The Girl From Over the Sea (26 page)

‘
In the part of the world from which I come
,’
Lesley said, gasping out her indignant disgust,
‘
a man and a girl marry for just one reason—that they happen to be in love
.’

‘
And how long does that last
?’
Sorrel asked in a bored voice.
‘
Who would have thought you were as romantic as that? Actually I thought that sort of thing went out with crinolines and the Blue Danube. Anyway in families like the Trev
e
ndones arranged marriages have always been the rule. So if I were you I
’
d get cracking with your Australian. Then Blake
’
s mind will be set at rest about you lot when we go away.
’

‘
When you go away?
’
Lesley faltered, and something inside her seemed to turn like a fierce wounding blade.

‘
You don
’
t suppose Blake and I are going to stay here when we
’
re married, do you? Once his book is finished, he
’
ll take another University appointment, abroad, of course, and I
’
m all for it. I want to see a bit of the world.
’

‘
He
’
ll leave Dominic and Jennifer in charge here ..
.
of the hotel and the Home Farm?
’

‘
That
’
s the idea, darling
.’

‘
And what about my
...
my
...
Ricky? What of
his
claim?
’

‘
A lot of boloney, if you ask me
,’
retorted
Mrs.
Lang
vulgarly.
‘
Not that you need to worry about him. He
’
ll be all right. He plays and sings too well not to make a hit sooner or later. As to Rita—well, as I
’
ve warned you, watch your step there. She
’
s a sexy little piece if ever there was one. I understand Rita a lot better than you do. We
’
ve a lot in common. She
’
s like me. What she wants she goes all out for, and she
’
ll have your precious Steve unless you keep your wits about you. And there
’
s another one you
’
ve got to watch too—Blake. I
’
ve got the feeling that he thinks you
’
ll just be right to help Jennifer and Dominic to make a go of this place. And when he gets an idea into his head
...’

Lesley had a sudden uncomfortable memory of old
Mrs.
Trevendone saying,
‘
What Blake Defontaine wants, he usually gets
.’

Lesley
’
s hands clenched and her face went very tense. They were all so sure, weren
’
t they? But this time it was
going to be different,
Mr.
Blake Defontaine was just not going to get what he wanted.

She flicked the sheet of paper out of the typewriter. She hadn
’
t checked it and now she wasn
’
t going to. She was covering the machine when she heard him come in.
‘
Have you finished that last sheet, Miss Trevendone?
’
he demanded.

‘
Yes, it
’
s here
,’
she said.

He looked at her downbent face and then at Sorrel who was standing by the window, a smile still on her lips.
‘
You two haven
’
t been on about the mare again, have you?
’
he asked in a bored voice.

With a start, Lesley remembered that that was what the conversation had been about in the first place—that and her determination to clear Rita. But instead it had resolved into
...

‘
The mare?
’
Sorrel raised her black brows.
‘
Indeed no
,’
she drawled.
‘
Lesley has merely been telling me about love, Australian style.
’
She turned to the girl.
‘
All the same, Lesley darling, I don
’
t believe it will be love in a cottage, or a log cabin or whatever is the equivalent in Australia. Rita tells me that
y
our young man
’
s father is a wealthy pastoralist, so I expect life will be pretty good for you when you get back there
.’

Blake almost jerked the papers out of Lesley
’
s hand.
‘
I didn
’
t want you to stay overtime
,’
he snapped.
‘
You should have gone half an hour ago. I
’
ll see to the post
.’

‘
I
’
m going now
,’
Lesley replied in a stifled voice, and brushed past him and ran out into the blinding sunshine.

Even Jennifer, who usually refused to listen to criticism or complaints, had to admit they couldn
’
t go on much longer at this pace when the high season in a summer of unusual heat was upon them.

Blake was on the go from dawn till dark and though he worked all the staff hard, and especially the Trevendones, it seemed as if he drove himself even harder. His dark face had grown rather thin and gaunt and there were shadows of sleeplessness under his eyes. His only relaxation just now was an early morning swim and an occasional ride on the beach on Sheba.

One day when she and Dominic were off duty together and
had come for a quick swim and then half an hour
’
s sunbathing, Dominic said abruptly,
‘
You don
’
t know what it
’
s all about, do you, young Lesley?
’

Lesley had been idly watching the sea creaming round the great whale-like rocks and deciding that it would soon be time to move. Now she raised up on one elbow and looked at the young man lying beside her. He would
b
e most girls
’
dream
-
boat, she thought with a smile. Gay and laughter-loving, so easy to live with.

‘
All about what?
’
she queried.

‘
It
’
s not supposed to be talked about
,’
he went on,
‘
but it
’
s something like this.
’

In a conspiratorial whisper he started to tell her that this was the crucial year so far as the hotel went. For some time a group of business men had been interested in taking over the New Manor and also developing the old manor into a similar annexe of old world charm but of superlative comfort.

‘
It
’
s practically on
,’
Dominic said confidently.
‘
We
’
re doing so well this year that we shall break far more than even. But not a word. It
’
s still a state secret.
’

Lesley stared at him in an appalled silence. To some extent Sorrel
’
s remarks had revealed that Blake and she were pulling out, and going abroad when they married, but she had implied that the Trevendones would be left in possession and she hadn
’
t said anything about the old Manor being drawn into the orbit of the hotel.

‘
But what about the family
?’
Lesley asked now in a small voice.

True to type, Dominic began to tell her about his own prospects.
‘
The Home Farm will do me fine
,’
he said cheerfully.
‘
The Treswins who have managed it since my father
’
s time haven
’
t any children and they want to retire at Christmas. That
’
s why I
’
ve spent so much of my time these past few years getting the know-how there.

‘
From the Home Farm we can supply the hotel with fresh produce. Blake is going to build a whole series of glasshouses for lettuce, tomatoes and early vegetables, and with poultry, meat and milk we should do fine.
’

Lesley wasn
’
t quite sure who he meant by
‘
we
’
and did not enquire, though she imagined he was including Jennifer in his ambitious plans.

‘
Jennifer is going to hate leaving the old Manor. She
’
s much more attached to it than you are
,’
she commented dryly.

‘
But surely you know about Jen and Rodney Drew. She
’
s down at their farm whenever she
’
s free, and don
’
t you remember she rode one of their horses in the Cumballick point-to
-
point? She and Rod Drew have been sweethearts since they were at school. He took a course in hotel management in Plymouth, then he was at a West End hotel for a year and he
’
s in Switzerland now. He
’
s the likely one to take over as manager when Blake gives up, especially married to someone with Jen
’
s experience. There
’
s to be a flat in the old Manor for Great
-
grandma while she lives and I expect Jen and Rod will eventu
ally take it over.’

‘
All very nicely cut and dried
,’
Lesley said now, her green eyes glinting, her lips tight.
‘
And where do the Australian Trevendones come into
Mr.
Defontaine
’
s arrangements?
’
Dominic, as usual, retreated as soon as he came up against any unpleasantness. He put his hands up in mock surrender and begged her not to slay him with her beautiful eyes.

‘
There
’
s that brawny Aussie who seems to
b
e monopolising one of them
,’
he mocked.
‘
Don
’
t you know I
’
m jealous as hell of him, little Yseult. As for Rick, within
a few years he
’
ll be able to buy Trevendone up ten times over. If I
’
m not serious about anything else, darling, I
am
about Rick. He
’
s got what it takes. He
’
ll never need to bother about Trevendone. As to Rita, you
’
ve got a problem there, no doubt of that. Get her married
o
ff as soon as you can, preferably to someone who
’
ll beat her three times a day. That
’
s my advice about Rita
.’

Lesley frowned and refused to take up that challenge. Her lips were compressed. She wasn
’
t going to allow Rick to be cheated of what was due to him at Trevendone, and nobody need think she was.

She got up, dusting the sand from her suntanned body.
‘
Come on, time
’
s up, Dominic
,’
she said, flinging her towel round her shoulders.
‘
I
’
ll race you
.’

She left him still sprawling on the sands and began to run towards the steps and the pathway up to the cliffs. Within a few moments he caught her up and held on to one of her hands.
‘
Les, there
’
s just one more thing. Blake
’
s been making enquiries in Australia. He
’
s found that Ralph Tre
v
endone wasn
’
t killed in a mine disaster in Queensland as the family have believed for years, but there
’
s one thing nobody seems able to trace, and that
’
s the marriage certificate
...
Ralph Trevendone
’
s marriage certificate to your mother. I thought I ought to tell you
,’
he went on hastily as he saw the way her face had gone very pale.
‘
It doesn
’
t matter in the slightest, Les, and I expect it will turn up all in good time, but
...’

Lesley nodded, her lips very stiff.
‘
Thanks for telling me, Dominic. I
’
ll be seeing you.
’

She raced ahead of him again, into the old Manor and up the Elizabethan staircase to the bathroom on the floor where she and Rita shared a
bedroom. She peeled off her bikini, had a cold shower and then with her towel around her ran into the small bedroom. She slid quickly into her scanty underwear and the plain blue frock which she wore at the reception desk. There were still a few more minutes before she need take over from Jennifer.

She went over to
o
ne of the small windows about which Rita grumbled incessantly, saying she couldn
’
t breathe, though they stood wide every night, allowing the distant roar of the surf to lull them to sleep.

This was it, then, the tightrope she had been walking ever since she had decided to bring the twins from Australia. For among Margaret Trevendone
’
s papers she hadn
’
t been able to find the marriage certificate either. It must be somewhere, or some record of it, but Lesley hadn
’
t known where to enquire. She knew Margaret Trevendone far too well to think there had been no marriage. It was somewhere, that certificate. It would turn up, she was sure. Then they would know she wasn
’
t Lesley, Trevendone, but by that time it wouldn
’
t matter. She would have succeeded in what she had set out to do—to bring the twins to their father
’
s home and see them established as the heirs to the Trevendone estate.

And then Lesley laughed. An estate that didn
’
t exist
...
an estate that the twins didn
’
t want!

Her thoughts went again to what Dominic had said about Kick a few minutes before. Steve said very much the same thing, and even, to her surprise, Blake Defontaine was of the same opinion.

He had spoken to her about it one morning after he and
Sorrel had been with a party from the hotel to the discotheque down at Penpethic Harbour.

‘
I might not have all that faith in my own judgment
,’
he had said with unwanted modesty.
‘
After all, I don
’
t pretend to be an authority on that sort of thing, but I talked to Tim Drage and he
’
s more sure of Rick
’
s ability to succeed than he
’
s ever been sure of anything in his life. I know Drage. He
’
s straight. He
’
ll give Rick a square deal. Frankly, I
’
ve got complete faith in both of them.
’

Lesley looked at her watch. She hadn
’
t time to stand brooding here. She ought to be at the reception desk
...
now.