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Her fists stopped battering and she seized his arms and tried to shake him. ‘Do you want me to spell it out in words of one syllable? All right, I will! I’ve told you, modelling’s a short life and faces get forgotten very quickly. I’ve been out of the business for six months, I’m as dead as a dodo. When that column goes out, the name to the pictures won’t be Kate Forrest, nobody knows her, and it won’t be Noelle Lowe, nobody will remember her. The name will be Mrs Jerome Manfred. Jerome, don’t you understand? They’ll crucify you! You, not me! I wouldn’t care if it was me. They can say what they like about me, I don’t matter, but Gerald will make you a laughing stock. Millionaire financier taken in by a “girlie” model! And it’ll be all my fault!’ It came out as another moan. ‘I should have let you take Philip, then this would never have happened. And it’s your fault as well.’ Her eyes glittered with more tears. ‘You should have destroyed those negatives. You didn’t need to keep them. I’d given my word, hadn’t I? I might have wanted to break it, but I couldn’t have done it.’

Jerome spoke for the first time. ‘Stop it, Kate. Be quiet, you’re becoming hysterical.’ His finger came under her chin, tipping up her face. He looked down at her tear-drowned eyes and bent his head to kiss her trembling lips. ‘There are no negatives,’ he said matter-of-factly as he raised his head.

Kate went very still. ‘What did you say?’

‘I said there are no negatives.’ He put his arms round her, drawing her close. ‘I burned them, Kate. They weren’t any good, not to me. I had to have the real thing.’

She looked up at him wonderingly. ‘The real thing?’ Her voice was a squeak.

‘You, Kate!’ He said it quietly and with hardly any emphasis, as if he was explaining something to a backward child, and Kate started to tremble uncontrollably.

‘Bed, I think.’ He caught her up swiftly and bore her upstairs. ‘We’ll get you warm first. Do you know that your hair’s still wet? Then I’ll get you a hot drink and we’ll have a few explanations. One of us, and I think it’s you, my dear, is on the wrong wavelength.’

He switched on the electric overblanket and swiftly and competently put her into the bed, stripping away her dressing gown and tossing it over the back of a chair. Then he went downstairs and reappeared a few minutes later with a cup of tea and a small quantity of brandy in a glass. Kate was still shuddering and he raised her and put the glass to her lips.

‘Drink it up, Kate. I know you don’t like it, but that doesn’t matter. You’ve had a shock. Drink it!’ And once again, as he had done at the cottage, he forced the glass against her lips until she gulped.

‘Good,’ he grinned at her. ‘I thought I was going to have to hold your nose and pour it down your throat. Here, have your tea now, it’ll take the taste away, and when you’ve stopped shaking, we’ll....’ He stopped speaking with a muffled expletive and crossed to the window where he peered down at the drive. ‘Mother’s back,’ he grimaced slightly. ‘She’s going to want a few explanations as well. I’ll go down and get those over first.’

As he was passing the bed, Kate put out a hand to stop him. She didn’t know why she was doing it—the brandy, she supposed. Alcohol was said to loosen the tongue! ‘I love you,’ she whispered, and lay watching him with agonised eyes.

‘I know.’ He bent over and kissed her gently. ‘But it will have to wait. This is one time when Mother comes first.’ And he went out swiftly, closing the door behind him.

Kate lay in a welter of emotions. She’d made a mess of it, she was certain. She shouldn’t have said it, Jerome didn’t want love, he didn’t need it! He wanted her, she knew that. Only the night before he had gone to New York this last time, he had spent half the night proving to her that she was a desirable woman and that his desire for her had not diminished by one iota—but that wasn’t love! He didn’t love her. He took great care of her, but that wasn’t love either. And now she had laid bare her heart. She smiled at such an old fashioned phrase and the smile was wiped off her face very quickly. Perhaps he was one of those men who aimed at total capitulation and once they’d got it, became bored and uninterested, one who lived for the battle and the victory and, when it was achieved, went looking for new conquests.

Kate buried her face in her pillow and gave up even trying to think. She just lay there in a puddle of misery until her mother-in-law came in, tiptoeing across the carpet with exaggerated caution.

‘Brave girl, silly girl!’ Mrs Manfred scolded softly. ‘Why didn’t you phone for the police? You shouldn’t ever try to tackle housebreakers on your own, it’s ridiculous and very unwise. You could have been badly injured, and there’s nothing in the house worth that!’

So Jerome had a story about housebreakers? He hadn’t mentioned Estelle or her part in the affair. Kate struggled up in bed. ‘I didn’t think about the phone,’ she sighed wearily. ‘I know I should have thought about it, but I became obsessed with finding a poker,’ she giggled weakly. ‘I was quite vexed that you didn’t keep one in the hallway. All I could find was a walking stick and I was scared stiff when I pushed the door open.’

‘You’re very lucky to be all in one piece,’ Mrs Manfred continued her scold. ‘There’s a lot of this housebreaking going on nowadays, there was the case of that young boy who disturbed a gang while he was delivering papers, do you remember? If it ever happens again, which God forbid, you’re to phone the police, if you can get to the phone and then you must lock yourself in your room and pretend you’re not there. Now Nanny’s coming in to give you something to take away the shock, it’ll make you feel drowsy for a while, but you’re to take it. And Hattie shall bring your dinner up on a tray. We’re all agreed, you’re to stay in bed for the rest of the day.’

‘I’m not an invalid,’ Kate protested, but even as she protested, she could feel herself trembling still. ‘I’m quite well, really I am. Just give me half an hour and I’ll be downstairs for tea.’ She didn’t want to stay in the bedroom alone with only her thoughts for company. Those thoughts hurt too much and they were all of Jerome. Even Philip didn’t have so much importance now! Now, he was just a little boy, a very lovable little boy whom she loved but not idolatrously. Yes, that was the word she wanted. Her love for Jerome bordered on the idolatrous, and she could only lie here thinking about it, wondering how long it would last and how she’d cope with a mistress when he became bored with her.

‘Here she is,’ Mrs Manfred became brisk. ‘Have you got it, Nanny? Good!’ Kate was presented with a glassful of milky fluid which tasted foul and Nanny stroked her forehead, plumped up her pillows and pressed her back on them firmly.

‘We’ll be as right as rain by tomorrow morning, Mrs Manfred,’ Nanny was still addicted to the royal ‘We’. ‘We shan’t even have a little headache.’

Kate glared at the two beaming, satisfied faces and her glare became a scowl as she heard Nanny’s parting remark, ‘We’ve been such a brave girl, haven’t we?’ Her scowl turned to an expression of acute dislike and she
closed her eyes. She didn’t want them, she wanted to talk to Jerome, and now they’d put her to sleep! She could feel the drowsiness stealing over her and she gulped on her sadness.

A hand on her shoulder wakened her and she looked up to see Jerome bending over her with Hattie in the background looking more sour and bad-tempered than ever. But, she congratulated herself, she was feeling much better, the trembling had ceased and she was conscious of an acute hunger. She eyed the tray in Hattie’s hands greedily, hoping that there was something substantial on it and that it wasn’t sloppy invalid’s food.

Jerome caught the look and chuckled, ‘We’re not starving you, Kate!’ and she heard Hattie’s outraged snort.

‘First time I’ve ever served steak to an invalid in bed!’

‘But I’m not an invalid, Hattie, I’m a heroine,’ Kate smiled at the woman, ‘and I’m malingering, didn’t you know?’

Jerome cut off Hattie’s sharp answer with a mild, ‘I’ll bring the tray down later, don’t bother to come up for it,’ and when the housekeeper had gone, he made himself comfortable on a chair by the bed and prepared to watch his wife eating.

‘You said “explanations”.’ Kate cut vigorously into a thick steak. ‘That was hours ago. How much longer do I have to wait?’ She chewed and spoke impolitely through a mouthful of food. ‘Do you know what you are? You’re an arrogant, impossible man,’ she gulped to swallow, ‘and what’s more,’ with an empty mouth, the words came out more clearly, ‘you’re secretive. Why didn’t you tell me you’d destroyed those negatives instead of holding them up for ransom?’

‘I wanted the ransom.’ He looked darkly good-humoured. ‘I went to a lot of trouble to get you, Kate, and I meant to keep you.’ He smiled down at her. ‘Do you want the whole story?’ and at her nod, he smiled again. ‘I started off with the negatives, a missing sister and a mysterious Miss Noelle Lowe who seemed to have no beginnings anywhere. Then at last my enquiry agents turned up with a copy of Kate Forrest’s birth certificate, which made things much easier for me. I saw how I could get Philip and Noelle Lowe both at the same time.’

‘But you had to find me first.’ She pushed aside the empty steak plate and started on a mammoth portion of creamy rice pudding.

‘Oh no, I’d already found you.’ He chuckled at her gasp of surprise. ‘Kate and Philip had vanished; Kate was friendly with a struggling artist called Helen; Helen had a cottage she let out. No difficulty there. It was simply a matter of using a little blackmail, applying just the right amount of force. Don’t look like that, my dear. You had a lot of preconceived notions about me, I merely acted up to your idea of the sort of person I was.’

‘And Estelle?’ she hesitated. Jerome was being nice and she didn’t want anything to spoil it.

His face darkened and became withdrawn. ‘An area where I miscalculated,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘I’ve known her all her life and then she started chasing me in earnest. I kissed her a couple of times, that was all. I’m only human, Kate, and in those days, when something was offered, I took it provided there were no strings attached. I didn’t count on her fantasising a couple of kisses into a full-blown affair. To me, she was still part child. No matter what she’s said or implied, there was no more to it than that. She’s not my type.’

Kate found herself feeling very, sorry for Estelle, but she crushed the feeling down. ‘What is your type?’

He ticked off on his fingers. ‘Five foot eight, slim, red hair, green eyes. You ought to know, Kate. I married her.’

‘But you thought I was....’ She hesitated, flushing with embarrassment. ‘And you only did it to get Philip.’ The withdrawn look had gone from his face and his mouth curved nicely into a smile as he removed the dish from her grasp and set it aside with the tray. ‘Anything that had happened before we met didn’t matter to me, and I didn’t do it just to get Philip.’

‘Philip.’ Her mouth drooped a little. ‘I don’t see much of him nowadays, he doesn’t seem to need me any more. He’s growing away from me.’

‘Then you can devote yourself to me.’ Jerome sounded very well content with this state of affairs. ‘Didn’t I mention' it in my list of the qualities necessary in a wife? Loving, obedient, faithful, and, of course, devoted!’

‘But it’s all on one side,’ Kate wailed. ‘You’ve never said, never even hinted. So stop looking so damned smug and superior. You know what I mean!’

‘Kate!’ He leaned forward and let a fingertip caress her mouth, the finger tip slid to her chin, halted there momentarily and then began a tantalising journey down the column of her throat. She reached up and captured it.

‘Stop that,’ she whispered in a trembling voice. ‘We’re supposed to be having a serious discussion.’

‘And you remember what I told you before about not wanting practical discussions when I’m giving pleasure ...?'

‘Say it, then,’ it was a husky murmur. ‘Tell me!’

‘I tell you every day, every time I touch you. You know I do, and every night as well. I touch you often enough, don’t I? I can’t keep my hands off you! God, woman, what more do you want? An affidavit?’

‘Cavalier!’ She inched away from him,
holding the
marauding finger firmly against her breast. What
she
was going to say might spoil everything, but she had to say it. ‘Shirley,’ she mumbled the name half under
her
breath, and then, ‘Theo.’

The grey eyes looking into hers were serious, but there was no pain in them. ‘They were very young, I’m trying to remember that, and they were both a bit selfish.’ By this time he was sitting on the bed, facing her. ‘Not like us, my Kate, we’re adult, we can handle it.’ He bent his black head, and Kate, fighting the delicious languor which was creeping over her, pushed him away; not very far, though.

‘And what are we going to do about Estelle?’

He pulled her back, close to him. ‘Forget her!’ He dismissed Estelle as though the girl had ceased to exist, but Kate could not be as ruthless.

‘She loves you,’ there was distress in her voice, ‘and I know what it’s like, loving you. It’s hell!’

His mouth hovered over hers teasingly. ‘Hell, Kate?’ Very softly, she sighed as she pulled his head down to hers. ‘No, not hell—heaven!’

Harlequin Plus

THE BEAUTY OF CALABRIA

If Italy can be said to be shaped like a great boot kicking out into the Mediterranean, then Calabria is the tip of the toe. Surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Ionian Sea on the east and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west, the Calabrian coast is said to be a place where the combined beauty of rugged mountains and windswept sea is unrivaled.

Calabria was once considered a harsh land, where a hot sun waxed mercilessly from morning to night. Few travelers made the torturous overland journey through the precipitous mountains to the coast. But today tourists heading for the Calabrian coast enjoy following the Autostrade de Sole—Freeway of the Sun—which leads south from Naples.

On the drive down through the green peaks of the Calabrian Apenines, visitors are entranced by fabulous vistas of the sapphire blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The autostrada then heads through valleys of citrus, chestnut and fig orchards; past herds of sheep and goats grazing in rocky fields or among the broken ruins of Roman temples. As the road wends its way through sunbaked peasant villages, 'the silhouettes of great medieval castles and Byzantine churches can be seen in the distance—for Calabria is a place where history was built on top of history.