Buch lesen: «The Guilty Wife»

PROLOGUE

IT ALL happened so suddenly.

Lucie was cycling along the sunlit suburban avenue past the park, the trees lining the road on both sides casting dancing shadows as she rode under them. The traffic wasn’t heavy, which was quite normal for a late Saturday afternoon in the small market town of Hayford where she lived. She registered the sleek-looking car coming from the opposite direction, on the side nearest the park, but took little notice, her mind occupied with her own thoughts.

Then everything seemed to happen at once. A ball flew over the park fence into the road. A big dog held by a young boy came out of the park entrance at the same moment, saw the ball and dashed after it, pulling the boy along with him.

Somebody—a woman—screamed, the shrill, terrified note cutting through the peace of the day. The car braked and swerved violently just before it reached the boy—but avoiding the boy brought it heading straight at Lucie.

The world seemed almost to stand still. The car, big and dark red, the colour of blood, hurtled down on her. Yet it was happening in slow motion too, each second long and drawn out as Lucie’s mind and body became paralysed by fear. She glimpsed a man through the windscreen, his face as appalled as her own, saw him try to swing the car round yet again. There was a sickening screech of protesting tyres and brakes. And then it hit her!

The back wing of the car smashed into the front of her bike, the impact sending her flying onto the grass verge. Lucie felt herself roll over and over, her body crushing the long grass and flowers, her senses strangely aware of the scent of damp earth, of whirling sun and ground. Her arms and legs seemed to have no connection with her body, her brain had no control over them; they just flew about as she tumbled down the sloping ground, until she stopped with a jolt, her left side up against a garden fence.

She lay very still, her eyes tightly shut, her shocked brain unable to take in what had happened. Then Lucie became aware of sounds, of the woman still screaming, a dog barking, then the car engine being switched off and, a moment later, footsteps running towards her.

‘Dear God!’ An unsteady hand touched her neck, felt for the pulse in her throat. ‘Are you all right? Can you hear me?’ The voice was sharp with fear, raw with it.

Slowly, carefully, Lucie opened her eyes, and was relieved to see that the world had stopped revolving, that the sky was in its usual place. Most of it, though, was blocked out by the head of the man who leaned over her, the shocked horror clear in his eyes. She stared up at his lean face, unable to speak, and he gently brushed grass and leaves and strands of her pale gold hair from her face.

‘Are you hurt? Are you in pain?’

His anxious voice, insistent on an answer, got through to her. With a tremendous effort, Lucie managed to say, ‘I—I don’t know.’ She tried to move, felt a stabbing pain in her left arm, and promptly passed out.

She must have been unconscious for only a minute or so, because when she surfaced the man was still there, talking on a mobile phone this time. There were other people there too now. A sobbing woman clutched a young boy back against her, so closely that it must have hurt him. But the boy was staring down at Lucie, his face paper-white. Other people were gazing down at her, but the man, finishing the call, turned on them angrily, his voice a snarl, and made them step back.

Kneeling beside her again, he said, ‘Don’t worry. The ambulance is on its way. You’re going to be fine.’ Taking off his jacket, he put it under her head, lifting her only a fraction, his hands strong but infinitely gentle.

‘Is that the boy?’ Lucie managed. ‘You didn’t hit him?’

‘No, he’s all right.’

The woman burst out, ‘I’m sorry! I’m so terribly sorry. The lead was wound round his hand; he couldn’t let go.’

Lucie felt a wave of anger, but another look at the boy’s ashen face made it quickly fade. She looked away, met the eyes of the car driver. They were an unusual colour, not quite grey, not quite blue, and were topped by thick dark brows that were still drawn into a frown of anxiety. ‘I’d like to sit up,’ she said, her voice stronger now.

‘No, don’t let her,’ a voice put in. ‘She might have broken her neck.’

‘Have you broken your neck?’

‘No, but I think I’ve broken my wrist. And I’m leaning on it. Besides, I feel like an idiot, lying here.’

The eyes lost some of their anxiety as the man, ignoring the advice being given to him from all sides, helped her to sit up. Lucie’s head swam for a minute and she was quite glad to rest her head against the man’s broad shoulder. Pulling his jacket round her, his arm supporting her, he said, ‘What’s your name?’

‘Lucie. Lucie Brownlow.’

‘Is there anyone I can call for you?’ He glanced at her ringless hands. ‘Your parents?’

‘No. There’s—there’s only my aunt and she’s away at the moment.’

‘But surely—?’

He was interrupted by the wailing sound of a siren. A police car pulled up, almost as violently as the red car had done; two policemen got out and started to take control of the situation. Then an ambulance came and the man moved away as the paramedics examined her. They wanted to put her on a stretcher, but Lucie, aware of the boy still watching, insisted on getting to her feet and walked with their help towards the ambulance.

As she reached it she saw her bike still lying in the road, and gave a gasp of horror as she saw the front wheel squashed almost out of recognition. It had been a very near thing, she realised. If the driver of the car hadn’t managed to swerve again it would have been she lying squashed like a pancake instead of the wheel.

The driver must have heard her horrified gasp; he turned away from the policeman he’d been talking to and came quickly over. ‘I know it’s a mess, but please don’t worry. I’ll replace it.’

Lucie raised stricken eyes to his. ‘Oh, no. It’s—it’s not that.’

‘Come along, miss. Let’s get you to Casualty,’ one of the paramedics urged.

‘Which hospital?’ the man asked him.

Lucie didn’t hear the answer. She was helped into the ambulance and was glad to go, to get away from that awful scene.

It was a couple of hours later, when she’d had her arm set and was propped up in a hospital bed, that a policeman came to ask her about the accident.

When she’d described what had happened he nodded and said, ‘That’s the same story we’ve heard from the other witnesses. Mr Wallace clearly wasn’t at fault.’

‘Who?’

‘The driver of the Jaguar. The car involved,’ he explained.

‘Oh, I didn’t know his name. No, it definitely wasn’t his fault. In fact it was his quick reaction that probably saved both the boy and myself.’ A thought came to her and she said, ‘Did he miss the dog as well?’

The policeman smiled as he closed his notebook. ‘Yes, he even managed to miss the dog.’ Getting to his feet, he said, ‘Mr Wallace is still here, waiting to hear how you are. We told him you would be here overnight, but he’s insisting on coming to see for himself. Is that all right?’

Lucie nodded, and as soon as he was out of sight used her right hand to try and fluff up her hair, but it had been brushed, pulled severely back and tied with an elastic band by the nurse who had washed off the dirt she’d gathered as she’d rolled across the grass verge. Her face was scratched too, and Lucie strongly suspected she had a black eye. The hospital nightdress, washed so many times that it had faded to an almost non-existent blue, didn’t help either—not when your eyes were the palest hazel and needed richness of colour to enhance them. She sighed, definitely not feeling at her best.

The policeman had pulled back the screens around the bed so Lucie was able to see the car driver as he came into the ward and looked round for her. He was dark-haired and looked to be about thirty, and he was very tall; she hadn’t noticed that before, when he’d been kneeling down beside her. He was wearing a dark suit, the knees grass-stained, but even so you could see that it was very well made. And he held himself erect, like a soldier, which gave him a distinct air of authority. The Jaguar was right for him, Lucie realised; both were big, well-bred, and looked expensive. A lesser car wouldn’t have suited him at all.

He saw her and walked quickly down the ward. ‘How are you feeling now?’

‘Fine.’ She smiled at him. ‘It was kind of you to wait so long.’

‘Nonsense,’ he said brusquely. ‘I was very worried about you. I’m most dreadfully sorry that you’ve been hurt.’

‘But it wasn’t your fault!’ Lucie protested. ‘It was an accident; I told the police that. They’re not going to charge you or anything, are they?’

‘No—but thanks for your support.’ He smiled, the grin transforming his face, taking the frowning anxiety away and making him somehow look younger and more carefree, and definitely more approachable. Holding out his hand, he said, ‘I know your name but I haven’t told you mine. It’s Seton Wallace.’

Lucie put her hand in his and let him shake it; his skin was smooth and his grip strong. ‘What a strange way to meet.’

‘Yes.’ He grinned again. ‘You could say we had quite an impact on each other.’

Lucie’s eyes lit with appreciative laughter but she gave a mock groan. ‘That was terrible.’

‘Sorry. Put it down to relief from tension.’

Because she liked his smile so much, because she was beginning to like him, Lucie said, ‘I hope I’m not keeping you from your family.’

Shaking his head, Seton answered, ‘No, I’m down here visiting my parents, and I’ve already rung to tell them what happened. But how about your family? Are you sure there isn’t anyone you’d like me to contact for you?’

‘No, I live alone.’

‘Not even a boyfriend?’

There was a note in his voice that wasn’t just polite enquiry. Lucie gave him a quick glance, her interest suddenly heightened. ‘No. No one close.’

He nodded, his eyes smiling a little, but then a nurse pushing a trolley came up to them and he said, ‘I’d better go. But will you let me have your address? To send your bicycle to when it’s repaired,’ he added, when Lucie raised her eyebrows.

‘You don’t have to see to that. After all, it wasn’t—’

‘I want to,’ he interrupted firmly.

‘All right. Thank you.’ She gave him her address and he noted it down in a fat Filofax.

He left then and Lucie settled back against the pillows. She felt bruised all over—probably was—but also felt strangely on a high. It must be the aftermath of shock, she thought, the joy of being still alive. Or perhaps it was just the memory of a lean, goodlooking face bending over her, of the width of a masculine shoulder and the strength of the arm that had held her. She might not ever see Seton again, of course; he might just send the repaired bicycle. But somehow she knew that he would bring it himself.

Her eyes drooping with sudden fatigue, Lucie fell asleep trying to work out how long it would take for the bike to be repaired.

But she saw him much sooner than she had expected. The next morning, after Lucie had dressed with the help of a nurse, reluctantly having to put on the torn and dirty clothes from the day before, she went down to the reception and asked for the number of a taxi company. But then a voice behind her said, ‘Will I do instead?’

She recognised Seton’s voice at once and was already smiling when she turned to face him. ‘Hello.’

‘Hi. You look better this morning.’

Lucie laughed. ‘In that case I must have looked really ghastly yesterday. I saw myself in the mirror just now and nearly died.’

‘In that case,’ he said, mimicking her, ‘you must look really fantastic normally.’ It was a nice compliment and he looked as if he meant it. Seton put his hand under her elbow. ‘The car’s outside.’

He looked after her carefully, as if she were a fragile doll instead of a girl of five feet five, who weighed a hundred and fifteen pounds and worked out regularly. Lucie, who wasn’t used to such tender treatment, found that she rather liked it.

She had trouble fastening the seat belt and he leaned across to do it for her. The scent of his aftershave was subtle, evocative. He was wearing casual clothes today, jeans and a sweatshirt, but the air of strong self-confidence was still there; he hadn’t lost it with the suit. He drove quite slowly, careful not to jolt her around, and took a route that avoided the park, although that would have been the more direct way. It was so that she wouldn’t be upset at seeing the scene of their accident, Lucie realised, and felt a lump in her throat at his thoughtfulness.

He pulled up in the road outside her flat. It was only a two-storey house converted into a flat on each floor. Nothing special. But, to Lucie, getting it had been the achievement of a great ambition, a longed-for dream.

Seton helped her out of the car and obviously expected to go up with her. Inside, he gave a small sound of pleasure as he looked around, which pleased Lucie as she’d expended a lot of loving care on the decor and furnishings.

‘The kitchen is in the back.’ Lucie pointed. ‘Perhaps you’d like to make some coffee while I go and change?’

‘Sing out if you have any difficulty and need a hand,’ he called after her as she went into the bedroom.

Her eyebrows rose a little; did he expect to help her dress? But Lucie found that she could have used some help; though it was easy enough to undress, putting on a clean bra by herself was impossible. She had to give up and just pull on a loose tracksuit, easing the material over her cast. She went back into the sitting-room, where Seton was waiting. His eyes went over her, lingered for a fraction of a second too long, and she knew he’d noticed she was without a bra.

‘Here’s your coffee.’

‘Thanks.’

Going across to the window, she sat on the deep, padded sill, unaware that the sunlight shining through lit her head like a brilliant halo. Her hair was loose now and hung thick and straight to her neck, the sun turning it into a cascade of molten gold. Glancing up, she saw that Seton had his eyes fixed on her, rapt, arrested. Lucie gave him a questioning look and he blinked, and said after a moment in a slightly unsteady voice, ‘Do you work here, in Hayford?’

‘Yes, in an office.’

‘As a secretary? You won’t be able to type with that wrist, surely?’

Lucie gave a small grimace. ‘Nothing as grand as that. I just check invoices against goods, that kind of thing. I expect they’ll find something for me to do.’

‘But you must take some time off, give your wrist a chance to mend.’ And he frowned in concern.

‘I’ll phone them tomorrow, tell them what’s happened.’

‘You promise?’

She nodded, her eyes smiling. ‘I promise.’ She hesitated for a moment, then, fear from past experience pricking her, felt compelled to add, ‘But you really mustn’t worry about me; I can take care of myself, you know.’

‘You shouldn’t have to,’ he said brusquely. ‘Look, I’ve taken a week off work so I’ll be around. Use me. If you need to shop, go to your doctor, or back to the hospital. Anything. Just tell me and I’ll be here.’ He saw the surprised uncertainty in Lucie’s eyes and, holding up a hand, said quickly, ‘I’m insisting on this. And if you say no I shall just sit in the car outside your flat and won’t go away until you agree.’

Lucie laughed. ‘Are you always this autocratic?’

His eyes, more blue now than grey, crinkled into an attractive grin. ‘Only with people I come close to killing.’ He stood up and went to the phone, tore a sheet off the scrap pad and wrote on it. ‘Here’s my parents’ number. Call me if you find you need anything. At any time. Promise?’

‘All these promises you’re demanding I make,’ Lucie said on a flippant note. ‘I’m not used to being made such a fuss of.’

Coming over, Seton leaned a hand against the wall and smiled down at her. ‘Well, I think you’d better start getting used to it.’ She didn’t speak and he walked to the door, then turned. ‘You won’t want to cook tonight; how about sharing a Chinese take away?’

Lucie hesitated, knew that she ought to refuse, but found herself saying, ‘I’d like that.’

He let himself out and Lucie watched from the window as he left, lifting a hand to wave to her before he got in the car. She watched him go with mixed feelings. He was a very attractive man, not the kind she came across very often. A man it would be easy to fall for. There was something about him that had got to her, and from the way he’d looked at her once or twice she thought that he might feel the same about her.

The thought excited Lucie but made her nervous, too. She hadn’t much experience of men, and what she had was all bad. But probably she was wrong; Seton was most likely just being kind, and once his week’s holiday was over and her wrist improved she would never see him again.

It didn’t work out like that. Her heart gave a jolt the minute she opened the door to him that evening and saw his smile again. Immediately she felt happy, excited, as if something wonderful was about to happen.

They sat long over their meal, talking in a relaxed, comfortable way, not as virtual strangers but as if they’d known each other for ages. It was Seton’s ease of manner, his ability to start and hold so many topics, and the way he subtly drew her out to talk about herself that made it so comfortable.

Lucie responded with more enjoyment and animation than she’d known for years, perhaps had ever known. She told him a great deal about herself, of the Open University course she was taking and her hopes for the future. But she didn’t tell him everything, glossing over her past and quickly bringing the subject back to him. In turn Seton told her of his love of sport and travel, then totally disconcerted her by saying that he was a practising barrister.

Thankfully, Seton was refilling their glasses and didn’t notice the effect that piece of information had on her. Lucie was struck by how strange it was that she should be here with him. A barrister, of all things! And he was so much more polished than anyone she’d met before, so socially confident and assured. She couldn’t imagine him ever being unable to handle a situation. And it wasn’t an acquired confidence but something that had been bred into him, a kind of arrogance, if a profound belief in the principles and values handed down to one could be called arrogance. He was, to put it bluntly, in a class light years from her own.

That knowledge, and the fact that he was a barrister, ought to have put her off, or at least have acted as a warning, but his attraction was too great for her to heed it. Lucie liked the way he continued to look after her, and she liked the way the candlelight cast shadows on his face, accentuating the leanness of his high cheekbones, the fan of his eyelashes and the laughter lines around his mouth when he smiled. He had a good voice, deep, well modulated, educated but not over the top, and he knew how to tell an anecdote to get the best out of it, to make her laugh richly.

When the evening was over, when Seton could find no excuse to linger any longer, he moved reluctantly towards the door and said, ‘You’re quite sure there’s nothing else I can do?’

‘Quite sure. You’ve already been kind beyond the call of conscience.’

She was standing near the front door, waiting for him, her fair hair a silken sheen in the light of the lamps she’d lit. Coming close, Seton said softly, ‘If you think that’s the only reason I came, you couldn’t be more wrong.’

Lucie was aware of his closeness, of his masculinity, and for a moment became nervous again. Holding out her right hand, she said with formal politeness, ‘Goodnight, Seton. Thank you for the meal.’

He looked at her, then disconcerted her again by taking her hand and raising it fleetingly to his lips. ‘Goodnight, Lucie.’

Closing the door behind him, Lucie leaned against the wall, feeling enchanted by that unexpected gesture and yet strangely low now that he had gone. For a while she had felt feminine and pretty and—cherished: a sensation that had never come her way before. But she had liked it, oh, how she had liked it. And how she had liked him.

She went to move away, but there was a sharp double knock on the door panel, just near her head. Slowly Lucie reached out and turned the knob, let the door swing open. Seton was standing there., one arm up against the doorframe. He said, ‘I forgot to ask. Do you believe in kissing on a first date?’

‘No, definitely not.’

‘Nor do I.’ Coming inside, he shouldered the door closed. ‘In that case, we’d better call this our second date.’ And, taking her in his arms, he drew her to him and kissed her.

When Seton raised his head at last, Lucie kept her eyes tight closed, afraid of breaking the spell. Because it couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be real. No kiss, no simple coming together of a man’s and a woman’s mouth, could possibly be that wonderful. She lived it again: the sensual warmth of his lips, the dizzying effect on her senses, the discovery deep inside her of awakened need—a need that could so easily have flamed into fierce passion and desire.

‘Hey,’ he said softly against her mouth. ‘Have you gone to sleep?’

Still with her eyes closed, Lucie smiled. ‘No, but I think I’m dreaming.’

‘Is that good or bad?’

She looked at him, then said huskily, ‘Oh, it was very good. Do you always have that effect on the women you kiss?’

‘What effect?’

Slowly she reached up to touch his face, letting her fingers trace the line of his jaw. ‘Devastating,’ she admitted honestly.

He gave a sigh of satisfaction and pleasure. ‘Thank God for that! It would have been terrible if it had all been one-sided.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You—you mean it was like that for you too?’

‘Of course.’ Seton grinned. ‘But perhaps we should do it again and make sure.’

It was what Lucie wanted more than anything else in the world, but some note of caution made her say, ‘This—you... It’s all happening so fast. I don’t know you.’

Seton laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know you either, but I’m willing to take a chance.’ Her face changed, became stricken, and he said quickly, ‘Lucie! What is it? I was only joking.’

‘Yes—but you don’t know me.’

‘So we’ll get to know each other. We’ll do that old-fashioned thing they used to call courting. We will go out together, and we’ll take our time.’

‘And—and this?’

Realising what she meant, he held her closer and said softly, ‘I won’t rush you into anything. I’ll let you set the pace. But I would like to kiss you again. Now. May I?’

But he didn’t wait for her to agree; his hands were already cupping her face, tilting her head so that his lips could seek hers, so lightly at first, softly exploring, tracing with tiny kisses the length of her upper lip, gently biting at the fullness of the lower one. Then, using the tip of his tongue, he made her open her mouth and let him in, and suddenly his lips weren’t gentle any more, but hot and forceful and demanding.

Lucie gave a small moan and closed her eyes, letting him take her with him on a deep spiral of pleasure, where the world was lost and the only sensations were those of his closeness, of the flame of passion that erupted through her veins—the need, the desire, the knowledge that for her nothing in the world had ever been as wonderful as this, that nothing else mattered so much.

Seton’s shoulders hunched as he kissed her, his breathing quickened and he said her name over and over again, his voice thick, the murmured name mingling with her own gasping sighs. His kiss deepened with passion until he drew back suddenly, remembering his promise. Lifting his head, he held her against his chest and she could feel the beating of his heart.

‘I’m afraid,’ she said, with an honesty he couldn’t possibly understand.

‘I know, but there’s no need to be, my darling. I’ll take care of you.’

‘Please—I think you’d better go now.’

‘You don’t trust me, huh?’ He smiled tenderly down at her. ‘Well, maybe you’re right; I’ve never found myself in this kind of situation before.’

‘What kind?’

His eyes crinkled and he gave her lips the merest touch with his. ‘Wild about you, of course.’ And then he opened the door and was gone as Lucie still stood with eyes open wide in astonishment.

Seton came to collect her the next morning, buoyant, on a high, reaching out to kiss her as soon as he arrived. Lucie, too, was exhilarated by excitement, but was also full of nervous tension. She could see happiness opening before her but was afraid to grasp it, so she held him off.

‘No! Don’t touch me,’ she cried out, knowing that she would be lost if he held her.

But he put his hands on her shoulders and said, ‘Lucie? What is it?’

‘This—this attraction you feel. It could be just a chemical thing, something that’s hit us out of the blue.’

‘Ah, so you admit it hit you too,’ he said with satisfaction.

Ignoring that, Lucie said, ‘How do you know it won’t go away as suddenly as it came? You might wake up one morning and hate the sight of me.’

‘If I woke up with you beside me it couldn’t be anything but wonderful—perfect,’ Seton said simply.

She tried to argue with him, to point out that something that had happened so quickly couldn’t possibly last. But Seton merely laughed and pulled her into his arms.

Lucie gave a sigh of frustration. ‘Oh, you big fool! Why won’t you listen to me? Take me seriously?’

But then he kissed her and immediately Lucie was lost again, and somehow she knew that she always would be, that whenever he kissed her it would always be like this, a total domination of her mind, her heart and her body. And yet she accepted it gladly, glorying in it, knowing that it was the same for him.

He was, she observed, unchangeable, and he proved it in the next weeks as he saw her as often as he could. That first week he was around all the time, driving her wherever she wanted to go, taking her out to eat, solicitous about her injured wrist. And after the first week, when he had to go back to London to work, he put a great many miles on the Jaguar as he drove down to take her to dinner and the theatre—place that she would never have gone to normally. He didn’t seem at all short of money, and although he didn’t throw it around he was always very generous, booking the best seats at the theatre or cinema, tables at well-known restaurants.

Although he obeyed the rules she’d set down for them to get to know each other better and not to rush things, Seton was quite capable of trying to break down her defences. Often, when they said goodnight, he would kiss her so passionately that it almost broke her resolve, but somehow she managed to push him away, to send him home empty and unfulfilled, as frustrated as she was herself.

It was a long, hot summer, and one day, when they’d known each other about six weeks, Seton hired a boat for the day and rowed her down the river that meandered through the old town, making sure she had cushions to make her comfortable, although her wrist was almost mended now. He’d brought a picnic hamper and dangled a bottle of wine over the side to keep it cool until they came to a quiet spot of trees and dappled sunlight. There Seton moored and helped her onto the bank.

He laid a rug down on the grass and they ate and drank, listening to old, trad jazz tunes on a cassette player. He had taken off his shirt because of the heat and, although she tried to resist, Lucie found her eyes drawn to his broad, smooth chest and the muscles that rippled in his shoulders and arms. The slight breeze made the leaves above them move, casting shadows that played across his body, first highlighting a shoulder, then the tiny, fascinating nipples, then the length of his back as he turned away from her to repack the hamper.

It was erotic, sexy, as if some mischievous Cupid had deliberately set out to tease and tantalise her senses. Lucie’s throat tightened and she felt a fierce surge of longing, an emotion so strong that almost of its own volition her hand lifted and she touched his back, letting her fingers trail down the length of his spine. She felt a great quiver of awareness run through him before Seton turned swiftly to face her. The need for her was there in his eyes—deep, intense concupiscence. A need, she knew, that was mirrored in her own.