Second Best Wife (12 page)

'And a black eye,' Georgina muttered under her breath. A look of

venom crossed Miss Campbell's face. 'Poor Georgie Porgie, did she hope to wear the trousers and did she get a shock when she found her

William has a mind of his own?'

'No, Miss Campbell, I did not. I've known William since I was ten years old, so I think I may be said to know exactly what he's like. Nor do I relish being called Georgie Porgie —'

'He
calls you that!'

'He has privileges I don't accord to anyone else!' Georgina snapped. She felt both exasperated and weary. 'Please go away!'

'Very well, Mrs. Ayres, but I shall be speaking to
Mr.
Ayres about this, you may be sure!'

'About what?' William asked, coming into the bedroom through the bathroom door.

Absurdly, Georgina felt guilty at the sight of him. 'It doesn't matter now,' she began.

Miss Campbell folded her hands across her stomach, bridling with displeasure. 'Your —
wife
has taken it upon herself to give me notice, sir. She seems to think she can manage Celine all. by herself! She has also been unpardonably rude, but I can hardly expect you to defend me from that now, can I? A strong-minded young lady, if you don't mind my saying so! She'd have us all bending to that will of hers if we allowed it, and that's the last thing Celine needs, as you very well know. I may be exceeding my duties, sir, but I will not have that poor girl bullied—not while I'm still in charge of her welfare!'

William's face froze. 'She won't be, Miss Campbell. I will see to that. Please leave us alone now, will you?'

'Of course, sir. But I should like to know whether I am to be dismissed or not? Mrs. Ayres —'

'The decision is mine, Miss Campbell. It's true I've been thinking Celine might benefit from being treated more like anyone else than is possible when she is in the constant care of one used to very young children, but I've yet to make up my mind as to what future arrangements I shall be making for her. I'll let you know.'

'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.'

Georgina made a face at her departing back. 'Three bags full, sir!'

'Georgina!
I warned you—'

'You said you wanted to be rid of her!'

'Not if you're going to bully Celine in her stead. I won't have it, Georgie. What have you been saying to that woman?'

Georgina checked the hot words that threatened to pour from her. Losing her temper would not help her now. She spread her hands, wishing she were less vulnerable to his opinion of her.

'I gave her a month's notice. Apparently she doesn't think I have the right to employ whom I please in my own household, but I thought you'd back me up over this at least! She's a horrible woman and can't be doing Celine any good. Nor was I rude to her —not until she called me Georgie Porgie. I won't stand for that!'

'Was that all?' She could tell he didn't believe her and she was doubly hurt that he should prefer the word of that dragon of a woman. 'It wasn't, was it?'

Georgina sighed. 'She said Celine has crying fits when she screams for hours together. But why does she have them, William? There must be some reason for her to behave like that. She was sunny enough when we arrived just now.'

'Hmm. She didn't like it when Stuart obviously preferred yourself to her.'

'Oh, that.' Georgina dismissed Stuart Duffield with an airy wave. 'She knew he wasn't serious. With her looks, she'll never have to worry about competition in that department!'

'She's too young in herself to worry about things like that,' William answered. 'Thank goodness that she is! We've problems enough without her getting ideas about boyfriends or marriage!'

'Why shouldn't she?' Georgina asked. 'Her body is quite grown up and there doesn't seem to be all that wrong with her mind. If she talks like a child, couldn't that be having to live with that impossible Miss Campbell?'

William put his hands on his hips and glared at her. ‘D'you think you can do better?'

Georgina nodded. She pressed her lips together and straightened her shoulders. ‘I'd like to try.'

Exasperation gave way to a more hopeful expression. ‘Yes, but, Georgie, it won't do to bully her. You have to admit that Miss Campbell was pretty quick to sum you up. Celine wants a more gentle touch than yours. Jennifer —'

‘Jennifer isn't here and I am! I think I can make Celine like me —I think she does already!—and I can't think Miss Campbell is the answer to anything. Where did Celine's father find her?'

‘She found him. She's the old retainer type, devoted and selfless, though I have to admit I find her rather trying too.'

Georgina slanted a look up at him. ‘I think she was in love with him,' she hazarded. ‘She certainly hated Celine's mother.'

‘Rubbish, my dear. The Miss Campbells of this world can't afford the luxury of falling in love with their employers. They know nothing will come of it.'

‘Knowing doesn't always have the desired effect,' Georgina remarked wryly. Knowing that William was in love with Jennifer hadn't stopped her falling for him. Hope could survive on very little encouragement, or even none at all. ‘William, I know my opinion doesn't count for much, but she was telling me about Celine's mother's death. She was in that fire too, but she didn't go back for that poor woman. Perhaps the fire was already too bad, but supposing it wasn't. I wouldn't put it past her to have stood by and watched her rival die.' She shuddered. ‘Worse still, she says Celine is just like her mother. If she hated the mother so much, how does she feel about the daughter?'

William sat down on the bed beside her. ‘My dear little Georgie, how your imagination runs away with you! What do you want me to do? Tell the old harridan to go? Celine can be quite a responsibility, you know. She has frequent nightmares and she can be spiteful if you cross her. Are you sure you want to take on all

that single-handed?'

Georgina looked at him, her eyes pleading for something she thought he didn't have it in him to give. 'If I have your support,' she said. 'I thought you'd back me up with Miss Campbell, but you didn't. Okay, I know you don't trust me not to impose my ideas on other people, but you owe it to me to pretend we're a team in public. Or is that too much to ask?'

William's face softened. 'I can't afford to make a mistake, Georgie, not with someone as helpless as Celine. But I promise you, I'll back you all the way for as long as you restrain your tendencies to play the bully. Play fair with me and I'll play fair with you, but if you once try to manipulate that girl to suit yourself, I'll take you apart, piece by piece! Try a little feminine gentleness and see what wonders that works for you!'

'Try leaving me alone and see what that does!' she snapped back.

His expression changed to one of amusement. 'But I have no intention of leaving you alone, my pet.
That's
what I came in here to talk to you about.' He studied the stubborn lines of her face for a moment. 'Aren't you interested?' he enquired.

'Should I be?'

'Most brides are.'

'But I'm not most brides! And I'm not Jennifer — I'm me!'

His amusement increased. 'You're you and you won't change, is that it?'

'People don't change much,' she sighed, 'and you won't allow me to change the image you have of me, not that I care what you think! You always were prejudiced against me.'

His eyebrows rose. 'Was I?' He leaned closer. 'Shall we call a truce until we've settled down into being man and wife?'

'You never play fair!' she complained.

'A truce,' he said dryly, 'binds both parties, Georgie Porgie. Come on, love, give a little bit! I don't want to have you in tears every time I kiss you, and I mean to kiss you frequently in the near future. You are my wife after all.'

'You don't have to remind me of that! What a prize —to be the despised wife of Mr. William Ayres, the man who's never wrong about anything! Well, you can take whatever you feel you have a right to, but if I want to cry, I'll cry all the time, and
you
won't be able to stop me!'

'It sounds like a lachrymose evening,' he drawled. He rolled away from her across the bed and went across the room to stare out of the window. 'You can always try and make me cry instead?' he invited her.

'That'll be the day! You don't care a toss what I do, or how I feel. You never have!'

He turned quickly. 'Should I be shedding tears over your fate, my Georgie? Are your tears shed for me rather than for yourself?'

She didn't know how to answer. She made a gesture of defeat. 'I don't expect love, but you're not even kind! Nor do I think making love should be reduced to a legal obligation.'

'Good lord!' he exclaimed. 'What do you expect? Bells ringing and violins playing off stage? Surely you, with your vast experience, must know it just doesn't happen like that?'

She ignored his sarcasm, wishing she had a small part of the experience he credited her with. 'Perhaps you've never had the right partner,' she struck out at him. She cowered away from the glint in his eyes, wishing herself anywhere else but there. 'If you had, you wouldn't behave as though it were nothing more than sharing a cup of tea!'

'Well, if one's wife isn't the right partner, who is?' he demanded softly, advancing towards her with such steely purpose that she shivered despite herself.

'One's beloved,' she insisted.

He came to a stop in front of her, their knees touching, and looked down at her, his eyes burning a deep gold. He was even larger than she had remembered, standing over her like that, and he looked more than capable of holding his own in any battle with her. Not that she would be putting up much of a fight, for she had never felt more weak and feminine, with a tingling fear that might have been mistaken for joyful anticipation of the coming struggle. Was it possible that she wanted to lose to him?

'William, we have to go back to the others! Please don't!
Not now!'

'Why not now?' He sounded triumphant and very much in control of the situation.

'I'm not ready — ' By contrast her own voice was ragged and unsteady. 'I'm tired and—and I'm hungry too.'

'Are you now?' He swept her up on to her feet and into the circle of his arms. She looked up at him fearfully and was astonished to find he was smiling. 'You seem smaller than ever. You fight like a heavyweight, so it comes as a constant surprise to find you such a small handful!'

'I haven't any shoes on,' she found herself explaining, 'and I stopped growing a long, long time ago, so I doubt I'll grow any larger —'

'I expect I'll get used to it in time,' he mocked her. His hand went to the collar of her dress and trailed an intimate fine down to the hollow between her breasts. He unbuttoned the first button, and then another, ignoring her hesitant attempts to prevent him. 'Where's all that experience you were boasting about now?'

She clenched her fists, battering them against his chest. The blows wouldn't have hurt a fly and despair mingled with a burgeoning excitement that threatened to betray her into openly inviting his caresses. Even so, she was unprepared for the moment when he bent his head and his lips claimed hers with a force that made her glad of the strength of the arm that held her close up against him. She made a last, feeble protest before flinging her arms round his neck with an abandonment that would have shocked her to the core at any other time.

The harsh urgency of his kisses bewildered her as much as her own response, awakened new emotions she had never known existed inside her. When he pushed her gently back on to the bed, she clung to him as if her life depended on it.

'Don't go!' she flung at him. She buried her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck and arched her body invitingly against his.

'I'm not going anywhere, my sweet.' He stripped off his shirt in a single movement and took her back into his arms. 'I want my wife and, it would seem, she wants me too! I can't say I believed I'd ever think you lovelier than Jennifer, but you have a beautiful body.' His

mouth travelled from her lips to her breasts and back again, smiling deep into her eyes. 'Aren't you going to kiss me too?'

She shook her head. 'I can't.'

She felt his laughter rather than heard it. 'All those claims, my dear little Georgina, and you're as innocent as a young girl. Confess, you've never felt like this before, have you?'

She shook her head again. 'I've never —'

He turned her face gently towards his, exploring her mouth with his own. 'Never? Oh, Georgina! Why didn't you say so before?'

'You didn't ask me.'

He leaned up on his elbow, smoothing her hair away from her face. 'I still mean to have you, Georgie Porgie. I'll be as gentle as I can—'

His words were cut off by a yell of anguish from some other part of the bungalow. It came again and again, rending the air with its piteous sound.

'Celine!'

Georgina felt cold with shock. 'Celine? But it doesn't sound human! William, why?'

He pushed her away from him. 'How should I know? I'd better go to her. Sometimes, if one gets in early enough, one can stop her before she really gets started. You'd better get dressed too.'