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It was impossible to judge his reactions from the even words. ‘So. Now we both know where we stand. I owe Marina this much, I suppose. After all, I was the one who introduced Philip to Verity.’
A Verity who was now free, Genista reminded herself sickly. No wonder Luke wasn’t raising any objections to her desire to be free!
‘Very well, but if you cheat on me, our agreement will be rescinded, Genista.’
‘I’ll go and unpack my things.’
He was standing by the door, and she had to breathe in to squeeze past him. She could smell the clean fragrance of his cologne and for one mad moment she wanted to reach up and touch him, to press her body against him and feel his vital, compelling response.
‘Mrs Meadows will be here soon. You might warn her about Lucy’s impending arrival.’ He walked towards her bed, twitching back the covers she had just disturbed. ‘I don’t want any gossip in the village,’ he told her harshly. ‘It might get to Lucy’s ears.’
‘I’ll make the bed when I’m dressed.’
They were enemies. She could feel it in the silence which stretched between them, and she had to blink fiercely to prevent tears from forming.
* * *
It was shortly after four o’clock that the Citroën pulled up in front of the house in a spurt of gravel, disgorging an elegant dark-haired woman whom Genista would have recognised anywhere as Luke’s sister, and a fair-haired teenager, still dressed in what was obviously her school uniform. She looked so vulnerable and young that Genista’s heart went out to her. Had Marina told her daughter about her father’s return?
‘Luke, you wretch, how dare you get married without telling me? You do realise that you’ve robbed Lucy of her only chance of being a bridesmaid, don’t you?’ Marian called lightly as she walked into the house. Seen at closer quarters, she had a brittle quality, a nervous tension which communicated itself instantly to Genista. Despite her elegance, the older woman was nervous of Luke? She glanced covertly at her husband. He was frowning faintly, his attention focused not on Marina but on Lucy, who was hanging back slightly, her expression uncertain.
‘Lucy would have hated being a bridesmaid,’ he said decisively. ‘How was school, little one?’
‘Filthy!’
It was instantly obvious to Genista that uncle and niece shared a rapport which did not exist between mother and daughter. Physically they were not alike, until Lucy smiled, and then her wry expression bore a startling resemblance to her uncle’s sardonic grimace.
‘But she’s looking forward to spending her half-term with you,’ Marina interposed quickly, turning to Genista. ‘Luke is a gem. Lucy often spends her half-terms with him. It’s so convenient. Coming over to France means that she loses a day each way, and it just isn’t worth it for the shorter breaks.’
Genista smiled politely, but secretly she felt a little surprised by Marina’s attitude towards her child. It was scarcely maternal.
‘I can’t stay long, Luke,’ she was saying quickly—too quickly, it seemed to Genista, as though she expected Luke to protest. ‘Lucy, run upstairs and unpack. I want to speak to your uncle, and I have to leave right after dinner.’
‘She’s a teenager, not a child, Marina,’ Luke said mildly when Lucy had gone. ‘Have you told her about Philip?’
‘I intended to, but as yet I haven’t had the chance,’ Marina began evasively.
‘And as you plan to leave us right after dinner you won’t have the opportunity to—right?’ Luke enquired sardonically.
‘Oh, Luke, it will come so much better from you,’ Marina pleaded. ‘I just can’t tell her. My nerves…’
‘You shouldn’t have pumped her full of all that rubbish about Philip in the first place,’ Luke said dryly, ‘You’re a fool, Marina.’
‘That’s a fine way to talk to your sister!’ Marina took umbrage instantly. ‘It isn’t often I ask you to help me, Luke. It’s only a small thing, after all.’
‘You think so?’ If anything his voice was even drier. ‘Leaving us with a sensitive teenager at the very start of our honeymoon, and expecting us to break the news to her that the father her mother has been reviling without cessation for the last four years is suddenly about to be welcomed back into the fold? I wonder if Philip really knows what he’s letting himself in for?’
‘That’s a foul thing to say!’ Marina’s voice broke on the last word, and to Genista’s dismay she saw tears in the older woman’s eyes. ‘I’m going up to my room.’
‘There’s no need to look at me as though I’ve just taken a starving child’s crust,’ Luke said curtly when his sister had gone. ‘Marina isn’t averse to turning on the tears if she thinks it will get her her own way.’
‘She is your sister,’ Genista pointed out mildly.
‘I know, and that’s one of the reasons I could never find it in my heart to really hate Philip. Poor devil!’
‘He must love Marina if he’s going back to her. Will you tell Lucy?’
‘I expect I’ll have to. Marina is quite capable of leaving without doing and them calmly leaving Lucy to find out the truth for herself the next time she goes home. Marina was spoiled by our parents and as a result she seems to expect everyone to treat her indulgently. I hope Philip knows what he’s doing.’
