Substitute Engagement. Jayne Bauling
place and continue to control the situation, but terrified of all that she might betray if she attempted to speak now.
So she sat there in the car with the window open, a little soothed by the island scents carried on the tropical afternoon breeze, for these were the Perfumed Isles to those who lacked the sense of evolution that made another sobriquet, that of the Coelacanth Isles, equally romantic.
The estate produced ylang-ylang, the base for most perfumes, and from here she could see a small plantation of the trees with their strange, twisted shapes but exotic blooms. Precious woods, vanilla pods, which were an offshoot of the orchid, and the spices for which the islands were famous—cloves, coriander, saffron and more—all played their part in giving Grande Comore its uniquely characteristic fragrance.
From where she was she could also see part of the lower slopes of Mount Karthala, the volcano dominat-ing the island, its past eruptions responsible for the stretches of black rock which alternated with white sands at certain points along the coast and extended beneath the ocean to be visible through the clear turquoise water. The emissions periodically issuing from vents in the mountain’s sides were a reminder that it was still active.
Rob Ballard’s reappearance distracted her. Lucia watched him striding towards the car, carrying her luggage as effortlessly as if it were weightless. So tall and lithe, he had a loose, easy way of moving that was utterly self-confident, and she felt a surge of hostile emotion that was mostly resentment. It was galling to have to accept help from him, especially under circumstances as embarrassing as these.
She supposed it could be said that she was actually using him, since his assistance wasn’t really aimed at her at all, but she could take no comfort from the thought. Too much shame was attached to the mere fact that she should need to make use of him.
He was smiling sardonically as he got into the car after placing her luggage in the boot.
‘You were right; the housekeeper was amenable to forgetting you and your luggage had ever been here. She really entered into the spirit of things, especially after I hinted that you and Madame Olivier are mortal enemies. I gather she’s on the verge of seeking employment elsewhere.’
He paused, treating her to brief, raking assessment. ‘I also implied that it was me you’d really been looking for, but because we’re both Ballard you’d somehow got my whereabouts confused with my sister’s.’
‘Like a typical dumb blonde,’ Lucia supplemented caustically, disgusted with herself for feeling relieved on hearing him.
‘You’re not exactly blonde,’ he observed dismissively as he started the car.
‘Give me a few days! I’ve hardly seen the sun these last few weeks because of my exams.’
‘Scarcely the greatest of the sacrifices you’ve made to your future career,’ Rob mocked, the reminder unkind because just for a second or two she had forgotten Thierry, revelling in the awareness that she was at last free of the pressures attendant on keeping her promise to her father.
‘As it turns out! How old is this precious sister of yours?’ she demanded abruptly.
Catching the antagonistic note, he shot her a con-temptuous look.
‘Don’t blame Nadine. She couldn’t have stolen Olivier from you unless he wanted to be stolen. He’s not that weak. My sister is twenty-five,’ he added neutrally.
‘Twenty-five?’ Lucia repeated with heartfelt outrage. ‘And she still needs her big brother going around smoothing the way for her, shielding her from anything that might upset her? I’m only twenty-one and I haven’t had anyone looking out for me like that since I was a teenager.’
And she didn’t want or need anyone doing so either, did she? Her mother was a remote figure, so, essentially, she had been alone in the world since her father’s death—a condition which marriage to Thierry would have ended. Now it looked as if she was going to go on being alone, neither belonging to anyone nor with anyone who belonged to her.
‘And look at you now!’ he rejoined mercilessly. ‘It’s none of your business, but Nadine has had some miserable experiences in the past, so she deserves this chance of happiness.
‘She has the sort of quiet personality that can invite bullying in certain circumstances, but she won’t get that from a non-confrontational character like Olivier, and in return she’ll be able to use her particular strength—an instinctive knowledge of the subtle tricks of a very old-fashioned kind of femininity—to boost him. Strange as it seems, the relationship works.’
‘Oh, and because of all this—this marriage made in heaven—I really ought to sit back and let her have him?’ she challenged indignantly.
‘Why not? You don’t really want him.’ Rob sounded indifferent.
‘Perhaps not, but I could still get him back,’ she asserted, suddenly in a mood of wild perversity.
Of course she didn’t want Thierry back! Not now, when he had proved himself so undeserving of her love, she acknowledged in silent fury; but getting him back would prove to Rob that she was worth something as a woman—
Only why should she want to prove it, and to this man specifically? The only opinion of her that mattered was her own, and she knew her worth so she had nothing to prove—nothing at all!
‘Try it,’ Rob was inviting her softly.
‘I just might,’ she flung back at him defiantly.
‘You’ll regret it.’
‘Are you threatening me?’
‘Yes.’ It was silkily ruthless, and she met it with a brief, scornful laugh. ‘Warning you, anyway—and warning you too that you’ve got a way to go still before you’re free to give way to tears or a trantrum or whatever it is you do when you’re thwarted, so I suggest you try to control your pique for the time being.’
Pique! She really and truly hated him, Lucia decided tempestuously, although not entirely for the way he was trivialising her feelings, because her pride half-welcomed that as being preferable to having him know how badly this had hit her even while her sensitivity was outraged by his unfeeling attitude.
But how could he know just how precariously she was teetering on the edge of losing control of her emotions when he had known her so short a time? It was infuriating, the way he kept guessing what was going on in her heart and her head, and guessing so accurately.
‘What’s the tariff?’ she asked, carefully expressionless, when they reached the hotel, and when he told her she worked out that she could just afford a night here, plus, perhaps, a meal this evening, as breakfast was included. After that she would be broke, so she just hoped that she would be able to begin whatever job Chester Watson thought he had for her at once.
‘Of course, it would be more appropriate to the illusion we’re trying to establish if I simply installed you in the suite I use here—and there is a second bedroom,’ Rob went on, a gleam of mockery appearing in his eyes as she opened her mouth to protest ‘Relax, Lucia! There’s a limit to what I’m prepared to do in my sister’s interests. I’m not inflicting you on myself.’
‘I wouldn’t agree anyway. You can’t dislike me half as much as I dislike you,’ she flared, automatically removing her sunglasses as they entered the spacious, ultra-modern reception area, and then wishing she hadn’t but deciding that it would constitute too much of a betrayal to replace them. ‘Oh, hell!’
‘What now?’ he demanded irritably as she came to a halt.
Lucia had recognised the handsome face and soft dark eyes of one of a trio of young men on duty at the reception counter. She regarded Rob warily.
‘Was Hassan Mohammed the employee you said felt sorry for me?’ she asked stiffly.
‘Yes.’ The answer was devoid of sympathy, understanding or even amusement, yet he was looking at her expectantly. ‘A past or future interest,