Chapter Seven
Two days before the ball they had snow. Christy was in a fever of
panic when she woke up and saw the ominous colour of the sky, and the
white blanket already lying inches deep outside.
"Don't worry," her mother consoled her when she confided to her her
dread that the ball would be poorly attended because of the weather.
"Folks around here are tough. They won't let a little thing like a
snowfall put them off."
Although she was normally a good patient, over the last few days her
mother had been extremely restless. The lo cum who had called to see
her in Dominic's stead had pronounced that this was a good sign which
showed that she was recovering well, but he had still counselled plenty
of rest and no excitement.
"It's not fair," she grumbled lightly now.
"I'm missing out on all the fun."
The 'fun' to her mother meant the organisation, Christy recognised,
suppressing a small smile, inwardly sympathising with her parent even'
while outwardly she remained obdurate about allowing her to do
anything.
Already a brain wave of her mother's earlier in the week had resulted
in Christy ha ring off to Newcastle with her father to buy as many
heart-shaped tins and moulds as she could get her hands on. Members of
the WI had been exhorted to search through their cupboards for these
receptacles, so that a variety of heart- shaped desserts could be
provided in tune with the theme of the evening.
Lady Anthony had very generously made the enormous kitchens at the
Manor available to those members of the local community who were
responsible for preparing the buffet, and Christy knew that her mother
positively ached to be down there among them.
The colour scheme for the evening was pink and silver against a
background of white. An inspired and totally unexpected, not to say
generous, gift of a hundred metallic silver heart-shaped balloons had
arrived by post from Meryl earlier in the week---she had spotted them
in one of the Knightsbridge gift shops, she had informed Christy over
the telephone, and had promptly bought their entire stock.
Meryl sounded so happy and bubbling over with self-confidence that
Christy felt it was safe to ask her how things were.
"Fantastic," she had told her promptly.
"The news that he's to be a father once more has stunned David. He's
thrilled, of course, but he insists on treating me like fragile
crystal."
"And you're complaining?"
"Not really. Which reminds me, when junior does arrive, I shall
require you to be god mama
Luckily the snow stopped falling just before lunch.
"I'm supposed to be meeting the florist at the Manor this afternoon,"
Christy told her mother as they shared the soup she had made.
"I don't know whether to cancel it."
"Just as long as you aren't contemplating driving yourself there you
should be all right. Why don't you give the florist's a ring, and if
they're still keen to go, order a taxi."
Christy took her mother's advice. The woman who owned and ran the
local flower shop confirmed that she was prepared to drive out to the
Manor, and as they arranged that morning Christy's father arrived home
to sit with the invalid.
"Honestly, you don't need to do this now," Sarah Marsden protested.
"Nothing's going to happen to me."
"No, it isn't," Christy agreed firmly, 'because we won't let it. Dad
and I both know what would happen if we left you alone. You'd be out
of bed and down in the kitchen in no time at all. "
Because the snow was fresh the taxi had no difficulty in getting
through to the Manor. Christy gpt out and paid the driver, tensing as
she saw Dominic's car draw up and park.
She had to wait for change, and she saw Dominic get out, his dark head
bare, his hair ruffled by the chill breeze. He looked at her without
smiling, his expression almost brooding in intensity. She longed to go
up to him and touch him . just touch him, nothing else.
Who are you kidding? she asked herself bitterly;
nothing but knowing that he loved her with the same direct intensity
with which she loved him would ever be enough to satisfy the ache
inside her.
"You look pale. Are you feeling all right?"
She hadn't seen him move, and she swung round, feeling vulnerable and
shaky, her fear of revealing her vulnerability to him making her sound
terse and remote.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look it. It must be the strain of loving a man who is
committed to someone else."
She was too shocked to conceal her expression from him. Her face went
white, her eyes enormous pools of agonised pain.
"Christy, I..." He spoke almost roughly, his own eyes darkening, his
voice harsh as he demanded thickly, "Is it really worth it? Why don't
you give him up? Let his wife..."
She almost sagged with relief as she realised what he meant. For one
dreadful moment there she had thought he had guessed that he had known
how she felt about him.
A small van was bumping down the lane towards them, and she pulled
away, just as the front door of the Manor opened and Amanda came out.
She was wearing a silk dress that emphasised the slimness of her legs
and the full curves of her breasts. Mentally comparing her elegant
appearance with her own cord and jumper-clad body, Christy only just
managed to suppress a faint sigh. No wonder Dominic was hurrying
towards the other woman. She wondered if he realised yet that Amanda
wanted more than the same sort of casual affair he had offered her. Or
perhaps where Amanda was concerned he was prepared to offer more.
"Sorry if I'm late..."
Wrenching her attention away from the couple walking ahead of them into
the house, Christy turned to greet the woman hurrying to join her.
The front door had been firmly closed behind Amanda and Dominic, and
Christy wondered if Amanda had simply not realised that they were there
or was deliberately trying to be rude.
Lady Anthony herself showed them up to the ballroom, rather to
Christy's surprise. She moved a little awkwardly, no doubt because of
her arthritis, but it was still possible to see traces of the girl she
must once have been.
Louise Fisher from the flower shop nodded her approval when she saw the
room. She and Christy had already discussed what she intended to do,
and Christy had shown her the balloons that Meryl had sent.
"You know, it's a real challenge to do something like this... And what
a beautiful room."
She went on to discuss how she intended to decorate it while Christy
and Lady Anthony listened.
"The last ball held here was for my husband's twenty-first," Lady
Anthony told them. For a moment a sad expression haunted her eyes.
"He was killed at the beginning of the war."
"Yes, so the Major told me," Christy responded.
Almost instantly Lady Anthony withdrew into herself, her expression
hardening.
"My father told him he was never to set foot in this house again."
Christy and Louise exchanged surprised looks.
"Had he and your father had a quarrel, then, Lady Anthony?" Christy
asked gently, not sure whether or not she would be rebuffed.
"In a way... However, you haven't come here to talk about the past."
Taking her hint that the subject was not one she wanted to pursue,
Christy stood to one side while Louise studied the room. They were
just discussing the mass of banked plants and flowers Louise intended
to place in front of the raised stage which would hold the small band
when Amanda walked in, her arm tucked proprietorially through
Dominic's.
"Ah, there you are, my dear. We were just discussing the flowers."
Amanda managed to look both bored and supercilious at the same time.
"Mummy always uses Moyses Stevens. She says that no one else can
possibly compare with them."
Christy, who knew the top people's florist's quite well through David,
who always used them to supply flowers for his parties, flushed a'
little uncomfortably at Amanda's lack of tact, but Louise seemed
perfectly calm and at ease.
"Yes, they are good, aren't they," she agreed pleasantly. T was lucky
enough to go on one of their courses a couple of years ago, and I
certainly learned a lot. "
Christy nearly cheered at the pleasant way that Louise had put the
other woman in her place, especially when Louise didn't linger over her
victory but instead went on quietly to explain to them all just what
she had in mind.
"Fresh flowers are very expensive at this time of year, so I'm hoping
to get away with plenty of greenery and only the minimal amount of
flowers. Pink and white, of course, to tone in with everything
else."
There were several rather tarnished mirrors hanging on the wall, and
Louise explained how she hoped to provide floral frames for them. Even
Amanda looked reluctantly impressed.
It was going dark before Louise was finished. Christy glanced at her
watch and asked Lady Anthony if she could possibly use her phone
to ring for a taxi.
"There's no need for that," Dominic told her in a clipped, almost
strained voice.
"I'll run you back."
"Oh, but darling, I wanted you to stay for supper. It's your first
evening off this week... and..."
"I'm sorry, Amanda, but I've promised to have dinner with the Major.
He gets rather lonely, you know. "
Dominic seemed to be looking at Lady Anthony as he spoke, and an
incredibly farfetched and surely impossible suspicion suddenly crossed
Christy's mind. Could the Major and Lady Anthony possibly have been
romantically involved at one time?
It seemed impossible, and yet. Telling herself that she was letting
her imagination get the better of her, Christy tried to refuse
Dominic's offer of a lift, but he wouldn't let her.
A cold east wind was blowing when they got outside. Christy huddled
deeper into her padded jacket. She hadn't worn her fur since that last
occasion, but now she wished that she had put it on. It made no
difference her knowing that Meryl had chosen it for her; Dominic's
remarks still hurt.
"Get in."
Dominic unlocked the door and opened it for her. The inside of his car
smelled of leather and some indefinable masculine odour that her body
recognised as being part of Dominic himself.
It was shaming how readily her body responded to such minimal
stimulation, and if she hadn't known herself better she might almost
have described her reaction as wanton. It was hard not to give in to
the temptation to remember what it had felt like to be held in his
arms, to be kissed. She tensed as Dominic settled himself. beside her
and started the engine. As he backed the car round skilfully she
looked through the side window.
They were half-way down the lane before he spoke, his terse, "I haven't
thanked you yet for all the hard Work you've put in for this ball,
Christy," making her say equally curtly, "There's nothing to thank me
for; after all, I'm not doing it for you personally, am I?"
After that he made no further attempts to engage her in conversation,
and she told herself that she was glad.
As he stopped the car for her to get out, she made one more attempt to
dissuade him from driving her to the ball, but to her consternation,
instead of agreeing with her that his giving her a lift wasn't
necessary, he said savagely, "Oh, for Qod's sake, Christy! What are
you trying to do? Make everyone else as aware as I am how much you
loathe me? You know quite well that your parents will worry about you
if..."
"Oh, all right." She slammed his car door childishly as she walked
away from him, giving vent to her temper. He was right, of course: her
parents would worry, and her father wouldn't understand her insistence
on getting a taxi when Dominic had volunteered to take her.
"Come and let me have a look at you when you're ready."
If she ever managed to get ready, Christy thought fatalistically. It
seemed as though the phone hadn't stopped ringing all day long with one
query or another. She wasn't even sure that she could summon the
energy to go to the ball. No, it wasn't that that was making her so
reluctant to get ready, she acknowledged. It was the knowledge that
she would have to watch Dominic with Amanda. watch them dancing
together . watch them. Stop it . stop it . she urged herself,
clenching her hands into fists. She was deliberately tormenting
herself.
No more snow had fallen, and she had managed to get in to Setondale at
lunchtime to have her hair done. Privately she wasn't sure what she
thought of the wild mane of curls that the stylist had teased from her
locks.
The stylist, a pretty young girl, had assured her that she looked
absolutely fantastic, and the torrent of wild curls was certainly in
keeping with her gown.
She daren't risk a shower in case it flattened her hair, but
fortunately she had had the forethought to have one before going out,
and as she stripped off her clothes she caught the faint, lingering
traces of her scented body lotion. As she smoothed more of it into her
skin she wondered why on earth she was bothering. Women scented their
bodies for the enjoyment of their lovers. Her hands stilled, her nails
digging into the smooth firmness of her thigh as she tried not to
imagine what it would be like to have Dominic as her lover.
That last summer she had gone swimming with him one day and had been
both shocked and fascinated by the male structure of his body. In her
mind's eye she could recapture the memory of the dark shadowing of hair
covering his chest and disappearing beneath the top of his swimming
shorts. That had been just before she had realised the true nature of
her feelings for him, and she could still recall the squirming
embarrassment-cum-excitement curling through her body as he stripped
off.
"What's the matter?" he had teased her, tugging her hair with gentle
fingers.
The smell of the summer grass and the scent of his skin were impressed
on her senses for all time, and she could still recall the heart
thumping dizzying realisation of how she felt about him.
"Dominic."
She wasn't even aware of saying his name. Tears filled her eyes and
she shook them away, despising herself for being so vulnerable.
She put on clean underwear: brief satin panties and a matching
suspender belt in a pretty soft cream that had been a Christmas present
from her parents. She couldn't wear a bra under her dress. She
avoided her reflection in the mirror as she slid on silk stockings, and
then pulled on her old dressing-gown before starting on her makeup.
The gauche, uncertain girl she had been when she first went to London
no longer existed, and she applied' skilled touches of colour to her
eyes and skin with the expertise she had learned during her years as
David's assistant.
Downstairs the grandfather clock sounded the hour. Soon Dominic would
be here. Christy shivered slightly as she stood up and checked her
evening bag. She was ready. All she had to do was put on her dress.
She stepped into it, swearing mildly under her breath as she fought
with the mass of petticoats. It zipped up more easily than she
remembered, but then her mother had already commented that she seemed
to have lost weight.
The dress had been designed for a play where every historical detail
had to be exact, but it still came as a shock to realise how much of
the upper curves of her breasts the lace-trimmed neckline revealed.
And surely her curves had never been quite as provocative and luscious
as they appeared to be now? The fabric moulded and held her breasts
into a rounded fullness that made her frown and chew a little on her
bottom lip.
Ridiculous!y, when she tried on her mask and looked at herself in the
mirror she felt slightly better about the neckline of the dress, as
though somehow hiding behind her mask gave her some sort or protection
from her own awareness of her body.
She held her breath slightly when she went in to show her mother, but
she needn't have worried. She made no comment at all about her
neckline, instead marvelling at the beauty of her gown. When Christy
drew her attention to her exposed breasts, her mother laughed and said
robustly, "I suppose it is rather provocative, but only in the nicest
possible way."
Even so, Christy was glad of the velvet cloak that Meryl had suggested
that she hire, and she was very careful to keep it carefully closed
when she heard the sound of Dominic's car, and her father opening the
door to him.
"I'd better go," she told her mother.
"Dominic will want to be there eariy."
"Yes. He told me that most of the committee are setting together on
the same table."
They were, but Christy wasn't sure whether Dominic intended to join
them. She suspected that Amanda would have plans of her own for the
evening which wouldn't include sharing Dominic with the rest of them.
From the top of the stairs she looked down yearningly at where Dominic
stood chatting to her father, knowing that she was shielded from him
and that he couldn't see how avidly and needingly she looked at him.
He was wearing a dinner suit, and a giant fist seemed to close round
her heart as she looked down at him, tanned and dark-haired, and
completely at ease in his no doubt expensive evening suit. He wore it
with a familiarity that said that he felt completely at home in its
tailored smoothness.
Perhaps that was what she needed. Christy thought sadly: to be
reminded of the vast gulf in experience that now lay between them. He
wouldn't have lived the life of a monk while he was in America, she was
sure of that. He wouldn't have held himself aloof from sexual
experimentation because his heart and mind was full of her image.
She saw him glance at his watch, light bouncing off the thin gold
strap, and she started to walk downstairs.
"Ah, there you are," her father beamed at her.
"Aren't we going to get a preview of the outfit?" He turned to Dominic
before she could speak.
"I remember her first grown-up party dress, don't you, Dominic? She
couldn't wait to show it off to you."
They all laughed, but her father was the only one whose laughter was
natural. There was simply no way she could remove her cloak and twirl
round for her father's inspection with Dominic standing there watching
her, and so she shook her head and said in a voice made husky with
tension, "I'm sorry. Dad, we'll have to go. We can't be late..."
She could feel the tension emanating from Dominic as he escorted her to
his car, but it wasn't until she was sitting beside him as he drove
down the lane that he spoke to her.
"What's the matter?" he demanded harshly.
"Were you afraid that your father would recognise it as a dress bought
by a man for his lover? Is that why you wouldn't show it to him?"
For a moment she was too shocked to speak. Did Dominic honestly think
that? She remembered how he had looked at the box when they were on
the train and opened her mouth to contradict him, but the words died
unsaid. What was the point of saying anything? Let him think what he
wanted. Surely it was easier to endure his contempt and animosity than
to have to battle against his physical desire, especially when she was
so aware of her own weakness and how very vulnerable she was to him?
Not that she had anything to fear from him in that regard any longer,
and as she met the cold condemnation in his eyes she marvelled that
they had ever gleamed hot and molten with desire for her. Looking at
him now, it seemed almost an impossibility. But he had wanted her, he
had told her so, and she had turned away from him, heartsick because it
was only desire and not love.
They weren't the first to arrive. Several other cars were already
parked in front of the house. Anticipating Dominic's intention of
opening the car door for her, Christy beat him to it, feeling
idiotically gauche as he stepped back from the car and watched with a
grim humourless smile.
"You're very wise," he told her under his breath.
"If I put my hands on you feeling the way I do tonight, I might be
tempted to indulge myself in violence. You have that effect on me,
didn't you know?" he asked her savagely as she made a small sound, of
protest.
"Then I suggest you go and look for Amanda," Christy told him
bitterly.
"She looks to me like a woman who knows how to handle a violent male.
She might even like it."
Aghast at her own jealousy, she half stumbled in the drive. Sickness
churned through her stomach. She wasn't sure which of them she hated
the most--Dominic, for getting beneath her guard, or herself for
allowing him to do so.
"Bitch!" She heard him curse as he caught up with her and took her
firmly by the arm.
"It doesn't suit you, you know, Christy," he told her, swinging her
round to face him.
"Is that what he's done to you: turned you from a sweet, innocent girl into. "
"A woman?" she threw at him, wrenching her arm free. The door opened
and she hurried inside. Dominic was close behind her.
With an almost bitter sense of satisfaction she watched Amanda detach
herself from her godmother's side and hurry across to them, promptly
annexing Dominic. Christy already knew which room had been put aside
as the ladies' cloakroom, and she made her way there without giving
Dominic and Amanda a second glance.
The wives of several other members of the committee, plus some of her
mother's friends from the WI, were already there, and Christy exchanged
hellos and smiles with most of them before taking off her cloak. She
had been carrying her mask on her arm, and she paused in front of one
of the mirrors to put it on.
Behind her she heard someone say, "My dear, that is the most
magnificient costume. I do envy you, even though I don't have the
figure to wear it any longer." Turning round, Christy recognised one
of her mother's friends.
"Where on earth did you get it?"
Smiling, she explained.
"Oh, well, that explains it. It really is stunning. Yes, I can see
Shakespeare's Kate in that, quarrelling with Petruchio."
"I'd better get to the ballroom, and check that the musicians have
arrived," Christy excused herself.
In the ballroom only the wall lights were illuminated, with low-wattage
bulbs, and the soft pink glow they cast had a softening effect on the
room. The wooden floor had been polished by volunteers from the WI
before being chalked, and the musicians were already in place on the
small raised stage. One of them raised his head and whistled
appreciately as Christy hurried towards them, and Christy dipped him a
mock curtsy, only to tense as she felt the heated pressure of eyes
boring into the back of her neck.
She knew before she turned round who was looking at her. Dominic was
standing with Amanda, who was chatting animatedly to her godmother, far
too intent on her own conversation to be aware of her escort's slow and
thorough scrutiny of Christy's white and silver figure. It was a long
time before he lifted his eyes to her face, and Christy felt the whole
room sway around her as she read the savage contempt in their depths.
She wanted to cry out against it, and like someone under a numbing
spell she moved slowly as though through water as she dragged her gaze
away and tried to resume her conversation with the musicians.
"Ah, Christy. Everything seems to be under control. The ladies from
the WI have provided a first-class buffet. Have you seen it yet?"
Thankfully Christy turned to the Major, accepting his invitation to, as
he put it, "Inspect the troops'.
"You're not supposed to be able to recognise me with this mask on," she
teased him mock- reproachfully.
"Oh, I'd recognise that red hair of yours anywhere!"
All the women were to retain their masks until twelve o'clock when
their partners, who would presumably be quite well aware who they were,
could demand their removal or payment of a forfeit. This had been Lady
Anthony's suggestion, and Christy had thought it a good idea, in view
of the romantic theme of the evening.
Within an hour most of the guests had arrived, and the ballroom floor
was pleasantly crowded. Christy watched the dancers from the
sidelines, trying not to notice how well Dominic and Amanda danced
together, and how close their bodies were.
She didn't know how much more of Dominic's contempt she could take.
She had never thought him a particularly egotistical man, but she could
only presume that his savagery towards her now sprang from the fact
that in his eyes she had turned him down as her lover in favour of
David.
She told herself that the Dominic she had loved would never have
behaved so cruelly, but it made no difference at all to the way she
felt about him.
The Major asked her to dance and she got up to do so, the skirts of her
dress swaying gracefully as she moved. She was aware that her dress
had caused something of a stir, but she took no pleasure in the
knowledge. That one contemptuous look Dominic had given her had
stripped her defences from her, and the evening had become something
merely to be endured.
The Major danced surprisingly well, his oldeworlde courtesy balm to her
soul after Dominic's biting sarcasm, but even so, she was aware that
she didn't have all the Major's attention. She had seen him glance
more than once at where Lady Anthony was sitting and on some impulse
she was reluctant to analyse she said quietly to him, "Lady Anthony
looks rather lonely; why don't you go and ask her to dance?"
"I would, but I know she'd refuse me." He gave a rather humourless
bark of laughter.
"And it wouldn't be the first time." A shadow crossed his face.
"There was a time when I thought... but I was foolish. Her father
wanted to keep the title in the family, and she married Ronnie. We
were in the same regiment, you know."
And the Major had loved her, Christy suspected, her heart aching for
him. Just for a moment she had seen behind his stem mask to the man,
and as he glanced across the room to Lady Anthony, Christy realised
that he still loved her.
The music stopped just as they swung level with Lady Anthony's table.
"You dance very well, my dear, and in that dress you are quite the
belle of the ball..." The faded blue eyes grew lightly wistful.
Acting on impulse, Christy said softly, "The Major was just telling me
that he would love to ask you to dance, but that he was frightened that
you would refuse him." She didn't dare to look at her companion, but
even without doing so she was aware of his growing anger, and prayed
that she had not made a terrible mistake.
To her relief she saw that Lady Anthony was slightly flushed and rather
disconcerted, but far from displeased.
"Oh well.. well ... I rarely dance these days. My arthritis, you
know."
"Nonsense," Christy heard the Major saying gruffly.
"Why, I remember when you were the best dancer for fifty miles around,
you were so light on your feet."
Almost unable to believe her eyes, Christy watched the Major reach out
and bring Lady Anthony gently to her feet, just as the musicians
started to play a waltz. Lady Anthony was smiling at him, as shy as a
young girl.
Just as Christy had mentally prophesied, there was no sign of Dominic
making any attempt to join the rest of their table when it came to the
time for supper. She could see him sitting halfway across the room
with Amanda, and she had to fight down the hot, smouldering jealousy
corroding through her body.
She didn't eat very much, and excused herself as soon as possible,
going down to the ladies' cloakroom to check on her appearance. Her
face looked too pale, and her hands trembled as she applied more
blusher and fresh lipstick.
She didn't touch her hair, studying herself only briefly as she slipped
her mask back on. It transformed her face, giving it an odd, fey
quality that was hard to define. Behind it her eyes flashed and
glowed, the light playing on the rounded smoothness of her breasts.
She still felt uncomfortable with the neckline of her gown, but there
was nothing she could do about it, and in reality her outfit was far
less revealing than the gauzy creation being worn by Amanda.
She must have stayed in the cloakroom longer than she intended because
when she got back people were just beginning to drift on to the dimly
lit floor, and as she stood watching them she heard the com pere
saying, "Come on, ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes it will be
midnight. Gentlemen, remember that if your partner refuses to unmask
for you, you can demand a forfeit..."
She had to get away from here, Christy realised stubbornly, trying to
control the pain savaging her. She simply didn't have the strength to
stand and watch Dominic dance past her, holding Amanda in his arms.
She turned to leave the room, and stiffened as she felt a constraining
hand on her arm.
"Our dance, I believe," a familiar voice grated in her ear, and she
turned in stunned surprise to look directly into the darkness of
Dominic's eyes.
He took full advantage of her momentary shock to steer her in the
direction of the dance floor, his fingers biting deep into her skin as
he refused to let her pull away.
"What are you talking about, Dominic?" she protested as he stopped and
swung her round to face him, his arms closing round her.
"We had no arrangements to dance together."
"Didn't we? I thought it was implicit in the mere fact that I brought
you here. Look around you, Christy. I'll bet there aren't many women
here now who aren't dancing with the man who brought them."
What he said was unarguably true, but that didn't lessen her own sense
of shock.
She struggled against his constraining arms, protesting, "You should be
dancing with Amanda, not me."
Her struggles brought her into closer contact with his body, her breast
swelling tightly against his dinner-jacketed chest as she fought for
breath.
All around them couples were swaying together in sensual closeness.
Dominic bent his head and she felt the faint rasp of his jaw against
her skin just below her mask. As she caught the familiar scent of his
cologne all the fight drained out of her and she felt her body go limp
against his. Instantly his arm tightened.
"We've always moved well together, you and I, Christy," he murmured in
her ear.
"Remember when I taught you to dance?"
"I've danced with a lot of other men since then, Dominic."
She winced beneath the harsh bite of his fingers into her waist, and
wondered what on earth it was that drove her to challenge him in this
way. Why couldn't she just accept what the gods were prepared to give
her without wanting more?
Her full skirts padded the sensation of Dominic's body moving against
her own, but she was still aware of it, aware of him, and aware of the
fact that beneath her stiffened bodice her breasts felt swollen and
tender. Tears clogged her throat, and when the music stopped and
Dominic made to remove her mask she checked him instinctively, not
wanting him to see her weakness.
Too late she realised her mistake, as she heard him murmur
sardonically, "No? People are watching us, Christy, so I'll just have
to take the forfeit instead."
Lost in her own misery, she hadn't realised why Dominic had been
attempting to remove her mask, and now, with several amused dancers
watching them, it wasn't possible for her to protest that it was all a
mistake. Even the com pere had seen them, and around them people
laughed as he called out, "Well now, it seems as if we have at least
one reluctant maiden in our midst. Tell me, sir, what do you intend to
claim as your forfeit?"
Dominic seemed totally unfazed by all the amused attention and simply
gave their audience a wholly deceptive and, to Christy at least, heart
stopping smile as he drawled laconically, "What do you think?"
And then he was tipping her head back against his arm and kissing her
in full view of their delighted audience. Christy thought she had
never been so embarrassed in her life, but she sensed that to say or do
anything as the musicians struck up the opening bars of a deliberately
provocative love song could only make matters worse.
Amanda was the first one to reach them as they left the dance floor,
her eyes spitting venom at Christy as she slid her arm through
Dominic's. She was wise enough to say nothing there and then, but
Christy had no doubt that the other woman was far from pleased, for all
the teasingly pouting looks she gave Dominic.
Christy excused herself, saying that she had promised to help the WI
ladies clear away after supper, although in point of fact all she
really wanted to do was to escape from the amused and, it seemed to her
in her highly sensitive state, very knowing eyes that observed her
hurried progress from the dance floor into the supper room.
After that she kept well away from the ball N
room, parrying all the teasing remarks that came her way.
"My goodness, it was almost as good as watching Gone With The Wind,"
one plump matron teased her, eyeing Christy with the sort of
speculation that made her heart sink. She had little doubt that in no
time at all she and Dominic would be the talk of the village, and how
long would it be after that before people started remembering her old
teenage crush on him--if they had ever forgotten it?
She was carrying plates out to someone's car when she realised how cold
it had gone. The sky was brilliantly starry, the air so crisply fresh
that it almost hurt to drag it into her lungs.
"We'll have more snow soon, you mark my words," someone commented
lugubriously.
"I can smell it in the air."
So could she, Christy acknowledged, shivering as she hurried back
inside.
People were starting to leave, and she would have given anything to
avoid accepting Dominic's lift home, but it was too late now to order a
taxi.
She went reluctantly to the ballroom, surprised but pleased to see that
Lady Anthony and the Major were sitting together, apparently deep in
conversation. The Major smiled at her as she walked past.
"Excellent affair, my dear."
"Yes, it quite took me back to my girlhood," Lady Anthony agreed.
Several other members of the committee added their praise as they
started to drift away, and although Christy searched the ballroom
twice, there was no sign of Dominic.
Fear and something else clutched at her heart. Perhaps she would have
to organise that taxi after all, or beg a lift from someone else.
There was no sign of Amanda anywhere either, she noticed jealously.
She was just beginning to think she genuinely would have to make her
way home alone when Dominic walked into the ballroom.
Amanda wasn't with him, but Christy could see quite distinctly the
smudge of dark red lipstick staining his mouth. Amanda's lipstick.
Her whole body seemed to seize in one vast, agonising surge of pain so
intense that it rooted her to the spot, unable to drag her eyes away
from Dominic's face and that telltale scarlet brand.
"I think it's time we made a move."
"I'll go and get my coat and meet you downstairs."
She moved away from him like an automaton, passing Amanda on the
stairs. Triumph gleamed feBrilely in the older woman's eyes, and
Christy knew that that smear of lipstick was both a deliberate
declaration and a warning.
There was no doubt that Amanda wanted her to know that she considered
Dominic to be her | property. Well, she was welcome to him, Christy J
told herself bitterly; more than welcome, f
22-11-07, 04:25 PM
Chapter Four
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