Arian (13 page)

He stared at Daphne’s long slender legs. She was elegant and tall and could have been angular had it not been for the fullness of her breasts. Her legs were astride as she washed delicately, the darkness of her hair a contrast to the alabaster skin. He desired her, oh yes, he desired her with every fibre of his being but then desire was easy, love was not.

‘Like what you see?’ Daphne said smiling archly at him, her soft mouth curved upwardly, invitingly. Calvin returned her smile. He took one arm lazily from behind his head and beckoned to her.

‘I like what I see very much,’ he said. ‘Come here and find out for yourself.’

‘But Calvin, darling, I have to go,’ Daphne said, ‘I’ve an At Home to attend with one of my best friends.’

‘An old flame perhaps?’ Calvin felt amused more than jealous as she nodded.

‘Well, to be precise, the old flame’s wife.’ Her cheeks dimpled. ‘It
could
all be rather embarrassing darling if I didn’t keep my head.’

‘Come here,’ Calvin said with mock sternness. ‘How can I look at you and not be stirred to passion?’

Daphne looked down at him, a glow coming into her eyes. She moved languorously towards the bed, her pupils dilated with anticipated lust, her lips moist.

‘I can see how stirred you are, my dear,’ she said and gently lowered herself down beside him.

It was dusk when Calvin ushered Daphne outside to her waiting carriage. He stood there until the even clip clop of the horses’ hooves had died away and then he closed the door.

Turning, he saw Arian standing in the shadows. She had a stillness about her as though she had been watching him. ‘Did you want anything?’ he asked, and an expression fleeted across her face that he wasn’t able to read.

‘Have I shocked you by entertaining my ladyfriend in my room?’ he asked moving closer, aware of how small she was, how fine boned. Perhaps it was just the contrast between her and Daphne that made Arian appear almost fey and somehow mystical.

Calvin realized with a dart of interest that he knew very little of the girl’s inner thoughts – Arian was an enigma while Daphne was an open book anyone could read.

‘Come into the drawing room,’ he said, leading the way, ‘I think we should have a little talk.’

She stood near the doorway, her eyes not quite meeting his.

‘Why haven’t you been happy here?’ he asked wishing to draw her out of her shell. He realized, in that moment, how reluctant he was to let her go.

‘I’ve enjoyed working for you well enough, sir, but to be honest with you, I think it
is
time I moved on.’

‘Move on, to what, though?’ he asked briskly. ‘To work for someone else? Is that what you wanted? I had the impression you wished to be your own boss.’

Arian straightened her shoulders as though to do battle. She spoke in a rush. ‘Working for Mr Grenfell would give me an independence I don’t have here.’ She was breathless and Calvin knew she was nervous. ‘I would be selecting the best skins and doing the actual buying.’

‘I thought you wanted your own business?’ Calvin insisted. ‘That’s surely what real independence is all about?’

‘Aye, I know,’ Arian said, ‘but …’ her voice trailed away and Calvin felt himself relax.

‘But you thought I’d forgotten all about it?’ he supplied, feeling more in command of the situation now.

She nodded, almost miserably. He looked down at her, saw shadows in her eyes. She felt he had failed her.

‘Well, in truth, it had gone out of my mind just lately,’ he said, ‘but what I have done is looked at suitable premises for you.’ A glimmer of a smile appeared on his face. ‘I hadn’t forgotten you entirely, you see. Arian, I would like you to realize your ambitions, I want to help.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Her tone was stilted and Calvin felt there was more to her urge to get away from the manor than met the eye.

‘Is this sudden urgency anything to do with the missing money, by any chance?’ he asked quietly. ‘If so, please don’t give the matter another thought. I haven’t.’

‘No, it’s not that. It’s nothing, just that I don’t want to work here for evermore. I want to get out there, make my own mark on the world.’ She grimaced. ‘Perhaps you’ll think all that presumptuous on the part of a servant.’

‘Not at all.’ His tone became businesslike. There was no fathoming women, he decided, it was useless to try. ‘There’s a warehouse to let down at the docks, needs a bit of work but the construction is sound.’

It seemed that Arian would turn his suggestion down, and suddenly Calvin knew he didn’t want to lose sight of her – she interested him.

‘It’s the chance you always wanted,’ he said smiling. ‘Have your ambitions changed or is it that you are afraid of the challenge?’

He saw the rich colour suffuse her cheeks, her chin lifted and her eyes seemed to glow angrily.

‘There’s a silly thing to say.’ He heard the Welshness of her voice with amusement – the lilting sound was a contrast to her usual even tones. ‘It’s just that I feel obligated to Mr Grenfell, that’s all.’

‘Don’t worry about Craig,’ Calvin said. ‘I’ll square things with him, he’s an understanding sort of a chap.’

Arian seemed undecided, she looked at him doubtfully and small white teeth chewed at her lip. She was little more than a girl, Calvin thought, and yet by all accounts she had lived the life of an experienced woman.

‘Is there something else bothering you?’ Calvin sensed an uneasiness in her that was so strong it almost reached out and touched him. She shook her head abruptly and a stray curl of silver-gold hair fell over her forehead.

‘No, nothing’s bothering me, but there
are
a few things I must think about, sir. Could I talk to you later about the warehouse and all that?’

‘Of course,’ Calvin said quickly, ‘no-one is going to force you into doing what you don’t want to.’

Was he mistaken or did a strange expression fleet across her face? He turned away abruptly. He was being far too concerned with this girl – she was none of his business. He had enough on his plate already, with his divorce imminent and Daphne growing more and more tiresome every day.

And yet when he had left her and was seated in the comfortable leather chair in his study, he could not help seeing her face, soft, petal-like and the bright tendril of hair falling childlike over her brow, and he was strangely affected by the image.

There was something about Arian, he realized, that brought out his protective instincts. ‘Rubbish!’ he said the word out loud. All that he wanted was to bed the girl – why didn’t he face the truth? As for emotional entanglements, he could well do without that sort of complication in his life. He rose abruptly and moving to the sideboard, poured himself a stiff drink of porter.

Arian sat in her room and stretched her bare feet out towards the fire. She was lost in thought, her brow furrowed, her hands twisting nervously at the folds of her nightgown. It had become clear to her, as she’d brooded in the semi-darkness, that she must get out of Stormhill, find rooms of her own, be independent. Calvin could scarcely be accused then of having a relationship with his servant.

The gentle knock on her door startled her. She glanced up at the clock and sighed. It was bed time and no doubt Bella had arrived with her milk drink, the last of the evening.

‘Come in,’ she sat up straighter in her chair and turned with a welcoming smile that quickly faded.

‘Mr Simples,’ she said icily, ‘I wasn’t expecting you and as you can see, I’m not dressed for visitors.’

He closed the door and came further into the room, his eyes drinking in every detail of her appearance. Arian felt almost naked under his scrutiny.

‘So your ideas of running a business are coming to fruition, then?’ he said slowly. Arian was suddenly angry.

‘I’ll not only have my own business but my own home,’ her voice low, ‘then you won’t be able to spread any lies about me and his lordship.’

‘You haven’t thought all this out, my dear Miss Smale,’ Simples said with maddening reasonableness. ‘If you were to leave, it would appear that his lordship had grown tired of you, cast you aside as he did his wife. This would not recommend you to a future employer, now would it?

‘Then there’s the discrepancy in the books. Didn’t you wonder why Lord Temple has never brought it up again?’ He went on without waiting for a reply. ‘I think I rather gave him the impression that it was your … er … little blunder. I excused you of course, said I knew what it was like to be short of money, told him it wouldn’t happen again and that I would be personally responsible for you in future. Lord Temple was very understanding but how would any future employer react to that little story, which his lordship would be honour-bound to confirm, should it get out.’

Arian felt anger run through her veins like hot wine. She wanted to strike out at Simples, to tear at his smug face with her nails. She took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm.

‘How dare you do such a thing?’ her voice was low. ‘You know I didn’t make any error or take any money.’ She gave a short laugh ‘And you say you care for me. You must be mad.’

His face darkened. ‘Be careful, Miss Smale, that you do not go too far.’ His eyes were suddenly like ice and Arian heard warning bells in her head.

‘Of course,’ she said more evenly, ‘you would make it a point of making known my so-called dishonesty to anyone you considered a threat to your plans?’ Arian’s spirits sank. She saw clearly just how far Simples would go in order to get his own way.

He began to talk more quietly, even menacingly. ‘I’m not willing to let you out of my sight. I need you to be close to me so that I can keep an eye on you.’

Arian felt her face grow hot with anger. ‘I don’t want you keeping an eye on me,’ she said fiercely.

He took her arm. His grip was light but she felt almost mesmerized by the way his face was close to hers, his eyes, those strange eyes, were staring into hers.

‘I know too much about you, Miss Smale. There have been other, later … errors shall we call them? in the accounts. In any case, I will not let you go. I will do anything – and I mean anything – to anyone who tries to take you away from me.’ He paused for his words to sink in.

‘So you see,’ Simples continued, ‘you’d better accept his lordship’s offer. I intend to have you close to me here at Stormhill.’ He paused, looking at her as though he would like to press his mouth to hers.

‘Look on the bright side; there would be the prestige of running your own business, you would be free, independent, up to a point.’

Arian looked at him sceptically. ‘But would I be free?’

Simples smiled. ‘As free as you can be, Miss Smale but then none of us is entirely without obligations.’

‘Please leave,’ Arian said in a low voice. ‘I’m very tired and I think I’d better get some sleep. There’s a lot of work ahead if I’m to run my own company.’

‘Indeed.’ Gerald Simples moved towards her and Arian fought the desire to turn away from him. She stared levelly into his face, her expression forbidding any familiarity and after a moment, he silently let himself out of her room.

Arian sank back in her chair, her thoughts in chaos, but one thing was clear; Simples was dangerous and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. She was inclined to believe that it was he who had tampered with the accounts, he who had misappropriated the funds, all so that he would have more of a hold over her.

Somehow, she must manage to keep him at arm’s length at least until the divorce was over and done with. Once Calvin was a free man, she could tell Gerald Simples to go to hell his own way.

Events moved swiftly, for it seemed that once Calvin made up his mind to something, he acted on it at once. The premises on the docks were eminently suitable and Calvin saw to it that a room was furnished as an office.

‘A substantial amount of money is lodged in your name in the bank,’ he said as he handed her down from the carriage and led her along the edge of the water towards the office. Gerald Simples was a few steps behind them, with a pile of books under his arm.

‘Yours is the easy part,’ Calvin said. ‘You only have to get the business under way – a simple job for someone as talented as you.’

She knew he was teasing. She knew, too that now she had to really start making her contacts. She needed to find suppliers who would sell her the leather, and customers who would pay her well for the expertise she would offer.

She bit her lip nervously. ‘I’m sure it’s going to go well,’ she said shakily and Calvin laughed as he pushed open the door of her office.

‘I feel I should carry you over the threshold or something,’ he said softly, bending towards her. She looked up into his face and saw that his mouth was very close to hers.

She never knew if it was on an impulse or if he’d calculated his next move but then Calvin’s mouth was on hers. The kiss was light enough, it probably meant nothing to him, but Arian was aware of a feeling of pain deep inside her. She realized that she’d wanted him to kiss her and now that he had drawn away, she felt a sensation of loss.

She took a deep breath, becoming aware that they were not alone. Simples was standing behind them, his face averted but the line of his shoulders showed his tension. A few yards away a group of men in good suits were glancing at them in amusement and Arian moved inside the office, her face aflame with colour.

‘Gerald here is going to help you set up your accounts,’ Calvin said. ‘He really is a first-class man.’

‘I don’t need any help.’ Arian concealed her dismay by bending her head to straighten a blotting pad on the new desk.

‘It’s just for a few weeks,’ Calvin said, ‘until you have chosen your own staff.’ He smiled. ‘I wouldn’t like to leave such an attractive young lady alone on the docklands, it wouldn’t be proper.’

Arian realized he was half teasing her but he was right all the same; she had no option but to accept the presence of Gerald Simples, at least for the time being.

‘It’s very kind of you,’ she said to Calvin and then forcing herself to smile, she included Simples in her glance.

‘And kind of you to spare me the time, Mr Simples,’ she said not meeting his gaze.