The Girl From Over the Sea (25 page)

He obviously wasn
’
t expecting the name she blurted out, for he looked completely taken aback.
‘
Mrs.
Lang
...
Sorrel, you mean
?
But, my dear girl, what could Sorrel have to do with it? We were both in Plymouth at the time.
’

Lesley
’
s heart sank when she heard his positive statement. She had been hoping that by some chance Sorrel hadn
’
t gone to Plymouth last night, but that was too much to expect. When would
she
ever cut a date with Blake Defontaine?

He sat quite still and his stony silence was nerve-racking. How bitterly he resented even the slightest criticism of his girl-friend.

Now very deliberately he got up and went out of the office.
‘
Sorrel,
’
he called,
‘
will you spare me a minute?
’
Lesley had no idea Sorre
l
was anywhere around, but she might have guessed. They were so seldom apart. She must have been in the great hall waiting for her
fiancé
. She never let him out of her sight if she could help it.

Sorrel, in riding breeches and a white blouse, strolled after him into the office.
‘
Hello,
’
she said,
‘
want any help?
’

‘
Just for you to assure Miss Trevendone (not
‘
Lesley
‘
tonight) that you were in Plymouth yesterday evening when Sheba was hi-jacked.
’

Lesley was watching the girl carefully and she saw a peculiar expression, almost one of embarrassment, cross her vivid face. Then she was laughing up into Blake Defontaine
’
s grim countenance.
‘
What
’
s all this about, Blake darling? Surely you
’
ve not forgotten last night already, my sweet.
’
There was a soft intimacy and a wealth of implication in her voice and something almost unbearable pierced Lesley
’
s heart with a pain that for a moment stopped her breath. With an effort she fought it and put it aside. Her eyes glinted green as she stared accusingly at the other girl.

‘
Mrs.
Lang, if you weren
’
t in the stables last night, have you at any time been encouraging,
daring
Rita to ride Mr
.
Defontaine
’
s mare?
’

‘
Have I what? You crazy imbecile!
’
Sorrel
’
s voice rose stridently.
‘
Are you out of your tiny mind? As if I
’
d
dream
of doing any such thing!
’

‘
Sorrel, keep your voice down
,’
Blake warned her quietly, and then turned to Lesley.
‘
I think that
’
s enough, Miss Trevendone. I
’
ve told Rita what she
’
s to do. Let
’
s leave it at that, shall we? Sorrel, I
’
m ready now.
’

He held open the door for her to pass through, but as she did so she sent a vindictive barb at Lesley.
‘
If this is Australian sportsmanship, please deliver me from it!
’

Lesley closed her lips sharply. She didn
’
t intend indulging in a slanging match, but she was prett
y
sure there was something in Rita
’
s accusations. Perhaps Sorrel hadn
’
t been there last night, but
there had been some previous occasion when she had dared Rita to take out the mare. Was there anything she wouldn
’
t do to injure the Trevendones from over the sea and deprive them of their inheritance?

And what an inheritance, thought Lesley drearily. But she wasn
’
t going to leave the matter there. Sooner or later she would get the truth from Rita and then she would have it
o
ut with Sorrel.

Actually it was Sorrel herself who was not content to let the matter rest. She sauntered into Blake
’
s office next to his lab on the following afternoon where Lesley was working.

She said,
‘
You
’
re not being stupid enough to t
r
y to get Rita off the hook as far as Blake is concerned, are you? If you are, you
’
re just wasting your time. He never goes back on his word
.’

‘
He
’
d do so if he found out that Rita wasn
’
t really to blame
,’
Lesley said bluntly.
‘
But I haven
’
t time to talk about that now. I
’
ve some work to finish that has to go by tonight
’
s post
.’

She looked rather pointedly at the door and Sorrel strolled over to it.
‘
By the way, why don
’
t you make up your mind about your Australian boy-friend? If you don
’
t want him yourself, give your young sister a chance. She
’
s crazy about him, you know.
’

Lesley
’
s eyes were a hostile green. So this was the source of Dominic
’
s remarks the night before last
!
She had suspected
as much.
‘
How do you know?
’
she challenged.
‘
Has she confided in you?
’

‘
Of course not, and heaven forbid.
’
Sorrel gave a theatrical little shudder.
‘
Anybody with half an eye can see it, though.
’

Lesley
’
s temper continued to rise, though she told herself that she was a fool to take any notice of this hateful girl.
‘
Why can
’
t you mind your own business?
’
she asked angrily.

Sorrel gave another theatrical shudder.
‘
You
’
re so charmingly direct, aren
’
t you, all you cousins from a new country. Do the words politeness and courtesy figure in anyone
’
s vocabulary down under?
’

‘
They don
’
t seem to figure in yours to any noticeable extent,
’
Lesley snapped.
‘
I
’
m all for plain speaking myself and that
’
s why I
’
m telling you to mind your own business and keep out of our affairs—Rita
’
s, Ricky
’
s and mine. We
’
re no concern of yours.
’

‘
But, darling, you
made
yourselves our concern when you blew in from God knows where claiming to be our family. That
’
s still to be proved, and as soon as we find you aren
’
t Trevendones—and I for one suspect you aren
’
t—out you
’
ll all
go, and it can
’
t be too soon for me.
’

Lesley started up.
‘
As soon as you find out we aren
’
t Trevendones? What do you mean?
’
There was a horrified expression on her face and the other girl eyed her closely.

‘
You look as guilty as hell,
’
she said viciously.
‘
I told Blake right from the beginning that you were impostors.
’

‘
Of course we aren
’
t,
’
Lesley said, but Sorrel was staring intently at the hand holding the ballpoint pen. It was shaking perceptibly.

‘
We
’
ll see about that,
’
she murmured, an odd expression in her black eyes.
‘
But to get back to the point we were discussing
...’

‘
I don
’
t want any further discussion,
’
Lesley flashed back.
‘
I
’
m busy. Just let me get on with my work, will you?
’

‘
Work or no work, there
’
s still this matter of your marriage.
’
Sorrel was pretending to walk through the door, but she threw this over her shoulder. As she probably guessed it would, it brought Lesley to her feet again.

‘
What has my marriage to do with you or anyone else here?
’
she asked fiercely.

Again Sorrel f
l
ung one of her inscrutable smiles over her shoulder.
‘
Darling, you may remember that some time ago. I got the idea that Blake was cottoning on to this Tristan and Yseult game you and Dominic play. He has quite a conscience about, the family, you know, and I suppose he thinks if you two made a match of it, it would solve the problem of the Trevendone inheritance. Actually, you know, once Blake gets an idea it
’
s the very devil to shake him out of it, so my advice to you is to latch on to that strong-armed surfing young man of yours and get cracking. Naturally we
’
d see you had a marvellous wedding, and I might be able to persuade Blake to give you away.
’

Lesley gasped out her indignant repugnance.
‘
I can
’
t think of anything more revolting
!’
she said.

Sorrel came back into the room, her black eyes narrowed to slits in her gypsyish face.
‘
Revolting! That
’
s quite a strong term, isn
’
t it? Well, if you
’
re off the young man from down under, would you settle for Dominic? He
’
s very handsome, as you must admit, and really rather sweet. I should know
.’
And she showed her teeth in a smile that was no smile at all.

Lesley looked at her with something like horror in her big g
r
een eyes, reflecting that she had never come up against anyone quite so cold-hearted as Sorrel Lang. She must know how Dominic felt about her and indeed she gave him plenty of encouragement, especially when Blake Defontaine was away.

‘
Last time you brought that subject up you said it wasn
’
t on
,’
Lesley remarked contemptuously.

‘
Oh, I can always change my mind when it suits me
,’
Sorrel replied smoothly.
‘
I take it you wouldn
’
t find marriage to Dominic revolting.
’

Actually? the word had come scaldingly to Lesley
’
s lips at the thought of Blake Defontaine
’
s giving her in marriage. Blake ... to give her to someone else! The thought came unbidden and was stamped on in passionate anger.

‘
It
’
s revolting to speak of people marrying when they aren
’
t in love
,’
she said tensely.

‘
My goodness, you
are
looking fierce!
’
Sorrel
’
s black eyes seemed to be dancing in amusement, but in their depths was something hard and watchful.
‘
You can
’
t be such a little puritan as to be shocked. Surely even in your part of the world there are arranged marriages. Some sheep farmer
’
s daughter marrying another rich farmer
’
s son in order to unite two estates, or stations or whatever you call them out there. Mergers are the fashion these days.
’