Persuade Me (17 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Dinner was even more of a triumph than Walter had anticipated – although it hadn’t got off to the most promising start.

Really, Anna had no business to change her appearance, however subtly, without telling him! At first, he actually thought it was Irina sitting there … The short hairstyle showing off the shape of her neck; the softly glowing skin that had never needed any cosmetic retouching; the coral dress – Irina’s favourite colour and, he recalled with distaste, the shade Anna had once painted the walls of her room at Kellynch. The table blurred before him and he clutched Cleo’s arm more tightly – thank God for Cleo!

And thank God, too, for William. As soon as he saw Walter and Cleo, he jumped up, rushed to embrace them, then stepped back in awe and fixed stunned eyes on Walter.

‘We’re wearing the same clothes again! It’s uncanny – as if I’ve found an identical twin I didn’t know I had.’ The dear boy seemed overcome with emotion.

Walter glanced automatically at the large mirror opposite. He saw a misty figure in a taupe suit and ivory shirt, nearly identical to the man facing him – the same crisp blond hair, smooth tanned face, piercing blue gaze. Not identical twins – William’s features had one or two little irregularities – but they would certainly pass for brothers.

They sat in their usual places: he faced the mirror, with Cleo next to him, William directly opposite and Lisa next to William. It was an ideal arrangement – Lisa and William made a beautiful couple and, if he tired of watching them, he could always watch himself. Just a pity about William’s slightly receding chin – more noticeable tonight because of the number of times he turned to look at the woman at the end of the table. But then, as Cleo reminded him when he’d mentioned it to her previously, there was only one man in Bath blessed with a perfect profile.

The orders were taken, the champagne served, and a toast made by William in a gratifyingly loud voice – ‘To the 8th Baronet of Kellynch, Sir Walter Elliot, a name synonymous with everything that’s made England what it is today!’ Walter responded with a gracious nod of the head; but, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Anna smile – and wondered what she found so amusing.

So he wasn’t surprised when, shortly afterwards, she tried to spoil it all. As soon as William left the room – and his exquisite-looking
foie gras
starter – to answer a call on his mobile, she couldn’t resist saying, ‘That’s odd. When I met William in Lyme Regis only a week ago, he never mentioned he was coming to Bath.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, you can’t have met him in Lyme Regis,’ Lisa said, with understandable irritation. ‘He told us himself – he was in London last weekend, going to all our old haunts. On the Sunday evening he drove like a madman to Kellynch, but found we’d gone to Bath. He stayed overnight with Minty and came here first thing Monday morning.’

‘I’m not being ridiculous, he was–’

‘He can’t have been in two places at once, just accept you made a mistake,’ Walter put in, magnanimously. At that moment, William returned to his seat and Walter leaned forward to confide, ‘My other daughter seems to be under the illusion that she met you in Lyme Regis last weekend. Have you got a double, or shall we call in the psychiatrists?’

Everyone laughed at his little joke, except Anna.

But then William’s face clouded and he said quietly, ‘I’m afraid she’s right. Remember I said I was revisiting old haunts? Well, not just in London, I went to Lyme Regis where I had that wonderful holiday with my mother, and Irina, and of course Anna … Naturally, I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to cause
you
in particular,’ a tormented look at Walter, ‘any unnecessary pain. I know from my mother what a devoted couple you and Irina were.’

Walter blinked back a tear. So thoughtful – the dear boy had obviously matured a lot during that traumatic time with the Texan divorcee. Not that William himself had breathed a word about it; but Walter had bumped into the friends William was staying with, the Wallises, and they’d reluctantly explained the whole sad story …

No wonder William had been looking so often in Anna’s direction; he’d be trying to signal to her not to let on about Lyme. Little did he know that
she
never bothered to spare her father’s feelings.

And now William was asking very kindly after one of the Musgrove girls, something about an accident, and Anna was talking about hospitals and operations – a subject that she very well knew Walter
detested
.

He intervened swiftly. ‘My dear friend Lady Dalrymple has hired some boxes at the Theatre Royal next Saturday. We’re all invited, of course.’ A stern look at Anna. ‘It’s a Russian play, so she’d particularly like
you
to be there.’

Anna’s eyes lit up; she really did look distressingly like Irina tonight. ‘Yes, it’s Chekhov’s
Three Sisters
. I tried to get tickets for Jenny and me, but they only had the most expensive ones left.’

If that was a hint to invite the Smith woman, he was having none of it. Instead, he turned the conversation adroitly to the hotel spa, and which treatments they should sample over the coming week, a discussion he knew Anna would have no interest in. And he would have held court like this all through dinner, if William hadn’t left the table again – and this time his
filet mignon
– to answer another call on his mobile.

Taking advantage of a natural lull in the conversation, Anna said in that deceptively gentle voice of hers, ‘I don’t understand. After all William’s done, after all the blustering about never speaking to him again, how are we sitting here having dinner together?’ She ignored Lisa’s anguished ‘You just don’t want me to be happy!’ and stared fearlessly at Walter.

Walter stared fearlessly back, knowing he had nothing to reproach himself for. ‘It’s quite simple. When William left Lisa so suddenly, he was not in control of his own mind. Brandi Berette is by all accounts an exceptionally beautiful creature, been on the cover of
Vogue
–’

‘It was
Playboy
,’ Lisa put in, with a little sob.

‘Either way, a force to be reckoned with, and that’s without taking her $4 million dollar divorce settlement into account. If you recall, she hired William to give her investment advice – then it all went horribly wrong. She threw herself at his feet, plied him with alcohol and drugs, seduced him and dragged him off to Texas as her live-in adviser.’ Walter let out a little shuddering sigh. ‘One simply can’t imagine what he went through … he was virtually a prisoner for her pleasure … but at least it kept him out of the sun, so terribly
ageing
.’

Anna gave a nasty little laugh. ‘If you believe all that, you’re even more gullible than I thought. What else has he told you – he only escaped when the Marines turned up?’

Walter felt his face purpling with rage – and then Cleo’s fingers were soothing his clenched fist and Anna’s rudeness didn’t seem to matter quite so much.

Thankfully, Lisa stepped in. ‘He hasn’t told us anything,’ she said hotly. ‘Walter had to force the truth out of his friends, and they warned us not to discuss it with Bill in case he breaks down.’

Anna merely smiled. ‘How convenient – to be too traumatised to explain himself and to have friends lined up to do it for him. I bet they didn’t need much forcing, whoever they are.’

‘You’re wrong, Torquil and Jemima Wallis aren’t the sort of people who lower themselves to gossip.’ Lisa gave her sister a pitying look. ‘I don’t expect you know them – they live in one of those huge luxury apartments in The Circus.’

‘A very attractive couple, quite a rarity in Bath,’ Walter mused. ‘Such a shame Torquil’s prematurely grey. He must be only in his early thirties, but he looks as old as me!’ He gazed expectantly round the table.

Cleo made a little moue of disgust. ‘No, Sir Voltaire, I ’ave to disagree wiz you – ’e looks
much
older.’

This led to an enthralling conversation about youth versus the appearance of it. Walter was flattered to learn that he was generally thought to be no more than forty; and his happiness was complete when William returned and let slip that he’d been asked if he and Sir Walter were brothers.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

At the bar of his hotel in Southampton, Rick knocked back another whisky and frowned at Guy.

‘So now you’re telling me I’m not just a recluse, I’m a rude and abusive recluse?’ he said carefully, wondering if Guy was using this bizarre tongue twister as some kind of breathalyser.

‘That’s right.’ Guy leaned his face in close, as though Rick was hard of hearing. ‘You’re making my job almost impossible and you’re not doing yourself any favours. For God’s sake, if you’re depressed don’t take it out on other people – go for a run or something!’

Rick let out a heavy sigh. ‘I can’t be bothered.’

‘It would help if you didn’t drink so much. How many’s that you’ve had?’

A shrug. ‘Not enough.’

Guy narrowed his eyes. ‘Something happen at the hospital this evening?’

‘You could say that.’

Silence; then Guy prompted, ‘Aren’t you going to tell me?’

Rick hesitated; he wasn’t sure he wanted to put his misgivings into words … Oh, what the hell! ‘Look, Lou’s doing really well – today she even walked along the corridor with me – and they’re talking about transferring her to Frenchay Hospital at Bristol, nearer her home. It’s all good news.’ He gave Guy a despairing look. ‘So why don’t I feel happy?’

Now it was Guy’s turn to shrug. ‘Sorry, only you can answer that. Do you want me to fix you up with someone to talk to?’

‘No thanks.’ The last thing he needed was a psychotherapist; it would be like opening Pandora’s bloody box.

‘At least she’s on the road to recovery.’ Guy paused. ‘I can’t understand why you’ve let yourself get so involved. You hardly know the girl, you don’t seem to be in love with her and it sounds as though the accident was her own fault – why beat yourself up like this?’

Rick bowed his head. ‘Things aren’t that simple. I promised her family that I’d be there for her–’

‘Why the hell did you do that?’

He shrugged. ‘Guilt, I suppose. You see, when Shelley dumped me, Lou was great for my ego. Trouble is, I didn’t handle it very well – I’d bumped into this woman, and I thought I had something to prove … So I told Lou we had to slow down, get to know each other, like I did with this woman. But Lou isn’t a very good listener. Unlike this woman I know, or used to know …’

‘Stop rambling on about “this woman”.’ Guy sounded impatient. ‘Is it the same one, or are there three of them? No – don’t tell me,’ he added hurriedly. ‘Just remember, guilt is never a good reason for doing something.’

‘What about honour?’

‘Honour?’

‘Knowing and doing what’s morally right–’

‘I know what it means,’ Guy put in, ‘but surely you’ve got no moral obligation towards Lou?’

‘It’s … complicated. I want to do the right thing, because … there’s this woman, and her ideal hero is–’

‘Not “this woman” again! For God’s sake, Rick, go to bed. You’re not making any sense.’

Rick studied his glass; hadn’t there been some whisky in it, a minute ago? And now he’d lost his train of thought … ‘Anyway, as I was saying, I’m not sure if I’m doing Lou any good by visiting, she doesn’t seem to mind if I’m there or not.’

‘You weren’t saying anything of the sort,’ Guy said briskly, ‘but it’s just as well Lou isn’t desperate to see you. Your next events are in South Wales, you can’t keep travelling back to Southampton. It’s Bristol and Bath towards the end of the week, handy if she’s moved to Frenchay, but still … Did I tell you I was coming to Bath next Saturday, with Marie-Claude? There’s a play on at the Theatre Royal that she wants to see, and by sheer coincidence I can impress her with my knowledge, because I studied it for Russian A level–’

Something clicked in Rick’s befuddled brain. ‘You did Russian? Here, tell me what this says.’ He fumbled along the bar for a coaster, dug a pen out of his pocket and scrawled what he could remember of the book title in Anna’s bedroom. ‘Look, the first and third letters are like ‘N’ backwards, and the last two are ‘OT’, but the second letter’s weird – a sort of rectangle with little legs.’

Guy glanced at the scrawl and laughed. ‘Idiot.’

Rick scowled. ‘Yeah, maybe I am, but there wasn’t much opportunity to learn the Cyrillic alphabet at my failing secondary school in north-east England.’

Guy laughed even louder. ‘That’s what the word means – “idiot”!’

‘Oh, I see … Isn’t it the name of a novel?’

‘By Dostoevsky.’

‘About …?’

‘The hero’s this well-meaning idealist – think Forrest Gump with brains. He has an overdeveloped sense of duty and tries to help people, in particular a woman who’s in a mess.’ A pause. ‘Eventually he realises that everyone thinks he’s an idiot.’

Rick was silent for a few moments; then, ignoring Guy’s protests, he ordered another whisky. For consolation, he told himself; because, rather than the expected insight into Anna’s life, this was an uncomfortably accurate picture of his own.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

After a dream of a dessert – mango and jasmine mousse – Anna refused anything else; the coffee would be worth staying for, but not the conversation that went with it. Two hours of her father’s Dorian Gray syndrome and her sister’s vacuousness were more than enough.

To her surprise, and the others’ displeasure, William insisted on walking her home.

‘But I’m about to order our taxi,’ Lisa said, with a baleful look at Anna.

William flashed her a grin that would have melted half of Greenland. ‘No probs, darling, order it to come in half-an-hour. By the time you’ve all had coffee, I’ll be back.’

And, before she knew it, Anna was in her coat – with William’s scarf wrapped snugly round her neck – and leaving the restaurant by its other door on Crescent Lane. She told him she lived in Bennett Street; but it turned out that he already knew her address, had got it from Minty – or Araminta, as he called her. He’d wanted to look her up as soon as he arrived in Bath; once he went to build some bridges at The Royal Crescent Hotel, however – another tip-off from Araminta – he found himself without a moment to spare.

He held her arm as they walked along, steered her smoothly across the road and steered the conversation just as smoothly to their breakfast together in Lyme Regis. ‘There was so much I wanted to know about you, but I thought I’d see you again that night.’ His grip on her arm tightened. ‘I was devastated when I heard you’d checked out. That moron Pargeter wouldn’t give me your address – went all officious on me and quoted the Data Protection Act. So I decided to head for Kellynch and get the information I wanted there. Another setback when I found Walter and Lisa had decamped to Bath, then – luckily – I remembered where Araminta lived.’ He gave a deep chuckle. ‘She was a bit frosty to begin with, but she soon thawed.’

They reached the corner of Bennett Street and instantly, even in the dark, he decided he loved everything about it. So central, he told her, yet quiet, and not as intimidating as The Circus. As they neared her front door, he noticed Tom’s car with its disabled sticker and started discussing the Smiths’ situation. Araminta thought they managed their finances amazingly well, considering Tom was on a pittance of a disability allowance and Jenny didn’t earn much more. But then, renting out one’s property could be quite a little gold mine, as he and Araminta hoped Walter would come to realise. And although they both admired Anna tremendously for making her own way in life, they felt that she deserved far more than a one-bedroomed rented flat. In fact, they agreed about most things where Anna was concerned …

Anna let it all wash over her. She wasn’t sure if she felt treasured – or trapped. In fact, she wasn’t sure about William, full stop.

At the door, she fished the key out of her bag and smiled up at him. ‘Thank you for seeing me home, there was really no need. How long are you staying in Bath?’

‘My plans are fairly flexible at the moment. One of the advantages of being an investment trader nowadays is that I carry my office with me. Bath has some wonderful little corners where I can hide myself away and still be on the job.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Actually, Anna, it all depends on what happens in the next week or so.’ His face was in shadow, so she couldn’t make out his expression; but something in his voice – a suggestion that he was thinking of
her
– rang warning bells.

She said, keeping her tone light and casual, ‘Well, if you’re still around, maybe we could have a coffee together next weekend?’ That sounded perfect – friendly, for old times’ sake, without being encouraging.

‘I’d love that, although I’m sure we’ll see each other before then.’

Not if she could help it. ‘Goodnight, William.’

‘Goodnight, Anna.’ He pulled her close – too close – and murmured, ‘I’m so happy I found you again.’

She broke away, stabbed her key into the lock and opened the door wide enough to let herself in but keep him out. Then she shut it firmly behind her, slumped against it and closed her eyes.

The ordeal was over. Except – was she thinking of dinner with her family, or her strange vulnerability to this man?

I’m so happy I found you again.

How she’d longed to hear those words; but from someone else.