Unknown

MAN WITH A MISSION

Ruth Clemence

‘‘You’re an extremely attractive female!”

Rex declared as he kissed her.

Yet Davina felt heartsick because he appeared not to love her.

Though she had accepted Rex’s offer to be housekeeper on his remote sheep farm, she suspected he’d offered the job because he thought she was a useless little rich girl who couldn’t do it.

Now she knew that he'd had another motive entirely. Was it possible that her love for him would overcome his desire for revenge?

Davina
was doing her best to imitate the pace of an Olympic runner despite lunchtime window shoppers when a firm hand on her arm halted her in mid-flight as a laughing voice above her remarked, ‘I might have guessed it would be my pint-sized cousin trying to cut a swathe through these long-suffering pedestrians. Where are you going in such a hurry?'

Davina was out of breath as she looked up to meet teasing brown eyes. ‘Oh, James, I can’t stop. There’s a sale on at Selfridges and I want to try and get something special for Grandmother’s birthday shindig before all the best things are snapped up. If I stop and chat I might miss a bargain.'

‘You and your stupid pride! Grandmother would buy you fifty dresses if you’d let her,' James replied, keeping a firm hold on his cousin’s arm. ‘And haven’t I just heard on the family grapevine you’d got your degree? Surely you or one of your girl friends could come up with an original design.’

‘We’ve all been too busy with Finals for dressmaking sessions, and in any case it was English we studied, not dress design, you idiot. And you know perfectly well I can’t go to Grandmother every time funds are running low. Dad would turn in his grave. After all, she did give me an absolutely wonderful trip for my twenty-first present. Now I’ve qualified, I simply must pay my way,’ and Davina tugged her arm free at last.

‘Hence the dash to the sales, I suppose? Okay, off you go,' James said, ‘but since I’ve not set eyes on you for months let me cook you a meal this evening. Paul’s away, my bird’s got to work tonight, so I’m at a loose end. We’ll have the flat to ourselves and you can tell me all your news while I grill the steaks.’

Davina’s face broke into an enchanting smile. ‘You’re on. I seem to have fed on nothing but baked beans and eggs for weeks. By the way, where are you and Paul living? Still in that fabulous place in Wapping?’

When her cousin nodded, Davina with a brisk ‘see you later then’ was soon lost to view on the crowded pavements and with an indulgent smile, James Brehm turned to go on his way.

She had to ring his bell several times, changing her shoulder bag and the plastic carrier bags containing her purchases from hand to hand before James answered the door. He had obviously hurriedly dragged on a dressing gown and was rubbing at his wet hair with a small hand towel, but his frown miraculously cleared as he stood back to let Davina in.

‘Trust you to arrive when I was in the shower! I only got back from the office ten minutes ago and wasn’t expecting you here for another hour. I fancied after a shopping spree in hot weather like this, you’d have wanted to go back home and bath and change.’

‘So I would,’ Davina said as soon as her cousin paused for breath, ‘but if I was to be here in time for that steak, I couldn’t go all the way out to Harrow. You remember my old flatmates Jane and Peggy? As soon as exams were over they decided to hitch their way around Europe. I couldn’t afford to keep the flat going on my own, so I’ve moved into a bedsitter. I thought if I asked you nicely you’d lend me your bathroom while you got supper ready,’ she finished, giving James a dimpling smile.

He responded by giving her a familiar smack on the seat of her jeans. ‘Let me get you some clean towels, and the shower’s all yours,’ James said as he led the way into a bathroom with mirrored walls, sea green fittings and a closet in one corner from which he took a couple of fluffy towels and tossed them towards Davina. ‘Don’t stay in here all night,’ he warned her as he went away. ‘If you’re not out by the time the meal’s ready I swear I’ll start without you.’

Davina laughed as she slammed the door on her tall cousin and dumped her belongings in an untidy pile on the carpeted floor. She and James did not meet often, but she liked him the best of all her many relations. Stripping, she stepped under the shower and proceeded to wash away the city grime, taking advantage of limitless hot water and James’s expensive shampoo to wash her curly dark hair at the same time.

Wrapping a bath towel around herself sarong-fashion, she tucked her wet hair in a smaller towel and hurried along the corridor to ask James if he possessed a hair-dryer. But as she entered the living room the question died on her lips. Dwarfing her tall cousin to the size of a midget was a positive giant of a man, and he was examining her from head to toe with a curiously unnerving look in his hooded eyes.

‘Sorry if I’m interrupting ...’ something in the stranger’s glance made Davina blurt out an apology as the blood came up to stain her cheeks. Quick to recognise her confusion, James covered for her by saying smoothly, ‘Don’t go. I’m sure Mr Fitzpaine will excuse your rather bizarre appearance since he’s only come to return some keys. He found the office closed and didn’t want to risk simply dropping them into the letter box. May I introduce my cousin, Davina Williams. She’s come to dinner, but as you see, decided to make use of the bathroom beforehand. Perhaps you’d care to join us,’ James added with a grin, ‘for dinner, that is,’ and Davina’s flush of embarrassment deepened as the newcomer’s eyebrows started to rise.

Her cousin was doing nothing to remove any false impressions from the stranger’s mind and Davina let out an inward breath of relief as the man turned away. His voice when he answered James, however, surprised her, for it held a faint but unmistakable accent. Mr Fitzpaine was undoubtedly an Australian. What was he intending to buy from Brehm & Co.?

‘Thank you, I have a dinner engagement, but I wouldn’t say no to a cold beer.’ The voice was deep and musical. I wonder if he sings, Davina was pondering as James answered, ‘Coming up. What can I get you, Dav?’

‘Nothing at the moment. I’ll go and dress.’ Davina, curious or no, was eager to escape those curiously searching eyes. She took her time, but when she eventually went back to the living room, now respectably attired in jeans and a new shirt blouse, she was disconcerted to discover her cousin’s unexpected visitor lounging in an easy chair and apparently in no hurry to keep his dinner date.

As Davina curled up in a corner of the wide settee tucking her bare feet beneath her, she found herself the target of yet another disquieting scrutiny. She gave back stare for stare, deciding that for all the no-nonsense look in his eyes, the air of supreme physical fitness and confidence was curiously attractive. ‘Have you been in England long?’ she asked on impulse, then before he could reply, ‘I know you’re Australian and since you’re returning keys, I guess you must be looking at houses and intend staying some time.’

The corners of the straight mouth twitched as if her undisguised curiosity amused him in some way. Not a house exactly, but what I think you Brits call a smallholding, though there is a house on the property. As to a long stay, now that depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On several things. I’ve had it in mind for some years to take time off to run a small experimental farm—what I think you'd call a sort of sabbatical, I guess. Now seemed as good a time as any.’

‘And James has been helping you find what you’re looking for?’

‘Stop asking so many questions, brat,’ James ordered, ‘and tell me what you want to drink.’

‘Bitter lemon, please, and I don’t think Mr Fitzpaine objects. Do you?’ Davina asked, and favoured the visitor with one of her dimpled smiles.

There was a gleam in the eyes watching her, but she was at a loss to interpret it. ‘No, I don’t mind setting your curiosity at rest. Your cousin has really been most helpful. I believe I’ve found just the very place for my purpose. Now all I have to do is agree a price, find myself suitable breeding stock and a housekeeper not afraid to live in the wilds.’

‘A housekeeper?’ Davina could not keep the note of eagerness out of her voice. ‘Have you anyone in mind and what would she have to do?’

‘Clean, cook reasonably well—and yes, I did have someone vaguely in mind, but nothing’s settled yet.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Davina’s voice was sadly wistful, and James, who had been listening to the exchanges of comments, laughed as he asked, ‘Why the gloom, Dav? With a degree under your belt you’re surely not looking for a domestic post?’

‘That’s just it, James.’ Almost as if she had forgotten the man sitting watching in the easy chair, Davina turned her eyes on her cousin. ‘I didn’t have time to tell you earlier, but the editor of one of the teenage magazines thinks I can produce the sort of material he wants and he’s asked me to submit some short stories for a start. The trouble is I won’t get a penny until I’m in print, and I need a part-time job. Something that will keep me in bread and butter but with enough free time to do my writing as well. As soon as Gran’s party was over I’d intended to look around.’

‘Independent little thing, aren’t you,’ James remarked, ‘but I wouldn’t have thought keeping house was quite your scene.’

‘Why not?’ Both cousins turned as their argument was interrupted. ‘I take it you can cook?’ James’s visitor had turned to look directly at Davina. At her nod He went on, ‘Then don’t worry about looking any further for your part-time job. In a month or less the legal side should all be settled. What about coming North with me, then, when I go to take over? I reckon six months should be long enough.’

Davina’s forehead in a slight frown. Long enough for what? Was this strange man talking about his experimental farm or her short stories? And what about the other prospective employee he’d had in mind?

But the Australian was getting up to leave and Davina concentrated on saying goodbye. He held her hand briefly in his as he said, ‘I’ll be getting in touch with you through your cousin. If you’re really serious I’m willing to give it a go if you are. But remember, the place is well off the beaten track. No shops just round the corner.’

He let go of her hand as he turned to bid her cousin goodbye and Davina wondered if she imagined the hint of quiet satisfaction about his farewell smile. Had she been over-impulsive in offering her services to a comparative stranger? But after all, if he were doing business with Brehm & Co. Uncle Giles would undoubtedly know a good deal about his background.

Her mother’s brother, Giles Brehm, was James and Paul’s father and head of a prosperous London real estate business. He was much too astute a businessman to do a deal with anyone from overseas unless he was absolutely certain they were a safe risk. Davina, smilingly content at this evening’s fortuitous meeting, was unprepared for her cousin’s, ‘Taking a bit of a chance, aren’t you, Dav?’ when he returned from seeing the visitor out.

‘That’s right! Tell me I’m too impulsive for my own good,’ Davina defended herself. Then, ‘Honestly, James, I’m not a child! In any case, I’m sure your Mr Fitzpaine is perfectly respectable.’

‘Oh, sure. He came recommended by our associates in Sydney, Australia, with the very highest possible references. But that’s not the point. One of these days your fond illusion that the whole human race are angels in disguise only needing a helping hand to sprout wings is going to make you come a cropper. In fact I understand it already has. Come into the kitchen while I see to the meal and tell me all about the on/off engagement you had with that fellow you met on your birthday trip. I never did get you alone long enough to hear the whole sordid story.’

‘Must I?’ Davina gave a grimace of distaste as she followed her cousin into the well equipped kitchen with its dining area beside the window, giving a panoramic view of the river and the buildings on the opposite bank of the Thames now lit with a rosy glow as the sun slowly dipped over the chimney pots. ‘There’s very little to tell,’ she went on as she watched her cousin slip their steaks under the grill and begin to mix a French dressing for the salad.

James dipped a finger into the big wooden bowl and licked it thoughtfully. ‘Aunt Marjorie told Mother that you all had a wonderful time in America but that on the boat you took pity on some Australian lad and that by the time you docked in Sydney, he just about thought he owned you. Then two days later you were knocked out by seeing your engagement to him in the local newspaper. When you issued a denial Aunt Marjorie said there was a nasty little scene with your “intended’s” mother.’

‘That’s an understatement!’ Davina gave a reminiscent shudder. ‘She called me every name under the sun. What I can’t understand is how Barr could have misunderstood my feelings. Yes, I know ...’ she added as James turned a sceptical glance in her direction, ‘... it’s not the first time my plain honest-to-God sympathy has been misconstrued, but poor Barr looked so lonely and out of things on the boat. No one else bothered to try and cheer him up, so when Uncle Martin booked us on a day trip in Honolulu I asked him to include Barr. It simply never occurred to me he’d think I seriously fancied him. Apparently as soon as he was home he told his mother he’d be bringing his fiancée to meet her. When Aunt Marjorie and I went to tea, I couldn’t understand why she was so friendly. I suppose she’d made it her business to find out all about Uncle Martin and thought because I was his niece, Barr was on to a good thing.’ Davina chuckled. ‘She may still imagine I’m an heiress, for I certainly didn’t tell her about Grandfather disinheriting Mum when she ran away to marry a penniless Welsh schoolmaster.’