mother as my grandson does his father,’ Leigh told him simply.
‘Lisa forced herself to join in the general laughter that followed Leigh’s comment, allowing Rorke to put his arm round her waist as they walked with their guests to the front door.
Rorke slipped away when Leigh and Lisa turned back from the door, and Lisa presumed he had gone to make arrangements to transfer his things into another room. She didn’t care what conclusions the staff drew, she was not sharing a room with him. He could make what excuses he lik
ed!
‘Come and talk to me, Lisa,’ Leigh insisted as she headed for the stairs. ‘We haven’t talked properly since you arrived.’
‘I’m under pain of death or worse from Rorke if I overtire you,’ she responded lightly.
‘You are glad to be back, aren’t you, Lisa? Sometimes you look very sad.’
‘Only because I’m thinking of all the wasted years.’ How glibly the lies slid off her tongue!
‘That’s behind you now. We never knew about Robbie,’ he said emotively, ‘Lisa, why didn’t you tell us?’
Rorke knew, she wanted to protest, Rorke knew and denied him.
‘I did,’ she said shakily instead, ‘I wrote to you—remember I told you earlier and when you didn’t reply I thought… I thought…’
‘You thought we’d turned our backs on you. Oh, Lisa, how could you think that? Rorke is a proud man, I know, and you hurt him badly, but surely you never imagined that he wouldn’t welcome you back with open arms, especially when…’
‘When I’d given birth to his son?’ How could she tell Leigh that Rorke had known and that because of that knowledge he had rejected both her and Robbie? She couldn’t!
Wearily she followed Leigh upstairs. The evening had been a traumatic one in many ways. Time enough tomorrow to worry about how she was going to deal with the bombshell Leigh had dropped about his will.
In many ways she could understand his determination to keep them together—after all, wasn’t that really what she wanted? To be Rorke’s wife; to be loved and cherished as his lover and the mother of his children? Only that was never likely to happen. Rorke despised her. He had made that more than plain.
She pushed open the bedroom door, coming to an abrupt halt as she saw the lean, indolent figure propped up against the wall.
