Melting Fire

The room was kept cool by the french doors open on to the terrace beyond, and the long cream curtains moved languidly in the faint breeze that stirred the wind chimes Richard had brought back from Japan. A tea trolley resided on the hearth before the marble fireplace, which was still used on winter evenings, and Bella had seated herself beside it and was presently pouring tea. The exquisite bone china service had been a gift to Richard’s father and his new wife on the occasion of their wedding, and Olivia accepted her cup eagerly, looking forward to the ritual. She liked coffee, and indeed at breakfast time she would drink nothing else, but there was something intensely satisfying about afternoon tea.

‘So …’ Bella offered her a wafer-thin sandwich, and after Olivia had bitten into its smoked salmon filling, she added: ‘Tell me about Paris. Is it still as exciting as you thought? Or are you glad to be home again?’

Olivia chose her words with caution. ‘Paris is always exciting,’ she remarked offhandedly, helping herself to another sandwich. ‘Mmm, these are delicious, Bella. And are those strawberries under that cover? Ooh, gorgeous! I love strawberries and cream on a hot afternoon.’

Bella contained her curiosity, and spooned some of the juicy berries into a dish. ‘Thomas picked them this morning, especially for you,’ she observed dryly. ‘He told me there were none yesterday when Mrs Morrison came to tea, and then this afternoon, he produced all these.’

Olivia chuckled, touched that the old gardener should have wanted to please her, when she had neglected Copley for so long. ‘I’ll go and thank him afterwards. He knows they’re my favourite fruit.’

‘Yes.’ Bella eyed her candidly. ‘Well, you look all right, I must say. A bit skinny perhaps, but I expect that’s all that fancy French cooking.’

‘I beg your pardon!’ Olivia pretended offence, sitting up and pushing her breasts forward. ‘I’ll have you know, my figure was the envy of a lot of girls.’ She looked down in mock appraisal. ‘I must say, I thought it wasn’t bad myself.’

‘Excuse me …’

Alex was standing in the doorway, watching the proceedings, and Olivia subsided with an embarrassed giggle. Bella looked at the young man ruefully, and smiling said: ‘Come along in, Alex. You’re not interrupting anything. Do you want some tea?’

‘Oh, no, thank you.’ Alex’s thin face was still a little flushed. ‘I—er—I’ve put Olivia’s cases in her room and now I thought I’d go to the bank. Is there anything you want in Chelmsbury?’

Bella hesitated. ‘I don’t think so, Alex, thank you. How about you, Olivia? Can Alex get anything for you?’

Olivia forced herself to sit up, shaking her head. ‘I’ve got everything I need,’ she assured him, smilingly. ‘But if you’re going in tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have a lift with you. I can always trot around the shops while you attend to your own affairs.’

Alex’s responding smile was stiff. ‘I’ll take you into Chelmsbury, any time you want to go,’ he assured her politely, and then left them as abruptly as he had appeared.

A few moments later, the sound of the Mercedes’ engine started up and the crunch of the tyres on the gravelled drive signified his departure, and Bella heaved a sigh of relief.

‘Honestly, that man is so intense,’ she declared. ‘And you mustn’t tease him. I’d hate for there to be complications.’

‘Complications?’ Olivia frowned. ‘What kind of complications?’

‘Oh …’ Bella shifted uncomfortably, pouring herself a second cup of tea. ‘You know! If he should get the wrong ideas about you. I know Richard would never countenance such a thing, and Alex would get terribly hurt in the process.’

Olivia gasped. ‘You’re not serious!’

‘Why ever not? You’re a very attractive young woman, as well you know, and Alex is a man, just like any other. Don’t let his controlled manner fool you. He’s just as susceptible to flattery as anyone else.’

Olivia moved her slim shoulders in a helpless gesture. ‘I never thought … I mean, heavens, he’s at least twelve years older than I am.’

‘What’s that to the purpose? Richard’s father was almost twenty years older than your mother,’ retorted Bella severely, and then left the matter to ask about the friends Olivia had made in France, and the Charpentiers, whom she had stayed with at Easter.

It was easy enough for Olivia to talk about Michelle and her family. They lived at Tours, in the Loire valley, and Olivia had been enchanted by their home and the surrounding countryside. There were orchards and vineyards, and the chateaux which were world-famous, and Michelle and her two brothers had enjoyed showing her their historic heritage. They had driven to Angers and Orleans, visited Amboise, where Leonardo da Vinci had lived and died, and eaten some of the most superb food Olivia had ever tasted. They had even attended a wine fair, she confessed, but noticing how put out Bella was looking, she quickly assured her that she was glad to be home, and that Copley was her first love.

‘These young men,’ said Bella, as Olivia attacked her dish of strawberries and cream, ‘Michelle’s brothers: they were attracted to you?’

Olivia felt the colour invading her cheeks, and delved more deeply into her bowl. ‘I suppose so,’ she mumbled, remembering the older one, Paul, who had taught her there was more to kissing than the pressure of two pairs of lips, and saw Bella’s mouth turn down at the corners. ‘They were boys, that’s all,’ she protested, half laughing now. ‘Seventeen and eighteen, I think. They didn’t seduce me, if that’s what you’re afraid of.’

Bella snorted, but her eyes were piercing. ‘Has anyone?’

‘No!’ Olivia was indignant. ‘Of course not.’ But she knew Jules would have tried to if they had known one another longer. It was the way, after all. All the girls said so, even Michelle, who was engaged to a young medical student from the hospital in Tours. His name had been Charles, and Olivia had found him quite amusing until he tried to corner her on the first floor landing of the Charpentiers’ house one evening when his fiancée was watching television downstairs. She hadn’t liked that. It had made her feel dirty. And she had been glad they were returning to Paris the next day so that Michelle should not find out and be hurt.

‘I never approved of your going to that French academy,’ Bella was saying now, as Olivia finished her strawberries and pushed the dish aside. ‘An innocent young girl in a place like that. Asking for trouble, that’s what I say.’

‘But Richard wanted me to go,’ exclaimed Olivia patiently. ‘I think he wanted me to grow up, to be independent. He knew that boarding school in England hadn’t achieved so much, and going away, to another country, was bound to make me more self-reliant.’

‘Mmm.’ Bella sounded unconvinced. ‘Well, I can’t say I’m not glad you’re back, and for good. There’s plenty for you to do here, and I’ve no doubt the telephone will start ringing just as soon as your friends hear that you’re home.’

‘Oh, but …’ Olivia caught her lower lip between her teeth, and then released it again. ‘I can’t stay here for ever, Bella. I mean—sooner or later I’m bound to go away, aren’t I? And if I took a job, or got married——’

‘Married!’ Bella sounded horrified. ‘And who are you going to marry, may I ask?’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Are you keeping something from me? Is there something I should know about? You’ve not met some young man you’re not telling me about, have you?’

‘Oh, no. No!’

Olivia rose abruptly to her feet, unable to sit still beneath Bella’s penetrating appraisal. She walked quickly across to the french doors, thrusting her hands into the pockets of her dress and staring out broodingly on to the manicured green lawns beyond the terrace. She couldn’t confide in Bella yet, she decided uneasily. She needed time, time to adjust to her new freedom, to the possibilities that now faced her. When the time was right, she would tell her about Jules, but until then …

‘Aren’t the rhododendrons beautiful?’

Bella’s voice at her elbow startled her, but she managed to answer casually enough. The huge banks of flowering shrubs were a splendid sight, and the scents of a dozen different species of plant-life filled the air with their perfume. Copley was beautiful, there was no denying it, and she would miss all this when she had to leave. But it was what Richard expected of her, and besides, she was almost a woman. She needed more than the sanctuary of Copley could give her.

CHAPTER TWO

OLIVIA ran the shower cold, and was shivering when she emerged from the cubicle. Clutching a huge yellow bath-sheet about her, she padded into the bedroom, her bare feet making damp patches on the soft white carpet. Standing before the long wardrobe mirror, she towelled herself dry vigorously, and then allowed the folds of towelling to fall about her ankles.

The reflection facing her was of a girl of nineteen or so, with a wealth of curly red-gold hair tumbling about her shoulders. Her breasts were firm and well-developed, and her waist was small, and long shapely legs drew attention to narrow ankles. An appealing combination, no doubt, but Olivia was not impressed by her attributes. She had viewed them too many times to feel any sense of accomplishment in her appearance, and her greatest concern at the moment was how best to explain to Bella—and Richard—that she wanted to get a job. She hadn’t yet decided what kind of job she wanted. Office work of some kind, she supposed, or maybe as she was good at languages, she could get a job as an interpreter. But where? Not in Chelmsbury, she realised. London was the only likely place, which would mean either travelling the forty or so miles every day to the city, or getting accommodation in town.

She sighed, turning away to rummage through her dressing table drawers for clean underwear. Richard travelled every day, when he was at home. He drove to Chelmsbury, and caught the early morning commuter train into the city. So long as he was at home, she might travel with him. He did keep an apartment in town, but it was for entertainment purposes mostly, and almost every evening when he was at home he returned to Copley. But when he was away …

Frowning, she stepped into bikini briefs, and followed them with a pair of cream-coloured Levis. Then she knotted a sleeveless shirt beneath her breasts, and began to pull her hairbrush through the tangled weight of hair. It was much too long, she thought, tugging viciously at a recalcitrant strand, and she would certainly have it cut before she took up any employment. Why couldn’t it have been straight, like Richard’s hair? she wondered impatiently, and flung the brush down in disgust as it refused to respond to such rough treatment.

A tentative knock at her bedroom door dissipated her annoyance, and she called: ‘Who is it?’ smiling affectionately when Bella’s grey head appeared.

‘Oh, you are up,’ she said, coming right into the room. ‘I sent Eliza up with your breakfast, just in case you wanted to spend the morning in bed.’

‘On a day like this!’ Olivia indicated the cloudless sky beyond her open windows. ‘I can’t wait to get outside. I intend to get really brown before——’

She broke off abruptly, half expecting Bella to take her up on it, but the older woman was busy straightening the pale green undersheet on the bed, plumping the lace-edged pillows.

‘I’m going to cycle into West Cross this morning,’ Bella declared, straightening with Olivia’s striped cotton nightshirt in her hands. ‘I promised Mrs Morrison I’d call and see old Mr Raynor. He hasn’t been at all well lately, and I thought I’d take him some of my home-made strawberry jam. I want to call at the church anyway with some flowers, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, as they say. Do you want to come?’

Olivia hesitated. Mrs Morrison was the vicar’s wife, and although she was good-hearted enough, she was a terrible gossip. She would welcome Olivia’s return as a new source of conversation, and it was too nice a day to waste in idle chatter.

‘I don’t think so,’ she answered now, sorry she had to disappoint Bella. ‘I thought I might sunbathe. Can I use the pool?’

‘Considering Richard left orders for Thomas to clean it out specially before he went away, I think perhaps you might,’ retorted Bella shortly, and Olivia flushed.

‘That was kind of him,’ she offered awkwardly, and Bella sniffed.

‘Yes—well, people try to be kind to you,’ she averred, picking up Olivia’s used breakfast tray and marching towards the door. ‘They may not understand these newfangled ideas you have about independence, though,’ she added, and left the room.

Olivia watched her go with troubled eyes. She knew Bella was referring to the conversation they had had over the dinner table the previous evening. Olivia had tried, not very successfully, to persuade her old nursemaid that she couldn’t remain a drain on Richard’s resources any longer, but Bella had been obstinately stubborn. If Olivia was a drain, then what was she? she insisted, deliberately ignoring the fact that she had a job running the household, supplementing her argument with the opinion that to a man of Richard’s means, the support of his stepsister was not only his duty, but his pleasure. Olivia’s protest that Richard’s means had nothing to do with it met with blank indifference, and Bella had retired to bed soon afterwards, complaining of a severe headache.

Now Olivia left her bedroom and walked slowly along the hall to the landing. Her room was at the back of the house, overlooking the tennis courts and the stables beyond, and as she passed Richard’s door she felt her lips tighten. She guessed that he would share Bella’s opinion, and it was frustrating to realise that their feelings were justified.

On impulse she stopped, and opening Richard’s door she entered his bedroom. This was the master bedroom of the house, and overlooked the courtyard at the front of the building. Because it was occupied solely by a man, it was sombrely furnished in shades of brown and gold, but the drift of apricot silk at the windows provided a vivid splash of colour. Bella had already been into this room, Olivia guessed, noticing the open sashes, and the coolness that came from the shadow of the north side of the house. Later in the day, the room would be bathed in the afternoon rays of the sun, but presently it was chilly.

Olivia sauntered lazily round the square fourposter bed, which Richard had bought along with the house, and picked up the framed portrait of herself standing on his bedside table. She grimaced. The picture had been taken over a year ago, and to her eyes she looked terribly young and puppy-fat. It had been taken while she was still at boarding school, and although she wasn’t wearing her uniform, her hair was neatly plaited into one thick braid. She remembered he had taken it himself, in the garden here at Copley, and she was smiling that inane smile which meant he had been especially nice to her.

She thrust the picture down again, wondering how he could bear to see that every morning when he woke up, and walked across to the windows, resting her arms on the sill. From here it was possible to see the lane beyond their drive, winding away to the village, and the whole wooded sweep of the valley, lush with the ripeness of summer.

A crunching on the gravel beneath her drew her eyes to the old-fashioned bicycle Bella was wheeling round the side of the house. There was a basket set in front in which Bella had laid several jars of her famous conserve, and an armful of lupins, carnations and gladioli. Bella herself had donned the flowered straw hat she always wore for cycling, and as Olivia watched, she set her foot on the pedal and was off down the drive, wobbling as she levered herself on to the narrow seat. Watching her go, Olivia half wished she had agreed to go with her, but then she remembered Mrs Morrison and changed her mind.

With a sigh, she turned and went out of Richard’s bedroom again, and started down the stairs. The banister rail was smooth beneath her fingers, and below her in the hall, the wolfhound watched her approach with lazy eyes. Even as she wondered if she had the house to herself, Eliza, the parlourmaid, came out of the morning room and gave her a shy admiring stare. Eliza came from the village, and unlike many of her contemporaries was quite content to work at the big house. She was engaged to the gardener’s son, Peter, and Bella had confided that after they were married Richard intended to give them a cottage on the estate. Between them she and Bella managed to cope with the housework, and on special occasions, her mother also came to help out. Copley wasn’t overly large. It had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as the staff flat Bella occupied, with its own bathroom and kitchen, and Richard provided every labour-saving device to make their task easier.

‘Miss Ponsonby’s gone to the village,’ Eliza said now, as the other girl reached the bottom of the stairs, and Olivia nodded.

‘Yes, I know. I saw her leave a few minutes ago, from Richard’s bedroom window.’ Eliza nodded, and in case she should wonder what she was doing in her stepbrother’s bedroom, Olivia added: ‘I was just looking around, renewing my acquaintance with the place, so to speak.’ She laughed. ‘It’s been a long time.’

‘Yes, it has, Miss Ross. Six months and more. Miss Ponsonby was ever so upset when you didn’t come home at Easter.’

‘Was she?’ Olivia had guessed that, but she didn’t say so. ‘Well, I’m here now, and it’s lucky that the weather is so perfect.’

Eliza agreed. ‘Is there anything you’re wanting? A cool drink, perhaps? Or some coffee?’

‘No, nothing, thanks.’ Olivia shook her head. Then, as Eliza turned away, she added: ‘I’ll be at the pool, if you want me.’

Leaving Jess to prowl in the shade, Olivia walked through the garden room and out to the patio. Richard had furnished the room which had been the previous owner’s breakfast room as a comfortable sun lounge, with sliding glass doors opening on to the tiled patio. On cooler days it was pleasant to use the garden room, combining all the benefits of a south-facing position with none of the draughts that sitting outside afforded.

The pool area was sheltered by a circling trellis hung with rambling roses and other climbing shrubs, and the pool itself lay green-based and inviting, within its mosaic of terrazzo tiles. Olivia went and dipped her hand into its chilly depths, and shivered at its coldness. But it would be refreshing later, after she had let the sun overheat her too-pale skin.

Dragging a striped lounger into the direct rays of the sun, Olivia rolled the legs of her jeans up to her knees and stretched her length. It was gloriously hot, and she closed her eyes against the glare, thinking how lucky she was. She could hear Thomas somewhere near at hand, using the motor mower, but apart from this there was no other sound except the steady humming of the insects that skimmed the surface of the pool

She drowsed, occasionally lifting a languid hand to brush away the more daring insects who came to disturb her slumbers, and thought lazily that very soon she would have to go indoors in search of some protection cream.

She wondered idly where Alex was this morning. She had not seen him since her arrival the previous afternoon, but that was not unusual. Although he stayed at the house, he seldom intruded on family meals, and when Richard wasn’t here he divided his time between Copley and London, handling all her stepbrother’s business affairs in his absence.

The distant drone of a car’s engine seemed a long way away, and she assumed someone was going up the lane to the farm that lay beyond the estate. Arnold Foster farmed at Low Cross, and his daughter, Shelley, was a friend of Olivia’s. She supposed she would have to contact her within the next couple of days and let her know she was home, if Mrs Morrison hadn’t already spread the news, but for the present she was content just to relax for a while.

Rolling on to her stomach, she untied the knot holding her shirt in place and wriggled out of it, dropping it carelessly on to the ground beside her. No one was likely to disturb her, least of all Alex, she mused wryly, and if anyone did come she could easily put it on again.

The plastic cushion of the lounger yielded as she subsided again, exposing her shapely back to the sun. There was something rather sensuous about lying there half naked, and she wondered what it would be like to sunbathe without any clothes at all. It was not a circumstance she was likely to experience, she decided, unless she married someone who had a private beach somewhere. She didn’t think she would like to expose herself to all and sundry. That didn’t sound at all inviting.

The drop of icy water that splashed on to the centre of her back almost brought her upright with a start. But in time she remembered her state of undress, and lay there frustratedly, wondering who would do such a thing. She twisted her head round and her eyes widened disbelievingly as they moved up over suede boots and long powerful legs, presently clad in fine grey worsted, lean hips where the lap of his jacket was pushed aside to allow one hand into his trousers’ pocket, a pale grey silk shirt and matching tie, pulled away from his unbuttoned collar for coolness, to the dark amused features of her stepbrother. He was holding a half empty glass of lager in one hand, and it was the condensation from this which he had deliberately allowed to drip on her spine.

‘Rich!’ she cried excitedly, and uncaring of propriety, she jack-knifed backwards and flung herself at him.

‘Hey!’ he muttered protestingly, keeping his balance with difficulty, as he endeavoured to retain the lager in his glass while preventing her from catapulting them both into the pool. ‘There’s no need to strangle me!’

‘I’m not trying to strangle you,’ she declared, drawing back from his involuntary embrace with reluctance to gaze eagerly up at him. ‘Oh, Rich, it’s so good to see you again!’

‘It’s good to see you too, kitten,’ he assured her dryly, but lazy green eyes, between the thickest lashes she had ever seen on a man, drooped questioningly to her uncovered bosoms. ‘Though I trust you don’t greet all our callers with the same permissiveness.’

Only then did Olivia become aware of her breasts pressed against the silky texture of his shirt, the muscles of his chest hard beneath. Surprisingly, she wasn’t embarrassed, she realised. Richard had seen her unclothed on frequent occasions when she was younger, and in any case, it was too late now for false modesty.

‘I was sunbathing,’ she explained lightly. ‘I’m not embarrassing you, am I? You’ve seen me before, without protest, haven’t you?’ she teased. ‘Alex thinks I have a nice figure.’

She winced in dismay when his hand suddenly closed about the nape of her neck, his thumb pressing her chin up so that she was forced to face him. ‘Bishop hasn’t seen you like this, has he?’ he demanded, and she could tell from his expression that he was furiously angry.

His change of mood was so unexpected that she could only stare at him for several seconds, fighting back the tears of pain his cruel grasp was bringing to her eyes. Then, with a gulping sob, she wrenched herself away from him, snatching up her shirt and pulling it over her shoulders.

‘No,’ she retorted, and she was annoyed to find her voice was tremulous. ‘Of course he hasn’t. What do you take me for?’

There was a moment’s silence, and then, as if having regained control of himself, Richard caught her arm and swung her round to face him as she struggled to tie the knot again. Brushing her shaking hands aside, he completed the operation, before taking a deep breath and saying: ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.’

Olivia, whose gaze had been glued to her toes while he tied the ends of her shirt beneath her breasts, lifted her eyes reluctantly. She felt indignant that he should arrive home twenty-four hours after she had without a word of apology, and then get so angry just because she had spoken facetiously. It was she who should be angry with him, she thought, but looking up into his lean intelligent face, she knew she couldn’t be. She had so looked forward to seeing him, and now he was here, and already they were on the verge of a fight.