Wild and Wanton (11 page)

‘You have a natural grace which will stand you in good stead. Nick Farraday is nobody's fool. That's what he will see. Personality that shines from within is what counts. A crash course in deportment will see you through. I'll help all I can. All of us will,' Ami had said with assurance.

How very different Cathy's reaction was. ‘I hope you sent him away with a flea in his ear,' she said vengefully.

‘I tried to. It's all so silly. I'm not the right person to promote Allure. It's the essence of extreme youth and innocence.'

‘You're not exactly in your dotage,' Cathy observed caustically. ‘Don't tell me you weren't the tiniest bit tempted!'

‘I wasn't, but . . .'

‘What about your job?' Cathy asked in horror. ‘You couldn't leave Jim Bourne in the lurch.'

‘I
resigned last week. I'm working out my notice.' The color rising to her cheeks was indicative of her wish that she'd told Cathy the truth sooner. She hadn't wanted to upset her sister-in-law, but in not speaking out she was appearing to be underhanded and secretive. She had tried to spare Cathy, but it now looked as if she had deliberately set out to keep the news from her.

‘So all that you've just been giving me is a load of garbage. You've already made up your mind to work for Nick Farraday,' Cathy spat contemptuously.

‘No, I haven't. I decided that I couldn't go on working for Jim Bourne, which isn't the same thing at all. I don't know what I'm going to do yet.'

‘I wouldn't have dreamed it of you. I wouldn't have suspected you of being a traitor to Phil's memory. Your own brother!'

‘You've got it wrong, Cathy. I've bent over backward to dislike Nick Farraday.'

‘And like all the rest, you find it hard to dislike such an important and wealthy man.'

Hurt to the quick, needled at the scoffing tone, Lindsay said in gentle reproof, ‘You should know me better than that.'

‘I thought I did.' The reply was accompanied by a harsh, bitter laugh. ‘I'm not condemning you, not really. Good luck to you. Grab what you can in life. I wish I were more able to adopt that attitude.' Lindsay was still
frowning
over that remark when Cathy inquired speculatively, ‘Does Nick Farraday know that Phil was your brother?'

‘No.'

‘You omitted to tell him? How interesting! Lindsay dear, you might just be thrown out on your ear when he finds out.'

‘Why should that be? Wasn't Phil the maligned party?'

‘Of course!'

Feeling suddenly very uneasy, Lindsay beseeched, ‘Tell me what happened.
Exactly.'

Cathy looked sulky. ‘I've told you. Do we have to go through it all again?'

‘I know that Phil took Nick Farraday's new Rolls out on a joy ride, and that he did so because he was bitter about being wrongfully dismissed. And that he'd had too much to drink.'

‘Phil wouldn't have taken Nick Farraday's car out in the first place if he hadn't been under the influence,' Cathy defended. ‘He was drowning his sorrows, and who could blame him for that.'

‘Oh, Cathy,' Lindsay despaired softly. ‘It caused his death, because he got into a tough spot and crashed.'

‘I'll always hold that man responsible. It should have been Nick Farraday who met his death, not Phil.'

‘You're upsetting yourself, Cathy. Please don't.'

‘I'm
not upsetting myself. You're upsetting me by opening up old wounds.'

There was so much that Lindsay would have liked to ask. The nature of the lies Greg Hammond had told about Phil came high on that list. She wouldn't have thought that Greg Hammond was the type of person to lie; he had struck her as being straightforward and honest. But then again, a misguided truth—a warped truth when the bias was in someone else's favor—could sometimes seem as vicious as a lie.

If only she had been there to judge for herself. If only she'd moved to London sooner, She knew that Phil had set Nick Farraday on a pedestal. That had been apparent from his letters and the long talks they'd had on the rare occasions when he'd managed a visit home. She didn't think it was an exaggeration on Cathy's part when she said that Phil had admired Nick Farraday to the point of emulating him. Lindsay herself wanted to think better of Nick Farraday, so she was desperately trying to see him through clearer eyes. She didn't want to feel an unfair bias in either man's favor. But, worshipping Nick Farraday as he had, how could her brother have done anything to justify his instant dismissal?

Lindsay realized that it boiled down to a question of conscience. Irrespective of whether she could make a success of
promoting
Allure, she wouldn't be happy to do so while her thoughts were so burdened.

And yet the situation was no longer quite so cut-and-dried in her mind. She was seeing even Cathy in a new light. Cathy's grief at the time of Phil's death and during the subsequent period of mourning had been a sure sign of her deep devotion. The bitterness she felt toward Nick Farraday had been natural under the circumstances, but after a time it should have been allowed to fade. It was unhealthy to let the ill-feeling carry on for this length of time. If Cathy didn't do something to correct the situation, it was going to spoil not only her own life, but the lives of those near and dear to her, including Stephanie. And Phil wouldn't have wanted that. Never had Lindsay known anyone with a greater zest for life than her fun-loving brother. He had made bold decisions, and he hadn't missed a single opportunity at grabbing his happiness. He wouldn't want his memory to blight someone else's future.

If Phil were at Lindsay's side now, he would be reminding her that lost opportunities couldn't always be reclaimed and urging her to take everything that life had to offer. She knew that if she let this chance to get out of her present rut slip, it wouldn't be in honor of Phil's memory, but for Cathy's benefit. Even though she felt that Cathy was in some way wrong, the bonds of loyalty were still strong.
Even
though she didn't fully share Cathy's attitude, she couldn't just shrug it off and selfishly follow her own course.

It wasn't a very successful visit, and it left Lindsay feeling more confused and troubled than before she had come.

In thinking about it later, she realized that in her search for an ally she need look no further than Nick's grandmother. That indomitable old lady had been opposed to the idea of Lindsay's being the Allure girl from the beginning and would surely help her get free.

She didn't know Nick's home phone number. She supposed she could phone his office and ask for it, but that in turn would raise other difficulties, because she would have to disclose her identity. Nick's private number wasn't given to all and sundry.

She supposed she could just turn up and ask to see Luisa, who had, after all, asked her to visit again. Luisa was an old lady. Was it fair to involve her? But she was involved!

Lindsay still wasn't at all sure that she was doing the right thing when, at the Delmar building, a man in uniform, whom she suspected was some kind of security official, asked her to wait a moment while he rang through for clearance.

‘You can go up,' he said on his return, conducting her to the penthouse elevator. As he unlocked it and saw her inside, he inquired, ‘You know the way?'

‘Yes,
thank you.' She hadn't really expected him to go up with her and hold her hand, had she? Goodness, what was the matter with her, then? She was scared, that was what!

Some, if not all, of her trepidation fell away at the wide smile of pleasure on Luisa Delmar's face. She greeted Lindsay warmly. ‘My dear, how lovely!' Something wicked twinkled in the pale blueness of her eyes. ‘I could lie and say what a delightful surprise.'

‘Isn't it?'

‘Delightful to see you, yes. A surprise, no. I've been expecting you. What kept you so long? Will you have tea—or coffee?'

‘Whichever you prefer.'

‘You must be more decisive, child. You must speak up for what you want in this world, or you won't get it.'

‘You don't always get what you want when you do voice it loud and clear, either,' Lindsay said wryly, bringing a smile to Luisa Delmar's mouth. ‘Tea, please,' she said very decisively.

Luisa Delmar gave the instruction to a hovering maid. The tray arrived a short time later and the girl was waved away. ‘That's all, Marie. My guest will look after me. Left to myself, I end up with more in the saucer than in the cup,' she explained to Lindsay. ‘No sugar, dear, and very little milk.'

Pouring the tea gave Lindsay something to do with her hands. She made sure the level of the tea in the cup was not too high for the
rheumatic
fingers to manage.

‘Thank you,' Luisa Delmar said in accepting her cup, and Lindsay thought she was being thanked as much for her thoughtfulness as for the service performed.

There was a keenly penetrating shrewdness about the other woman's eyes, and Lindsay wondered if the older woman thought her purpose in coming was to try to talk her into accepting her as the Allure girl.

‘I'm right, am I not, in thinking this isn't strictly a social call?' Luisa finally asked bluntly.

‘Yes, Madame. You're still of the opinion that I'm not suitable for the Allure promotion?'

‘I am.'

‘Good. I was half afraid that your grandson might have made you change your mind. He has a very persuasive tongue.'

‘Yes, I'll go along with that. But you're under a misconception in thinking that Nick Farraday is my grandson.'

‘Isn't he?'

‘Only in my heart. My only son, regretfully my only child, died without providing me with an heir. His wife became very dear to me, the daughter I never had. She had so many good qualities, but a head for business was not one of them. Neither was her judgment in choosing a replacement for my son. She was a young woman, and it was right for her to marry again.
I
knew that. I used to repeat it over and over again to myself. But something within me couldn't accept her new husband. I blamed myself, thinking it was jealousy on my son's behalf. For my daughter-in-law's sake I took him into the business. I should have had more faith in myself, in my better judgment. The only good thing Jim Farraday ever did in his misspent life was to father Nick. Whether or not I had right on my side, I was always possessive about the boy. Not of my flesh, but as dear to me as any grandson could be. Only a daughter-in-law as good as mine would have put up with me. I felt that Nick's presence on earth was for me, to make up for all the bad things in my life. He wasn't a sitting-on-the-lap sort of child. Containing him in one spot for any length of time was like trying to hold a will-o'-the-wisp. Such a restless spirit. He ran off to sea when he was little more than a boy. I don't suppose you know that. He doesn't talk a lot about himself.'

Was it Lindsay's imagination, or did the eyes get even shrewder?

‘We did talk once. I thought he was speaking conjecturally. Airing his ambitions, what he'd have done if the good things in life hadn't been set out in front of him. If running away to sea was true, was the rest as well?'

‘What rest? He was many things before circumstance trapped him. He went to America for a spell; he worked on a ranch
until
riding, roping, and cow-punching didn't supply enough action. He craved more excitement, and found it for a while as a stunt man. He fell off buildings and bridges, and out of fast-moving cars. He was clever and thorough. Everything was planned with split-second precision in that business. It was necessary for him to keep his mind clear and his body in the peak of physical condition. It required courage, too. One ill-timed move, or a body not as fit as it should have been, could have meant serious injury, or even death. When he went into journalism I thought at last he was getting more sense. I should have known better. First chance he got he went as a war correspondent, where the action was. His training as a stunt man got him out of many a tight spot, and saved more than his own life. He ran the gauntlet of an exploding minefield to save his cameraman.'

‘Bob Sheldon?' Lindsay queried with a small gasp.

‘Yes, that's his name. You've met him?'

‘Yes, I've met him.' She remembered the way Bob Sheldon had rubbed his lame leg, remembered also his sky-high admiration of Nick Farraday and the feeling she'd had that if she went round expressing her dislike of Nick she was going to make an enemy of him. She felt slightly sick, thinking of the danger Nick had put himself in. She was glad that she hadn't known him in those days. She couldn't
have
stood the anguish. ‘I'm amazed,' she said. ‘I thought . . .'

‘That Nick was born with a silver spoon in his mouth? You have a very expressive face, Lindsay. What you thought was obvious—that Nick had inherited a cushy set-up without having to put in a single day's effort.'

‘I had no idea I was
that
revealing. I must guard against it. You're right, of course; that's exactly what I did think. Thanks for putting me right.'

‘It's been my pleasure,' Luisa Delmar said dryly. ‘Nick came into the business to right the wrong his father had done. He looked upon it as his moral obligation. And I pretended to myself that things were in better shape than they were. One never fools oneself totally, and I certainly didn't fool Nick. But he's kind, and he let me keep my pride, though I had no one to blame but myself for the mess things were in. I shouldn't have let his lazy scoundrel of a father have so much control. Nick knew that the ship would have sunk if he hadn't taken the helm. It was even more to his credit that all he had was guts and intelligence to back his appalling ignorance. He knew nothing at all about the cosmetic industry. He nosed about and asked questions and found things out as he went along. He sank every cent he had into the business to keep it from going bankrupt. He always says that he worked as hard as he did, sixteen hours a day sometimes, to protect
his
own investment. But I know otherwise. He did it for me. No, Lindsay Cooper, Nick is not my grandson by right of birth, but he couldn't be closer to me if he were kin. I just wanted that cleared up. I thought you should be in the picture, and now that you are, we can get down to what brought you here.'