Authors: Unknown
She waved back before setting off to cover the distance between them. She was out of breath by the time she joined him beside the erection of corrugated iron and straw bales intended as a wind-break for the sheep when the winter really arrived.
‘Will this really be sufficient to protect the ewes in bad weather?’ she asked.
‘So Farr says, and he should know. They’ll all be built to protect the animals from the prevailing wind and they’re stronger than they look. Here, sit down and tell me if you don’t find it cosy,’ and Rex picked up his jacket from the top of one of the bales and threw it down for her to sit.
She slid to the ground and found immediate warmth now the wind was not playing on her face. She looked up, unconsciously giving Rex one of her dimpling smiles as she said, ‘The old boy certainly knows his business. It makes a tremendous difference. But are the sheep sensible enough to make use of them?’
A glint appeared for a moment in Rex’s hard eyes, but he said mildly enough in answer to her question, ‘Most animals have an enormous sense of self-preservation, an instinct if you like.’ He leaned to take the shoulder bag and pour out their tea as he spoke.
Handing a cup to Davina, he went on, ‘This is only the first We’ll be building others. I think they’re all in lamb and I don’t want to lose any mums-to-be.’
‘You sound almost as if you care for them as individuals,’ Davina replied. ‘I would have thought after a lifetime of sheep rearing they’d just be so many pounds of wool or so many pounds of meat to you.’
Immediately the heavy lids closed to slits and the mouth of the man facing her thinned to a stem line. Davina’s hand clenched hard on the plastic cup as she saw her careless comment had dissipated all hint of the softer mood she had sensed during breakfast. Falling in love seemed to have robbed her of all her usual tact and charm. Or was it simply that Rex undermined her self-confidence?
Whatever the reason, her tactless remark had made him withdraw behind an icy barrier once more, and with an indifferent, ‘Thanks for the tea. I must get on now,’ he wandered away from the sheep shelter, examining a ewe here and there at random. Feeling as if her spirits had reached rock bottom, Davina sat huddled miserably against the straw until a shout brought her upright to see Peter McKay waving excitedly as he cantered George along the track.
By the time she was on her feet, Rex was striding rapidly back and he exclaimed angrily when he came within earshot, ‘What’s got into the boy? I’ve told him repeatedly not to canter over those loose stones.’
‘It looks as if he’s the bearer of tidings,’ Davina answered pedantically, but she was secretly glad that the youngster had broken the ice. Her guess proved to be correct, for as soon as they reached the field gate Peter scrambled to the ground and said, ‘You’ve got visitors, Gaffer. I was saddling old George here, so I said I’d come and tell you.’
Rex looked amused, Davina noticed as he took the reins out of the boy’s hand. ‘I’d forgotten it was Saturday. Who’s visiting this time of day?’
‘Mr Thomas and his sister. They said they’d wait.’
Rex was in the saddle and lengthening the stirrups almost before the boy had finished speaking. ‘Right, I’ll ride on. You walk Miss Davina back—and mind you shut the gate,’ he ordered over Peter’s head to a silent Davina.
Davina went back to fetch the tea things and noticed that in his eagerness to see Adele, Rex had forgotten he was only in shirt sleeves. She picked up the jacket and went back to where Peter was waiting for her by the field gate. He chattered happily all the way back to the house, leaving Davina to follow slowly. She was not looking forward to inventing more lies about last night to appease Jim and even less to having to sit and watch Adele playing off her tricks for Rex’s benefit.
For this reason she pressed the boy to come in for a sandwich and some lemonade, knowing it was an inducement he would be unable to resist. As she had anticipated, Adele Wickham looked very much at ease sitting beside Rex at the kitchen table, a glass in her hand and laughing at something he had just said to her.
She looked more like a fashion plate than usual today, Davina thought, glancing dejectedly down at her own workmanlike outfit. Adele was in slacks and jumper as well, but they bore little resemblance to Davina’s chain store apparel. Adele’s black trousers and top had been made by a master hand and over them she wore a leopardskin jacket. Real leopardskin, Davina noted. No simulated fur for Adele.
She had thrown it back, perhaps because the room was warm, more likely, Davina thought uncharitably, to show off her excellent figure to better advantage. As the door opened, Adele glanced round disinterestedly and with no more than a casual wave of the hand, turned back to give Rex her full attention.
The two men, however, got to their feet, Rex to open two bottles of bitter lemon and Jim to pull out a chair to let Davina sit down. As Rex handed a glass to Davina and another to Peter, Adele watched with a mixture of amusement and contempt on her lovely face.
‘I take it neither of the children is allowed anything stronger,’ she drawled as Davina lifted the glass to her lips.
To her surprise, Rex came to the rescue. ‘Davina’s still got a headache and spirits would only make it worse.’
‘In that case, she won’t feel like coming tonight,’ Adele stated flatly, and Davina gave her a glance of sheer surprise. If the notion weren’t completely ridiculous, she would have said Adele was jealous. If she only knew the truth of the real situation between the two occupants of Nineveh Farm, she thought grimly, she would know there was no competition here!
But when Jim took her part too she saw the reason for Adele's antagonism towards her. She simply expected to be the centre of attention all the time and any woman was a threat to her egotism. When Jim added, ‘It will do Davina good to get out for a change, and she’s worked like a Trojan since she came to Nineveh. Look at this kitchen for a start.’
Adele gave an impatient shrug. ‘It’s no good asking my opinion. I don’t believe I was ever inside the place before Rex bought it,’ and she smiled at the big man sitting beside her. As she turned to give Rex the full benefit of her smile, she suddenly noticed that Peter, fascinated by the fur of her jacket, was softly stroking one of the sleeves.
‘Take your hands away, you disgusting little boy!’ she spat, then as Peter, startled by the shrewish attack, jumped and tilted his glass, Adele sprang to her feet and began shaking herself.
‘Now look what he’s done!’ she demanded of the assembled company. ‘I’m covered in lemonade!’ and she began ineffectively to wipe off the spot or two which had landed on the sleeve of her coat.
Quickly Davina fetched a damp cloth and with a quiet, ‘Stand still,' began to clean up the damage. It was with some relief that she heard Rex give a laugh and say in matter-of-fact tones, ‘No harm done, Adele. See, there’s not so much as a mark,’ as he pushed Davina gently aside and smiled down at Adele. As he gently pressed her down into a chair he added to Peter, ‘Go and see to George, Peter, and give him a rub down before he has his oats. Lunch will be ready in half an hour.’
Peter couldn’t wait to make his escape and when Adele said sulkily, ‘I wonder you let him hang around up here,’ Davina met Jim’s eyes and was surprised to see he was giving her a conspiratorial wink. After holding her glance for a moment he turned to his sister and said, ‘Drink up, old girl. If Mrs Hepburn is to have a buffet supper ready by this evening she won’t be too pleased if we’re late for lunch.’
Jim got up as he spoke and with a whispered, ‘I’ll expect to see you later along with Rex,’ went to help Adele to her feet However, she had other ideas and was holding out both hands towards Rex. Davina watched as Rex took them, pulled her to her feet and with a casual arm thrown round her shapely body, guided her towards the door.
Giving a sigh of relief, Davina started to clear away the dirty glasses, wishing she could speak her mind about Adele’s spiteful outburst when Peter had spilled his drink. But if Rex was developing a soft spot for the spoiled beauty, that would never do. She was in enough trouble with him already without adding jealousy to the list of her failings.
When man and boy came in for lunch, Davina was glad to see Peter seemed to have forgotten the unpleasant episode earlier, for he chattered quite happily all through the meal. He looked up from watching Rex roll a cigarette to ask, ‘Have you decided about the Nativity play? Mrs Matthews asked me to ask you.’ He turned to Rex. ‘And she wants to know if you’ll be one of the Kings, Gaffer. I’m going to be a shepherd,’ he finished, a note of pride in the boyish voice.
Rex looked over his head to meet Davina’s eyes-and to her chagrin, a flush coloured her cheeks, A corner of Rex’s straight mouth twitched before he turned to address the boy. ‘I don’t see why not. You can tell the Rector’s mother we’ll be at the next rehearsal, whenever that is.’
‘Next Wednesday. And I told Mrs Matthews you’d let us have a sheep for the night,’ said Peter, his blue eyes bright.
Rex reached over and ruffled the boy’s hair. ‘Take a lot for granted, don’t you, young ’un? Okay, if it’s that important to you. But it will have to be one of the rams. You’ll have to train him to behave in church.’
Apparently this appealed to Peter’s sense of humour, because he went away, a last slice of cake in his hand, and still giggling, to clean the tack. As Rex drained the teapot for a final cup of tea Davina burst out, ‘How on earth am I to explain spending Christmas up here? We always go to Switzerland every Christmas.’
Rex gave her a satirical smile, drained his cup and got up. Just when she thought he was not going to trouble to answer he turned, an unpleasant glint in his eyes, to drawl, ‘I’m sure your agile brain will think of something. By the way, we’re invited to Thomas’s place this evening. Be ready by seven-thirty, and I understand food is laid on, so there’s no need to get a meal before we go.’
Determined not to be the Cinderella of the party, Davina dressed with care. She had not worn the dress she had bought for her grandmother’s birthday party since and she ironed it carefully before taking a long, leisurely bath. Tonight, her hair behaved itself and she was quite pleased with her appearance until she followed Rex into Jim’s big drawing room and caught a glimpse of Adele holding court amid a circle of admiring males.
Tonight she was clad in a jade green dress of some clinging material, so cleverly cut that it looked as if she had been poured into it. As soon as she saw Rex, Adele deserted the group around her to walk over and greet him, raising her face in obvious expectation of a kiss.
Rex merely smiled beguilingly into the lovely face raised to his and said softly, ‘That’s a very seductive perfume you’re wearing.’
A stab of jealousy tore through Davina’s breast at his words and she watched as Adele tucked a hand through his arm and led him away, saying laughingly, ‘Glad you like it.’ How arrogantly sure of themselves they were, Davina thought, and turned to see that Jim had also witnessed the incident and was standing watching his aster’s progress down the long room with an unusually serious expression in his eyes.
Jim, she could see, did not care for the relationship developing between Adele and Rex Fitzpaine and hoping her face had not been such a give-away as his own, she summoned up a smile. She had already seen one or two people she recognised from her previous visit here, and when Jim had supplied her with a soft drink, she left him to his duties as host and began to circulate.
Determined to put out of her mind the couple now dancing closely entwined on the space cleared at one end of the room, Davina stopped to speak to Tom Mulholland, partnered this evening by a pretty redhead whom he introduced to Davina as ‘the sexiest nurse south of the Border.’ She was also one of the nicest, Davina decided after five minutes’ conversation, for Deborah Sawyer was easy to talk to and lost no time in complimenting her on her appearance.
T looked for a dress like that everywhere this summer, but I daresay you bought it in London,’ Deborah said, and at Davina’s nod she added, ‘Thought as much. Newcastle's a good place to shop, but unfortunately my off duty always seems to fall on their half day.’
This was the kind of frank, uncomplicated girly talk which Davina discovered suddenly she was missing, and she found herself unconsciously responding to Deborah’s warm friendliness. They were only brought down to earth by Jim appearing at Davina’s side to say, ‘Can anyone join in?’ and hear Tom say in reply, ‘Thank goodness you’ve come, Jim. These two have forgotten I’m even here. Take Dav for a dance so I can get this one’s attention for a couple of minutes,’ and he pulled Deborah against his shoulder.
‘Poor Tom,’ Jim said as he led her away. ‘He’s been trying to get Deborah to make a date for months. Then I find you playing gooseberry!’
‘But I thought...’ Davina started, her eyes on Adele, then stopped as Jim turned to follow her glance to where his sister was making no secret of her special interest in the tall, handsome man holding her as they danced.
‘Everyone for miles around has imagined themselves in love with Adele at one time or another,’ Jim said in a sober voice. ‘I’d hoped all that nonsense was over once she had a wedding ring on her finger, but I can see it starting all over again.’
‘If you’re worrying about Rex, I can assure you you’ve no need to,’ Davina replied tardy. ‘He’s well able to take care of himself.’
She came down to earth with a bump as she found Jim’s eyes on hers with something approaching surprise in their depths before he quickly changed the subject and began to talk trivial nonsense. By the time the dance was over and he had to go and see all his guests were supplied with drinks, Davina had almost forgotten how nearly she had given herself away and when Roy Comstone, a brimming glass in his hand, appeared like a genie at her side, she was ready to turn and talk to him with her normal cool composure.
Roy lifted the glass and poured half its contents down his throat. ‘You and Jim got a thing going?’
Taken by surprise, Davina laughed. ‘I haven’t a thing going with anyone. Not that it’s any of your business.’