The Girl From Over the Sea (19 page)

Lesley gave him a swift, startled look. His dark eyebrows were raised, and a faint cynical smile twisted one
corner
of his mouth. Her face flamed in indignant fury at the implication of his jibes. That she had sat here to encourage Dominic to make a pass at her, and remained here on the chance that he too
...

‘
Mr.
Defontaine, believe me
,’
she said between her teeth,
‘
I never bother to have a single thought about you apart from my work. And now if you
’
ll excuse me I
’
ll go. The sun seemed so bright I thought it would be pleasant to sit here, but the wind is treacherous like so much of the English
...
climate. Apparently warm but really bitterly cold
.’

‘
You sound rather disillusioned. Why not, since you fed devastating, call it the Limey climate?
’
he asked, the mocking inflection still in his voice hut something fiery in his usually cold eyes.
‘
That
’
s a word I used to hear often from your young
...
brother and sister
.’

‘
So far as I understand, Limey is just used for people
,’
she returned.
‘
But don
’
t let me detain you,
Mr.
Defontaine. I was just going to move
.’

‘
I
’
m sure you were going to do nothing of the sort
,’
he challenged. He seemed to be looming over her, but despite her every inclination, Lesley was determined not to run away.

‘
You like Dominic? You get on well with him?
’

‘
Of course I like him
,’
Lesley
’
s voice was light.
‘
He
’
s a very pleasant young man—good-looking and charming and considerate. No girl could help liking him.
’

‘
And working together as you are doing in the hotel? You find that satisfactory?
’

Now what was this in aid of? she wondered. Well, if he thought she was going to venture some criticism about Dominic
’
s easy-going attitude to work, he was mistaken.
‘
Of course
,’
she remarked non-committally.
‘
We get on very well together indeed.
’

There came then what to Lesley
’
s stretched nerves seemed a long, long silence. When she ventured to look at him she saw something in his eyes that she had never seen there before,
something dangerous which filled her with trembling alarm. In spite of all her resolutions she
was
going to retreat. In fact she was going to run.

She said, chokingly,
‘
I
’
m cold
,’
turned from the Kissing Seat
and
ran through the nearby gate. Once behind the wall she stood beneath the Kissing Trees, willing herself to still the stupid panic in her heart. She had closed her eyes and so his arms were around her and his lips were on hers before she knew he was there.

For a moment she stood rigid in his hold, and then it seemed as if all her bones had melted. There was just one kiss, hard and swift and merciless.

‘
We can
’
t let Dominic have all the fun, can we, my love
,’
he whispered softly.
‘
But I didn
’
t intend kissing you in the Kissing Seat—only under the Kissing Trees.
’

Before she could think of anything to say, he had strode away. By the time Lesley had to some extent recovered her composure, she was alone and a quick glance round showed no
one
else in view. Trembling, her thoughts completely chaotic, she hurried to the old Manor, walking through the dark panelled hall to the warm, well-appointed kitchen.

She was on good terms with all the staff at the Manor, but she particularly liked the housekeeper,
Mrs.
Piper, who had been so good when Rita was ill. She was a Cornish woman from St Benga Town and with daily domestic help from the village, she ran the old Manor House, cooking for old
Mrs.
Trevendone and her companion and some meals for the rest of the family. She lived in a flat over one of the garages with her son Jeff who drove the hotel Landrover and acted as handyman.

‘
What you want, m
’
dear, is a nice hot cup of tea
,’
she said with a quick glance at Lesley.
‘
I
’
ll have it in a jiffy, and you just get warm by the stove. A real cold wind there is out. It
’
s turned this afternoon, as I know, having just walked back from the village.
’
She chuckled.
‘
No
wonder you
’
re all but frozen, m
’
dear soul. I see
’
d you there sitting in the Kissing Seat.
’

Lesley swallowed hard and put on an innocent expression. Had
Mrs.
Piper seen
...
‘
The Kissing Seat?
’
she repeated.

‘
I was sitting in a sheltered place, a kind of upturned boat to keep out of the wind.
’

‘
That
’
s it, m
’
dear, the Kissing Seat. I see
’
d you and I said to myself,
“
Now I wonder what young man will come along and catch her there. She
’
m expecting
Mr.
Dominic, forbye, and then I could a
’
died laughing when I saw
Mr.
Defontaine talking to
‘
un
.’

Lesley stared at her, her heart in her mouth. What next?
‘
I
’
m sorry,
Mrs.
Piper, I don
’
t quite follow. I
’
m all at sea
.’

Mrs.
Piper almost choked with laughter.
‘
That
’
s just what
‘
un bain
’
t, me handsome.
‘
Un were all on land
.’

Lesley braved the old woman
’
s merry blue eyes and began to smile.
‘
What is this all about,
Mrs.
Piper?
Mr.
Defontaine stopped to say it was cold for sitting around and
I agreed with him and came in for a cup of tea.
’
The housekeeper seemed to have missed seeing Dominic, which was all to the good, and what had happened behind the wall was well out of anyone
’
s view.
‘
My love,
’
he had said as he held her. Lesley shivered.

‘
Here
’
s your tea. You
’
m still real cold
,’
Mrs.
Piper said with a look of concern.
‘
And you be careful, m
’
dear, about they old Kissing Seat. Hereabouts they say that a maid never marries the one who first kisses her there. Not, I
’
m sure, that
Mr.
Defontaine would be doing any such thing. More reserved like, he be, wouldn
’
t you say, m
’
dear?
’

Lesley avoided answering that question by a pretended eagerness to know more about the local superstition.
‘
So they say you never marry the boy who first kisses you under the Kissing Trees. That
’
s rather sad, isn
’
t it,
Mrs.
Piper?
’

‘
Now don
’
t get the little old story
wr
ong, Miss Lesley
,’
the other said, shaking her head.
‘
It b
’
aint the Kissing Trees
—
them
’
s different. It
’
s the Kissing Seat. Un you kiss under the Kissing Trees, un
’
s the one for you, so they say, but what beats me is how you can kiss under the trees and not on the seat. That
’
s what beats me.
’

It hadn
’
t beaten Blake Defontaine, though. Behind the wall, you could stand under the Kissing Trees and be forced right against the wall and your mouth bruised with just one kiss
...
The cup rattled in the saucer she was holding.

‘
Now don
’
t
‘
ee get me wrong about
Mr.
Defontaine, Miss Lesley. Reserved un may be, but un
’
s a man, m
’
dear
...
a real man. I guarantee Miss Sorrel knows that all right.
’
Mrs.
Piper like the rest of the staff had the greatest admiration for
‘
the Maister
.’

Lesley turned away.
‘
I expect she does
,’
she said dully.
‘
Thanks for the tea,
Mrs.
Piper
.’

‘
Don
’
t mention it, me handsome
,’
smiled
Mrs.
Piper.

Still feeling entirely unlike her usual self, Lesley walked back to the New Manor to take over the reception desk duties from Jennifer. If it weren
’
t for Blake Defontaine and his girl-friend, life at Trevendone Manor, despite the hard work, would be tolerable, she thought.

She liked old
Mrs.
Trevendone who though very vague and keeping to her rooms very much now the season had begun was always pleasant and welcoming. She seemed to have accepted Lesley and Rita as her great-grandchildren, though it was Ricky who was her first favourite. Jennifer appeared to have got over her initial hostility. She worked hard in the hotel, much harder than Dominic, and Lesley had grown to respect her.

When she arrived at the big reception desk she saw that in the little office behind it Jennifer was talking to Sorrel Lang. They were very deep in a discussion and Jennifer at least seemed rather embarrassed by Lesley
’
s appearance.

‘
Oh, there you are, Lesley. I hadn
’
t realised it was time for you to come on again
.’
She walked towards the door where Lesley was standing.
‘
I
’
ve just been hearing what happened this morning, Lesley. I
’
m sorry. I
’
ll see Blake and explain
t
hat it was my fault
.’

‘
Oh, I shouldn
’
t worry
,’
Lesley said with a shrug.
‘
Forget it
.’

Jennifer shook her head.
‘
Oh no. Coming, Sorrel?
’

‘
Not for a moment
,’
Mrs.
Lang called out carelessly. She was in riding kit and Lesley wondered whether she was going down to the beach to ride with Blake or whether she was on her way home. Her big Italian car was in the courtyard in front of the hotel, as Lesley had noticed as she came to the front of the New Manor.

Lesley went into the office and sat down at the desk on which her typewriter stood. She seldom wasted any words on Sorrel since that occasion when the girl had left her high and dry in Exeter and had never thought fit to make either an explanation or an apology.

‘
Jennifer and I were just talking about you,
’
Sorrel said in an insolent voice.

Lesley did not raise her head.
‘
Really?
’
she said indifferently.

‘
Yes, we were discussing what we both believe is Blake
’
s plan for you.
’

That did rouse Lesley. She swung round in her typing chair, and tension tightened her throat.
‘
Blake
’
s plan for
me
? What plan?
’

‘
We
’
ve both got the idea, Jennie and I, that he has it in mind that you and Dominic might make a match. That would unite the two branches of the family and make everything neat and tidy about your claim to the estate.
’

‘
The claim isn
’
t mine. It
’
s Rick
’
s,
’
Lesley said stonily.

‘
Oh, anybody can see Rick isn
’
t interested either in the estate or in the hotel and Rita will go back to Australia as soon as she can. So that leaves you.
’

Does it indeed
?
thought Lesley grimly. What a shock Blake Defontaine would get when he knew the real truth—that she had no business, here at all since she wasn
’
t a Trevendone. Though oddly enough, she had always feared that he
’
d half suspected it right from the beginning. But evidently not, if what Sorrel was suggesting was true. So much for his wanting to make everything
‘
neat and tidy.
’

But the last person with whom she was going to discuss this or anything else was
Mrs.
Sorrel Lang.

‘
You and Jennifer must have been enjoying yourselves
,’
she said contemptuously as she swung back to her typewriter.
‘
Was Dominic in at the discussion too?
’

Sorrel smiled, reminding Lesley, as she so often did, of a handsome black cat.
‘
Dominic! Well, of course,
he
hasn
’
t a clue. Naturally
.’

Her black eyes flashed as she repeated the word,
‘
Naturally
!’
Lesley thought; she isn
’
t in love with Dominic, but she won
’
t let him go to anybody else. In so many words she
’
s warning me off.

She got up and went to the window. There had been a mist far back in the sea for most of the morning. Then it had seemed to clear, but now it had thickened and the wind had brought it swirling inland. It seemed to press silently against the office window, almost menacingly, just like this woman who stood by the door, menacing too in her own way. Lesley said,
‘
Frankly I don
’
t know what all this is about
.’

‘
You like Dominic, you like him a lot?
’
Sorrel questioned.

Lesley shrugged and went back to her desk.
‘
Of course I like Dominic a lot. He has been nicer to me than anyone else here. Also he
’
s very good-looking and very good fun—a dreamboat. So of course I like him.
’

And Sorrel could make what she could of that.

Sorrel
’
s black eyes blazed.
‘
Well, take it from me. It just isn
’
t on
!’
she almost spat.

Lesley sat down in the swivel chair and inserted some paper into the typewriter.
‘
Isn
’
t that a matter between Dominic and myself?
’
she asked provocatively.

‘
No, it isn
’
t. It concerns all of us—all the Trevendones, that is. When we had that first conference you announced loudly enough that you were going back to Australia to get married. Rita says your young man is coming over here for the summer. So don
’
t get involved with Dominic or it might be
...
awkward.
’

‘
When you
’
ve quite finished dissecting my love life, perhaps you
’
ll let me get on,
’
Lesley said in a voice of ice.
‘
And
i
f it
’
s of any interest to you or to
...
an
y
one else
,
I
’
m not contemplating marrying anybody at the moment.
’

‘
Don
’
t throw your Australian boy-friend to the winds in the hope of getting a better catch,
’
Sorrel said, her eyes still blazing vindictively.
‘
A bird in the hand, you know
...
’

She sauntered out, leaving Lesley staring after her with sick distaste on her face. Sorrel Lang was quite impossible ... a fit match for the revolting man she was going to marry.

Her thoughts went back to Jennifer. So she had-heard of the
’
unpleasantness this morning and was evidently intent on making amends. Lesley hoped to goodness she would leave well alone. It was over now, and it was a mistake she wasn
’
t likely to repeat.

The affair had arisen from the fact that a client had rung up on Tuesday morning to say that he would not be taking up his reservation that night but would-be arriving after lunch on Wednesday. Later a couple had phoned asking for accommodation for one night—the Tuesday—and Jennifer had happened to answer the call. She had turned to Lesley suggesting that as
Mr.
Forsyth
’
s room was vacant they should accept this booking.

Jennifer was a much keener business woman than Dominic, anxious, as she had said bitterly more than once to Lesley, to free Trevendone from debt so that she could live a life of her own.

Lesley was dubious.
Mr.
Forsyth, it seemed, was an old and valued client, a wealthy man, and there was no question of his not paying for the reservation.

She had shaken her head, well aware by now how Blake Defontaine liked the hotel to be run, but Jennifer with a
very set face had reminded her in icy terms that in theory at least, Dominic and she were the owners of Trevendone Manor.

Lesley could do no more than accede and offer the room for the night. That might have been the end of it, but unfortunately this morning when it came to paying, the couple had quibbled over the bill. They had arrived rather late in the evening, had not asked for any refreshments nor for the hotel terms, and Lesley, largely through inexperience, had not mentioned them.

This morning when she had presented them with their bill there was a certain amount of unpleasantness into which unfortunately Blake had appeared. Lesley was fairly confident that she could have coped with the situation, but Blake immediately took over in an icily correct manner, found out that the couple hadn
’
t been quoted terms, asked what they had expected to pay, and still icily correct, had ordered Lesley to accept that amount.