A Sister's Shame (26 page)

Vesta closed her wet eyes. That was their quarrel. It all rushed back. Teddy had been furious. But he had betrayed her. That was why she had slept with Bill!

Vesta sat up and washed off the soft bubbles. Why had Teddy been kissing that girl? But then, he had kissed others that night. Teddy had told her it was part of his job for the Scoresbys. But if
kissing girls like that was what he had to do in his job, then she would never have him to herself!

After wallowing in self-pity for a while she felt the water begin to grow cold. She climbed out of the bath and dried herself, then slipped on the white robe. There was, as Bill had said, a
selection of toiletries in one of the drawers under the basins. There were toothbrushes and toothpastes, creams and lotions. She used everything, forgetting for a short while what had happened with
Teddy, as the expensive cosmetics took her interest. Bill must be very rich indeed if he owned all this.

As she brushed her hair, she wondered if he was married. He was an older man, so he was likely to be. Not only had she slept with a stranger but he could have a wife and family too.

When she found the courage to go out, he was standing outside on the balcony. The French windows were thrown open allowing the cold winter breeze to flow in. His back was turned to her and she
saw how broad-shouldered and tall he was against the bright winter light. He was dressed in slim grey trousers, one hand casually slipped in a pocket, his silver hair shaped smoothly above his
pearl-grey shirt. He cut a very imposing figure. For a moment, Vesta hesitated. She didn’t know what to say. There were too many thoughts whirling around in her head.

He turned and gave her an intimate smile. He had very blue, steady eyes and a long, lean nose. His mouth looked both cruel and attractive. She didn’t want to think of him kissing her with
those sensual lips, but she knew that he had.

‘Did my clothes come back?’ she asked, looking around.

‘The maid hung them in the wardrobe. Come and have some fresh air first. It will blow the cobwebs away.’

‘No, I want to get dressed.’

He narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the balcony rail. The cold breeze didn’t seem to affect him as he balanced a cigarette between his long fingers. Vesta had never been so close
to anyone with such a sense of power and wealth around them. Despite feeling frightened, she was intrigued.

‘Have you thought about how you’ll get home?’ he asked. ‘And what you will say to Teddy? It is, after all, Christmas Day.’

Vesta managed to stop herself from bursting into tears again. She had completely forgotten that! This morning she had intended to go back to Sphinx Street. She’d never been apart from her
family on Christmas Day. At this thought, a tear trickled down her cheek. She was unhappy, confused and sick at heart.

‘Dry your tears,’ Bill said as he walked towards her and pressed a large white handkerchief into her hand.

‘Th-thank you.’ She blew her nose. ‘I wish I’d never come here.’

‘I’m afraid I have to disagree.’

As she looked up into his eyes, she felt a little shiver. He was old, but still handsome, with skin that looked like a young man’s, and he smelled very expensive. Like the lotions in the
bathroom.

‘You and I had a very good time.’

She pulled away. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

He looked unruffled. ‘In that case, perhaps you’d better get dressed. And join me for breakfast.’

‘I don’t want any breakfast.’

‘Oh, yes, you do. Now, make yourself look beautiful.’ He pointed to the dressing table and closed the French windows. ‘You have no reason to be ashamed, Vesta. You are young
and lovely and, I am sure, very talented. I shall be interested in hearing your reading voice.’

Vesta felt suddenly like living again. She had forgotten he had asked her to read for him. He had said he thought that she might get a part in a play. ‘I . . . I . . .’ she began,
her mind spinning.

‘I can see you are upset. We’ll talk later.’ He walked to the big door. ‘When you’re ready, pull this cord and the maid will come for you.’

When he’d gone, she hurried to the wardrobe. To her relief, her dress was hanging inside it. All her underwear was arranged in white tissue paper on a shelf. She blushed. Did the maid know
she’d slept with Bill?

Her clothes smelled sweetly of fresh laundering. Her dress was as good as new, though she couldn’t remember spilling champagne over it. She checked in her purse, also on the shelf. There
was no money, of course. Teddy had said she didn’t need any. But her cheap lipstick, and small white handkerchief, which suddenly looked old and worn, were still safely there. Ada had
embroidered her initial, ‘V’, in the corners. The thought of Ada and home brought a lump to Vesta’s throat. She missed her family suddenly and wouldn’t be able to see them
now. What would Ada say, if she knew she had slept with Bill? But then she remembered what Bill had said. What was it? She had nothing to be ashamed of. She was grown-up, an adult, and last night
it had been Teddy who was at fault. Thinking of Teddy made her angry and sad at the same time.

She dressed and then sat at the dressing table, using the silver-backed brush to tidy her hair. In one of the drawers were lipsticks, mascaras, powders and skin creams. Were these Bill’s
wife’s?

She felt ill again. Even so, she used them.

When she was ready she pulled the cord. Her hands were still shaking as the tall, slender-as-a-reed maid arrived seconds later, dressed in a black dress, her dark hair coiled on top of her
head.

‘Follow me, please,’ she said, and Vesta felt frightened again.

‘Where to?’

‘The dining room. Breakfast is served.’

‘I’m not hungry.’

‘No, but Mr Dearlove is.’ The maid gave her a sharp look.

Vesta had no choice but to follow. As she was led through the big house, she could hardly believe all she saw. A series of high-ceilinged, magnificent rooms were furnished with antiques and oil
paintings. Vesta wished she could stop and gaze around, but the maid was hurrying on down a purple carpeted staircase. The curve of the long, smooth banister led them into an entrance hall. It was
as big as a room itself. Christmas decorations had been strung across the walls and glittered like jewels. Was this the way she and Teddy had come in last night? She couldn’t remember. It was
all so strange and unfamiliar this morning, when last night it had seemed like a magical palace.

The next set of doors led into the dining room. Here, the light streamed in from a row of tall windows. A roaring log fire glowed under an ornate mantel. Bill sat at a long, polished table, his
attention taken by a newspaper in front of him. On the table’s surface were silver dishes and starched white napkins folded beside plates the size of frying pans. The smell of fresh coffee
filled the air; not the cheap, bitter kind that Vesta was used to smelling at the stall on the market, but something far richer and more enticing.

‘Ah, you’re here.’ Bill looked up and put aside the paper, patting the elaborately carved chair beside him. ‘Sit beside me.’

‘I’m not hungry,’ Vesta insisted again as she sat down.

‘No matter. Some fresh orange juice, coffee or water perhaps?’

Vesta drank the water he poured for her. Then, without speaking, he served himself with sausages, eggs and bacon from one of the dishes.

‘Thank you,’ he told the hovering maid. ‘That will be all.’

‘Are you sure I can’t tempt you?’ he asked after the maid had gone. Vesta closed her eyes at the sight of all the food.

‘Then try this,’ he said as he stood up. Taking a bottle from a silver bucket, he poured a little of the bubbling liquid into a fluted glass. ‘When I was your age, I suffered
dreadfully with hangovers. However, I soon discovered that a few sips of the hair of the dog is unequalled for settling the stomach.’

He placed the glass at her side. Then he drew his fingers down her arm. She jumped, but he only chuckled again.

‘Where am I?’ she faltered, shrinking away from his touch. ‘What is this place?’

‘Don’t you know?’

‘Teddy said we were going to somewhere in the country to a party given by Wally and Leo.’

‘You could say that.’ Bill resumed his seat.

‘But this place don’t belong to them?’

He smiled. ‘No, it’s called Ossmingley Manor. An extremely wealthy friend of mine owns it, as you may guess. He lives abroad and is happy for his friends to use it.’

‘Are we the only ones here?’

‘No. Some other guests left earlier and some have gone out walking in this beautiful countryside.’

‘Are we far from London?’

He chuckled softly. ‘Didn’t Teddy tell you where you were going?’

She looked away. She couldn’t remember.

‘This is Surrey.’

Vesta didn’t understand. Why had Teddy left her here, so far away from home? She began to panic. ‘What was Teddy doing with that girl?’ she asked.

‘Oh, so you do remember.’

‘A bit. What were they doing?’

‘What your boyfriend does best – enjoying himself. As we were.’

Vesta felt close to tears. ‘Teddy’s not interested in other women.’ But as she said it, she knew the words didn’t ring true.

Bill raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that what you think?’

Another tear trickled down her cheeks. She didn’t want to hear anything bad about Teddy. And yet she had seen it with her own eyes. Even now, she was remembering the way he looked at
women, the hushed whispers she’d caught through the evening and the dark-haired beauty in his arms . . .

‘Vesta,’ said her host patiently, ‘I’m not in the business of telling lies. The truth hurts sometimes, but you must wake up to the fact that you are leading a very
precarious life, by virtue of the fact that you are living with someone like Teddy.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Then all I can say is, if you choose to stay with him, you will learn very fast.’

Vesta sniffed back her tears. She reached for the champagne. It was the only thing that helped.

‘Are you married?’ she asked on a stifled sob.

Bill’s lips twisted wryly. ‘No, my dear. I am not. Thrice spliced and thrice divorced.’

‘You’ve been married three times!’

He grinned. ‘Yes, for my sins.’

‘Why did you do what you did last night and—’ She gulped, unable to say the words.

‘Why did I make love to you?’ His smile was not unkind. ‘You refused to leave here with your errant lover. I took you under my wing and you were not unwilling to enjoy my
company. It was quite natural for us to end up in bed. And you seemed to enjoy yourself very much, which rather dispels any illusion of loyalty on your part to Teddy.’

Vesta drew in a bitter breath. ‘But I love him.’

‘Then how do you explain waking up beside me this morning and not Teddy?’

‘I don’t know,’ she choked. ‘It’s all a muddle and a mess.’

At this his face hardened. A pair of steely blue eyes fixed her with clear contempt. ‘Vesta, please stop this. You’re no naive virgin. Indeed, you proved very satisfactory in bed.
Whether schooled by this young man or others, you made the most cooperative lay. Be proud of your accomplishments, not ashamed of them.’

Vesta’s heart almost stopped. She jumped to her feet, pushing her hands over her ears. She hadn’t slept with other men! ‘I don’t want to hear any more!’ Hot tears
of humiliation scorched her cheeks. She hated this Bill! What right had he to accuse her of being a loose woman?

‘Sit down,’ he told her abruptly.

‘No.’

‘You’ll do as you’re told. Do you want to leave this place looking a wretched fool? Or do you want to keep your pride and regard this as one of life’s helpful lessons?
With a little discussion between us, you might find this experience very enlightening.’

Vesta glared at him. She snatched a napkin and sat down heavily.

Slowly pushing away his cup and saucer, Bill leaned his elbows on the table. ‘Your childish behaviour, Vesta, is unacceptable. Remember, we came to know each other quite intimately last
night. You were a willing young woman between the sheets. And despite your dramatics this morning, I find you quite charming. I like you, Vesta. You are refreshing and have spirit. Therefore I
would rather you leave here not as a silly schoolgirl, but rather a woman knowing what she is about and, most importantly, who her friends are. Believe me when I tell you, there is nothing more
important in this line of business than your friends.’ He paused, eyeing her with caution. ‘Now, dry your eyes. Put on a pretty smile and I shall be happy, knowing my lovely companion
is not here under duress but is eager to learn – as
all
must learn who enter the entertainment industry.’

Vesta stared at him. Did he mean, if she tried she could really go on the stage? She could see that he was a rich and powerful man. He had rich and powerful friends. Even though she hadn’t
understood half the words he’d used, she realized he was trying to help her. He wanted to be her friend. Was that what she wanted too?

Teddy had left her. She couldn’t get home without money. She was in the middle of Surrey, miles away from home, on Christmas Day. There was only Bill.

He held up his glass and raised an eyebrow. ‘A toast to new friendships, Vesta. To your undoubted fame in a very lucrative and exciting world.’

Vesta felt breathless. Her tears all seemed to dry as he spoke those words. She reached for her glass. Gazing into his eyes, she felt a curl of excitement inside her. Taking a deep breath, she
said nothing and sipped the champagne.

He smiled approvingly. ‘Now, when I take you home, as I most certainly will, I shall tell Teddy that a room was arranged for you here last night. And only for you.’ He raised his
eyebrow again. ‘How does that sound?’

Vesta found herself nodding.

‘Then presumably Teddy will offer you his apologies for leaving you in the wilds of Surrey, and you will offer yours for embarrassing him in front of his friends. A lovers’ quarrel.
A tiff. And soon over.’

But although Vesta nodded again, she wasn’t as certain as Bill that she wanted to make up with Teddy. He had hurt her and hurt her deeply. What kind of future could they have together if
he was always going off with other women? Even if it was his job, could she put up with that?