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Jane grimaced. ‘Fiona’s macaroni cheese for us.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘What you might be having is open to speculation.’ With the air of a conjuror producing a rabbit from a hat, she handed Amanda a bouquet of long-stemmed pink roses which she’d been hiding behind her back. The accompanying card said, ‘Dinner tonight’, and was signed with a single ‘M’.
They were waiting when I got back‘ Jane said triumphantly. ’Aren’t they absolutely gorgeous?‘
‘Why—yes’ Amanda agreed weakly.
‘Well, put them in water, and then go and get changed,’ Jane urged. ‘You’re awfully late, and he could be here at any minute.’ She lowered her voice. ‘And you don’t surely want to leave him to Maggie’s tender mercies. The last thing he’ll want to hear is what swine you’ve both been to poor old Nigel. And she’s quite capable of saying it, and more.’ She paused. ‘Hey, love, don’t look so stricken. I’ll fend her off if you’re not ready in time.’
Amanda gave her a subdued smile. ‘Thanks.’ She held out the roses. ‘Could you see to these for me?’
Jane’s brows rose. ‘If you like, but I’d have thought you’d want to arrange them yourself.’ She gave Amanda a searching look. ‘You’re all right, are you? You haven’t picked up this virus thing that’s going the rounds?’
Amanda shook her head, and went off to the bedroom they shared. She was still holding Malory’s card, and she put it slowly down on the dressing-table. This time, it seemed, she was not being given any option. She wondered if he’d penned the message himself. The handwriting looked firm and uncompromising, especially the single initial.
She bit her lip. This wasn’t so much an invitation as a statement, and she resented it. It was irksome, too, to realise that Malory wasn’t prepared to take the hint after all, and stay away from her.
She opened her half of the wardrobe and ran an indifferent look along its hanging rail. Perhaps she should have latched on to Jane’s suggestion about the virus, and got the girls to make her excuses when Malory arrived.
On the other hand, she would only be delaying the inevitable. It was obvious that Malory intended to see her, and the best thing would be to get it over with as quickly as possible.
She had a quick bath in the small, cramped bathroom, crouching under the usual rack of damp tights and undies, then dressed swiftly and unad-venturously in a silky black dress, long-sleeved and high-necked. She put on a modicum of make-up, and brushed her hair loose on her shoulders, before giving herself a swift, clinical inspection in the mirror. She looked neat, if unexciting, she thought. And if Malory expected more, then he was going to be disappointed.
She was tucking her purse and compact into her bag, when Jane stuck her head round the door. ‘He’s here’ she whispered. ‘And Maggie’s moving in.’
Amanda reached the living-room in time to hear Maggie say aggressively, ‘Don’t you believe in animal rights, Dr Templeton?’
‘I certainly believe in human rights.’ Malory sounded cool and faintly bored.
‘But you test your drugs on helpless creatures in your laboratories.’
‘When necessary, and under humane conditions.’
‘You think that justifies the suffering you cause?’
‘What I try and achieve is an alleviation of suffering for my fellow men’ Malory said flatly.
‘Would you care to volunteer to replace the aniused in tests?’
‘That’s a ridiculous idea!‘ Maggie said hotly. ’What I want is to see all testing ended by law.‘
He said quietly, ‘Try telling that to a mother whose child has leukemia.’ He looked at the doorway, and saw Amanda standing there. His smile was wintry. ‘So, there you are, darling.’
‘Yes.’ Amanda flushed as she walked forward to join him. He bent slightly towards her, and she lifted her face perfunctorily for the brief, cool brush of his lips on hers.
As he lifted his head, he looked into her eyes, his own gaze warm and faintly teasing. ‘Missed me?’
Her blush deepened, and she murmured something incoherent. She could see Maggie and Fiona exchanging glances, and Jane’s bewildered frown as she slid her arm through his, and tugged him towards the door.
As they descended the stairs to street level, she said, ‘I think you missed your vocation. You’d have made a good actor.’
‘Well, one of us needs to be.’ His tone was slightly caustic. ‘You treated me as if I was Marley’s Ghost.’
She realised she was still holding his arm, and released it abruptly. She said tautly, ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you. Your summons surprised me.’
