AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER FIVE
‘I’LLTAKE POSY,’ Jude offered as he lifted Tansy down out of the helicopter and turned to Kerry to extend his arms.
Cross at having her night’s sleep disturbed, the baby pouted and then succumbed to the invitation, a man being a new source of attraction in her mainly female world. Ensconced in Jude’s arms, Posy smiled sleepily.
‘That’s the first time you’ve used her name,’ Tansy remarked as she accompanied him into the waiting SUV.
‘She will be family now.’
His statement felt reassuring because Tansy had yet to have anyone stand by her side when it came to guarding Posy’s welfare and her fear of Calvin’s potential interference receded a little. It was getting dark rapidly and Tansy peered at the formal gardens stretching ahead of them and then off into the distance at the walls she could dimly see in one direction. ‘Where’s your grandfather’s house?’ she asked.
‘Over the hill. The estate is gigantic. Other people downsize at his age but Isidore upsized,’ Jude told her wryly. ‘This place used to belong to one of his biggest business rivals and he bought it the minute it came on the market. He’s very vain and he likes to live like a king.’
‘He sounds quite a character,’ Tansy commented as the car mounted the hill and turned down a central drive to begin an approach to a huge building that, with its twin wings, resembled a French chateau and was lit up like a firework display both inside and outside. ‘Wow…’
‘Isidore may be terse with you,’ Jude warned her. ‘He expected me to marry Althea and he doesn’t like surprises. He won’t like you having a child in tow either and probably won’t believe that she’s your sister.’
‘I can cope with rudeness,’ Tansy said ruefully.
‘You have my permission to be equally rude back. He thinks women should be seen and not heard and all three of his late wives fell into the quiet-little-mouse category.’
‘Oh, dear.’ Tansy grimaced, nervous perspiration dampening her upper lip as the vast dwelling ahead drew closer and the SUV pulled up at the foot of the steps.
Jude strode up the steps, Posy still safely held in his arms. The opulence of the big foyer was overpowering. Mirrors, gilded furniture and giant crystal chandeliers obscured Tansy’s vision and made her blink in disorientation. Jude addressed an older woman who approached him with pronounced subservience and he handed Posy back to the nanny.
‘Cora will show them to their rooms.’
‘I should go up with them,’ Tansy contended, the food she had eaten earlier sitting like a lead weight in her tense stomach.
Jude closed a hand over hers before she could accompany the nanny. ‘No, we don’t run scared in this family,’ he told her firmly, urging her on with him into a room where a small portly man stood by a huge marble hearth.
‘Jude!’ Isidore Alexandris exclaimed in welcome, his heavily lined face smiling even while his deep dark eyes remained steady, and that was the only word Tansy understood because a flood of Greek followed.
‘And this is my wife, Tansy.’ Jude switched smoothly back to English as he moved her forward.
‘Tansy…’ The smile on the older man’s face melted away and he dealt Tansy a brusque nod of acknowledgement before continuing his conversation with his grandson in Greek. He was virtually blanking her, Tansy registered, but she rather suspected that being ignored by Isidore could be more comfortable than attracting his attention. The exchange between the two men was sharp-edged and Isidore pursed his thin lips, his displeasure at Jude’s replies patent but the affection in his gaze when he looked at his grandson remained, despite his irritation. While Jude might seemingly be either unaware of or indifferent to his grandfather’s attachment to him, that warmth was blatantly obvious to Tansy.
Feeling like a third wheel, Tansy hovered until Jude wrapped an arm round her stiff spine and guided her back out of the room. ‘Doesn’t he speak English?’ she whispered as they crossed the echoing foyer towards the sweeping staircase.
‘Like me, he was educated at Eton,’ Jude offered. ‘He was being cutting.’
‘Did you have an argument about me?’
‘No. He will accept that you’re my wife for the foreseeable future. He’s not happy about it but he’ll settle because he’s finally got me married off,’ Jude breathed sardonically.
‘Have you been that hard to get to the altar?’ Tansy teased in an excess of relief at having so swiftly escaped his intimidating grandfather.
Long powerful legs ascending the stairs, leaving her breathless in her efforts to keep up, Jude vented a humourless laugh. ‘You have no idea. Marriages don’t work out very well in my family. Of course, I was avoiding it.’
‘Then why now?’ Tansy asked curiously. ‘What’s changed?’
Dark golden eyes swept her face assessingly on the landing. ‘We’d have to be a lot closer for me to explain my reasons.’
Tansy flushed and jerked a slight shoulder in receipt of that snub, falling silent as Jude strode through a door at the foot of a corridor, strolling confidently through a beautiful sitting room adorned with fresh flowers into an equally large bedroom.
Jude approached a pile of boxes sitting on a low table. ‘Isidore is loaning you some family jewellery to wear tomorrow. Festoon yourself in diamonds. Don’t worry about being vulgar or excessive. He loves to show off our wealth.’
‘OK,’ Tansy muttered.
