Second Best Wife (11 page)

They rounded the next corner to be faced by a very English scarlet letter-box, bearing the insignia of Queen Victoria. There was nothing else, not so much as a single house, anywhere near it. William got out of the car, pulling his collar up against the rain, and went to take a closer look at it. He came back almost immediately.

'We're here,' he announced. 'I reckon the entrance must be just along the road.'

And so it proved. A tree-lined earth road led several miles through the tea gardens, went past a Hindu temple made of corrugated iron down below, but with a truly handsome painted and elaborately carved tower that marked it unmistakably for what it was. Beyond were the lines, where the Tamil workers lived. To Georgina's relief they seemed to be better housed on this estate than most of the others they had seen. And then, when they were least expecting it, the grey stone house, set in a charming English-style garden, came into sight and a few moments later they were drawing up outside the porch that sheltered the front door.

The doors were flung open and a servant came out with an umbrella to usher them into the house.

'Tea is waiting for you in the drawing-room, sir, madam,' he murmured to them. 'The two ladies are waiting for you there.'

Georgina hung back, regretting the loss of the intimacy of the interior of the car. Here, in a strange house among strange people, would she ever have William to herself again? But even as she was wishing herself back on the rain-sodden road, a young girl every bit as fair as Jennifer but much, much more beautiful came rushing across the polished floor and flung herself into William's arms.

'Darling William, this is some bungalow!' She kissed him warmly, arching her body against his as a cat does when it winds itself about one's legs. 'I thought you were never coming! Am I still the prettiest girl you know?' This last was said in such soft, seductive tones that Georgina blushed for her.

'You're still the most beautiful by far!' William answered, laughing. 'Now, calm down and say hullo to Georgina, minx.'

Celine looked straight through Georgina, her eyes completely blank. 'Who is she? Why did you have to bring her here, William?'

William patted the girl's shoulder, a great sadness crossing his face.

'Georgina is my wife,' he said.

CHAPTER SIX

Miss Campbell was tall and statuesque with one of the ugliest faces Georgina had ever seen. It wasn't any particular feature that ruined her looks, but an unfortunate combination of them all, coupled with a colouring that was sallow to the point of being yellow.

She remained seated as the party moved into the drawing-room from the hall. Indeed, she barely looked up as they entered, preferring to continue a rather high-pitched conversation with the only other occupant of the room, a young man who was standing behind the comfortable sofa on which she was sitting, nursing a cup of tea.

‘You underrate her understanding,' he was saying angrily.

‘Do I?' Miss Campbell rejoined. ‘Then what am I doing here?'

‘I've been wondering that ever since you both arrived.' His tea-cup rattled precariously as he changed it from one hand to the other. ‘You never let her out of your sight!'

‘That's what Miss Campbell is paid for,' William said dryly from the doorway. ‘You are speaking of Celine, I take it?'

The young man stood his ground. ‘She's not a child! Why discuss her as if she were?' He looked from William to Georgina. ‘Is this another gaoler for her?'

‘I hope not!' Georgina exclaimed.

The young man managed a smile. ‘I'm sorry,' he said, ‘but it makes me angry to see wild animals confined in cages.'

Celine appeared pleased by this. ‘Am I a wild animal?' she demanded eagerly. ‘Stuart, am I?'

The young man tousled her hair. ‘A very beautiful one!'

‘Wild animals are dangerous!'

He grinned at her. ‘Are you dangerous?'

Celine lowered her lashes, peeping at him through them. ‘Not with you, darling Stuart.
Never
with you!'

William cut her off with a brusqueness that Georgina thought both unnecessary and unkind. ‘Celine, behave yourself! I don't want to forbid Stuart to come to the house —'

‘What nonsense!' Georgina put in hastily. She moved closer to Stuart herself. ‘I'm Georgina Perry,' she said, holding out her hand to him.

He shook it gravely. ‘Mrs. Ayres,' he corrected her, amused by the slip. ‘My name is Stuart Duffield. I work here on the estate.'

‘He's the most important person here!' Celine claimed. ‘They couldn't do anything without him!'

Georgina raised her brows in silent enquiry and the young man laughed. 'I'm the fellow who tastes the tea,' he explained. 'Every estate has one who makes sure that the tea doesn't undergo any process for too long, thus spoiling it. It's a bit like wine tasting. They'll be getting a local chap in to do my job before long, but meanwhile, I enjoy it here. The manager is a good friend of mine. You must meet him and his wife as soon as I can arrange it. His name is Peter, Peter Kotalawala.'

'He has an English name because he's a Catholic,' Celine chimed in. 'His wife is sweet!'

'Only because she allows you to do as you like,' Miss Campbell said with menace. 'She has no control over you at all!'

'She's not my keeper. She's not a spoilsport either.' Celine turned a blank stare on Georgina. 'What are you?'

Georgina opened her mouth to answer, but William did it for her. 'She's my wife,' he said.

'And too pretty to be a spoilsport,' Stuart added.

'She's not as beautiful as I am!' Celine spat at him, annoyed.

'No one could be that,' he agreed cheerfully. 'But beauty isn't everything, duckie. Georgina is very much my type!' He flashed a meaning look at the surprised Georgina. 'Pity she's already taken!'

Celine was furious. 'You mean you prefer Georgina to me?' she demanded.

'It's a different thing. You can't compare the two. You're my friend;

Georgina—well, she could be something else!' Georgina swallowed hard, not daring to look in William's direction.

'No, she couldn't be!' she stammered out. 'I couldn't!'

To her surprise William laughed. 'You're embarrassing my wife,' he said wryly to Stuart. 'She isn't accustomed to compliments from the opposite sex. You'll have to go easily with her.'

Georgina could have stamped her foot with sheer, unreasoning rage. Did he have to make it so blatant that she had no attraction for him? And how could one deny such a slight? She couldn't insist that she had had her share of compliments without sounding a boastful fool, and yet it hurt to let his disparagement go by as if it meant nothing to her. The trouble was that she wanted William's regard, wanted it badly, and was in danger of getting everything else out of perspective in consequence.

Happily, Stuart shook his head in stunned disbelief. 'What's wrong with the men back home?' he wondered.

Georgina forced a wavering smile. 'I have a sister — '

'And she takes everyone's eye?' Stuart whistled in derision. 'She didn't take your husband's, did she, or you wouldn't be here!'

Georgina's heightened colour and obvious distress was an answer in itself. She saw the baffled expression on Stuart's face and wished the ground would open and swallow her up before she was forced to hear William's rejoinder. Would he admit that she was only his wife as second best?

'Jennifer has the looks, Georgina the character,' William said steadily.

'I wish more people thought that way,' Miss Campbell approved 'But there, most people waste their time spoiling the beautiful while we plainer mortals have to make do with the crumbs. Mrs. Ayres is lucky to have found a perceptive man who doesn't think beauty is everything—'

'Am I so ugly?' Georgina burst out.

'Not in my book!' Stuart replied promptly. 'Some kinds of beauty are extraordinarily dull, and you would never be that! Give me warmth and generosity any time!' He bowed with a play-acting formality to Georgina, his hand on his heart. 'You're my ideal woman, Mrs. Ayres. Call on me any time!'

She made him a curtsey. 'Thank you, Mr. Duffield, I'll bear it in mind.'

'You'll do nothing of the sort!' William's anger was as unexpected as it was forceful. 'Shall we change the subject before one of us says something we'll regret? Perhaps you, Miss Campbell, would be good enough to show my wife round the bungalow. You stay here, Celine. I want to talk to you!'

Celine smiled sunnily up at him. 'I want to go with Georgie! Stuart isn't the only one who likes her —I like her too.
She
won't make me do things I don't want to do!'

'I shouldn't be too sure of that,' William retorted.

Georgina held her head high. 'My husband thinks I'm a bully too,' she said to no one in particular. 'I think it's because I succeeded in giving him a black eye not long ago. You can still see the remains of it if you look carefully.'

It was Stuart who laughed. 'A nice plush one! What a girl!'

William grinned reluctantly. 'She won't do it again. We have better things to do nowadays.'

What a pity he didn't mean it, Georgina thought, and wondered why it should hurt so much that he didn't. She smothered a sigh and turned to Miss Campbell, whose look of pure hatred caught her unawares. Why? she wondered. Why should Miss Campbell dislike her with such intensity?

'Come this way, Mrs. Ayres,' the older woman bade her. 'We've prepared the master suite for you and your husband. It looks over the garden with the tea gardens in the distance. I hope you'll like it.'

Georgina was astonished by the magnificence of the house. To call such a dwelling a bungalow seemed to her to verge on the ridiculous. Each of the bedrooms she glanced into was spacious and beautifully fitted out, but the master suite was out of this world. There were two bedrooms, one feminine and flouncy, the other decorated with a more masculine restraint, joined together by a bathroom full of solid, Edwardian equipment such as she had never seen before.

'The water doesn't often get hot,' Miss Campbell sniffed, 'and, as you can see, the roof leaks, but I suppose one can't expect anything else so far from civilisation. Seeing that you're practically on your honeymoon, I don't suppose you'll notice our inconveniences, but I'm used to something better, I can tell you. I've given up a great deal to stay with Celine, poor child! I knew her father very well, but I suppose Mr. Ayres will have told you all about that?'

Georgina frowned. 'No, he hasn't said much. What a lovely place this is! What about Celine's father?'

'I was called his housekeeper, but of course, I was much more than that. It was a tragedy when he died.'

'It must have been.' Georgina sat down on the edge of the bed. 'Did you know Celine's mother?' she asked.

Miss Campbell went a mottled red. 'That bitch? Celine takes after her. She hadn't a moral to her name!'

Georgina froze her with a look. 'Nevertheless, she was married to Celine's father and you—were not.'

'If you care to put it that way. He was well rid of her!'

Georgina looked down at her shoes. 'Were you in the fire too?'

'I got out. I was lucky. Celine was got out too.'

'But her mother died.'

Miss Campbell shrugged. 'I wasn't going back inside for her. She deserved to die.'

'No one deserves to die in a fire like that,' Georgina said gently. 'Miss Campbell, are you sure you're the right person to care for the daughter of someone you hated so much? It must be difficult to be constantly seeing her mother in Celine.'

'It doesn't matter with Celine. The child's simple, or hadn't you noticed? No man will ever make the mistake of marrying her!'

'I hope you're wrong, Miss Campbell. Meanwhile I have nothing to do with my time and I rather want to look after Celine myself. I imagine you could get another job quite easily?'

'You're asking me to go?'

Georgina looked her straight in the eyes. 'I'm telling you to go, Miss Campbell. Shall we say a month's notice and an extra month's pay at the end of that to tide you over until you find something else?'

Miss Campbell made a strangled sound. 'We'll see what Mr. Ayres has to say about that! You won't get rid of me so easily, my fine madam! You'll never get rid of me!'

'We'll see.' Georgina crossed her fingers surreptitiously, praying that William would back her up and insist that the woman went. He had said he wanted to be rid of her, but not, perhaps, the minute of their arrival.

'You'll have to persuade Celine too,' Miss Campbell said, her twisted smile more confident. 'You've yet to see her in one of her states. It isn't a pretty sight and I very much doubt if you could cope with her single-handed as I've been expected to do these last years. We shall see, Mrs. Ayres, whether I go or not after you've had to put up with her screaming for hours together. We'll see if you change your mind then!'

Georgina could only think how much she disliked this ugly woman. 'I shan't.'

Miss Campbell tossed her head. 'Very sure of ourselves, aren't we? Well, you won't find Mr. Ayres at all pleased by this day's work, young lady.
He
knows my value and remunerates me accordingly, and
I
didn't have to put myself out to attract him either! What did you offer him? A young, nubile body —'