Page 24 of The Sheikh's English Bride

Xavier took a mouthful of the liqueur-like drink and winced, then ran his tongue over lips suddenly grown dry 'I guess that if I were in your situation I'd be curious, too '

Very curious, thought Laura She sat on one of the divans and looked up at him expectantly 'What's he like?'

There was a pause 'He's old' he said flatly, and then shrugged He looked up to see that her face was completely calm, as if someone had wiped every emotion away other than genuine concern

'You wanted him to be strong and virile — a man in his prime — a man you could relate to?' she hazarded

He shook his dark head 'Of course I didn't On an intellectual level I knew he'd be old — just not quite that old I'm thirty-three and he's over eighty He was nearly thirty years older than my mother!'

Is that such a big deal? In Hollywood terms, it's nothing '

In France it is nothing either,' he lanced back, aware that he was not thinking rationally 'But perhaps such a gap hits you hardest when you seethe reality for the first time in old age ' Had it made him aware of his own life — and how quickly the years were passing?

She heard the edge to his voice 'You're angry,' she observed

'Yes, I am angry,' he agreed hotly 'So what?'

'You ought to decide what it is you're angry about'

His mouth twisted 'Since when did lawyers start specialising in amateur psychology?'

'Have people spent their whole lives agreeing with you, Xavier?' she demanded 'Or is it just that you can't bear to think someone else might have a different opinion which might just be right?'

He was taken aback by her straightforwardness, and more affected than he wanted to be by the compassion in her emerald eyes Xavier had thought that he had grown a careful immunity to feelings, yet it was now clear that he had not Was it a crime to concede that the whole experience had shaken him more than he would have thought possible? Or would anyone else have felt the same in the circumstances?

'Maybe,' he conceded, and met the question in her eyes It's a story as old as time itself,' he said slowly 'My mother was a young actress in Pans when the Sheikh first laid eyes on her Zahir said that she had fire and passion and ambition in her heart' His voice hardened 'Which presumably is one of the things which drew him to her'

'And presumably she was very beautiful?'

'Oh, she was beautiful,' he said flatly 'She was exquisite '

'So what happened?' asked Laura

'They had an affair'

'Secret?'

'Mais, bien sur Of course He was a married man And a high-profile one '

'And then what?'

Uncharacteristically, Xavier hesitated The look in the Sheikh's eyes had spoken of regret — but was that the ruefulness of a man coming to the end of his life who looked back with wistfulness as he remembered the long-past pleasures of the flesh 1 ? Or was it genuine regret that he had abandoned a woman who was in love with him, without ever thinking that there might have been consequences to their ill-fated affair?

'Zahir came back to Kharastan,' he said slowly 'And never saw her nor spoke to her again ' 'So he wouldn't acknowledge you as his son?'

Xavier looked at her, an odd note stealing into his voice 'That's the strangest thing of all He never knew about me — or so he claims,' he said 'He only discovered my existence a couple of years ago, when he was trying to put his affairs in order My photo had been seen by his aide in one of the French newspapers,' he said wryly 'And the resemblance between us was pointed out to him How ironic that he was prepared to be convinced by the

evidence of a photo while I was not'

'So what was it that firmly convinced you that he is your father?' asked Laura quietly.

He could tell her that it was something he'd felt, something in his gut which was bone-deep and primitive, but that would be an admission too far for a man who rejected instinct — who relied on the infinitely safer world of fact and evidence

Putting his hand into the pocket of his trousers, he withdrew a small object and placed it in the palm of his hand, where it gleamed in the moonlight I brought it with me from Pans,' he said It was all my mother left me — apart from a faded piece of ribbon '

'What is it?' she whispered

Xavier walked over to the divan and held his hand out, and Laura took it with trembling fingers It was a ring of gold, with a stone she thought might be a ruby, though it was difficult to tell in the moonlight, and it was set like a star.

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