Reluctant Relation (8 page)

She supposed he must feel annoyed and rebuffed. It was difficult to see how anyone could feel otherwise in the circumstances. But she had to hand it to him, he controlled his feelings admirably, and didn’t give the slightest hint that she was less welcome than Felicity would have been.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because she felt she had to plunge into her role right away, she said as they moved off, “I’m really thrilled about this evening!”

“Are you?” He must have realized that there was something genuinely friendly in this confidence, for he gave her an indulgent smile. “Didn’t they have much of this kind of thing in your home town?”

“Oh, no! Or, if they did, I didn’t have a chance to go.”

“Then we must see that tonight is a very special occasion,” he said, still smiling faintly.

“Oh, it will be almost enough just to wear this gorgeous dress and watch the fun,” she assured him. “I don’t mind if I do a lot of looking on. After all, I don’t know most of the people there.”

“You know me.”

“Yes, of course. And Dick Manners. Though I believe Dick has many duties in connection with the evening.”

“I don’t have any duties in connection with the evening,” he informed her with a smile.

“No, but—”

“But what?” he wanted to know.

“You mustn’t feel that you have to bother
about me.
You ...
there’ll be other friends you want to spend your time with.”

She couldn’t imagine why she had said that. It was the sort of thing opposite to what Felicity wanted her to say, but something deep inside her suddenly rebelled at the way Leigh was being treated.

However, if she had intended her words to induce sympathetic reaction, she could hardly have been more successful. He took one hand from the wheel and lightly patted hers as they lay in her lap.

“Nice child,” he said. “It won’t be any bother to see that you enjoy your evening. And thanks for the reference to ‘other friends.’ That makes you one by implication.”

“Does it?” she said doubtfully.

“Well ...
doesn’t it?” He flashed her a laughing glance. “Or are you still determined to rate me an objectionable fellow?”

“I never said you were ... that,” she protested.

“You gave a very good impression of thinking it,” he assured her good-humoredly. “And you snubbed me when I tried to find out why.”

“I’m sorry.” She was sorry, too. It had nothing to do with playing a part or trying to engage his attention for the evening. She was just suddenly sorry that she had been curt and unfriendly from the beginning.

“Forget it,” he said easily.

But she could not quite forget it. Instead she said slowly, and with a little difficulty,

“I think I was
a bit ...
mixed up in my own mind about things. I felt
resentful ...
You see, I—”

“My dear,” he interrupted her, with a gentle note in his voice, “You don’t have to apologize or explain. You’d have been superhuman if you’d managed to welcome me into your circle of friends, once you knew who I was. It must be hard to have someone take one’s place in one’s own home. And although I’m not disloyal to my sister, I’m aware that Claire could not have been an easy supplanter.”

“Oh, you ...
you do know that?” she said in a small voice.

“Yes,” he replied, without elaboration. And, after a long while, she said softly,

“Thank you.
It’s ...
nice of you to understand.”

“One never really understands another person’s troubles and heartache,” was the astonishing admission he then made. “But one can try to. Here we are, Cinderella. The evening is yours.”

She had been so engaged in the conversation that she had not noticed their arrival at the hotel where the ball was being held. But as they drew up before the floodlit entrance, she saw that crowds were being held back with some difficulty, and that Felicity was pausing for a moment to smile into a battery of cameras.

“Now it’s your turn,” Leigh told her with a smile. To her astonishment, as she stepped out of his car, she heard the clicking of cameras once more.

An attendant took Leigh’s car away to the parking lot and they entered the building together.

The foyer was crowded, and for a moment Meg couldn’t see Felicity. Then her father and Claire detached themselves from an animated group and came over to her and Leigh.

“My dear child!” There was no mistaking her father’s pride in her appearance. “Pearl was quite right. This is a surprise! And a lovely surprise, at that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so beautiful.”

Meg smiled and said, “It’s the dress. Isn’t it lovely?”

“Very grand.” That was Claire, surveying Meg with an air of dissatisfied astonishment.

“But gorgeously simple too,” interjected her brother easily. “She’ll be the envy of all the women here.”

“Well—” Claire raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly, as though to say she could be counted out of that. “Where did you get it, Meg dear?”

“Why, Felicity lent it to me.”

“Oh, it’s borrowed,” said Claire, in a tone calculated to take all pleasure and glamor away from it.

At that moment, Felicity swept up to them and addressed Claire as though she had known her all her life.

“It’s not really,” she explained. “I’m going to make her keep it, because no one else would ever be able to wear it as well as she does. You must be Meg’s stepmother,” she ended sweetly, in some inexplicable way adding ten years to Claire’s age by that simple statement.

“And you,” Felicity added, turning to Dr. Greenway with her most ravishing smile, “Must be her father. You must both be really proud of your daughter tonight. I’m going to keep you both with me while I tell you what a jewel she’s been.”

And linking her arms with a willing Dr. Greenway and an unwilling Claire, she swept them towards the ballroom.

Meg and Leigh followed at a distance and, glancing at him, Meg saw that he was biting his lips to keep from smiling.

“I love Felicity!” she exclaimed almost passionately.

“So do I, unfortunately,” he admitted. “When I’m not longing to wring her neck, I mean. But that’s always the way. Just as one feels one could kill her, she does something utterly generous and humorous and imaginative like that.”

“I’m so sorry,” Meg said sincerely.

“About what?”

“I mean ... about your loving her ... unfortunately, as you say. I’m afraid it hurts a lot if one ... feels that way and ... and doesn’t have the feeling returned.”

“It does,” he agreed dryly. “Shall we dance?”

So they danced. Meg made the discovery that Leigh was an exceedingly good dancer, and that their steps matched excellently. She was sorry when Dick Manners came up at the end of the dance, and said, “You can’t have all the fun, Leigh. Please let me have the next dance, Meg, before I get bogged down again with all those reporters.”

She laughed. But she let Dick take her away, and she was amused and gratified to have him say, “Don’t let Leigh monopolize you. Some other men want to dance with the prettiest woman in the room too.”

“You know perfectly well that description doesn’t apply to me ... particularly with your sister in the same room,” Meg told him. “But thanks for the pretence. It does lots for my morale.”

“Surely your morale doesn’t need any boosting tonight.” He looked down at her, with a lazy interest that was almost affectionate.

“Only when Claire ... when my stepmother’s around. And Felicity dealt with her superbly. I must say, you’re an extraordinarily nice family in your attitude toward me.”

“Tell me about Felicity downing the stepmother,” he begged. When she told him the story, Dick laughed heartily and said he was sorry to have missed “the cat show.”

She was faintly shocked at the term, but that only made him laugh again and protest that she was “too scrupulous in the choice of weapons.”

“My sister and your stepmother are probably well able to measure each other up,” he assured her lightly. “They’re two of a kind, really.”

“They’re nothing of the sort!” retorted Meg indignantly. “Felicity is ten times nicer.”

He looked down at her and very slightly tightened' his arm. “You’re genuinely fond of Felicity, aren’t you?” he said.

“Why ...
yes, I suppose I am,” Meg agreed slowly. “I don’t often say that about people. I mean ... it doesn’t come easily to me to express affection—”

“No, I know.” He looked quite serious for a moment, and, in some odd way, melancholy. “You’re the sanest and most stable thing that’s come into our circle for a long time, Meg. Don’t go out of it too quickly, will you?”

“Why, Dick—” she was both astonished and touched by his words, and, even more, by the serious tone of his voice “—how very nice of you to say that. But it’s a bit of an exaggeration, I’m afraid. I find you all most endearing and attractive—but really, I’m just a rather ordinary person.”

“Oh, no.” He shook his head and smiled. “You’re the rather extraordinary girl who has had an influence on all of us.”

“I don’t kno
w
what you mean!” she exclaimed.

“No? Well, it’s a little difficult to describe. But you have a stabilizing effect on Felicity ... and therefore, to some extent, on all of us.”

“On ...
you, for instance?” Meg asked incredulously.

“Yes, even on me, I suppose.” He laughed, as though the idea surprised and amused him. “At least you make my life easier.”

“Do I, Dick?”

“Yes ... bless you.” He dropped a light kiss on the top of her head, which half embarrassed and half charmed her. No one else had ever done anything like that to her before.

“Well, I’m
glad ...
though rather puzzled,” she admitted. “I thought all I was doing was keeping an eye on Pearl, and seeing that she had a more natural life than she seemed to be having when I first found her.”

“Basically, that’s the truth, of course,” he agreed. “But you can’t
c
reate an oasis of calm and sanity in Felicity’s crazy world without having it spread beyond the immediate objective.”

“I suppose not. Anyway, I’m very glad, if that’s what I’m doing.” Meg looked up at him happily. “And, to return to what you asked in the beginning ... I’m truly fond of Felicity. And I think I rather like her crazy world.”

“It has its charm.” He shrugged very slightly.
“And
so, of course, has she. But don’t let her use you too much, Meg.”

“Use me? I don’t think she uses me.”

“Of course she does. She uses all of us but with such charm and such flashes of generosity and affection that we let her do it. But most of us know the game better than you do, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I don’t think there’s any way in which I could get hurt,” Meg assured him gravely.

“No?” He smiled dryly. Then, almost irrelevantly, asked, “What did she ask you to do regarding Leigh Sontigan?”

“Leigh? Oh—” she blushed a clear pink. “That was
just ...
How did you know?” she inquired quickly. “Did she tell you?”

“No, of course not. But by now I can guess Felicity’s actions and reactions to a hair’s breadth. Make no mistake, I’m very fond of her. But I have no illusions about her. I suppose she asked you to keep Leigh out of the way, while she had a good time with Max?”

“ ‘Take him off her hands’ was the expression,” Meg conceded, with a flash of humor.

“I see.” And, as she glanced up at him, she saw a slight tightening of his handsome mouth. It struck her for the first time that Dick was an unexpectedly strong and determined person behind his casual exterior.

“Don’t take the instructions too seriously,” he said.

“I didn’t. At least, I began to feel that it wasn’t fair to him, and so—”

“To him?” Dick asked in surprise. “I was thinking it wasn’t fair to you.”

“I haven’t any stake in the game,” Meg declared surprisedly.

“But you might, my dear, you might. Sontigan’s an attractive fellow. If the process of ‘taking him off Felicity’s hands’ were prolonged, you might become involved yourself.”

“Grow fond of him, do you mean?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

“Oh no!” said Meg, and laughed. “No, really, that isn’t likely. He isn’t my type.”

Then suddenly she stopped laughing, because she remembered Felicity saying, “Leigh Sontigan should suit you perfectly.” And although the words were ridiculous, the recollection of them made her feel apprehensive.

CHAPTER SIX

During that whole enchanted evening, Meg never once lost the delicious feeling of being Cinderella at the ball.

The gorgeous dress and the fact that she had never looked so lovely in her life of course contributed greatly to the general fairytale atmosphere, but it was more the conviction that none of this had anything to do with her kind of life, which made the evening magnificent.

That both Dick Manners and Leigh Sontigan should compete in a friendly way for her company throughout the evening seemed in keeping with the fact that she neither looked nor felt as she had ever looked or felt before in her life.

In addition, she was aware that Claire cast an occasional critical glance in her direction, but this only served to add to the general pleasure. After all, a stepmother is part of most fairy tales!

Once during the evening Meg found herself near Felicity for a few minutes, and her employer asked her how she was enjoying herself.

“Enormously!” Meg declared. “And thank you for speaking so kindly about me to my father. I think he was gratified.”

“And the stepmother? Was she gratified too?” asked Felicity, with a roguish little smile.

“Well, you dealt with her very expertly, anyway.” Meg smiled in return. “It was nice of you to pretend that you were going to give me the dress, so that she—”

“It wasn’t pretence. I am giving you the dress.”

“Oh, you can’t! Not anything as beautiful and valuable as this! I haven’t done a thing to deserve it and—”

“But you have. And anyway, the dress looks so lovely on you that no one else ought to wear it ever,” Felicity declared. “How are you getting along with Leigh?”

“Very well. But about the dress—”

“No. Not about the dress. It’s yours. Tell me about Leigh instead.”

Meg felt guiltily that there was not very much to tell her about Leigh but she said earnestly, “I’ve spent a good deal of the evening with him, as you’ve probably noticed—”

“No. I’ve been otherwise engaged,” declared Felicity, with that quick smile. “But go on.”

“He has been a very nice and easy companion, and never once made me feel that he wished he were partnering someone else. If he’s looked on it as a social duty—”

“I don’t think,” interrupted Felicity indulgently, “that ‘duty’ is the word any man would connect with you tonight. You’ve made quite a hit with Dick, by the way.”

“Oh—” Meg laughed, on a note of genuine pleasure “—he’s so kind and amusing. But then everyone has been so kind to me tonight.”

“That’s as it should be,” Felicity said agreeably. Then the chairman of the Charity Ball Committee came to appropriate her. Meg’s father appeared and took her off to have supper with Claire and Leigh and himself. There was an excellent cabaret, and apart from the fact that Claire was rather silent, this was as enjoyable a part of the evening as any.

On Leigh’s suggestion and with the enthusiastic support of Dr. Greenway it was arranged that they dine out together the following evening, pr
o
vided Meg could get more time off.

“We won’t be here more than a day or two longer,” her father said, “and we’d like one family evening together.”

Leigh said, “Yes, indeed,” and because Claire said nothing at all, the suggestion was unopposed.

“Maybe we could all gather at my place for drinks first about six-thirty.” Leigh suggested. “I’m sorry I can’t fetch you, Meg. I have a conference in the afternoon and can’t just say when I’ll get away. Perhaps your father—”

“No, it’s all right, thanks,” Meg insisted. “I’ll come in by bus.” After a slight but amiable argument on this point, it was agreed that Meg should make her way to Leigh’s flat on her own, especially after Claire reminded her husband that he was meeting a colleague the following afternoon and might not want to hurry away.

It wasn’t possible to ask Felicity about having the next evening off until it was almost time to go home, but she agreed immediately, though in equivocal terms.

“With whom, dear? Leigh? Why, of course. As a matter of fact, that’s a good idea.”

Meg hastened to explain that it was to be a family party but Felicity seemed to take little account of that, and repeated, “An excellent idea under the circumstances.”

Inevitably, Meg found herself the odd passenger in Max Trenton’s car on the way home. Since he was staying within a mile or two of Purworth, he naturally took Felicity home, and there was plenty of spare room in his car for Meg.

Meg made herself as scarce as possible in the back of the car, but even so, she felt like an eavesdropper, as the two in front laughed and talked intimately, with their heads close together. At no point did they offer to include her in the conversation.

Finally she pretended to go to sleep, and only roused herself, with convincing signs of sleepy confusion when they reached home.

Everyone slept late the next morning, even Pearl, who had been allowed to stay up late the previous evening. They spent most of the day discussing the Ball for Pearl’s benefit.

“I enjoyed it a great deal more than I usually enjoy these things,” Felicity admitted. “But then, of course, Max was there,”

“So was Leigh,” said Pearl, a little defensively.

“Yes, Meg had a lovely time with him,” her mother returned carelessly.

“Did you, Meg?” The little girl turned eagerly to her.

“Why, certainly. And with your Uncle Dick and ... and other people,” Meg explained hastily.

“But particularly with Leigh,” Felicity reiterated, with a mischievous laugh. “She’s going out with him again this evening, aren’t you, Meg?”

“With my father and stepmother too,” Meg reminded her firmly.

“Darling, what bad management on your part, if you don’t mind my saying so! I think your father’s sweet, but I certainly would have managed to give Claire the slip for the evening.”

“Somewhat difficult, since the invitation was for a family dinner,” Meg pointed out, smiling.

“I’d have managed something,” Felicity said, looking sweet and vague. Meg had no doubt whatever that she would.

It was easy enough to make the journey to Newcastle by bus, and she got off within walking distance of Leigh’s apartment.

She was a little early, so she walked slowly, taking in the charm and elegance of the houses around her and reflecting that Leigh must certainly be in “the upper income bracket” if he lived in this neighborhood.

Slowly though she had walked, she had still arrived before her host.

“But Mrs. Greenway is here, madam,” the butler explained. “Please come this way.”

And against her will, Meg was shown into a long, pleasant drawing room where Claire was waiting.

“Hello—” Claire glanced up from the fashion magazine she had been studying “—we both seem to have beaten our menfolk. Leigh phoned to say he had been delayed, but hopes to be here in half an hour, and I don’t know what has happened to your father.”

“He and Dr. Shepherd probably started about old times,” Meg said with a smile. “He’d forget all about the time.”

There was slight pause. Then, to make conversation, Meg went on “—Wasn’t it fun last night?”

“I noticed you had lots of fun,” Claire agreed.

“Didn’t you?” asked Meg.

“Oh, yes, certainly.” Claire flipped a few pages idly. Without looking up, she went on, “I wonder at you being patronized by that shallow Felicity Manners.”

“I wouldn’t describe her as shallow, and she never attempts to patronize me,” replied Meg, with self-control. “What makes you think she does?”

“Why, letting you borrow her clothes when she has no more use for them; and at the same time calling you ‘darling’ in that condescending way.”

Meg took a deep breath and silently counted to ten. Then she said dryly, “I don’t think you could have been in a very good mood last night, Claire, if that was the way you interpreted Felicity’s generosity and friendliness. Nothing could have been nicer than the way she insisted on lending me her lovely dress. It was a charming gesture, which gave me a lot of pleasure. And
incidentally
provided me with a much livelier evening than I’d have otherwise had. It does things to one to wear a dress like that.”

“Yes, I noticed it went to your head.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know perfectly well what I mean.”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Well, really Meg—” Claire shrugged deprecatingly “—if you don’t know that you made yourself conspicuous, throwing yourself at Leigh like that—!”

“I did nothing of the sort!” exclaimed Meg angrily. “You have absolutely no right to say such a thing.”

“Well, didn’t you see to it that he spent most of the evening with you, even though—”

“Leigh had no need to spend any more of the evening with me than he himself wished,” said Meg coldly.

“
Well, of course, it’s no concern of mine if you choose to make yourself conspicuous—”

“There at least you’re right,” agreed Meg shortly.

“But it is my business if I think my brother’s heading for disaster.”

“I gather that by ‘disaster’ you mean me?”

“Well, I don’t want to put it too bluntly,” said Claire. “But yes, I do think it would be a bad thing for Leigh to get entangled with you. I don’t think you’re the right girl for him at all.”

In an effort to control her anger, Meg got up and walked across the room and back again. Then she stopped in front of the other girl and said, as calmly as she could, “If you weren’t
m
y father’s wife, Claire, I’d walk out now and never speak to you again. I know you dislike me and are, quite unnecessarily, jealous of me. But, in common decency, you might try to conceal the fact better. You’ve invented this whole ridiculous, offensive story for your own malicious pleasure. Ther
e
’s no question whatever of Leigh’s getting entangled with
me ...
or, for the matter of that, my getting entangled with him. Why you should ever have thought so I simply can’t imagine!”

“Perhaps Because I know a little more about the general background than you imagine,” replied Claire, apparently unmoved by this outburst though she shifted slightly in her chair. “Leigh wrote to me, just after my marriage, and said I might be hearing similar news from him soon. That’s one reason why I persuaded Gerald to bring me to Northumberland for the sec
o
nd half of our honeymoon. I used my eyes and ears, and as far as I can see there’s only one girl who’s seeing a lot of Leigh, and that's you. You mustn’t be surprised if I draw the obvious conclusion.”

“But—” Meg gave a furious little laugh—
“
you’ve got the whole thing wrong! I wasn’t the girl he expected to marry. By the time I came on the scene that was all over.”

“What do you mean by that?” Claire did look slightly shaken at last. “Who was the girl, then?”

“I can’t see that it’s your business, but I suppose you could find out by asking any one of half a dozen people. For what I suppose was a very short while, he was engaged to Felicity.”

“Felicity Manners!” The prospect seemed hardly more palatable to Claire than her original story. “But she hardly spoke to him last night.”

“No. I know. That was my—”

“Your what?” asked Claire sharply as Meg stopped abruptly.

“
It doesn’t matter.”

“I suppose you were going to say that was your chance,” said Claire contemptuously. “So I wasn’t far off.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything of the sort,” retorted Meg, now too angry to pick her words with care. “I was going to say that was my role. I was to take Leigh off Felicity’s hands because she
wanted to enjoy herself with someone else. If any of my conduct looked at all forward under your malicious microscope, that was the explanation. Now perhaps you’ll realize how silly you’ve been.”

And, turning sharply away from her, Meg almost collided with someone who had come quietly into the room and was standing behind her. For a moment she thought it was her father, and was ashamed that he should have heard her speaking to Claire that way. Then she saw it was Leigh ... and was immediately engulfed in the most unspeakable dismay she had ever experienced.

“I ...
I’m sorry,” she stamme
re
d inadequately. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

“So I
gathered,” he said. “Will you have a drink?” He went over to a side table where bottles and glasses were set out.

“Sh-sherry, please,” she managed to say, over the lump in her throat. But she still stood there, staring at his broad back in embarrassment and misery.

She had apologized for nearly knocking into him. At least she supposed that was what she had apologized for, in that first breathless reaction. But
how ...
in what possible words ... did one apologize for the awful, humiliating insult she had given him?

If only Claire had not been there, she would have found some way, however inadequate, to extract some of the sting from what she had said. But Claire was there, smiling in a faintly satisfied way, as if she wanted to drive a wedge between her brother and Meg.

At last, her father arrived—cheerful, apologetic, and unaware of any undercurrents in the interchange of family chit-chat. His presence gave Meg a sense of relief. At least she could talk to him without feeling overwhelmed by shame and regret. For his sake she made a tremendous effort to appear natural and happy, and, in so doing, she regained some measure of self-possession.

Once they left the intimacy of Leigh’s home and drove to the restaurant it was a little easier. Meg sat beside her father in the car, while Claire sat in front with Leigh.

During the drive Meg whispered, “Father, have you got your car handy? I want you to drive me home tonight.”

“Why, yes, my dear. I parked it near Leigh’s place. There didn’t seem any sense in taking two cars downtown—”

“No, no. Not for now. It’s all right this way for now. But later please see that it’s you who drives me home.
I ...
I’ve seen so little of you,” she explained rather feverishly.

“Well, we didn’t do too badly the last two days,” he pointed out good-humoredly. But he put his arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Is anything wrong, Meg?”

“No, no,” she assured him. “Nothing at all.” But she had a great desire to put her head down against him and cry.

Leigh was a proud man—she felt sure of that. There was a touch of arrogance about him, justified by his good looks, his vitality, and the position he had made for himself in the world. But it must have been embarrassing for him to hear that her friendliness the previous evening had been dictated by the necessity of obliging Felicity.

Anyway,
thought Meg miserably,
that wasn’t my principal reason for being friendly toward him. I’d got over that silly early prejudice about his being Claire’s brother. He was so understanding and generous about my difficulties with her. I can’t
bear
that he should think the whole thing was a bit of make-believe on my part.

At the same time, she could not imagine herself trying to explain things to him. The thought of having to drive home to Purworth with him put her in a panic.

All things considered, they contrived to have an outwardly agreeable evening. Except for Dr. Greenway, they must all have had considerable strain put upon their social discipline, Meg supposed, but they came through well.

Only once did she dare to look directly at Leigh, and then she found his dark eyes fixed upon her with a cold expression she had never seen before. He looked as though he were summing her up in a new light and not liking the result.