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‘He believes what he wants to believe,’ she said with a small flash of anger. ‘Men always do. Didn’t you know that? I know it. And so does any woman who’s ever had a man in her life.’
‘And when a woman knows it she makes use of it? ‘
‘She does if she has any sense of self-preservation. And may I remind you again, Mr Havering, that I’m doing what you hired me to do? You’re paying for my skills, but you don’t get to dictate what skills I use or how I use them.’
‘Don’t I?’
‘No, because if you try I’ll simply step aside and let Charlie see you pulling my strings.’
He drew a sharp breath. ‘You really know how to fight dirty.’
‘Have you only just realised that?’
He regarded her. ‘I think I have.’
‘Good, then we understand each other. Now he’s coming back. Smile at me so that he’ll know that all is well between us.’
‘I wonder if that day will ever come,’ he said softly.
But the next moment he was smiling as she’d suggested, even talking pleasantly, loud enough for Charlie to hear. ‘My mother’s housekeeper is an expert cook. I promise that you’ll enjoy tonight’s meal, Miss Havering.’
‘Pippa,’ she said. ‘After all, we’re fighting on the same side.’
His eyes warned her not to push her luck, but he only inclined his head before rising and saying, ‘I’ll get the car. Be waiting for me outside and don’t take too long.’
She longed to salute him ironically and say, Yes sir, no sir. I obey, sir. But he was gone before she had the chance.
‘That’s his way,’ Charlie said, correctly interpreting her seething. ‘People give up arguing. You will too.’
‘Will I? I wonder. Did you catch up with that man?’
‘No, he escaped again. But at least I got some of the money. And now we’re alone, can I tell you that you are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met?’
‘No, you can’t tell me that,’ she said. ‘For one thing, I already know and, for another, your brother wouldn’t approve.’
‘Oh, forget him. What does he have to do with us? ‘
Pippa frowned. ‘He’s protecting you. Don’t you owe him some kind of consideration?’
‘Why? He’s only thinking of himself. The good name of Havering must be defended at all costs. The truth is, he cares for nobody.’
‘And nobody cares for him?’ she murmured slowly.
Charlie shrugged. ‘Who knows? He doesn’t let anyone inside.’
It sounded so convincing, but suddenly there was the whispered memory of Roscoe saying, ‘If anything happens to Charlie, it would break my mother’s heart… At all costs I want to save her from more suffering.’
This wasn’t a man who cared nothing for anyone. He might care so much that he only admitted it under stress.
Or perhaps Charlie was right. Which of the two was the real man? Impossible to say. Unless.
Suddenly the waiter hurried up to them, almost stuttering in his agitation. ‘He’s in the car…says he told you to be out there waiting for him. He’s good ‘n mad.’
They ran outside to where Roscoe’s car was by the kerb, engine running. When they had tumbled into the back seat, Pippa said politely, ‘I’m really sorry,’ but Roscoe only grunted, his eyes on the traffic as he edged his way into the flow. She supposed she couldn’t blame him.
Their destination was an expensive London suburb, full of large detached houses standing in luxurious gardens. A woman was waiting by the gate, smiling and waving at the sight of them. She was thin and frail-looking, and Pippa recalled Roscoe saying that she’d been in a bad way ever since his father’s death, fifteen years earlier.
But her face was brilliant with joy as Charlie got out of the car and she could hug him. He handed Pippa out and she found herself being scrutinised by two bright eyes before Angela Havering thrust out a hand declaring that she was so glad to meet her.
Roscoe drove the car away.
‘He has to park at the back,’ Charlie explained. ‘He’ll join us in a minute.’
‘Come inside,’ Angela said, taking her hand. ‘I want to know all about you, and how you’re going to save my dear boy.’
She drew Pippa into the house, a lavishly elegant establishment, clearly furnished and tended by someone who’d brought housekeeping to a fine art, with the cash to do it.
In the kitchen they found Nora, a cheerful, middle-aged woman in a large apron, presiding over a variety of dishes.
‘I hope I didn’t make your life difficult, coming unexpectedly,’ Pippa said as they were introduced.
‘There’s plenty to eat,’ Angela said. ‘It’s always been one of my husband’s maxims that a successful house has food ready all the time.’
Pippa smiled, but she had a strange, edgy feeling. Angela spoke almost as if her husband were still alive.
Nora poured wine and Angela handed them each a glass and raised hers in salute.
‘Welcome to our home,’ she said to Pippa. ‘I’m sure you’re going to make everything all right.’
It was a charming scene, but it would have been more charming, Pippa thought, if she’d waited for Roscoe to join them. It was a tiny point, but it troubled her.
From the kitchen window, she had a view of the back garden, with a large garage at the far end. As she watched, Roscoe came out of a side door of the garage and began walking to the house.
‘Here he is,’ she said, pointing.
‘Oh, good. I was afraid he’d keep us waiting. Honestly, he can be so inconsiderate.’
Over supper, Angela was on edge, constantly turning an anxious expression on Charlie, then a frowning gaze at Roscoe, as though silently criticising him for something. To Pippa, it seemed as though she’d given all her love to one son and barely registered the existence of the other.
Of course, she argued with herself, Charlie was a vulnerable boy threatened with disaster, while Roscoe was a powerful man, well able to take care of himself. But still.
Charlie’s cellphone rang. He went out into the hall to speak to the caller and, as soon as he’d gone, Angela clasped Pippa’s hand.
‘You see how he is, how he needs to be cared for.’
‘And he’s lucky to have a brother who cares for him,’ Pippa couldn’t resist saying.
‘Oh, yes, of course there’s Roscoe. He does his best, but when I think of what might happen to my darling…maybe prison.’
‘He won’t go to prison,’ Pippa said at once. ‘It’s a first offence, nothing was stolen and nobody was hurt. A fine, and perhaps some community service is the worst that will happen.’
‘But he’ll have a criminal record.’
‘Yes, and that’s why we’re working so hard to defend him.’
‘Oh, if only my husband were here,’ Angela wailed. ‘William would know what to do. He always does.’
Roscoe’s eyes met Pippa’s and a little shake of his head warned her to say nothing. She nodded, feeling all at sea, glad to keep quiet.
‘But you’ve got me to help, Mother,’ Roscoe reminded her.
‘Oh, yes, and you do your best, but it’s not the same, is it?’
‘No, it’s not the same,’ Roscoe said quietly.
‘If only he hadn’t gone away. He should be here now that we need him so much.’
Again, she might have been speaking of a living man, and Pippa wondered uneasily just how much she lived in the real world.
As she spoke, Angela fiddled constantly was a ring on her left hand. It was an engagement ring, with an awesome central diamond, surrounded by smaller diamonds.
‘That’s my engagement ring,’ Angela said, seeing her glance. ‘It was much too expensive and William couldn’t really afford it in those days, but he said that nothing was too much for me. All these years later, I still have it to remind me that his love never died.’ Her voice shook.
Pippa was uncertain where to look. Angela’s determination to thrust her emotion on everyone was difficult to cope with, even without knowing that it was misplaced.
Charlie returned after a moment, bearing a cup of tea which he set before his mother.
‘Why, darling, how kind of you to think of me!’ She turned to Roscoe. ‘Isn’t Charlie a wonderful son? ‘
‘The best,’ Roscoe agreed kindly. ‘Now, drink up, and have plenty of sugar because that always does you good.’
‘Here,’ Charlie said, spooning sugar madly into the cup. His mother beamed at him.
So the spoilt child got all the credit, Pippa thought, while Roscoe, who was genuinely working hard to ease her troubles, was barely noticed.
Then she reproved herself for being over-emotional. Roscoe was only doing what was sensible, supporting his mother and Charlie so that the family should not disintegrate. The idea that he might be saddened by being relegated to the shadows of Angela’s affection was too sentimental for words. And if there was one thing Roscoe was not, it was sentimental.
And neither was she, she reminded herself.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t help warming to him for his generosity and patience.
A little later Angela went away into the kitchen, and she seized the chance to tell Charlie about Ginevra. He was reluctant to believe the worst, but Pippa was firm, saying, ‘I don’t want you to contact her unless I say so. Give me your word.’
‘All right, maybe I was a bit mad but she made my head spin.’
‘Well, it’s time to stop spinning. Mr Havering, do you have a computer here that I could use?’
‘It’s upstairs,’ Roscoe said. ‘I’ll show you.’
‘Beware,’ Charlie warned. ‘He’s taking you up to his bedroom, a place where no sensible woman goes.’
‘Cut it out,’ Roscoe advised him wearily. ‘Miss Jenson, I hope you know you have absolutely nothing to fear from me.’
‘That’s not very flattering,’ Charlie protested illogically.
‘Unflattering but sensible and businesslike,’ Pippa said. ‘Mr Havering, let me return the compliment by declaring that I too am entirely free from temptation. Now, shall we go?’
‘I’ll come too,’ Charlie declared. ‘To protect you.’
‘I need no protection,’ she declared firmly. ‘Ask your brother how I deal with troublesome men.’
Charlie’s eyes widened. ‘Hey, he didn’t—?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Roscoe said, exasperated. ‘But I witnessed the fate of someone who did. Take it from me, you wouldn’t like it. Stay here and look after Mother.’
Roscoe’s room was much as she would have expected—full of straight lines, plain, unadorned, unrevealing. The bed was narrow and looked hard, the wallpaper was pale grey, without pattern. There was a television, modest, neat, efficient; a set where a man would watch the news. A monk could have lived in this room.
But his real home was an apartment elsewhere, she reminded herself. She wondered if that was any different, and doubted it.
But then she saw something that made her stare and gasp with delight.
‘Wow!’ she breathed. ‘How about that? Let me look at it. Can you just—? Yes, that’s right. Oh, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever—yes—yes—yes—’ Her hands were clasped in sheer ecstasy, her voice full of joy, her eyes glowing with blissful satisfaction.
Roscoe regarded her, fascinated. It wasn’t his first sight of a beautiful woman in transports—in his arms, sometimes in his bed.
But this one was looking at his computer.
A touch of the switch had caused the machine to flower into glorious life, making her watch, riveted, as one state-of-the-art accessory after another leapt into the spotlight.
‘Oh, goodness,’ she breathed. ‘Why haven’t I ever—? I’ve never even heard of some of these.’
‘One of my clients owns a firm that makes software and computer peripherals,’ Roscoe said. ‘He’s at the cutting edge and I get everything ahead of the game. I’ll tell him you’re interested and I’m sure he’ll fix you up.’
‘Oh, yes, please! And look at the size of that screen, the biggest I’ve ever seen.’
‘You should try one,’ Roscoe said. ‘It’s useful for having multiple documents open at once.’
‘Ah, yes,’ she murmured. ‘Useful. How do I go online?’
He touched a switch and in a moment she’d connected with her work computer, entered the password and brought up a list of documents. A few more clicks brought Ginevra’s face to the screen just as Charlie entered the room.
‘Hey, that’s her! ‘ he exclaimed. Then he stared at the caption. ‘But who’s Biddy Felsom?’
‘She is,’ Pippa said. ‘Known to the police as a small-time offender and pain in the neck. She enjoys getting stupid boys to do things they shouldn’t, pulling their strings, like she pulled yours.’
‘Well, she’s history,’ Charlie said. ‘I know that you’ll save me from her.’
‘Good. Now it’s time I was going home,’ Pippa observed.
