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Cally smoothed the cheap material of her skirt over her knees in a defensive gesture. 'Yes— I remember.' 'You also had a wedding ring,' he went on. 'Is it still around?'
She stared through the windscreen into the night. 'I—threw it away.'
'How dramatic,' he said mockingly. 'Wiser to have sold it, perhaps. You must have needed the cash.'
But I wasn't feeling very wise. Just betrayed, confused and angry. The words trembled in her mind, but she did not utter them.
He said, 'I shall have to buy you another.'
She lifted her chin. 'Is that strictly necessary—for such a short time?'
'It's considered usual.'
'But I thought you weren't interested in conventions,' she said. 'Besides, I shall only throw it away again, when my duty's done and I claim my freedom.'
'However, while you're living as my wife you'll wear my ring.' His voice was soft, but there was a note in it that spelled danger. 'Just as you'll get used to sleeping in my bed. Who knows? You might even come to enjoy it.' She hesitated. 'How do you intend to explain my sudden return?’
'I don't,' Nick responded coolly. 'It concerns no one but ourselves.'
That, she thought, her nails curling into the palms of her hands, was not strictly true on a number of counts— not all of which she could bring herself to deal with. However, there was one she needed to mention.
She said tautly, 'I presume you've informed Adele—if she's still living at the Hall?'
'She isn't,' he said curtly. 'I arranged for her move to the Dower House months ago, when I still thought you might return of your own accord.'
She raised her brows. 'That can't have pleased her.'
'Nor did the prospect of finding herself replaced as the mistress of the house. Once I married, her departure became inevitable. She knew that.' He slanted a glance at her. 'Or did you wish to go on sharing a roof with her indefinitely?"
Her mouth tightened. 'No.'
'That's what I thought." He sounded faintly amused. He turned the car under an archway and slotted it expertly in to a cramped space in the small hotel car park. As they walked to the rear entrance Cally was conscious of his hand under her elbow.
When they reached the desk, she saw the blonde receptionist's eager smile lake a disappointed downturn when she realised their most important guest was not alone.
Sorry, darling, but you never had a chance, Cally was tempted to tell her. He's already spoken for— and not by me.
Along with the key, she saw Nick accept a sheaf of messages, and then they were walking together to the lift.
As they rode up to the first floor she tried to think of something she could do or say that would let her off the hook for tonight at least. She wasn't ready, she thought desperately, for such a drastic change in her circumstances. She stole a look at her husband, but his dark face was expressionless.
The bridal suite consisted of a small, nondescript sitting room, with a writing desk and a television set, and a much larger bedroom containing a king-size bed with a white quilted satin coverlet sporting an enormous pink heart in its centre.
In spite of the nightmare scenario ahead of her, Cally knew an almost overwhelming desire to shriek with laughter. At the same time she found herself thinking that it was a far cry from the Virgin Islands, where their original honey moon had been due to be spent. She tensed inwardly. She couldn't let herself think like that Allow herself to remember a time when she'd been a naive girl, wrapped up in her own fledgling dreams and hopes. Oblivious to the harsh truths of the world around her— even her small part of it...
'Your overnight case is there.' Nick's voice shocked her back lo the present, and it’s realities, as he nodded toward s the luggage stand. 'And the bathroom's through that door. I'll be in the sitting room, having a nightcap and dealing with my messages. It should lake about twenty minutes.' He gave her a brief, formal smile. 'Can I get you anything?'
'No.' Her mouth was dry. Twenty minutes. "Thank you.'
The door closed behind him, and Cally was alone. Temporarily at least.
She walked over to the bed and sank down on to the appalling cover, looking around her.
A resourceful person, she thought, should be able lo escape from this situation—
maybe by knotting sheets together and climbing out of a window. Except that a loud humming noise and frequent arc tic blasts suggested that air-conditioning was in use and that the windows were hermetically sealed.
So it seemed she was committed beyond recall lo this madness.
Her heart was fluttering against her ribs like a wounded bird, and her legs were shaking, but there was no point in delaying where she was, with the minutes passing.
And there seemed little chance that Nick would agree to spend the night on the sofa in the sitting room, or allow her to do so. No matter how reluctant she might be, she would have to share this bed with him.
