A Wicked Persuasion (8 page)

She glared back and got in the car without a word, leaving him staring after her as she drove away.

I
T TOOK
Harriet the entire drive home to calm down. She locked the Lodge door behind her at last and trudged upstairs to hang up the dress, surprised to see it had survived the adventures of the night remarkably well, including the sudden, volcanic embrace that marked the end of it. She shivered, her teeth chattering again at the thought of it, and stood under a hot shower before falling into bed.

She woke next morning to find a couple of extra hours in bed had proved possible after all. The marquee crew didn’t arrive until mid-morning. Harriet made herself some strong coffee, then with reluctance rang James to ask after Claudia.

‘She’s full of painkillers and fast asleep right now,’ he informed her. ‘How are you, this morning, Harriet?’

‘A bit tired,’ she said brightly. ‘Otherwise, I’m fine.’

‘I was just about to drive up to your place to make sure the marquee people had left everything in good order. Are they still there?’

‘They’ve only just arrived.’

‘Right. I’m on my way.’

Harriet clenched her teeth, and told herself to stop behaving like an idiot. James was just coming to make sure there was no damage he had to pay for. In the meantime
she’d better tell her father about Claudia’s accident. She caught him just as he was backing his car out of the garage.

‘Can’t stop,’ Aubrey said hastily. ‘Did you enjoy the party, Harriet?’

‘I did. But you missed all the excitement.’ She gave him the details but, although he made suitable exclamations of shock and sympathy, he was obviously impatient to leave. Duty done, Harriet went back to the Lodge and with a sigh of pleasure curled up on her sofa with the Sunday papers and a mug of coffee. Shortly afterwards she heard the Aston Martin coming up the drive and took in a deep, calming breath as she opened the door to James. He looked tired and very dark under the eyes, his smile wry as he handed her a sheaf of flowers.

‘These are from Moira and Marcus to show their gratitude for your help last night. I told them it would be coals to Newcastle in this place, but they insisted, so I found a garden centre.’

‘How lovely. Please thank them for me. Is Claudia still sleeping?’

‘She was when I left, thank God.’ His mouth turned down. ‘Let’s hope she stays that way for a while to give Moira a break. Put these in water and come outside to check the garden with me. Please,’ he added irritably when she made no move to obey.

Harriet’s lips twitched as she went into the kitchen. A little dressage now and again had always been good in her dealings with James. During their relationship he’d had a tendency to take over too much, but back then she’d been too hopelessly in love with him to mind.

‘Good,’ he approved, as she locked her door behind her. ‘You need to be security conscious in a big property like this. Does living so far from the main house ever bother you?’

‘Never. For me it’s the main advantage,’ she assured him.

James frowned down at her as they walked up the drive. ‘As I’ve said before, you’ve changed a lot, Harriet.’

‘After all this time it would be strange if I hadn’t! You’ve changed a lot yourself, James.’

‘Not in the ways that matter,’ he said shortly, and raised an eyebrow. ‘Should we ask your father to come with us?’

She shook her head. ‘He’s out. Father leads a hectic social life.’

They paused at the head of the steps to watch the efficient dismantling process.

‘I didn’t see any vehicle as I came up,’ remarked James.

‘They came via the paddock.’ Harriet turned away. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

‘Going out?’

‘No. I’ve got a date with a sofa and the Sunday papers.’ She gave him the polite smile that so obviously irritated him.

James nodded brusquely. ‘I’ll just repeat my thanks for your help last night. As a matter of interest, did you enjoy the party?’

‘Far more than I expected. Your people obviously had a great time. It was a party to remember.’ She felt her colour mount as his eyes speared hers.

‘Unforgettable in more ways than one!’ He heaved in a deep breath. ‘I’m driving Claudia back to London after lunch. She’s feeling so rough she wants her mother. Marcus is due in court first thing tomorrow, so I volunteered to get the invalid home to Mummy and take Lily and Dominic with me.’ He stretched, yawning. ‘Tomorrow I get back to the Live Wires grindstone. How about you?’

‘I get back to my particular grindstone, too,’ Harriet said cheerfully. ‘Convey my thanks for the flowers, and wish Claudia a quick recovery. Goodbye, James.’

‘Keen to get rid of me?’ he said dryly.

‘Not at all. I assumed you were in a hurry to get back to your family.’

He frowned. ‘Speaking of family, let me know if your father cuts up rough when he finds out about me.’

‘What could you possibly do?’

James shrugged. ‘Provide a shoulder to cry on?’

‘I’ve learnt to do without one of those, but thanks for the thought.’ Harriet turned away, assuming he wanted to talk with the marquee crew, but James saw her back to the Lodge.

‘Moira likes you, Harriet,’ he said abruptly as she unlocked her door. ‘She doesn’t know anyone here yet, so when she asks you to the Old Rectory again, would you go? I’m not likely to be there for a while, if that makes a difference.’

‘I’m happy to visit your sister any time. Whether you’re there or not.’ Harriet held out her hand. ‘Goodbye, James.’

He shook it briefly. ‘Make it
au revoir
. I’m likely to be around quite often now Moira lives here.’

Harriet eyed him curiously. ‘You know, there was one thing I never found out all those years ago, James. What brought you to this part of the world in the first place?’

‘Work. I applied for the job Combe Computers advertised, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, it’s time I was off to let you recharge those batteries of yours.’ He smiled. ‘Unless you’d like some help with that?’

Harriet’s eyes narrowed. Was he actually thinking of picking up where he’d left off last night?

His eyes gleamed. ‘Don’t worry; I wasn’t asking to share your bed for some afternoon delight. Not,’ he added, moving nearer, ‘that the idea lacks appeal.’

She backed away. ‘How flattering.’ She gave him her best social smile and went into the Lodge, shutting the door behind her with a decisive click.

James stood staring at the closed door for a moment, and then strode off to consult with the marquee crew. Once he was satisfied there would be nothing left behind to mar the perfection of the River House grounds he got back in his car. One thing was obvious, he realised, as he negotiated the steep bends of the drive, last night’s triumph had not been quite enough to satisfy him after all. Their waltz together had been a subtle form of purgatory for him, and watching her dance that sexy tango afterwards had added fuel to the flame. Miss Wilde was mistaken if she thought everything was over. Besides, he thought with sudden satisfaction, Aubrey Wilde still had to discover who, exactly, had provided the money he’d been so eager to accept.

H
ARRIET
spent the next day in a series of sessions with clients, and arrived home wanting nothing more than a shower, supper and bed. Instead she found a message from her father on her phone, demanding her presence up at the house. She heaved a sigh. It was show time!

Instead of rushing off straight away, Harriet washed her face, renewed her make-up and re-coiled her hair even more tightly than usual. Armour firmly in place, she marched up to the house and found her father in the kitchen, waiting to pounce.

‘So there you are at last!’ he stormed, his face suffused with rage. ‘I suppose you’re satisfied now you’ve made a bloody fool of me, Harriet! You actually had the gall to persuade me to let that man hire my house under false pretences. All those years ago you refused to give me your lover’s name, but George Lassiter took great pleasure today in telling me the truth.’

‘He’s James Crawford, just as he always was,’ she retorted, her response so different from the girl he’d bullied ten years before that Aubrey Wilde blinked cautiously and backed off. ‘He didn’t give you a false name, and he is the head of the Live Wires Group—also the man you would have had arrested merely for daring to like your daughter.’

‘Like!’ He snorted. ‘He wanted you to shack up with him, so I bet he did more than just ‘like’ you.’

‘Don’t judge everyone by your own standards, Father,’ she snapped.

‘What the hell do you mean by my standards?’ His eyes slid away. ‘If you’re referring to Mrs Fox, we’re just good friends.’

Mrs Fox? Who was she? ‘I’m not interested in your relationship with the lady, whoever she is. I’m talking about my mother.’

Aubrey turned crimson. ‘I suppose Miriam’s been pouring poison in your ears—’

‘Is it poison or the simple truth? She told me exactly why your reaction to my relationship with James was so extreme all those years ago.’ Harriet’s relentless eyes held his. ‘You were so determined to marry Miss Sarah Tolliver and live the good life here at River House you made sure of her in the time-honoured way. No wonder you took it for granted James was after the same thing with me.’

Aubrey Wilde’s eyes bulged, veins stood out on his neck as he stood with hands clenched, and for a moment he looked about to collapse.

Harriet advised him to sit down. ‘You don’t look well, Father.’

He gave her a look that should have felled her on the spot. ‘If I’m not you’re to blame. Miriam, too, curse the woman. Sarah told her everything, always, but Miriam swore she would never say a word—’

‘But the word she did say was the truth, wasn’t it? In her opinion, you would have done anything to marry Mother and live here at River House, which is exactly what you did. Grandfather was forced to accept you, use his influence to get you a promotion at the bank.’

‘I gained that by my own merit!’ he roared, his colour high again. ‘Miriam’s a viper, always has been. Frank Cairns was a saint to put up with her.’

‘He loved her,’ said Harriet simply. ‘That’s the usual reason for people to marry. I loved James, too—’

‘You were too young to know your own mind.’

She smiled scornfully. ‘I was nineteen—the same age as Mother when you married her.’

Aubrey Wilde’s fists clenched. ‘If you loved Crawford that much, why didn’t you have the guts to run away with him?’

‘Because you threatened to have him arrested! I loved him too much to risk ruining his life.’

‘I wouldn’t have gone that far,’ he muttered, eyes falling. ‘Just getting him fired was enough, because it took him away from you.’

‘Actually, he wasn’t fired. Mr Lassiter merely transferred him up north to another branch of the firm. James was too good at his job to lose—as he’s proved beyond all doubt.’

‘And I thought George was my friend!’ Aubrey eyed her bitterly. ‘No doubt you and Crawford were laughing behind my back all evening.’

‘Absolutely not.’ She smiled bleakly. ‘James is no fonder of me than he is of you. He thinks I dumped him because he wasn’t good enough for Miss Harriet Wilde of River House, but he waited a long time before he found the perfect way to retaliate.’

Aubrey glared at her in frustration. ‘I’ll refund his damned money—’

‘You know perfectly well that isn’t possible, Father. You signed a contract. Besides, most of the money is already in the business account, and I flatly refuse to give it back.’
She shrugged. ‘James can crow over us as much as he likes as long as I get the roof repaired.’

He shook his head, depressed now. ‘You used to be such a biddable child—’

‘Any personality change is down to you,’ she informed him bluntly.

He winced. ‘If you felt like that, why the hell did you take a job here when you qualified? I’m sure it wasn’t to please
me
!’

‘No, it was to please Mother. I promised her I’d make sure you took care of the house.’

‘When did you promise her that?’

‘When she was dying.’

‘I didn’t know about it.’

‘You weren’t around much at the time.’

‘I couldn’t bear to watch her fading away.’ He glared at her through sudden tears and scrubbed at them with a handkerchief. ‘You forgot your promise fast enough when you wanted to run off with Crawford!’

‘I wasn’t leaving the country! I was a teenage student, Father, and at the time you were financially stable. I took it for granted that you would care for River House because it was our home.’

He blew his nose irritably. ‘The home you moved out of the minute you qualified. After I saved you from ruining your life you couldn’t bear to stay under the same roof with me.’

She nodded. ‘Pretty much. Though it’s unlikely I would have ruined my life by sharing it with a man who went on to make such a spectacular success of his own.’

‘How was I to know that at the time? I thought he was just some upstart wanting to get a foot in the door here at River House.’

‘As you did with Mother,’ Harriet said mercilessly. ‘But,
unlike you, James wasn’t interested in River House. He just wanted me.’ She turned to go. ‘By the way, I had an email from Charlotte Brewster today. Apparently she has someone else in line for an event here. She’s popping into my office tomorrow to discuss it. I’ll keep you informed.’

‘Harriet!’

She turned back. ‘Yes?’

‘Is Crawford likely to come here again?’

‘No. Now the party’s over he’ll have no reason to.’

Aubrey sighed again. ‘Life plays some strange tricks. Now I’ve met him I like the man; his family, too. I just wish—’

‘Too late, Father.’ Harriet smiled coldly. ‘James achieved revenge in his own peculiar way, and that’s that. End of story.’

Harriet went back to the Lodge feeling wrung out. She’d been shaping up for this confrontation for so long it was hard to believe she’d finally said all the things she’d been bottling up. Not that they’d make any difference. Her father would go on tomorrow as though nothing had happened, as he always did. While she felt sick with reaction, and no longer sure she was doing the right thing. Maybe it was time to move on, apply for a job somewhere else, and leave her father to face up to his responsibilities at last.

Harriet slept so badly that Lydia took one look at her next morning and sent Simon off to make coffee before she began her day.

Charlotte Brewster, prompt as usual, informed Harriet she was following up more queries regarding River House. ‘One is from a firm that makes luxury beds. They want a romantic bedroom with big windows, so the large one with the balcony would be the perfect choice. But they might
want to paint the walls a different colour. Would your father be up for that?’

‘I’m sure he would. What else have you got?’

Harriet’s mood improved considerably at the news that the rock group currently at the top of the charts might use the house for a music video, and a television company was interested in using the house and garden for scenes in a forthcoming drama series.

‘In the meantime,’ said Charlotte, ‘houses like yours are constantly sought after as venues for PR events, product launches and commercial photo shoots, so there could be good pickings for you on a regular basis.’

‘Julia said she might be able to help in the photo shoot area.’

‘Give her my number and tell her to get in touch, and we’ll sort it.’ Charlotte grinned. ‘What did she think of her family home as the venue for James Crawford’s bash last Saturday?’

‘She was all for it.’

‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘I hadn’t expected to, but yes, I did.’ Harriet smiled wryly. ‘I put in an appearance to make sure that nothing untoward happened, but I needn’t have bothered. It was a very classy operation. No expense spared to make it a success.’

Life felt rather flat for a while after the party. Harriet saw nothing of her father, who kept well out of her way after their showdown. James rang twice, but she was out on both occasions and he didn’t ring again. She went out to dinner with friends one night and at the weekend to a concert in the town hall with Nick Corbett, and spent both evenings answering questions about the party.

‘You know, Harriet,’ Nick said, eyeing her, ‘I hardly recognised you in the shot in the paper.’

She smiled demurely. ‘I clean up well when I try.’

On the way out after the concert Harriet spotted a familiar face and intercepted Moira Graveney. ‘Hello there! Did you enjoy the concert? You remember Nick Corbett?’

‘Of course, we met at the King’s Head. Good evening, Mr Corbett. Harriet, how lovely to see you!’ Moira smiled warmly, the familiar hazel eyes alight with pleasure. ‘I enjoyed the music very much. I love Mozart, but Marcus doesn’t, so I came on my own.’

‘How is Claudia?’

‘Mending slowly. Her main problem is boredom.’

‘She broke her ankle at the party,’ Harriet informed Nick.

‘Bad luck!’ he said, wincing. ‘Ladies, will you excuse me for a moment—a friend is beckoning.’

‘I’m so glad I ran into you, Harriet,’ said Moira. ‘I was going to ring you tomorrow to ask if you’d come to lunch next Sunday. Unless you’ve had rather too much of my family lately?’

‘No, indeed,’ Harriet assured her. ‘I’d like that very much.’

‘Come about twelve. If the weather holds we’ll eat in the garden.’ Moira waved as a familiar figure entered the foyer. ‘Ah, my chauffeur’s arrived.’

Harriet smiled brightly as James Crawford came towards them.

‘You’re very punctual, James,’ said his sister.

‘Would I dare keep my sister waiting? Not that I had much choice; Marcus has been giving me reminders about the time for the past half hour.’ He turned to Harriet. ‘And how are you?’

‘Always better for a dose of Mozart,’ she assured him,
and turned as Nick came back. ‘You remember Nick Corbett?’

James’s nod was cool. ‘Of course. You’re a Mozart fan too?’

Nick shook his head, smiling. ‘Not really. I bought the tickets to please Harriet.’

‘Time we were off,’ said Moira and, to Harriet’s surprise, leaned forward to kiss her cheek. ‘Don’t forget. Sunday at twelve.’

‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Harriet assured her.

‘Good to see you both again,’ said James, and took Moira’s arm to lead her outside.

‘For a busy man he spends a lot of time in this area,’ said Nick as they followed suit.

‘Because his sister moved here recently. He’s very fond of Moira.’

‘Is it possible he’s fond of you, too?’ said Nick with a sidelong glance.

‘You couldn’t be more wrong,’ she assured him.

‘Good to know. How about a drink at the King’s Head before you go home?’

Harriet enjoyed the drink and a lively chat with Nick in the busy bar and arrived home later to find a message on her machine from James.

‘Third time unlucky, it seems. I’ll try again some time. Or you could even ring me.’

Not a chance. James might get the mistaken impression that she was trying to rekindle something between them. Maybe he would be at Moira’s for lunch next Sunday. Not that she cared whether he was there or not. It would be good just to enjoy a meal and a pleasant hour or two with the Graveneys. It certainly beat the housework and gardening she usually did on Sundays. She had learned her lesson when she made her permanent move into the Lodge.
A small house had to be kept scrupulously tidy. And if she sometimes yearned for the space and light up at the main house she never admitted it to herself, let alone anyone else.