By Marriage Divided

‘I believe Mum contacted you out of the blue?’ Christy said to him in her direct manner.

‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘She said that, much as she loved both her daughters, she was finding their instincts for caution a little hard to take and she’d be only too happy to have my advice.’

Domenica and Christy exchanged frustrated glances, and once again it was Christy who came to the rescue. ‘I guess this all came as a bit of a surprise and that’s why we thought we oughtn’t to rush into anything, Mr Keir.’

‘Of course,’ he murmured. ‘I quite understand.’ But the glint in his grey eyes that Domenica was on the receiving end of said something else—it was unmistakably satirical.

She drained her champagne to stop herself from making any hot and unwise utterances, and replied evenly, ‘You were right about Blacktown, Mr Keir, that much I have established, and we’re very grateful for it. Whether we—’

‘Darlings!’ Barbara interrupted, coming back into their midst. ‘I hope you’re not talking business? I don’t think it’s the right time or place. Perhaps we could set aside an evening later this week. Would you care to come to dinner on Friday, Angus?’ She gazed at him appealingly.

‘I would have loved to but unfortunately I’ll be in Perth. The following Friday would be fine, however. Thank you.’

Barbara looked gratified but Domenica compressed her lips as he shot her the most wickedly amused glance this time.

‘I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me later this evening, though, Domenica?’ he continued. ‘We could discuss Blacktown further in the meantime.’

‘I’m so sorry—’ she spoke without any plan, the words just seemed to come of their own accord ‘—but I’m otherwise engaged this evening.’

‘Oh, what a pity,’ Barbara said. ‘Well, let’s circulate, shall we? Angus, can I introduce you to one of my oldest friends?’ And she took him away leaving Domenica staring at his retreating back, and her sister Christabel staring at her.

‘So,’ Christy said, ‘that’s the problem!’

Domenica blinked at her. ‘What?’

Christy smiled gently. ‘Dom, the air literally sizzles between you two. When I came up, you might as well have been on another planet.’

Domenica’s lips parted incredulously, then she took hold to say a little grimly, ‘Chris, the man rubs me up the wrong way and now Mum is calling him Angus and he’s calling her Barbara!’

‘I think I know why he rubs you up the wrong way.’

Domenica gazed at her sister. ‘You do?’

‘Uh-huh. He’s not your type of man. You generally go for—’ Christy gestured ‘—more…more diffident men.’

‘I—do?’

Christy smiled a little wryly. ‘You must admit you like to be in control of yourself, Dom. You always have. That’s why you and Mum clash sometimes, it’s why you’ve had the single-mindedness to make a success of Primrose, it’s why you sometimes come across as a bit high and mighty. But, so far as your love life goes, I don’t think it’s been such a good policy for you.’

Domenica reached dazedly for another glass of champagne from a nearby table and regarded her little sister rather as an owl awoken in the middle of the day might. ‘And I thought you lived in a world of your own, Christy,’ she marvelled. ‘How long have you been cherishing these sentiments about me?’

This time Christy grinned impishly. ‘A few years,’ she confessed. ‘But I wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t seen you and Angus Keir striking sparks off each other and I’m only saying it now because I don’t think it’s ever happened to you before and—’ she broke off and grimaced warily ‘—well, you could regret it if you don’t go for it—I think you deserve to live a bit.’

‘So does he—think that,’ Domenica commented a bit grimly.

‘There you go, then. It has been tough and you have been such a rock since Dad died.’

‘No, Christy, there I do not go. If it had come up any other way—’ Domenica shrugged ‘—who knows? But in these circumstances, it’s a bit like being held to ransom.’

‘Oh, well. But he is rather gorgeous.’

Christy’s sentiments stayed with Domenica for the next half-hour, causing her to be a little preoccupied. Then something happened that put a different complexion on things. She’d managed to avoid Angus, although it could be seen that he was quite at ease and generating a lot of interest amongst her mother’s circle of friends.

But she happened to be standing next to him, although half turned away and talking to someone else, when Barbara’s clear tones and perfect diction made themselves heard in a slight lull.

‘Keir and, no, I’d never heard of the name either—new money, of course,’ she was explaining to someone, ‘but you really wouldn’t be able to tell he’s a self-made man.’

The whole party missed a beat but only for a nanosecond, then it continued to flow but in that second Domenica caught sight, out of the corner of her eye, of Angus’s fingers tightening around the stem of his glass, then deliberately relaxing. In the next second, she made a surprising decision.

She turned fully to him and, cutting across the conversation, said, ‘I’ve changed my mind. I will have dinner with you, if you’re still of the same mind. The only problem is—’ she smiled at him charmingly ‘—I’m starving so the sooner we go, the better.’

His eyes narrowed and he paused, as if debating something, then he said formally, ‘It would be my pleasure, Miss Harris.’

It wasn’t until they were in his Range Rover, driving away from her mother’s house, that they spoke directly to each other again.

‘What about your previous engagement, Domenica?’

She ran her fingers through her hair. ‘I actually said I was otherwise engaged. Which was true. I was planning to do my washing and ironing but there’s always tomorrow for that.’

‘Believe me,’ he said dryly, ‘you didn’t have to give up a date with your washing and ironing on account of your mother’s unguarded tongue.’

‘Well, I thought I did, Angus.’ She used his first name for the first time. ‘I may look…stuck-up—’ she raised her eyebrows ‘—but I’m not really and I thought it was unforgivable—what she said.’

He made no further comment until they were seated in a restaurant of his choice that was renowned for its food. But not only the food was exceptional, the ambience was superb. Each table occupied its own wood-panelled alcove with burgundy banquettes that you sank into against the lovely grain of real leather, while your feet sank into a thick-pile watermelon-pink carpet.

There were wall sconces dispensing soft light and candles on the tables. The napery was white damask, the cutlery heavy silver, the glasses crystal and between their alcove and the next stood a tall porcelain vase filled with arum lilies and lilies of the valley that were delicately scenting the air.

It was, Domenica knew, one of the most expensive restaurants in town. Also the hardest to get into without booking way in advance. Which caused her to wonder if Angus Keir had been that sure of her or whether, because of his wealth and frequent patronage, he was always welcome.

Then he looked at her thoughtfully across the candle. ‘Did you really have your washing and ironing on your mind when you knocked me back the first time?’

Domenica had ordered mineral water and closed her hands around the frosted glass. ‘To be honest, no. I…’ She hesitated then shrugged. ‘There are times when you make me nervous.’

‘And what do you think I should do about that?’

‘Don’t rush me, Mr Keir,’ she advised, then bit her lip. ‘Look, all I’m trying to do is make amends for my mother.’

‘Domenica—’ a little glint of amusement lit his eyes ‘—believe me, I’m not that thin-skinned. It really doesn’t bother me to be thought of as “self-made” or new money.’

She frowned. ‘I think it would bother me. And whether you like to admit it or not, I think there was an instinctive reaction.’

His lips twisted. ‘You think right,’ he confessed, ‘but it was very fleeting.’

‘I also,’ she ploughed on, ‘well, some of the things you’ve said to me plus my sister’s assurance that I can be a lot like my mother, or at least unwittingly look and sound like her, have made me feel uncomfortable and as if I was bunging on “side”. I really didn’t mean to.’

He sat back. ‘Thank you for all this—’ he looked at her gravely ‘—but if you’re picturing me as having an enormous chip on my shoulder about old money and new money, rightly or wrongly, I don’t. I’m thirty-six,’ he added wryly. ‘I’ve come a long way from the back of Tibooburra—so, yes, sometimes the odd little pinprick touches a nerve, but for the rest I couldn’t give a damn. Take me or leave me in other words, but you don’t have to go on apologizing.’

Their entrée was served at this point.

Domenica had chosen calamari and it was delicious. She ate most of it while she thought out a response. ‘What if I still decide—’ she wiped her fingers, ‘to—er—leave you, as you put it?’ she queried.

‘Do you mean what would I think of you?’

‘Mmm.’ She touched her napkin to her lips.

‘I think I’d put it down to a truer kind of elitism than your mother is capable of,’ he said.

Her eyes widened. ‘What do you mean?’

‘That you must think you’re too good for me, Domenica, to want to completely ignore the kind of simultaneous attraction we felt from the moment we laid eyes on each other.’

Instead of firing up—perhaps the food and the soothing perfection of the restaurant were having a beneficial effect, she theorized to herself—she sat back and looked around until the next course arrived.

Nor did he attempt to enlarge on his statement or elicit a response but he was completely at ease, she could see, as he lounged back against the leather, watching her.

She’d ordered a fillet steak but she only stared at it for a long moment after it arrived. Then she raised her eyes to Angus Keir. ‘How do you know there isn’t a man in my life? Wouldn’t that be reason enough to ignore you?’

‘Certainly,’ he conceded. ‘Although it would be a bit of a worry to feel like that about someone else if you had a serious man in your life, don’t you think?’

She looked at him darkly.

It didn’t make any impression because he continued smoothly, ‘But there is no man in your life, Domenica.’

‘How do you know that—for heaven’s sake? Don’t tell me your homework extended to spying on my personal life!’ she protested.

‘Your mother was happy to fill me in without me even asking, as it happens. We had quite a long conversation. I know that Christy is bookish and a lot like her father. I know there have been other men in your life but none too serious. Your mother attributes it to the fact that you have a mind of your own over and above what might be good for a girl.’

Domenica attacked her steak rather savagely.

‘You don’t agree with that assessment?’ he asked.

‘From someone who has a mind of her own over and above what might be good for anyone, no!’

‘I take it you and your mother clash at times?’

‘Yes. Don’t tell me you and your mother didn’t have the odd disagreement—’ She stopped abruptly and closed her eyes. ‘I’m so sorry, I just wasn’t thinking.’

‘It appears you’ve been doing some homework, Domenica,’ he said with a faint undercurrent of sarcasm.

She coloured faintly. ‘I didn’t set out to do it. Christy is a research assistant to a writer who’s doing a book on “new money”. You’re to be in it.’

‘Ah. What else did she dig up about me?’

Domenica shrugged. ‘That you were extremely bright. Have you…’ she paused ‘…never found your mother?’

‘Yes, but only after her death.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said with genuine compassion.

‘She did abandon me.’

Domenica scanned his expression but he displayed no emotion. ‘All the same, she may have had her reasons.’

‘I’m sure she did. My father was a hard man although a lot harder after she left. But, anyway, let’s concentrate on your mother. Would you like a glass of this excellent wine, by the way?’

Domenica studied the bottle of red that had come with their main course, and chuckled softly. ‘Do I look as if I need it? On account of my mother? Perhaps I do, thank you.’

He poured the wine and they ate in silence for a while.

Then Domenica said slowly, ‘There are times when she drives me mad. She knows as well as I do that she’s not out of the woods financially yet, but I’d hate to think what today cost her. A new dress, French champagne, et cetera. But if you could see her working with disabled children—she’s very musical and she arranges concerts for them—if you could have seen her devotion to my father and if you knew how she worries about Christy and me—more me,’ she said ruefully, ‘you would have to admire and love her. I—’

‘It’s OK. I get the picture,’ he said, not quite smiling. ‘You two would go to the ends of the earth for each other but in close confines things can get a little hair-raising.’

Domenica picked up her glass, sat back and felt herself relaxing. ‘Yes.’

‘Well,’ he murmured, ‘now we’ve sorted that out perhaps we could talk about us?’

She eyed him over the rim of her glass. ‘What would you like to say?’

‘Would you come dancing with me after dinner?’

She opened her mouth but he broke in humorously, ‘No, don’t say the first thing that springs to mind, Miss Harris, which no doubt would be a refusal. At least give it a little thought.’

This was an accurate enough assessment of what she’d been about to do to cause her to curse herself inwardly for being so transparent but, not only that, to wonder whether she was being stuck-up again. But dancing with a man was not the same thing as having dinner with him, and surely you were entitled to refuse without being considered a snob?

‘I…’ She stopped awkwardly. ‘Where?’

‘Here. They open a disco at eleven o’clock.’

She looked at her watch and was amazed to discover it was nearly eleven now. ‘All right,’ she said abruptly. ‘It’s good exercise if nothing else. And I’ll have…’ She broke off frustratedly.

‘Completely atoned for your mother?’ he suggested.

She shrugged but was unprepared for the way his eyes danced and his teeth gleamed as he said, ‘I’ll try not to make it a too degrading experience for you, Domenica.’

‘I didn’t mean that—I—’

‘Of course not,’ he interposed seriously. ‘Especially when you’re pulling out all stops to prove to me you don’t consider yourself above me in any way.’

She set her teeth. Then she put her head to one side and regarded him coolly. ‘I just hope you’re a good dancer, Mr Keir.’

‘We shall see, Miss Harris,’ he replied formally, but his smoky-grey eyes were still laughing at her.

At eleven o’clock a set of wooden doors was rolled apart to reveal an Aladdin’s cave.

Domenica blinked because she’d eaten at this restaurant before but never been to the disco. So the grotto-like interior with its pinprick, jewel-bright swinging lights and polished floor came as something of a surprise. Then the music started, more as background music at first, and she and Angus finished their coffee leisurely.

It wasn’t until there were several other couples on the floor that he raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Should we get it over and done with?’

A little glint in her blue eyes told him she resented, possibly irrationally, his implication that she was about to perform a penance, but she murmured, ‘By all means.’

Ten minutes later, she knew without doubt that she’d thrown down the wrong gauntlet. Angus Keir was a very good dancer. So good, it was impossible, especially if you loved dancing yourself, to be stiff, and unresponsive in his arms. Not that she’d planned to be stiff, precisely. But she certainly hadn’t planned on throwing aside all caution and giving herself over to the music—and to him. Yet the two were inseparable. And it occurred to her that, if she wanted to continue to hold herself aloof from him and the attraction between them, she’d made a tactical error.

On the other hand, all her senses were stirring as they moved together with their bodies touching. She felt light, slim and shapely in his arms—his hands on her waist seemed to emphasize its slenderness and her skin felt like velvet beneath his fingers. And the contact with his hard, honed body did strange things to her breathing and caused tremors of delicious anticipation to run through her.

Nor did the sensuous rhythm they were dancing to help matters. It stirred her blood and it came naturally to move with a fluid grace that was both provocative and a celebration of her lithe, tall figure in the revealing little black dress that emphasized the pale, smooth glossiness of her skin. But most of all, even above the sureness of the way he led her and how they moved together in complete unity, the way he watched her was the most worrying.

Because it told her that the provocation she was unable to help herself offering was being noted and could be held against her at some time in the future. But those smoky-grey eyes also blazed a trail almost as tangible as if his fingers or lips were exploring the satiny skin of her throat, the valley between her breasts and elsewhere.

Then the disco changed beat and, with a sheer effort of will, she grasped the opportunity to release herself from the mesmerizing power of Angus Keir and the music. ‘I…think I’d like to sit down.’

He didn’t release her immediately and she stood in the circle of his arms for a long moment, wondering if she was mad, because it felt so good, to want to rationalize this powerful force between them.

It was the sudden glint of irony in his eyes that told her she should but, not only that, she should take all possible precautions against falling under the spell of a man she barely knew who was also wielding another kind of power over her—her mother’s future.

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