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'I was until ... I don't dare to ask him how much truth there was in what she said, but I can't help wondering. He did ask me if I'd have children right away and he did say his mother was getting impatient because he didn't have any children. I'm not dumb, Judith; I know there have been plenty of other girls in his life. That didn't bother me in the beginning. I thought of them as being in the past, but now I can't help wondering if the future will be the same.'
'Are you saying that you're getting cold feet about marrying him?' Judith was intent now, watching her face and trying to guess at what lay behind her blue eyes. Why had Baba come here tonight to talk to her? Why hadn't she wanted to tell all this to Ruth?
'I'm crazy about him,' Baba confided. 'He sends cold shivers up and down my spine. You must admit, he's terribly sexy, Judith, even if he isn't your type.'
What Baba really meant was that Judith was not Luke's type. Judith's hard-headed realism about herself made it possible for her to smile; she knew she wasn't Luke Doulton's type. He might want to use her brains, but he had no use for her as a woman.
'Please, take that job,' Baba said pleadingly. 'If you're there I'll feel much easier about going away to California, I know you won't be a threat to me, but someone else might.'
Thanks,' Judith said drily. Baba was too wrapped up in her own problems to be aware of offering any insults; she just looked at Judith with her big blue eyes full of anxiety, and Judith felt horribly sorry for her. 'Are you going to tell him about the screen test before you go?'
Baba hesitated, then shook her head. 'I'll just say I'm going over there to work; he's used to me flying off to model abroad. If I get the part I'll have to tell him, but until then I'd rather keep it to myself. Judith, will you take that job?'
'Probably,' said Judith, and Baba's face lit up with relief.
'You're an angel! Just keep Caroline Rendell away from him—she's not only beautiful, she's clever, and I'm scared of her. Let me know if Luke starts seeing her again—will you? You will, won't you, Judith?'
'You're asking me to spy on him,' Judith said tersely. 'I don't like that idea, Baba. If you don't trust him you shouldn't be marrying him.'
'It isn't him I don't trust, it's her,' explained Baba. She got up, shivering. 'I must go, it's quite chilly tonight, isn't it? Thanks for listening, Judith.'
On the way to the door Judith asked her: 'Why didn't you tell all this to Ruth, by the way?'
'Ruth?' Baba stood still in front of the door. 'She would only worry about me, but you're so self-contained, Judith. Nothing worries you, does it? I could tell you anything and you'd just listen and be very objective. Ruth's too involved; I couldn't talk to her honestly.'
Judith wasn't sure she found that so very complimentary; it made her sound very detached and cold, but then maybe that was how Baba saw her. Baba had always been so happy and carefree, perhaps she didn't want Ruth to see her in any other mood, but it seemed to Judith that Luke Doulton was already putting lines into Baba's smooth, unlined face; he was altering her nature simply by taking over her life. Baba had never been so serious before; Judith couldn't remember seeing her close to tears, openly worried and ill at ease. She was very fond of her, in spite of that old sense of envy because Baba was so stunning. This was a new Baba and Judith didn't like what was happening to her.
She rang Luke next morning early and told him that she had decided to accept his offer of a job.
'Good,' he said. 'Can you start next Monday?' He didn't sound overjoyed or surprised, but then she hadn't expected him to.
'Yes,' she agreed, deciding to play it as he did. If he could be terse and calm, then so could she.
'I'll have to spend the first morning putting you in the picture,' he said. 'My previous assistant left everything in a mess; there are dozens of loose ends to be picked up. Nine o'clock in my office?'
'Yes.'
'Could you see my legal office this week and work out the small print of your contract with them?'
'I'll make an appointment,' she said, and heard him laugh.
'You're an extraordinary girl,' he said, then he rang off. Judith looked at the telephone as she replaced it. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? she asked him mentally as she walked away.
His legal department moved like greased lightning. Judith spent a morning with them talking over the various clauses; they contacted her own solicitor and on the Friday afternoon the contract was ready to be signed.
She had a date with Robert that Saturday evening. He took her out to dinner and then on to a nightclub to dance. It was the second date they had had that week and Mrs Murry had become quite interested in him. 'Why didn't you bring him here for dinner one evening?' she had suggested, and Judith had made a teasing face at her.
'What are you planning to do? Ask him about his intentions? Come on, Grandma, two dates in a week doesn't mean wedding bells in the offing!'
'Who said it did? I like to meet your friends, that's all.' Her grandmother had pretended to be indignant and Judith had grinned at her.
'You don't fool me—you're a wicked old romantic!'
She liked Robert, but she scarcely knew him yet, she didn't want to build a pleasant friendship into a deathless love affair, nor did she want her grandmother to terrify poor Robert by being so obvious in her matchmaking.
Even so her grandmother had scrutinised her dress that evening, a hopeful look in her eye. 'You look very attractive,' she had told her, and Judith had given her a kiss.
/> 'I know how I look.'
