Dark Paradise (3 page)

'And his own house is sold, so if he doesn't make up his mind soon, he could end up in a tent on the common,' he added with a gesture of mock despair.


'Talking of dream houses,' his father said. 'How's the decorating at your place coming along?'


Jon helped himself to cheese. 'It's rather ground to a halt at the moment,' he said, after a pause.


Mrs Herbert was piling used dishes on to a tray. 'But Alison was so keen, so full of plans when you bought it.' She laughed. 'I got the impression that she was into interior decoration in a big way.'


Jon said wryly, 'I think that was before she discovered how much there was to do, and what graft it was.' He paused. 'As a matter of fact, she's talking about going out to work again.'


'Getting her old job back?' his father asked.


'No.' Jon's denial was altogether too swift and too forceful, and he tempered it with a laugh. 'I mean, those sort of opportunities only come along once in a lifetime. I'm afraid she'll have to settle for something rather more humdrum.'


Kate pushed her chair back and rose. 'Leave the dishes,' she told her mother, 'I'll do them.'


'And I'll help.' Jon got up too.


Mrs Herbert smiled at them both affectionately. 'Just like old times,' she said.


Kate filled the sink with hot water, and whisked the washing up liquid into a lather.


Casually she said, 'Has Ally any idea what kind of job she wants?'


'We haven't really discussed it in any detail.' His voice sounded awkward. 'I don't think she'll find it very easy, with so many people out of work. And it isn't as if she needs the money—I don't keep her short of cash.' He stopped. 'I'm sorry, Kate, I shouldn't burden you with our problems. I suppose we're experiencing the "period of adjustment" that all couples go through.'


'You don't want her to work again,' said Kate.


He sighed. 'No, I don't. And I thought she didn't either, or so she always said before we were married. At first, she seemed absorbed in the house.' His mouth tightened. 'I suppose after working for a man like Lincoln, domestic life with me must seem very tame.'


Feeling her way carefully, Kate said, 'But I thought—Alison said something about starting a family as soon as possible.'


'That's right,' he said flatly. 'But it hasn't happened yet. Hell, we've only been married a year, there isn't that much damned hurry. But I suppose if she gets a job, it will have to be put off indefinitely. She seems to have decided that's what she'd prefer,' he added bitterly.


Kate swallowed. 'Well, she did have a pretty high-powered career. And I suppose with her contacts in television, it's not impossible…'


'Over my dead body,' said Jon, with stark emphasis. The weary look had deepened on his face. 'If she wants to work, I won't stop her, but she's not going back within a mile of Matt Lincoln. I was sick of the sound of his name before we were married. I'm not living with it now.' He took a dry tea towel out of a drawer. 'It's ironic, isn't it? We did
Othello
at school, and I had no sympathy for him at all. I kept thinking what a fool he was to get so stirred up by jealousy, and for so little reason. And now I'm exactly in the same boat!' He gave a shaky laugh. 'I can't even stay in the sitting room when he's on television!'


Kate mopped at an already clean plate as if she was trying to remove the pattern. 'Isn't that rather— irrational? After all, you don't know that there was ever anything between them.'


'As I've told myself a hundred times.' Jon sounded defeated. 'But it makes no damned difference at all. He's the sort of man women go for. He's got it all, looks, charm, charisma—and don't let anyone tell you that success isn't an aphrodisiac,' he added savagely. 'You met him at the wedding, didn't you? You saw the effect he had on everyone.'


Kate bent her head. 'Yes, I met him,' she agreed colourlessly.


'And didn't like him?' Jon gave her a curious look. 'My God, that must make you one in a million!'


'Perhaps.' Kate moved her shoulders. 'Actually, he reminded me of someone.'


She nodded. 'Drew Wakefield.'


'Him?' Jon frowned a little. 'Yes, I see what you mean. But I thought you'd forgotten all about him.'


'You don't forget about someone like Drew,' she said bitterly. 'Being involved with him is like being in a bad accident. You can be left with scars.'


'Kate,' Jon's eyes were gentle, 'that was over a long time ago. Let it go.'


She emptied the water out of the sink. 'Can you let Matt Lincoln go?'


He said wryly, '
Touché
.' Then he sighed. 'What fools we both are!'


She nodded. 'The coffee's ready. Why don't you take the tray through while I finish up here.'


When she was alone, she moved slowly, wiping down surfaces, and restoring the kitchen to its usual pristine condition.


It had been unfair of her, she thought, to aim that taunt at Jon, because although he didn't know it yet, Matt Lincoln was still very much part of his life. She only wished it were otherwise.


She rinsed out the cloth she'd been using and hung it to dry, staring out of the kitchen window at the dark garden beyond.


Well, she would make it otherwise. Jon loved Alison, and their marriage deserved a chance which it wouldn't have if the pernicious influence of someone like Matt Lincoln was allowed to take hold.


Drew Wakefield, she thought bitterly. Matt Lincoln. Birds of a feather, pursuing their destructive way through other people's lives, uncaring of the chaos they left behind.


Only this time—somehow—she wasn't going to allow it to happen. Scandal and bitterness weren't going to ruin her family's lives, she vowed silently, not if she could help it.


She thought savagely, 'To hell with you, Matt Lincoln!' then shivered suddenly as if a cold hand had brushed against her in warning.

'Matt Lincoln's address?' Felix stared at her in amazement. 'What on earth do you want that for?'

Kate moved her shoulders evasively. 'Do you think you can get it for me?'

'I daresay I can. It'll be on file somewhere at the office, and if not, Lorna Bryce from Features was involved with him for a while. She'd know,' said Felix. 'But wouldn't it be easier just to call National Television?'

'Perhaps,' Kate's voice was noncommittal. 'I'm hoping it won't be necessary to call him at all.'

'I'm sure you are,' Felix said a mite caustically. 'Leave him to the Lornas of this world, darling. He's out of your league.'

'Don't be so rude, Felix,' Maria, who was crocheting by the fire, interrupted placidly. 'Kate's a lovely girl.'

'Have I ever denied it?' Felix gestured dramatically. 'So why throw her to the lions?' He grinned at Kate. 'Or do you like living dangerously, after all, and if so, what are you doing with boring old Clive?'

'You're a nosy swine,' his wife said in amiable condemnation. Her eyes shrewdly noted Kate's obvious embarrassment. 'I'm sure Kate knows what she's doing.'

Do I? Kate wondered dismally.

She had spent a miserable restless night trying and failing to decide on a particular course of action, and had wasted a working day too through her inability to concentrate properly.

All she knew was that some sort of confrontation was inevitable. Simply telling Jon what she had seen and letting him sort it out at whatever cost would be an unbearably sneaky thing to do, she thought. And seeking out Matt Lincoln at the television centre through layers of protective commissionaires and secretaries didn't appeal to her either. Her courage would have dwindled long before she reached him.

Her request to Felix to find out his home address— his telephone number was, naturally enough, ex-directory—had been made on the spur of the moment. And she wouldn't use it. It was purely something to be held in reserve, because first thing tomorrow she was going to talk to Alison.

It wasn't a prospect she welcomed. She had been Alison's chief bridesmaid, but that had been as a matter of form, she thought wryly, and hadn't prompted any real intimacy between them. Nor had they become any closer since. She had tried, but apart from the fact they seemed to have little in common, she had always sensed a slight reserve about her sister-in-law.

And after tomorrow, I suppose I'll be lucky if she ever speaks to me again, she told herself ruefully.

Every metre of the following day's bus and tube journey to the modern estate where Jon and Alison lived, she kept telling herself she didn't have to go through with it, that she could always turn back and allow whatever was going to happen to go right ahead without any interference from her.

The houses were attractively terraced, built on three sides of a square overlooking a lawned area with shrubs and a striking piece of modern sculpture. The individual gardens in front of the houses were more relaxed, several holding a scatter of children's toys, but the overall impression was one of quiet because most of the houses were occupied by working couples.

It occurred to Kate, not for the first time, that Alison might not find it merely quiet, but lonely during the daytime with the neighbouring wives out at jobs, or absorbed in their young families.

Perhaps she couldn't altogether be blamed for wanting to resume her career. Housework, shopping and decorating could hardly fill all her time, Kate thought with sudden compassion.

As she walked up the path, the front door opened, and Alison appeared, smiling rather warily. 'Surprise, surprise!'

'We all missed you the other night,' said Kate. 'I thought I'd come and see how you were.' She saw Alison look puzzled, and elaborated, 'Your headache.'

'Oh, that.' Alison stood back to allow Kate past her into the house. 'It wasn't serious, just annoying.'

'I thought from what Jon said it was a migraine at the very least.'

'He exaggerates,' Alison shrugged. 'Sit down and I'll bring some coffee.'

'You must have known I was coming,' Kate joked, unfastening her jacket.

Alison's smile was wintry. 'I did. I watched you walk all the way round the central lawn. Do you know you're the only person who's come into the close this morning?'

Kate could believe it. While Alison was busy in the kitchen she glanced round the sitting room. It was immaculate as always, the furnishings and curtains looking brand-new, fresh flowers on the coffee table in front of the hearth, and a faint smell of lavender wax in the air.

She waited until her sister-in-law had set down the tray and poured the coffee, then she said, trying to sound casual, 'Jon says you're thinking of getting a job.'

The spoon Alison was using clattered into the saucer. She said, 'That's right.' There was a brief pause, then she said, 'As a matter of fact I might be getting my old job back.'

Kate stirred her coffee. 'With National Television?'

'With Matt Lincoln,' Alison said quickly and flatly.

'Oh,' said Kate, rather helplessly.

'It came right out of the blue,' Alison went on, a faint colour stealing into her face. 'Apparently none of the girls who've been working for him since I left have been the slightest bit of good. And he has an important assignment coming up in a couple of weeks—in the Caribbean. He wants me to go with him.'

Kate drew a deep breath. 'He does? And what did you say?'