The Girl From Over the Sea (23 page)

‘
Do you happen to know where your young sister is?
’
he asked in a blistering voice.

Lesley stared, and bit her lip. Engrossed in the work she had been doing at the reception desk, she had quite forgotten that she had intended going-to the stables to have a word With Rita. But that was three hours ago.

‘
I expect she
’
s in bed,
’
she replied, looking at him with eyes that were suddenly anxious.
‘
Why?
’

The explanation was forthcoming, still in that blistering voice. Blake had been in Plymouth all the evening and had arrived back at the Lodge a few minutes ago to have a phone call
from the night porter at the new Manor, who it appeared could get in touch with no one else. A neighbouring farmer had seen a young girl riding
Mr.
Defontaine
’
s black mare on the cliffs. He had ridden out to find out what was happening and she
’
d urged the ma
r
e on at a breakneck speed and had been thrown. She didn
’
t appear to be badly hurt, but the farmer had had her carried to his own nearby farmhouse and called a doctor. The doctor had said she was suffering only from shock, had given her a sedative and the farmer
’
s wife had put her to bed. The mare hadn
’
t got off so lightly. She seemed to be lame, but the farmer had stabled her and asked the vet to come round when he was free.

He had, it seemed, been ringing the Lodge for quite a long time, but finally had decided to ring the hotel.

This was from Blake, so quietly furious that he was terrifying, standing tall and distinguished in evening dress and just back, as he said, from a dinner in Plymouth. Lesley could see from his expression that he thought she had spent the evening
in a flirtation with Dominic.

‘
I
’
ll get the car and bring her back
,’
Lesley said in a trembling voice.
‘
Oh, I hope she
’
s all right. I shall never forgive myself if she
’
s badly hurt. I knew she
’
d put on riding clothes, but I never imagined she
’
d take one of the horses
o
ut
.’

‘
A pity you didn
’
t keep a closer watch on her. Where were you when she went out?
’

‘
I hadn
’
t come off duty. Rick said she had changed into riding clothes, but I thought she
’
d just gone to the stables to pet the horses as she so often does. Then I was called back to the reception desk and
...
and
...’
Her voice faded away. No point in telling him that she had stayed there a long time, sorting out some accounts which Dominic was supposed to have made up but which were hopelessly wrong. No doubt Blake thought she
’
d been here most of the time, flirting and perhaps drinking with Dominic.

‘
You don
’
t seem to have much control over either of the twins
,’
he commented now, still white with temper and rubbing salt into the rawness of her wound—that she had lost both of them since they came to Trevendone. And she brought them here with such high hopes.
‘
You were—are—much too young to have had the responsibility of them heaped on you
.’

For a moment unutterable weariness washed over Lesley and then her green eyes
f
lashed
.
‘
I seem to have heard
that
before, and I seem to have reminded you that you too had plenty of responsibility when you were younger than I am now
!’

They had both forgotten
Dominic
, who was sitting on the edge of the kitchen table finishing his sandwiches.
‘
My darling little Yseult
,’
he drawled now,
‘
Blake is a very different proposition from you
.’

Blake ignored that.
‘
What possessed Rita to take the mare of all the mounts she could have chosen?
’
he demanded.
‘
Not only is she the most valuable but she
’
s as tricky as a wild thing: Somebody must have helped the girl to mount. You
’
re sure
...’

‘
I
’
m not sure of anything
,’
Lesley interrupted him stormily. At one time when she was having a blazing row with Blake, it had seemed to make her more angry than ever, and perhaps irritated if she hadn
’
t come off best, which was seldom. But now it always left her feeling wretchedly miserable with the tears that ached in her throat almost ready to fall.

‘
If you think
I
encouraged her to go off on your beastly mare,
’
she went on wildly,
‘
you must be mad. I
’
m sorry if Sheba is hurt, but it
’
s Rita I
’
m worried about. I
’
ll get the car and fetch her back
,’

Blake didn
’
t move from the doorway by which he was standing, and Dominic, still sitting on the
corner
of the table, glanced from one to the other, amusement in his sea-blue eyes.

‘
You can
’
t do that, Lesley,
’
Blake said now, and she noticed that once again he was being less than his usual formal self.
‘
Rita has been put to bed and is under sedation. She
’
ll be
all right till tomo
rr
ow when
I
shall fetch her back and demand an explanation
.’

‘
You mean you
’
ll bully her until she doesn
’
t know what she
’
s saying,
’
Lesley flamed.
‘
All you care about is Sheba. Rita
has
done wrong, I admit that, but please don
’
t say anything to her until I
’
ve talked to her. Something has upset her, and I
’
ve got to find out what
’
s wrong.
’

Dominic got up.
‘
Dear little cousin Yseult,
’
he said mock
ing
ly.
‘
Don
’
t you
really
knew?
’

Lesley transferred her wide green gaze from Blake to the young man standing unsteadily by the table.
‘
What do you mean, Dominic?
’
she asked distrustfully.

‘
Don
’
t you know she
’
s quite crazy about that husky young Aussie you spend all your spare time with and whom you said you were going to marry when we had that family conference?
’

‘
Steve? You must be crazy
!
’
Oh, that stupid, stupid boast of hers that night of the family gathering.
‘
As to Rita
...
Lesley stared at Dominic, frank disbelief in her green eyes.
‘
Rita is only a child. She
’
s only sixteen and she
hardly knows Steve.
’

Dominic took her by the shoulder and looked intently into her face.
‘
She really believes it,
’
he
marvelled.
‘
Young Rita may be only sixteen, little cousin Yseult, but she
’
s as old as Eve in the wa
y
s of men. Young Rita and I have something in common. We
’
re as jealous as hell, she about you and I about
...
well, perhaps about Steve. And you, you poor blindfolded infant, don
’
t see it.
’

‘
You
’
re drunk, Dominic,
’
Blake said harshly.
‘
You
’
d better get to bed.
’

‘
I
’
ve certainly had more than enough,
’
agreed Dominic portentously.
‘
That
’
s why I
’
m so truthful tonight. I know exactly what young Rita is going through.
’

Without looking at either of them, he went lurching out of the door and a moment later they heard him stumbling upstairs. Lesley
’
s stricken gaze went to Blake, but he seemed to be staring at some distant object, well over her head.

Lesley took a deep breath.
‘
Mr.
Defontaine, I
’
ve got to go to Rita. I can
’
t leave her alone tonight.
’

‘
You couldn
’
t do the slightest good if you went to her
,’
he said brutally.
‘
I
’
ve already told you she
’
s in bed under sedation. Farmers keep early hours and nobody would thank you for barging into a sleeping household. Just have a bit of consideration for the people who
’
ve taken so much trouble with her already.
’

No doubt it was a salutary speech, but Lesley hated him for it, hated him also for his next remarks.
‘
As I
’
ve told you before,
y
ou worry too much about the twins. You
’
re not old nor wise enough to be the mother and father to them that you
’
re trying to be. Actually they
’
re well able to take care of themselves. They
’
re both completely self-centred—they
’
re true Trevendones.
’

‘
It
looks
as if they can take care of themselves with Rita in this predicament and Rick down at the disco till all hours
,’
Lesley responded in bitter weariness.

He took her shoulder in a grip that hurt.
‘
You
’
ve had enough for one night. The best thing you can do is to go to bed and sleep on it. We
’
ll work something out tomorrow
.’

‘
Promise you
’
ll let me fetch Rita back and talk to her first
.’
She raised her eyes to his hard face—the first time she had ever asked him a favour.

His hand on her shoulder tightened even more so that she almost winced. There was something in his eyes she had seen there once before—the dull pewter glowing like molten metal and behind it a tenderness about which she must be completely mistaken.

And then the tension had gone. He gave her a little push.
‘
All right. Fetch her back yourself
...
but she
’
s still got to have a reckoning with me. You understand that?
’

She clenched her hands, feeling more unhappy than she had ever felt in her life, the pain in her heart a physical thing.
‘
If only we
’
d never come here!
’
she cried.
‘
If only we
’
d stayed in Australia. We were happy there
.’

She stumbled out of the kitchen and up the oak staircase which it was said had been put in at the time of the first Queen Elizabeth. Blake Defontaine watched her go.

Lesley stood in her room shaking with nerves and anger and with shocked disbelief. It couldn
’
t be true that the twins were capable of running their own lives.

It was fantastic and horrible to suggest that Rita was jealous of her because of Steve. Lesle
y
flung herself on her bed. Jealous! That was Dominic
...
translating his own pain to that of someone else. And his suggestion that his jealousy too was against Steve. That was no truer than what he
’
d said about Rita. Poor Dominic! He had been drinking too much and didn
’
t know what he was saying.