Peacock's Walk

 
Peacock Walk by Jane Corrie

JENNY GRANGE studied the menu that had just been handed in for her approval, and tried to give the listed fare her full attention, but after a second or so, she gave it up and thrust the printed sheet away from her with an impatient movement. Tony could be trusted to do all that was necessary, and there was no need for her to approve or disapprove of his selection for the evening meal.

Her wide grey-green eyes softened as she thought of Tony, who must now be in his seventies, and had worked at Peacock's Walk since his early twenties, starting at the scullery level and working his way up to head chef—a position he had held for as long as Jenny could remember.

A small sigh escaped her as her eye caught the register book on the other side of her desk, and she pulled it towards her and opened it. There were several signatures that had been added since she had last seen it, but the one she sought stood out in bold strokes, like the man himself, she thought, as her gaze lingered on it. Mark Chanter hadn't changed a bit, if his signature was anything to go by, and that meant he hadn't forgotten, or forgiven her,

for what he had considered as an act of betrayal on her part.

Her musings were curtailed by a brusque knock on the door and Tony entered. His chef's hat was slightly askew, and gave Jenny a hint of his mood. He pointed to the open register on her desk and looked back at her. 'So you've seen it, have you? That fool of a girl should have said we were booked up,' he growled.

Giving him what she hoped was an admonishing look, yet knowing full well it would have no effect whatsoever, Jenny replied mildly, 'It's a free country, Tony—and that fool of a girl, as you call her, has only been with us a year or so. The name wouldn't mean a thing to her, now would it?'

At this point the aforesaid maligned girl stalked into the office, and Jenny, seeing the look of outraged dignity on her face felt a pang of exasperation; she had obviously heard the comments passed. 'You keep to your side of the business,' Rose Smith interjected swiftly to Tony, and turned to Jenny with an apologetic look in her brown eyes. 'I'm sorry, Miss Grange, honestly I am. How could I have known he was the Mark Chanter?' she pleaded.

Jenny gave her a smile. 'I'm not blaming you, Rose,' she said soothingly, and looking back to where Tony stood with a scowl on his face, added, 'As I've told Mr Bart, this is a hotel—not a private residence. Mr Chanter is a guest, and will be treated as one.'

Rose gave a sniff of appreciation at this, and gave

Tony a look of triumph before taking her leave with a gratified, 'Thank you, Miss Grange.'

Jenny watched her departing figure and felt very depressed. So much for her thinking Mark's name wouldn't mean anything to her! She would now set about finding out the reason why such a personage as Mark Chanter should want to stay at a little-known hotel on the outskirts of Brighton, when he owned a string of luxury hotels—one of which lay in the centre of Brighton itself. If Tony had not made such a fuss, the visit would not have caused much speculation, she thought miserably, but now the whole place would be buzzing with the news.

Her eyes met Tony's brooding ones, and she shook her head at him in a weary gesture. 'Oh, Tony!' she said with a hint of impatience in her voice. 'If I can forget, why can't you? It's two years now, and although I confess I'm puzzled as to why he should
honor
us with his presence, I see no reason to rake up the past.' Her gaze went back to the door through which Rose had just passed. 'If you hadn't made such a fuss the visit could have passed without comment,' she shrugged, 'or at least been put down to an odd whim on his part, but there's little likelihood of that now. Rose had her Sherlock Holmes look on her face when she left, and you know what that means,' she added significantly.

Tony pushed his cap yet further back on his head and gave a shrug. 'Think he's found out we're on the rocks?' he queried, not bothering to give Rose another thought.

Jenny frowned at him. 'It's not that bad!' she

answered, trying to force a note of firmness in her voice, but she couldn't fool Tony.

'Remember me?' he asked, his normally dour expression breaking into one of his rare smiles. 'You can't pull the wool over my eyes.' His frown returned as his glance rested on the visitors' book. 'I'd say someone tipped him the wink,' he said darkly. 'Can't trust the staff nowadays, haven't a notion of what loyalty means.'

Jenny said nothing, he was very probably right, she thought, there wasn't much he missed. He was probably right about the reason Mark was there too. 'What if he wants to buy me out, will you stay?' she queried softly.

His answer was definite. 'Not if he wants you out!' he answered grimly.

Jenny pushed back a strand of golden hair that bad clung to her cheek. She had thought that would be his attitude, and knew better than to try and change his mind. She smiled at him, although the smile did not reach her eyes. 'We could always start a restaurant somewhere,' she suggested with a quirk of her soft lips. 'Right next to one of his hotels.'

Tony gave her a searching look. 'Sure; about time someone stood up to big business crowding out the small fry,' he growled.

Jenny sighed and closed the register with a snap. 'I do feel I've let you all down,' she said miserably. 'I'm sure if I'd had more business acumen I would have made a success of it.'

'Now don't go blaming yourself,' admonished Tony gently. 'We were doing fine until the opposi-

tion moved in. There was no one to touch us for service or cuisine, but we couldn't compete with Chanter's up-to-date four star efforts—so you can stop whipping yourself on that count.' He nodded gently to himself. 'Been wondering how long he'd wait before making his move,' he said ruminatively.

Jenny gave him a look of resigned patience. 'You never see things from a business point of view, Tony,' she said sadly. 'Can't you understand why he would be interested? We're in just the right position for an organisation such as his. If it were anyone else, you wouldn't have queried their motives, now would you?' she demanded.

Tony gave her a stern look under grey beetling brows. 'But it's not anyone else, is it?' he replied dourly. 'The trouble with you, Goldilocks, is that you can never see the wood for the trees, and you're in it before you know it.'

Jenny looked away hastily at the familiar use of a nickname Tony had given her since she was a toddler, and it was no use pretending she didn't know what he was talking about. Her full lips firmed as she looked back at him. `Do you really think I'd be fool enough to get hurt a second time?' she asked sardonically.

With a touch of ruefulness in his eyes, Tony leaned over towards her and patted her on the hand. 'That's what I'm trying to prevent,' he said gently. 'I just wanted to make sure, that's all—I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. Don't go getting soft over him again. He walked all over you last time, then threw you over on the flimsiest excuse,' he held

a commanding hand up to stop the words of protest Jenny was about to utter. 'Like I said before,' he went on firmly, 'Jealous or not, no man worth his salt ends an engagement on the say-so of a friend—not when that friend has set his sights on the same girl. Anyone with half an eye could see how it was with Malcolm Peacock, and Mark Chanter's no fool, he'd have had to be blind not to spot that Malcolm wanted you.'

His eyes softened as they rested on jenny's bowed head. 'I'm not enjoying bringing this up, Goldie, but I promised your dad I'd look out for you.' He gave a loud sigh. 'The trouble is, you're too soft, a pushover for a man like Chanter. Just remember what happened before, that's all I'm asking. I told you when it happened, and I'll tell you again, I think he wanted out of the engagement, and grabbed at the chance offered. He's not the marrying type, sweetie, so watch your step.'

Jenny sat for a long time at her desk after Tony had left her. She very much resented the 'too soft' tag he had so dogmatically
labeled
her with. It might have been true two years ago, but not now. She had had to learn a few hard facts since then, but she was not bitter, a little wiser perhaps, and able to understand Tony's forthright comments, and although she knew his fears were groundless, she was a little surprised that he still saw her as a child in need of protection.

From what? she thought sadly. From his own admission, he didn't think Mark had really cared for her, and after many days of heartache she had been

forced to come to the same conclusion. His whirlwind courtship of her had left her breathless. He had been extremely demanding and very possessive, and if Jenny's father had not died soon after going down with pleurisy, they would now be married. As it was, a decent interval had had to elapse before the date could be fixed.