[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Roland Harvey to help her, but although Lauren
waited under the palm tree until it was time to
give her dancing lessons to the children, and then
hurried back to it afterwards, there was no sign
of Deborah.
Had they really done such a'terrible thing? she
asked herself. Wasn't it being exaggerated out
of all normal proportions?
Rene Thompson thought so, but she had point-
ed out that not telling the truth to Mr. Harvey
had at least given them a chance to enjoy a few
weeks' suhshine there.
If only that was all it had been . . /. just a very
pleasant way to work. If only Roland Harvey had
not walked into her life . . .
She turned over, loving the warmth of the sun
on her back, and suddenly she saw Nick come
striding across the sands towards her.
107
 She sat up hastily. Nick was too far away for
her to see his expression. He waved. She waved
back, not sure if he was beckoning to her or mere-
ly waving. She held her breath and crossed her
fingers tightly. Oh, please, let it be good news!
Nick began to run. towards her. How handsome
he looked, tall and lean, neat in his tropical suit,
his dark hair gleaming. As he got closer, she saw
the excitement on his face.
"It's all right," he called out. "We can stay."
She closed her eyes for a second as relief swept
through her. It was all right. All right!
Nick flung himself down beside her and seized
her hands.
"It's all right, honey child," he said exictedly,
smiling at her. "Mr. Harvey says we can stay.
He saw Miss Cartwright and everything is okay."
Nick's eyes were bright with triumph. "Of course
the old Hunter is trying to make out that she
talked him into forgiving us, but I don't believe
it. Roland Harvey isn't the type of man to be
persuaded by any woman."
Lauren's eyes were like stars. "Oh, how won-
derful Nick! I knew he would understand."
Nick laughed. "You always said so, kiddo. I
wish I'd taken your advice in the first place. The
last few days have been like a nightmare."
Lauren sighed. "They most certainly have!
Now we can relax. You saw Mr. Harvey?"
"Oh, no, of course not. As the Hunter pointed
out politely, we're small fry to a great man like
that. He instructed Miss Hunter to inform me
that whue he regretted my wife's inability to ful-
fil her share of the contract, he was more than
satisfied with the substitute provided." He
squeezed her hands tightly. "You've been a good
kid, Lauren worked hard and never moaned,
done really well! Just wait until I tell Miss Cart-
wright. After this, you need never go back to
teaching kids how to dance."
108
, Suddenly he leaned forward, put both his hands
on her shoulders and kissed her gently. "That's
for all you've done to help me," he said. "Bless
you, honey child . . ."
Lauren heard a sound, and she looked over
Nick's shoulder and saw Roland Harvey, standing
there. He might have been there for just one
moment or for longer, but without doubt he had
seen Nick kiss her. His mouth was a thin line,
his eyes hard and angry. Before she could speak,
he had turned and walked away again, his-feet
making no sound on the hot sand.
Lauren decided quickly not to mention it to
Nick. After all, the kiss had meant nothing to
either of them. What a pity, though, he had
chosen that moment to show his gratitude just
when Roland Harvey was there to see it.
Nick soon left her, for he had another dancing
lesson to give. He strode off, whistling cheerful-
ly, every now and then doing a little dance as he
crossed the sands.
Lauren lay back and closed her eyes. If only
Nick had not kissed her . . .
Suddenly she felt she did not want to stay on
the beach any longer, some of the warmth seem-
ed to have gone out of the sun. She gathered her
things together and found her way back to the
hotel.
She was having an early lunch on one of the
balconies when she was paged:
"Miss Roubin . . . Miss Lauren Roubin! The
small African page, immaculate in his starched
white uniform, gave her a note.
She did not recognize the handwriting thick,
heavy, determined strokes, very masculine in ap-
pearance. She read the signature first and her
heart seemed to leap.
Roland Harvey.
Then she read the note.
109
 "J would like to see you in my office immediate-
ly."
No "please", no politeness. Just a curt order.
How angry he must be!
Hastily she pushed away her now unwanted
lunch and hurried to a cloakroom, looking anxi-
ously at her peaky face, trying to rub some colour
in her cheeks. No time to go upstairs for the
artificial courage which a freshly made-up face
might have given her. She must not keep him
waiting. She ran a comb hastily through her hair.
Why did he want to see her?
It could only be because he saw Nick kissing
her.
Why, oh, why had Nick chosen that moment?
Nervously she knocked on Roland Harvey's
office door. He called out sharply and she entered,
receiving a vague impression of a very well fur-
nished room, with a massive walnut desk, of
enormous picture windows, of shelves of books
.. , but her eyes were focused on one thing only
the tall, lean man standing with his back to the
wonderful view, looking at her with steely blue-
grey eyes. He still wore the light tropical suit
he had worn on the beach, his dark red hair was
smooth, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Sit down," he barked.
Her legs suddenly felt weak and she was glad
to obey. He came towards her, towering above
her. His voice was cold.
"I have just been to London,, and while I was
there I saw Miss Cartwright." He spoke crisply,
as if rapping out orders. "She satisfied me that
you and Nicholas Natal could remain here. As
you are aware, I usually insist on a married cou-
ple performing here, but on this occasion I was,
after hearing the truth of the matter, prepared
to waive my usual insistence. I v/as satisfied that
Miss Cartwright had been in a difficult position,
that she valued the booking and did not want to
110
embarrass us by leaving us without dancers.
What I cannot understand is . . ." he paused,
frowning down at her, "why you didn't tell me
the truth. We're not strangers." He paused again.
"Are we?" he barked.
She jumped in her seat. "Well, no, Mr. Harvey,
not "
"Of course we're not strangers," he said im-
patiently. "I thought I had grown to know you
quite well. I see how mistaken I was. You ap-
peared to be a nice girl, 1so kind to that unfortun-
ate child. Sincere, honest... How wrong I was!"
Her cheeks hot, Lauren jumped to her feet.
"Please, Mr. Harvey, you must believe me. I
wanted to tell you the truth. I knew you would
understand."
He was still staring at her, frowning a little.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Unconsciously she held out her hands in an
appealing little gesture. "Nick . . . Miss Hunter
... they both said you would be very angry and
and would send us back to England."
His face did not lose its sternness. "Miss Hunt-
er tells me a very different story. She says that
she advised you both to make a clean breast of it
and you both begged her not to tell me."
"That's not true," Lauren said indignantly. She
paused, swallowed, and began again. "I know
Nick was afraid of ..."
"You weren't?"
She looked up at him. "Of course not. I knew
you would understand."
He turned away abruptly and went to stand by
the window, speaking over his shoulder without
looking at her. She stood still, twisting her hands
together unhappily as she watched the firm, un-
compromising back.
"I saw your parents when I was in England,"
he said.
9
111
':'
She stared at his back. "My parents?" she
echoed.
"Yes. I was not satisfied about you being out
here alone with this . . . this Nicholas Natal." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]