Act of Betrayal (15 page)

photographs younger. I could see what would attract him attract

any man. She had a pleasant voice and a lovely smile. She was

pregnant and blooming, and I sat across the road in a taxi and

hated her for all of it.' Laura sighed. 'It was a silly

hysterical thing to do, but I wasn't thinking very straight.'

'You spoke to her?' Bethany's eyebrows climbed to her hairline,

and Laura smiled reluctantly. 'No, I didn't go that far. But she

stopped to talk to some people neighbours, I think and I could

hear what she was saying. They called her Mrs Wingard, and I

remember thinking that hadn't been On the detective's report. It

made me very angry and so it was possible to do what I had to do

next.' She paused. T went across London to see Jason.' He had

just been coming out of the studio. When he saw her his face lit

up with surprise, and what she would have sworn was delight. He

said, ' I was going to 'phone tonight and tell your uncle I

wanted my wife back. Come up to the studio, I have something to

show you.'

She followed him up the stairs. 'And I have something to say to

you.' 'Say it then,' he threw casually over his shoulders. 'I'll

make the coffee.' ' I don't want any coffee.' The note in her

voice made him turn and study her, his brows drawing together in

a frown. He said, 'You look like death. Your few days in the

country don't seem to have done a great deal of good.' 'On the

contrary, I see all kinds of things in a completely new light.'

She made herself look him in the face. 'Jason tell me one thing.

The money from our account, did you give it to Clare Marshall and

her child her children?' She stood, watching the colour drain out

of his face at her words. She realised she'd been praying for

some kind of miracle a denial ,a complete vindication. She'd been

praying for the impossible. 'Someone,' he said after a long,

terrible silence, 'appears to have been busy. Let me guess. Can

it have been kindly Uncle Martin?' 'Does it matter? It's true,

isn't it? You've been taking my paltry allowance and giving it to

your mistress to support her and her child. You were letting us

scratch round for a deposit on a house while she was living like

a queen. You were sleeping with her. My God.' Her voice cracked.

'No wonder you didn't really want my baby. Why should you when

you had a ready-made family already?' He was white and there was

a" muscle jumping dangerously at his temple. He said, 'I'm

warning you, Laura. Stop right there. Don't say another word.'

'You mean turn the other cheek? Pretend it's never happened? Play

the pathetic wife, grateful for small mercies?' 'No,' he

exploded. 'That isn't what I mean at all.

Laura for God's sake trust me, please. If I could explain to you,

I would.' 'Oh, I'm sure of that.' She gave a mirthless laugh.

'You have convincing explanations for everything, no doubt. But I

don't want to hear any more lies, any more deception. You've been

found out, Jason. Don't make things worse by inventing lame

excuses.' There was another agonising silence, then he said very

quietly, 'Then there's nothing more to be said.' His eyes were

colder than ice, harder than steel. It made her shiver just to

look at them. She said, 'You didn't cover your tracks very well.'

'No,' he said with a slight snarl. 'But then I didn't bargain for

the intervention of your uncle. Stupid of me.' 'It isn't his

fault. You can't blame him. He was simply thinking of me.' She

moved restively. 'Why did you marry me, Jason?' His mouth twisted

in bitter cynicism. His glance swept her from head to foot. He

said, 'You have all the answers, darling. Work it out for

yourself.' She gave a little broken sigh, and turned away. She

reached the door, her hand tugging at the latch which had stuck

as it sometimes did. Jason's hand descended on her shoulder,

swinging her round violently to face him. Half under his breath

he said, 'To hell with this. You're going nowhere.' He carried

her to the dais, and she fought him every inch of the way.'

'Don't touch me,' she sobbed. 'Don't dare to . ..' He said

between his teeth, 'Try and stop me.' She couldn't, of course. He

was too strong and too determined, inflicting himself upon her

without tenderness, or any of the subtly erotic preliminaries she

had grown accustomed to. Her body was attuned to lovemaking, not

the satisfaction of anger and lust, and she suffered accordingly.

When it was over, he rolled away from her and lay motionless, his

head buried on his folded arms. She sat up stiffly, straightening

the clothing he'd disordered. Her body ached, and she felt a

million years old. As she got to her feet, she was half afraid he

would stop her, draw her down to him again. As he moved and sat

up, she was cold with fright, her eyes blank with misery as they

met his. His face was ravaged for a moment she wondered dazedly

whether he might have been crying, but she knew it was

impossible. He said hoarsely, 'So I've lost you, thanks to your

uncle. I'll make him pay for this ,for all of it.' The words

seemed to pursue her down the stairs, and into the street

outside. For a moment, she thought he was following her, and

half-turned, but the pavement behind her was deserted. Once

again, she was alone. There was a long silence, then she looked

at Bethany. 'Now you know it all.' 'Yes.' Bethany sat, her chin

resting reflectively on her hand. 'As far as anyone can, of

course. And there are still a hell of a lot of things still

unanswered. Hasn't that occurred to you?' Laura shrugged. 'Yes

but there seemed no point in pursuing any of them. They made no

basic difference. They couldn't make Clare Marshall and her

children disappear.' 'And you say she's here?' Laura nodded. 'In

the flesh. She was"looking in the estate agent's opposite.' 'You

couldn't have been mistaken?' Bethany bit her lip. 'After all,

it's been a long time.' ' I f it was a hundred years, I'd know

her again.' Laura swung her legs to the floor. ' I must be going.

I've pestered you quite long enough . . .'

'Idiot,' Bethany said calmly. 'Has he married her, do you

suppose?' Laura shook her head. 'He told Celia that he had no

wife, but I can't believe that her being here is simply a

coincidence.' 'Neither can I . ' Bethany frowned. 'But you have

to admit that their relationship is one of the most puzzling

aspects of the entire story. Why the hell have they never

married? They have a long-standing liaison—children, and he can

afford now to keep her in the manner to which she's accustomed.

So why do they hesitate?' Laura said flatly, 'Perhaps she knows

him too well— knows that for him marriage would never work with

any woman.' 'A lousy husband, but a good father?' Bethany

grimaced. 'That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.' She paused.

'Have you never asked yourself why your uncle chose that

particular moment to tell you what he'd found out? I mean—you

were getting over a miscarriage—in a low state, and he dumps

all that on you. Why didn't he confront Jason himself instead?'

Laura said slowly, T suppose—because he disliked him too much.'

'He seemed positively paranoid about him from day one,' Bethany

commented acidly. 'How has he reacted to the fact that he's

back?' 'He's—accepted it.' Laura shrugged. 'He had no other

choice. Jason isn't a nobody any more, whatever his morals. He

can put a lucrative contract in Uncle Martin's way.' 'And this is

why he's reappeared—to do your uncle a favour?' Bethany stared

at her. 'Oh come on, Laura. You don't believe that.' 'No, I

don't, and I've tried to warn Uncle Martin, but he doesn't want

to know.' Bethany gave her a caustic look. ' I wouldn't worry too

much about your uncle. I imagine he can look out for himself.

It's you that I'm concerned about.' 'Don't be—please.' Laura

stood up. 'You have quite enough to deal with here. It's been a

relief to talk about it, Beth, and I'm truly grateful, but it's

not your problem. I ' l l find a way out somehow.' 'And your

cousin Celia? How are you going to cope with that aspect of the

situation?' Bethany shook her head. 'I'm amazed that your uncle

has allowed Jason Wingard within a thousand miles of any of his

family, business deal or no business deal. Unless he's less

concerned about his daughter than he was about you, of course.'

Laura smiled tautly. 'No—but as I explained, the situation has

changed. Jason is a wealthy man in his own right now. Uncle

Martin may not like him, but one of his main objections doesn't

exist any more.' 'In other words, just because he's rich all is

forgiven?' Bethany sounded stupified. 'That's the most cynical

thing I've ever heard.' 'Yes.' Laura bit her lip. 'The last

twenty-four hours haven't been the easiest of my life.' T can

imagine,' Bethany muttered. She put a hand on Laura's arm, and

gave it a comforting squeeze. 'If you ever feel you have to run,

then there's always a bolthole here. We have a spare room, and

even a camp bed, and if bookings continue at their present rate,

Mike's going to need help with the cooking.' Tears pricked at

Laura's eyes. 'Oh, Beth, that's so good of you. I'm only sorry

our reunion has been so downbeat,' she added with a little shaky

laugh. 'Don't worry about it. From here, the only way is up.'

Bethany rose briskly. 'And now I'm going to make some more

coffee. I think we both need it.' Laura felt infinitely more

cheerful as she emerged into the street some half-hour later.

Talking to Bethany like that, pouring out everything that had

happened had been a strange experience, but it had helped her to

get things into perspective, made her consider them in a new

light after all this time. For so long, she had tried not to

think about it, had tried to block that unhappy time in her mind

as if it had never existed. But it hadn't worked, and now she

knew why. Bethany was quite right there were too many unanswered

questions as she might have realised at the time, if she hadn't

been at such a low ebb, physically and mentally. She had also

been made to realise unwillingly that whatever Jason had done,

whatever harm and misery he had caused, his power over her was as

strong as ever. Perhaps that was her own fault, she thought

sombrely. Perhaps she was the kind of woman who only loved once

in her life, and remained faithful to that love, no matter how

big a bastard the man in her life turned out to be. And perhaps

Jason was the kind of man who was able to inspire that kind of

fidelity, she told herelf unhappily. The fact that Clare Marshall

was still in his orbit seemed to indicate that. She found herself

wondering about the other woman, wondering how much she had

suffered when Jason had failed to return the previous night. Or

was she so used to his philandering that it no longer made any

difference? Two of us wanting him, she thought, and he isn't

worth it. If it wasn't so sad, it would almost be funny. A voice

close beside her said, 'Laura' and she turned quickly to see

Alan's sheepish face. He looked so woebegone that it drew a smile

from her. 'How's the hangover?' 'Improving,' he said pallidly.

'Laura, I can't apologise enough. God, I'm so sorry. I'm going to

sign the pledge, I swear it. I know that I've never had a good

head for alcohol, but I've never made such an utter fool of

myself before.'

She said lightly, 'Well, don't worry about it. I'm afraid your

car has collected a ticket.' 'Yes.' He produced it from his

pocket and gave it a sour look. ' I suppose I'd better go and get

it sorted out.' He hesitated. ' I only hope I haven't put you off

me for life.' Laura hesitated too. It occurred to her that it

might be kinder to tell Alan here and now that there was no room

for him in her life, and that she had been wrong if she'd ever

encouraged him to think differently. The hopeful note in his

voice made her feel guilty. She said, 'Alan . ..' and saw over

his shoulder Jason's tall figure approaching down Burngate. The