Forbidden Surrender (7 page)

‘Nice-looking man,’ her aunt remarked.

‘Very nice.’ If you were partial to arrogant, bossy men! And she wasn’t, especially ones who thought themselves omnipotent into the bargain.

She felt hesitant about keeping the luncheon appointment the next day, knowing that her pleasure in seeing Marie had already been dampened by the fact that Dominic Thorne would be there too. She finally decided it would be an act of cowardice not to go. Besides, she didn’t even have to speak to Dominic Thorne unless she wanted to.

It seemed he had other ideas about that. As soon as
Sara arrived at the Lindlay house she was shown into what turned out to be a study, and the occupant of that room was none other than Dominic Thorne.

His gaze took in her appearance, the finely checked brown tailored suit and contrasting tan blouse a complete antithesis of her attire of the evening before.

‘Marie will be down in a moment—she’s still dressing,’ he explained her absence.

‘Is she feeling better?’ Her voice was stilted, distinctly unfriendly.

‘Much better. Actually I’m glad she’s late, because I have something I wanted to discuss with you.’

‘Oh yes?’ She was at once on the defensive.

‘Yes,’ he gave an abrupt nod of his head. ‘Please, sit down.’ He waited before she had done so before becoming seated himself. ‘Now, I’ll come straight to the point.’ He leant foward over the desk. ‘You lied to me, Miss Hamille,’ he told her quietly.

Sara’s hackles rose indignantly. ‘I beg your pardon? I have never at any time lied to you.’ Her tone gave the impression that she didn’t consider him important enough in her life to bother with such things.

‘There is such a thing as lying by omission,’ he said coldly. ‘I had you checked out, Miss Hamille—–’

‘You had no right!’ Her eyes flashed angrily.

‘I had you checked out,’ he repeated calmly, ‘and I found that your father was not Richard Hamille.’

‘I never said he was!’

‘Would you kindly let me finish,’ Dominic Thorne snapped. ‘I also found out that you aren’t American by birth, you’re English, that—–’

The door behind them swung open and another man walked in. Dominic gave Sara a sharp look before greeting the other man.

‘You’re back early, Michael,’ he said almost enquiringly.

‘I heard about Marie. I—You aren’t Marie!’ the man accused, his face paling, going a sickly grey as he continued
to look at Sara. ‘My God,’ he said dazedly, ‘if you aren’t Marie then you have to be—–’

‘Sara,’ she supplied huskily, feeling as if the world were revolving around her. ‘And you’re my father!’

The face was much older, the hair greyer, but this man was still the same man her mother had shared her first wedding day with, the man who stood beside her in their wedding photographs, the man her mother had said was dead!

T
HIS
was all like some horrendous nightmare. The man standing in front of her couldn’t be her father—and yet he was, she knew he was. She had a photograph of him in her handbag somewhere, and although it had been taken twenty-two years ago, on the day of his marriage to her mother, there could be no doubting his identity.

And if this man, Michael Lindlay, was her father, then that made Marie her half-sister. No wonder they were so much alike!

‘Sit down,’ Dominic instructed as she seemed to pale even more.

She hadn’t even been aware of standing up, but she sat down thankfully, staring speechlessly up at her father. He seemed to have been struck dumb too, and the two of them stared at each other in silence.

He was a very distinguished man, tall, with grey wings of colour over his temples, the rest of his hair the same blond as her own and Marie’s. His face was handsome, although she guessed him to be in his mid, possibly late, forties. And he looked kind, a touch of sadness in the depth of his brown eyes. Sara found it strange that she should have the same colouring, and look so much like a man she didn’t even know.

She turned to Dominic Thorne, to find him watching them warily. ‘You knew, didn’t you?’ she accused huskily.

He shook his head. ‘Not at first,’ he denied softly.

Michael Lindlay seemed to gather his thoughts together with effort. ‘Is this your doing, Dominic?’ he demanded to know.

‘Not guilty.’ Dominic shrugged resignedly. ‘I think
you’ll find it’s not been the conscious act of anyone, just a coincidence.’

Brown eyes narrowed. ‘You mean that after all these years Sara just turned up here by accident?’

‘Not by accident, but
because
of an accident,’ Dominic corrected softly. ‘Rachel is dead, Michael. She died six months ago in the same accident that killed her second husband and left Sara badly injured.’

Michael Lindlay swallowed hard. ‘Rachel—dead?’ he repeated raggedly.

Dominic nodded. ‘I’m afraid so.’

He turned to look at Sara. ‘Is it true?’

She frowned her puzzlement. ‘Yes.’

‘Oh God!’ her father groaned. ‘And you were badly injured. Are you all right now?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ she answered in a stilted voice, still dazed by this whole affair.

‘Did Rach—your mother,’ he swallowed hard, ‘did she suffer at all?’ There was raw pain in his eyes.

Sara shook her head. ‘The doctors said not.’

‘And Richard?’ A certain coolness entered his voice.

‘The same,’ she answered abruptly. She turned to Dominic Thorne. ‘Could you please tell me what’s going on? How can my father—Mr Lindlay,’ she felt guilty as she saw him wince, ‘how can he still be alive when my mother always told me he was dead?’

‘For the same reason,’ Dominic answered her, ‘as Marie was always told her mother was dead.’

Sara gasped. ‘Are you saying that my mother was also Marie’s mother?’

‘I’m saying more than that,’ he frowned. ‘You still haven’t realised, have you?’

Now it was her turn to frown. ‘Realised what?’

‘That Marie isn’t just your sister, but your
twin
sister.’

‘No!’ she cried, her eyes wide with horror, looking in desperation at her father’s grey face. ‘That isn’t true! Tell me it isn’t true,’ she pleaded.

He seemed unable to speak, and it was left to Dominic to answer her once again. ‘I’m afraid it is true, Sara.’

‘But it
can’t
be! Tell him,’ she grabbed her father’s arm. ‘Tell him he has it all wrong!’

Michael Lindlay looked at her with tormented eyes. ‘But he doesn’t, Sara,’ he choked, turning away to stare out of the window, his back rigid.

Dominic picked up a sheet of paper from the desk, obviously the report he had received about her. ‘I was suspicious from the first,’ he told her. ‘But I was thrown by the fact that you seemed to be an American. And then there was the fact that you said
both
your parents had been killed in the accident.’

‘I always called Richard Dad,’ she said stiffly.

Dominic nodded. ‘Well, on the basis of those two facts I concluded that your likeness to Marie was just a freak of nature. Then the other day you told me you were twenty-one next month—so is Marie. That was too much of a coincidence for me. Here,’ he handed her the report, ‘read the last paragraph.’

Sara took it from him. The last paragraph was short and to the point. ‘And so we have proved beyond doubt that Sara Hamille is in fact Sara Lindlay, the daughter of Michael Lindlay, and the twin of Marie Lindlay.’ Her eyes went to the name printed at the top of the sheet; the reputation of the firm was indisputable. She looked up at her father with an agonised expression, having read the information to herself. ‘But why?’ she groaned in a choked voice. ‘Why did you do it?’

‘Here,’ Dominic picked up the sheet and held it out to his partner. ‘You’d better read this too.’

Michael Lindlay made no effort to take it. ‘I can guess what it says,’ he said dully, a haunted expression to his face.

Dominic shrugged, dropping the report back on to the desk. ‘Then I second Sara’s query, why?’

‘Why did Rachel take Sara and I take Marie?’

‘Exactly!’ Sara said bitterly.

Michael drew a ragged breath. ‘I think Marie should be here to listen to this,’ he sighed. ‘I only want to have to say it the once. Will you go and get her, Dominic?’

‘Sara?’ Dominie frowned at her.

The man she had regarded as her enemy until a few minutes ago now seemed her only hold on reality. ‘Don’t leave me,’ she pleaded, her hand on his arm as she gazed up at him beseechingly.

His breath caught in his throat before his hand came out and grasped hers, his fingers firm and reassuring. ‘Maybe you should go and get Marie, Michael,’ he suggested quietly, still looking at Sara.

‘Of course,’ the other man agreed jerkily. ‘I—I won’t be a moment,’ and he closed the door with a decisive click.

Sara swallowed hard, shivering even though the day was warm, and removed her hand from Dominic’s. ‘I’m sorry,’ she told him softly. ‘I—I’m just so confused.’

‘It’s all right,’ he reassured her. ‘You really thought he was dead, didn’t you?’

‘Yes. You see, my mother always said—well, she said—–’

‘Michael’s told Marie the same thing about her mother.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s going to take some understanding.’

Sara didn’t think she would ever understand the cruelty of separating two babies not yet a year old. Why, she might have gone through her whole life without knowing the bond of her twin. What on earth had possessed her mother and father to do such a thing? She found it cruel in the extreme, and totally incomprehensible.

‘But, Daddy,’ Marie could be heard complaining as she came into the room, ‘I haven’t finished my make-up yet. Whatever can be so important that I can’t—Sara!’ She had turned around and seen her, and her face lit up with pleasure. ‘You came!’ She came over to take Sara’s hand in her own. ‘I’m so sorry about yesterday. I have these headaches, you see, and—– But you don’t want to
hear about that,’ a beaming smile banished all thought of yesterday’s painful migraine. She turned to look at her father. ‘You only had to say Sara was here, Daddy. There was no need to be so mysterious. Don’t you think the way we look so alike is just amazing?’ She held Sara at her side for her father’s opinion.

He was obviously too choked to speak, looking at the two of them in silent wonder.

‘Daddy?’ Marie prompted impatiently.

‘You’ll have to excuse your father,’ Dominic cut in. ‘I’m afraid he’s had rather a shock.’

Marie’s gaiety instantly left her, and she went to her father’s side. ‘What is it, Daddy?’ she searched his face with a worried frown. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked sharply.

‘It’s all right, Marie, just calm down,’ her father instantly soothed. ‘You’ve just got over one attack, don’t bring on another one.’ He smoothed her hair back from her face. ‘Now, let’s all go into the lounge and then we can talk in private—and comfort.’

Michael Lindlay—for Sara couldn’t bring herself to call him her father—seemed to have regained his equilibrium, taking control of the situation now that he had himself under control.

‘Would you like me to leave, Michael?’ Dominic asked him. ‘Let you talk to the two girls in private.’

‘No!’ Sara hadn’t meant her protest to be made quite so vehemently, but she couldn’t let Dominic go. She needed him.

‘She’s right,’ Michael Lindlay told him. ‘You have a right to be here. After all, you’re almost a member of this family yourself.’

‘What’s all this about?’ even the lighthearted Marie had sensed the tense atmosphere.

Michael Lindlay bit his bottom lip, obviously having trouble knowing where to start.

‘At the beginning, Michael,’ Dominic advised him, sitting in one of the armchairs while Marie and Sara
sat side by side on the sofa.

‘Yes. Yes.’ He began pacing the room. ‘Rachel and I were very young when we married, only eighteen and nineteen, too young really to know what it was all about. But nevertheless things were going well until Rachel became pregnant.’ He sighed. ‘We couldn’t afford to have a child. I hadn’t met your father then, Dominic, and I was still training to be an engineer, living on a pittance. A child was the last thing I needed at that time. But Rachel went into ecstasies about the coming baby, and for a while I think she forgot she had a husband. I’m not proud of what happened next—–’

‘Another woman?’ Sara put in bitterly.

He ran a hand through his grey-blond hair. ‘It was a stupid thing to do, stupid and childish. Rachel found out soon after—after the twins were born—–’

‘Twins?’ Marie echoed in an astounded voice. ‘Sara and I…?’ she asked dazedly.

‘Yes,’ their father nodded.

Marie turned to Sara with glowing eyes. ‘You really are my sister?’ she said excitedly.

Sara gave a shy smile, not knowing what reaction she had expected from Marie, but it certainly hadn’t been such unreserved pleasure. Resentment had been the more expected emotion.

‘That’s wonderful!’ Marie cried happily. ‘I’ve always wanted a sister, but a
twin
—–! That’s really fantastic!’

Sara wished she could share her sister’s questionless enthusiasm, but there was too much she still wanted to know, to try and understand. Unable to answer Marie, she simply took her hand in hers, holding on tightly. ‘Go on,’ she told her—father.

He drew a ragged breath, a catch in his throat as he looked at the two of them sitting so close together. ‘When Rachel found out,’ he continued huskily, ‘she ended our marriage right then and there, wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Oh, we continued to live together, a case of her staying with me for the sake of the
children. Then Rachel met Richard,’ he swallowed hard. ‘He was over here on business, and they fell in love. Rachel wanted to go back to America with him, taking the twins with her. I wouldn’t allow that, and she—she wouldn’t leave without them. In the end—–’

‘In the end you compromised!’ Sara finished shrilly. ‘You parted Marie and myself, took a child each.’

Her father looked at her pleadingly. ‘Try to understand—–’

‘There’s nothing
to
understand,’ she told him angrily. ‘You and my mother selfishly parted my twin and myself, because neither of you wanted to miss out! My God, you disgust me!’ Her voice rose to a shout.

‘Sara!’ Dominic warned. ‘Sara, don’t!’

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. ‘I know you mean well,’ she choked. ‘But I can’t
ever
forget what they did.’ She ran to the door. ‘I’m sorry, Marie, I’ll call you.’

‘Sara!’ Dominic caught hold of her arm. ‘Your father—–’

‘No!’ Her eyes flashed deeply brown. ‘Don’t ever call him that! Richard was my father. He certainly never hurt me as Mr Lindlay has. Now, please, let me go.’

He looked down at her with compassionate eyes. ‘I’ll take you home if you want to go. All right?’ he said softly.

She frowned, unable to think straight. ‘I—No—–’

‘Yes,’ he insisted firmly.

‘Shall I come with you?’ Marie wanted to know.

‘No, stay with your father,’ Dominic advised.

‘Could we please leave now?’ Sara muttered. ‘Before I make an absolute fool of myself and faint.’

‘Sara—–’

‘Not now, Michael,’ Dominic cut him off harshly. ‘Can’t you see what you’ve already done to her?’ he said savagely. ‘For God’s sake don’t say any more. Let’s get out of here,’ he muttered to Sara.

Sara sat miserably hunched up on her side of the
Rolls-Royce, too numb to care where he was driving or where he was taking her. To think that her mother, a woman she had always loved and admired, had committed that atrocity! How could two people do that to innocent children, change their lives so completely before they had even begun?

‘I really had no idea,’ Dominic broke the silence. ‘No idea at all,’ he repeated with a shake of his head. ‘It seems incredible to think I’ve known Michael all these years, and all the time he was hiding this secret.’

‘I knew my mother all my life,’ she said bitterly. ‘And I would never have thought her capable of something like this.’

Dominic shrugged. ‘She was very young, only your age—–’

‘You think I could do a thing like that?’ she rounded on him angrily.

He gave her a sideways glance. ‘No, I don’t think you could. But put yourself in her place. Go on, Sara,’ he said firmly as she went to protest. ‘Right. Now you’re married to a man you no longer love, you have two children by him. Suddenly you meet a man you do love, and you want to be with him, but your husband refuses to give up his children. What do you do?’

‘I—Why I—He should have let my mother take both of us,’ she declared. ‘It was pure selfishness—–’

‘Wasn’t it selfish of your mother to want both the children, to take them thousands of miles away? She already had the man she loved, your father was left with nothing.’

‘He—I—–’ she frowned. ‘Separating us was not the answer!’

‘I agree. But what was? Can you tell me?’

Sara bit her lip. ‘No …’ she finally admitted.

‘Your father has suffered for that one lapse in their relationship,’ Dominic told her quietly.