An Old Enchantment

Swallowing back tears, Maxi found her voice. ‘After what happened, I thought it was for the best.’

Holding her at arm’s length, her mother sighed. ‘I understood that, but when you went to the trouble of writing to tell me of your divorce I thought you’d surely visit.’

Maxi shrugged helplessly. It was hard to explain when there was so much she couldn’t say. ‘At first I wouldn’t, and then, later, I couldn’t. I’m afraid I was a coward. I knew I’d hurt you all, but although I wanted to come home, I couldn’t face the thought of being turned away,’ she admitted honestly.

Her mother clucked her tongue sadly, not denying the truth of the statement. ‘What made you change your mind?’

Automatically Maxi rubbed her thigh. ‘The accident. It made me realise how precarious life is. Had it been worse, I might never have had the chance to come back and say how sorry I was. It was time to stop being so cowardly. So I made the decision, and here I am.’

Linking her arm through her daughter’s, Lady Ambro shook her head chidingly. ‘You, a coward, Maxine? But you were never one to back away from a fight! Nor have I ever known you to fail to do what you knew to be right, whatever the cost,’ she declared in surprise. ‘That’s why you came today, and that’s why I won’t let you go again so easily. Yes, you hurt us, but you’re still my daughter, and I love you.’

‘Oh, Mother, you make it sound so easy, but you know it isn’t going to be,’ Maxi exclaimed with a shaky laugh.

‘Of course it isn’t, but you were already prepared for that, weren’t you? Both Felicity and your father will come round in time,’ she pronounced positively, leading them slowly into the house to where the graciously curved staircase swept upwards to the second floor.

About to mount it, footsteps behind them made them halt and turn around. It was Kerr with her luggage.

‘I’ll look after Maxi, Bernice. There’s no need for you to struggle upstairs just to show her her room.’

Maxi’s heart gave a severe jolt at that, but there wasn’t time to refuse, because her mother was already releasing her.

Lady Ambro sent him a warm smile. ‘That’s kind of you, Kerr. As a matter of fact, I would like to go and find John. We’ll have a talk later, darling,’ she promised, smiling at her daughter.

There was nothing Maxi could do but put a brave face on it, and allow Kerr to take her arm in an altogether different sort of hold. She had the uncanny feeling he was debating the possible repercussions if he tossed her down the stairs! It wasn’t a comfortable sensation, and she tried to defuse it. ‘Why didn’t you want Mother to go upstairs?’ she charged curtly, and received a scornful glance.

‘Had you bothered to keep in some sort of contact, you might know your mother suffers from arthritis. It’s playing her up today, although she’d be the last to admit it.’

He had the damnable knack of hitting her where it hurt most, reminding her just how little she knew about her family now. She was left grinding her teeth in impotent rage as they reached the landing and turned down the corridor. If she was silent, Kerr was disposed to be chatty.

‘You realise your father was very hurt by what you did, don’t you, Maxi? Your whole family were. He couldn’t get over the disgrace of knowing a daughter of his could cause such a scandal. The consequence, as you saw for yourself, was that he swore he would never speak to you again.’

Maxi halted abruptly, sending him a killing look. ‘I realise you don’t like me, but there’s no reason to sound so pleased about it!’ she muttered, using anger to mask her hurt. God, he was enjoying himself!

His mouth twisted mockingly. ‘I’m surprised it bothers you. You are, after all, a totally selfish, amoral little bitch. However, this isn’t meant as a condemnation, merely filling you in on a few things. You see, I’m afraid his anger didn’t stop there.’

Maxi lurched from one breathtaking insult to another like a piece of disintegrating flotsam. Finally she rallied with a determination never to let him see just what damage he was causing. ‘If you mean he had my name expunged from the family bible, I’d pretty much worked that out for myself!’ she retorted with an edged smile, which told him to do his worst but not to expect blood because she was impervious to his cuts.

Eyes gleaming, he took up the challenge. ‘Did he? I wasn’t aware of it, but it doesn’t surprise me.’ Going to a door along the corridor, he pushed it open. ‘The rose bedroom,’ he introduced, standing back to allow her to enter, his whole attitude one of anticipation.

Maxi stepped forward before comprehension struck her. She was only grateful he couldn’t see her face when she realised the rose bedroom had once been her own. She halted in the doorway, aware that more than the name had been altered. It was a beautiful room, but nothing remained of the former occupant. Not only had the décor changed, but so had every stick of furniture.

‘He had it done straight away. There was no stopping him.’

Her heart squeezed painfully at the realisation of just how hard her father had tried to wipe away the memory of her. It made no difference that she had known how much she would be hurting those she left behind; she had never expected to see the result of it. But she had, courtesy of Kerr Devereaux. She could never hate her father for what he had done, but she could and did experience a great welling of hatred towards the man who waited silently behind her.

Walking inside, she carefully composed her features before facing him. ‘You know, you missed your calling,’ she declared conversationally, as if she found him amusing. ‘I imagine you would have been a whiz as a torturer. You get such pleasure from your work!’

‘Marriage to Ellis wasn’t all you expected it to be, was it?’ he said by way of an answer, following her inside and closing the door.

Maxi gasped, then simply had to laugh at his sheer effrontery. She could never remember anyone speaking to her like this in her whole life! She stared at him in awful fascination. ‘Doubtless it won’t astound you to hear it was no bed of roses?’ she queried wryly. She had, after all, gone into her marriage with her eyes fully open, and it had lived down to her expectations of it. ‘A piece of news which will cheer Fliss up no end!’

‘Not nearly as much as to know that you’ve gone,’ he rejoined instantly, and once again she was forced to laugh.

‘She certainly has a champion in you, doesn’t she? Are you sure you’re not the teeniest bit in love with her yourself?’ she taunted, and had the satisfaction of seeing him breathe in sharply for a change.

Kerr’s wrath spanned the space between them in a flash. ‘That’s about the level of remark I’d expect from a woman who’d steal her sister’s fiancé.’

Maxi went to the window, brushing aside the net, feigning an interest in the view. ‘As you’ve assumed you can say what you like to me, I’ve taken the same option myself. If you begin to find it irritating, you can always stop,’ she advised, letting the curtain drop and turning to lean casually against the frame.

‘I take it from that remark that you’re staying, then?’ he observed caustically.

Clearly he wasn’t about to take the hint and put up his weapons, and she found his continued animosity very wearing on her nerves, not to mention her temper. ‘It would seem so,’ she replied with a bland smile.

Grey eyes narrowed. ‘What have you come for, Maxi?’

This time she raised both eyebrows in mocking rebuke. ‘Surely that’s my business, and my family’s?’

He shifted his weight, and the act of slipping his hands into his pockets drew her eyes to his legs and the way the material stretched across powerful thighs. To her chagrin, deep inside, the feminine core of her twisted in instant response. Defensively she averted her eyes, annoyed that a reaction she hadn’t experienced for so long should have been brought about by him. It also left her with a much more rapid pulse, and she desperately hoped she hadn’t betrayed herself in any way. It appeared not.

‘You’re forgetting that, as of today, our families are linked,’ Kerr reminded her unnecessarily, coming a step closer.

It produced an unnerving reaction in her, making her suddenly feel as if she was being hemmed in, and that there was very little air in the room. She was forced to turn away, making quite a performance of opening a window, thus giving herself time to recompose her features. ‘All right, I’ll rephrase the question. Why do you think I’ve come?’

He didn’t hesitate. ‘To cause trouble.’

Her laugh was brittle even to her own ears, revealing just how much her response had shaken her. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence! Is it so impossible to imagine that I’ve simply come to see my family?’

‘Frankly, yes. You’ve already proved yourself to be a calculating woman when you stole your sister’s fiancé. And don’t pretend you couldn’t help yourself. You knew what you were doing, every step of the way,’ Kerr insisted derisively.

If she had any explaining to do, it most certainly wasn’t to this overbearing stranger! Her chin rose an inch. ‘You’re absolutely right! I wanted to take him from her, so I did!’

Kerr shook his head slowly, eyes registering a boundless contempt. ‘You’ve no remorse, have you?’

Her lashes dropped, shielding her thoughts. ‘None. What else would you expect? I will never, ever, be sorry that I took him away,’ she added for good measure, knowing that, in his blindness, he would never think she could be sorry for anything else. Besides, her statement was true.

‘And you want me to believe you haven’t come to cause trouble?’ he sneered, and Maxi clenched her hands into angry fists.

‘Actually, I don’t expect you to believe anything. What you do or don’t think is totally immaterial to me.’

He took a threatening step towards her, finger stabbing out to emphasise his words. ‘Maybe so, but remember this, I’m not about to let you start another scandal. So if you’ve got it in mind to have yourself a little fun at other people’s expense, do yourself a favour and forget it. Try anything, and I promise you’ll live to regret it.’

Arms akimbo, she squared up to him. ‘Just what do you think I’m going to do? Didn’t you hear me tell your brother I don’t make a habit of taking other women’s men?’ she charged.

‘Women have a habit of saying one thing and doing another,’ Kerr pointed out tersely, and Maxi sent him a withering look.

‘You’re saying men don’t? I know someone who’d give you one hell of an argument!’ She’d spent a lifetime with him, the summer of their brief marriage. Colin Ellis had had one unbreakable rule: never tell the truth unless it was unavoidable.

Kerr seemed unimpressed. ‘Let’s just say I’d be more inclined to believe a man than a woman.’

A statement that explained a lot. ‘What happened? Did a woman let you down? With your attitude, I can’t say I blame her!’ Maxi jeered.

There was a fleeting instant when he looked positively murderous, then it was gone just as quickly, leaving her wondering if she’d imagined it. ‘You’d like that to be true, wouldn’t you? However, before you get into your stride, it’s only fair to tell you you’re barking up the wrong tree,’ Kerr denied smoothly.

Maxi raised her eyebrows sceptically. ‘Really? I don’t believe you. You see, I’m more inclined to believe a woman than a man.’

He smiled, but without a trace of humour. It more closely resembled devilish delight. ‘Personal experience?’

She pulled a face. ‘There’s nothing like it.’

Reaching out a hand, Kerr trailed a finger along the curve of her cheek. ‘Poor Maxi. From pampered pet to the school of hard knocks. Why do I find it so hard to feel sorry for you?’ he derided.

Feeling bombarded from two very diverse directions, Maxi jerked her head away from a touch which had seemed to scorch her flesh. ‘The very last thing I’d want from you is your pity! Now, if you wouldn’t mind leaving, I’d like to rest.’

Much to her relieved surprise, he turned on his heel without argument, only pausing at the door to let off his parting shot. ‘I’ll go for now, but I’ll be watching every move you make until you leave,’ he warned, and went out.

A fact Maxi didn’t doubt for one minute. She only began to relax when the door closed behind him, acknowledging with a shiver how tense the atmosphere in the room had been. His animosity was almost a palpable thing, leaving her in little doubt of his feelings. She didn’t like to be so deeply disliked, especially by someone who didn’t know her, but, as her feelings virtually mirrored his, this time she didn’t care. Kerr Devereaux could go to hell with her compliments!

Sighing, she slipped out of her suit and went into the bathroom to wash away the grime of travel. By the time she returned, feeling much more comfortable, she found a tray of tea had been sent up. Finding her pain-killers, she swallowed one before fluffing up the pillow and stretching out on top of the bed, sipping at the reviving brew. As the ache slowly faded, her thoughts drifted to the last time she had sat in this room. She had been about to make the most momentous decision of her life, and one from which she was still feeling the repercussions.

Even after seven years she couldn’t think of Colin Ellis without having to repress a shudder. She had met him at a charity function hosted by the fashion industry. With her modelling career just reaching the dizzy heights, she had found it quite flattering to receive the attention of such a handsome man, and the younger son of an earl to boot. She had dated him for several weeks, gradually becoming aware that he was obsessed by her. She had found that frightening and unhealthy, added to which she hadn’t liked the people he called friends, and had begun to suspect he dabbled in drugs and other things she wouldn’t give the time of day to. She had broken off the relationship with relief.

Only it hadn’t ended there. He had refused to take no for an answer, badgering her day after day, until she’d seriously considered going to the police. But then he had stopped—just like that. She hadn’t heard from him again. Which was why she had had no idea of the shock in store for her when she went home to Dorset for her sister Fliss’s eighteenth birthday. Then the reason for his absence became obvious, because Colin had been at her home, and, furthermore, was engaged to her sister!

It had been the beginning of a nightmare. When she had tackled Colin, he had been only too happy to tell her he didn’t want Fliss but had used her to get to Maxi, the woman he really wanted to marry. Maxi, he had said, could stop the marriage any time, by agreeing to take her place. If not... He had gone on to detail exactly what he had in mind for Fliss, and a wedding ring hadn’t been part of it. Also, should she repeat the conversation, he would deny everything. The choice was hers.

Feeling trapped, she had first gone to her father, but her efforts to make him see the truth and refuse the marriage had failed because, since she was unable to support her claim, her statement that Colin wanted her not Fliss had merely sounded like the ranting of a jealous woman. With very little time, Maxi had hired a private detective to check Colin out. That report had revealed he had once or twice shown signs of a violent temper, was suspected of taking drugs, and was rumoured to carve a notch on his bedpost for every new conquest.

Her worst fears realised, Maxi had done her best to persuade Fliss to break off with him, but Fliss had absolutely refused to believe anything against him. Colin wasn’t like that. Maxi was only jealous because she, Fliss, had taken away one of her admirers. The argument that had followed was destructive, and Fliss’s wilfulness shocked Maxi. She had never realised quite how jealous and inferior her sister had felt. Maxi had never been vain of her beauty, nor of the way men had always run after her, but it had been salt in the wound for Fliss. Now, having at last put one over on her sister, Fliss had been determined not to lose her victory.

When a discreet visit to the police had failed, because there was nothing they could do, no charge they could bring, she had seen only one thing to do. She had to stop the marriage, and there was only one sure way of doing it and making sure that Fliss fell out of love with Colin at the same time. With no help to be gained from outside, she had had to rely on herself. Her sister’s happiness meant more to her than her own, and, though she knew Fliss would hate her for what she was about to do, she had hoped that in time she would come to understand and forgive her.

So she had set out deliberately to lure Colin away. He had responded to her flirting and teasing with alacrity, because he understood what it meant. Maxi felt nothing but disgust for him, but had discovered an unsuspected talent for acting. To universal condemnation, she had refused to stop, although pretty soon she was the talk of the neighbourhood. She had steeled herself to ignore Fliss’s tears, her father’s angry disapproval and her mother’s anxiety and confusion. The only way was to carry on regardless, even though it had broken her heart to see the way she was hurting the people she loved best in the world.

Unfortunately, her plan had had two parts, one to get Colin away from Fliss, then to free herself. The first part had worked easily, but not the second. Colin had refused to let her out of his sight until she married him. She had thought of running away, but he had told her the threat to her sister hadn’t vanished, and wouldn’t until the wedding. She had known herself to be trapped, but she hadn’t knuckled under, even though less than a week after her sister’s eighteenth birthday the pair of them had gone to America together and were married.

Maxi shuddered and drained the last drops of now cold tea from her cup. Some marriages were made in heaven, but hers had not been, and it had proved impossible to walk away unscathed from that kind of marriage. The scars might not show, but they were there, and she had vowed to herself that she would rather spend the rest of her life alone than ever risk adding to them.

One thing alone cheered her: she might be scarred, but she had had her victory too. More than that, the proof of how right she had been to do what she had was in this engagement. Fliss had achieved the happiness she had always wanted for her. And that put a smile on her lips as she closed her eyes.

CHAPTER THREE

AT SEVEN-THIRTY that evening, Maxi descended to the ground floor and made her way to the lounge. She had dressed with care out of sheer habit, although the prospect of the evening to come would have made her don any armour she possessed. All she had was her make-up and the manufactured smile that any good model soon learnt to project. Fortunately clothes were never a problem. Unprepared as she was for the celebration, it was still second nature to pack at least one good dress in her case.

There was a certain unintentional amusement in the fact that the said dress happened to be scarlet. Freud would probably have had a field day, but the truth was that it was her latest buy. The fitted bodice needed no straps and clung lovingly to a bust that was a little fuller than was usual in a model. The skirt was full, ending a couple of inches above her knees. Around her neck she wore a simple gold rope and on her feet were moderate stilettos in the same shade of red.

Feeling that she at least looked ready for anything, she braced herself to meet the family. Walking through the door, however, she found only one person there, and that a most unwelcome one. Kerr turned from the painting he had been studying and ran a lazy eye over her. Normally that would have irritated her, but his appearance was such a surprise that she found herself doing the same.

Tonight he was dressed formally in a black dinner suit, complete with bow-tie and cummerbund. The change was startling, as her senses registered instantly. The raw power he had exhibited in casual dress was now leashed, and all the more potent for it. This man is dangerous, was the message her brain received. Not in any life-threatening way—this went deeper, to the core of her, by far more subversive means, and, as if recognising a potentially superior foe, her defences rose instantly.

‘Are we to assume you’re playing the scarlet woman tonight?’ Kerr enquired sardonically, raising his eyes to hers, and there it was again, that infinitesimal moment of pure rage. Instantly masked, it was replaced by a gleam that raised the fine hairs on her flesh, causing her to shiver.

Not liking at all the wilful way her senses were reacting to him in spite of her volition, she produced an insouciant smile. ‘Why not? Everyone will be thinking it, so why disappoint the public?’ she quipped, turning away from him and wandering to the open terrace doors, because once again she was suddenly finding it necessary to have air. Nerves, she told herself irritably, and faced him again. ‘What are you doing here?’

He grinned. ‘The way you say that, I get the impression I’m not wanted. But you know what they say—you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relations.’

Maxi widened her eyes. ‘But we aren’t related,’ she pointed out with a certain satisfaction—something she knew he’d noted by the way his grey eyes gleamed.

‘Yet,’ he reminded her succinctly, and indicated the tray of drinks on the sideboard. ‘Can I get you something?’

Deciding she’d feel more comfortable if her hands had something to do, Maxi nodded. ‘I’ll have a Baileys, thanks.’

Pouring her one, and a whisky for himself, he came to join her. ‘You don’t have to watch your diet?’

‘Thankfully not.’ Taking the glass, she couldn’t help but touch him, and felt a frisson of electricity shimmer up her arm. She only just managed to hold back a gasp of pure shock. It was peculiar how the silence which fell then made her tense up, although it was barely measurable. Feeling unnaturally gauche, she knew she had to break it, and hastily cleared her throat. ‘I’ve been trying to remember Andy at school, but I can’t.’

Of course, she had to look at him then, and there was a faint smile hovering about his lips, almost as if he knew exactly how she had been feeling—a realisation calculated to bring warmth to her cheeks, although she refused to look away.

‘That’s not surprising. He wasn’t the handsome devil he is now. He had glasses in those days, a jacket that was too big for him, and permanently grazed knees.’

His description brought his brother to life so clearly that Maxi gave a gurgling laugh. ‘Now I remember. He used to call me “Beanpole”, and I used to hit him.’

Kerr’s smile was wiped from his face. ‘So he told me. He remembered you all right. Apparently he had quite a crush on you at one time,’ he said flatly.

Maxi sobered instantly. ‘Don’t blame me for that. All children have crushes. Even you.’

‘I’ll admit to a certain salacious interest in my old gym mistress. She was a large lady, as I recall. But as I got older, my tastes changed. In fact, I tend towards women closer to my own height—like you,’ he finished softly, and took malicious delight in the way her colour fluctuated wildly.

‘You’re joking!’ The thought made her stomach lurch painfully, but not, she was ashamed to admit, from fear.

‘As it happens, I’m not. But don’t worry, I also feel a need to respect the women I take out, so you fail on at least one count.’ He waited until he was sure the hit had gone home before continuing. ‘No, what worries me right now is the thought that there might be some lingering embers of the crush he felt for you, just waiting to be rekindled.’

She gaped at him incredulously. ‘Don’t be silly; he’s engaged to Fliss!’

The way his attractive mouth broadened into a wide, knowing smile should have warned her of what was coming. ‘Why, Grandma, what a short memory you have! So was Colin Ellis, wasn’t he?’

Her head went back, and her lips parted in a tiny gasp of anger, whilst at the same time it surprised her that she actually felt hurt. ‘That was different,’ she protested hardly.