Whisper Of Scandal

‘You’ll have to forgive me.’ She forced a smile to her lips and turned to face him. ‘My mother died a couple of months ago and I’m not fully myself yet.’

‘That’s understandable.’ His voice was surprisingly gentle, his eyes sympathetic now as they lingered on her bright, shimmering eyes. ‘Why don’t I make the coffee?’ he suggested with a smile. ‘You sit down for a moment.’

‘No... really.’ She tried to protest but he had already drawn out one of the kitchen chairs for her and was busy getting more cups out of the cupboard. It seemed futile to argue so she sat and watched him.

It seemed very strange to have such an attractive man in her kitchen making her coffee. He looked very out of place in the pretty kitchen. He was so suave and debonair in the immaculately cut suit, and yet so very masculine. Marc Kingsley just seemed to ooze sex appeal.

‘Do you take milk and sugar?’ he asked, interrupting her thoughts and making her jump.

‘No.’ She shook her head.

‘We have something in common.’ He smiled warmly at her as he placed the coffee in front of her.

They had more than he knew in common, she thought suddenly. ‘Would you prefer to sit in the lounge? It’s more comfortable,’ she said as he sat down opposite her.

‘No, I’m fine.’ He stretched out his long legs and reached for his cup. His hands looked very large against the delicate china, she noticed absently.

‘Well, I must say that I’m very glad that I decided to go in search of Garth tonight,’ he said suddenly.

She looked up at him with questioning eyes.

‘Otherwise we might never have met,’ he enlightened her softly.

She tried to will herself not to blush at that remark and laughed. ‘Garth told me to beware of your famous charm.’

‘Did he now?’ For just a second there was that undercurrent of steel in his tone again. Then he smiled. ‘Well, you have the advantage. He has never mentioned you to me.’

She sipped her coffee. ‘Well, when you are a private secretary you tend to learn a few things about your boss’s family now and then,’ she said lightly.

‘I suppose you do.’ He put his cup down. ‘You were about to tell me why you stopped working for Garth.’

‘Was I?’ She frowned for a moment. ‘You know, you really ask a lot of questions, Mr Kingsley.’ She held his gaze for a moment.

‘That’s because I’m very interested in you,’ he drawled huskily. ‘And the name’s Marc.’

Sabrina’s blood-pressure seemed to roar in her ears at that. ‘I’m flattered.’ Was Marc Kingsley really interested in her? Sabrina’s heart thudded wildly at the thought. ‘I’m flattered,’ she said again, trying very hard to keep a coolness in her voice. She was completely at a loss for what to say next.

‘Good.’ He smiled. ‘So how about having lunch with me tomorrow?’

The question was so smoothly asked that it took Sabrina’s mind a moment to assimilate it. Marc Kingsley was asking her for a date! For one wild moment she was tempted to say yes. Then she remembered Garth. For his sake it would be prudent to keep her distance from Marc Kingsley; the connection was too close. Anyway, Garth was taking her out tomorrow.

‘I’m sorry——’ she shook her head regretfully ‘—but I can’t.’

‘Am I stepping on someone else’s toes?’ he asked, his gaze never wavering from the bright blue of her eyes.

‘Well...’ She hesitated, unsure which was the best way to get out of this. If she said no, Marc might just suggest another date; if she said yes, he might ask her who her boyfriend was. ‘I have a date tomorrow,’ she said at last.

‘So how about the day after?’ he persisted.

She shook her head. ‘I... I can’t, Marc. I’m involved with someone else and it wouldn’t be fair.’

‘Lucky man,’ he drawled softly. ‘Well——’ he finished his coffee and stood up ‘—I suppose I should be going.’

She suppressed the immediate feeling of disappointment. Given different circumstances she would have loved to see this man again. There was something about him that was quite fascinating. ‘Thank you for the lift,’ she said politely as she stood up to walk with him to the door.

He smiled. Then quite suddenly he reached across and touched her face. ‘You know, I never take no for an answer ... it goes against the grain.’

‘Don’t you?’ Her voice sounded as breathless as she felt.

‘Certainly not.’ His finger trailed softly across the smooth skin of her cheekbone. ‘I’ll be seeing you soon, Sabrina Harrington,’ he promised decisively.

She watched him walk away from her with a pounding heart. Her skin seemed to burn where he had touched her. For one wild moment she was ecstatic that he would ask her out again. Then as he closed the front door behind him reality set in.

She couldn’t get involved with Marc Kingsley. It would be sheer folly. She turned to clear the table and then turned out the lights with a sigh. What would Marc think if he knew the truth? she wondered suddenly. Would he still be so keen to pursue her if he knew she was Garth Fraiser’s illegitimate daughter? The question taunted her as she made her way to her bedroom. Of course she would never have an answer; that was a secret she had to guard very close to her heart.

CHAPTER TWO

GARTH collected Sabrina promptly at ten the next morning and they drove out to the countryside in his Aston Martin.

It was a beautiful day. Sunshine played over the fresh green of the fields. The trees were knotted with buds ready to burst forward at any time and daffodils brightened the verges of the road.

Sabrina felt her spirits lift. Winter had been particularly grim for her and the promise of warmer, brighter days ahead was wonderful. It was like coming out of a long, dark tunnel into golden light.

She turned to Garth with a smile. ‘So where are we going? You’re being very mysterious.’

‘Well...’ He hesitated. ‘I thought it would be a good idea to bring you out to my house for lunch.’

‘Oh!’ She frowned. Somehow it didn’t seem right to go to his home, not when Nadine knew nothing about her; it seemed devious somehow. ‘What about your housekeeper? Won’t she think it’s funny that I’m having lunch with you?’

‘Don’t worry about Sadie; she’ll just think that you are coming to take notes. I’ve told her I’m having a working lunch.’ He smiled reassuringly at her. ‘I’ve decided we need to have a good heart-to-heart talk and the only place we won’t be interrupted is in my study.’

He was probably right. They did need to talk. It had been a hell of a shock to find out that Garth Fraiser was her father, especially when her mother had led her to believe that her father was dead. She still found it hard to comprehend.

She had spotted the advertisement for the job as Garth’s private secretary in a newspaper—or rather her mother had drawn her attention to it. It had been ideal, exactly what she had been looking for, and she had gone for an interview with high hopes. She’d known her qualifications were good and so were her references, but she’d also known that competition for the job would be stiff. She had been ecstatic when she’d got the job.

Working for Garth had been exhausting at times but she had enjoyed every moment of it. He had worked her hard but he had always been fair with her and she had respected him greatly.

Then just a few months ago when her mother had died in a tragic motorway accident, leaving Sabrina devastated, Garth had been wonderful. He had given her as much time off as she needed in order to sort things out. He had been kind and sympathetic and had even offered to help her with the arrangements for the funeral. At the time she had thought it was exceptionally kind of him, and she had been touched by his generosity, but she had never for one moment suspected the truth.

It had been two weeks after Lucy Harrington’s death that she’d discovered her diaries. It was then that she’d discovered that her mother had known Garth Fraiser years ago. That the two had in fact attended the same university and later they had both worked in the same law firm before Garth had got involved in politics. This had puzzled her intensely. Why hadn’t her mother mentioned that she knew her boss? Why the secrecy?

She had sat down to read the rest of the diaries with avid curiosity. What she had discovered had changed her whole life and she had been angry, bitterly angry that her mother had lied to her, that Garth had deceived her. Had he only given her the job as his secretary because of who she was? That question had haunted and humiliated her, and her first move had been to quit her job and to tell Garth Fraiser exactly what she thought of him.

Now her anger and her shock had cooled and she could feel sorrow at the situation, sympathy for her mother and for Garth. Lord, it was all such a mess. She pushed a hand through her hair in a distraught gesture. If only her mother had told her the truth... if only.

‘Damn!’ Garth pulled the car to a standstill at the gateway to a large Victorian house.

‘What is it?’ Sabrina’s gaze darted from her father to the house in front of them. Even as she asked the question she noticed the bright red Porsche parked on the gravel drive.

‘Marc’s here,’ Garth answered flatly.

Sabrina’s heart seemed to take up a rapid nervous tattoo immediately. ‘What should we do?’

With a sigh Garth started the car forward again. ‘Brazen it out,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll tell him you’ve come to do some important work for me. With a bit of luck he won’t stay.’ He grinned at her then. ‘Actually there is a stack of work you could do for me. I really miss you at the office, Brina; your replacement isn’t half as efficient.’

‘I’m sure you’re just being kind,’ Sabrina said lightly. ‘But thank you.’

‘No, I’m being honest,’ Garth replied earnestly as he pulled up outside his front door. ‘If you could see the state of my desk in there——’ he nodded towards the house ‘—you would know what I mean.’

As they got out of the car Garth glanced across at her. ‘Are you all right, Sabrina? You’ve gone awfully pale.’

‘I’m fine.’ It was a lie; she was far from fine. She had just remembered that she had told Marc she had a date this afternoon. What on earth was she going to say to him?

He was in the lounge idly flicking through a magazine, his long legs stretched out, his dark head resting against the pale gold brocade of the settee as if he had all the time in the world to kill. He stood up as they came in and his eyebrows lifted slightly as he took in Sabrina’s presence. ‘This is a pleasant surprise,’ he drawled softly. ‘I thought you had a date this afternoon, Sabrina?’

She could feel her cheeks going hotter under his intense scrutiny. ‘Would you believe he had to cancel me at the last moment?’ Somehow she managed to inject a humorous note into her voice. ‘Some important business cropped up.’ She hated lying like that; she could feel herself tensing up inside, waiting for lightning to strike her down for such a falsehood.

‘I do find it rather difficult to believe, actually.’ The hard words took her very much by surprise for a moment, then he softened them with a smile. ‘The man obviously has no sense.’

‘Well, his loss is my gain.’ Garth smiled. ‘Sabrina has very kindly offered to come and help me out with a bit of paperwork this afternoon.’

‘Very considerate.’ Marc’s dark eyes never left Sabrina’s face as he spoke.

‘Can I get you a drink, Marc?’ Garth moved towards the drinks cabinet and poured himself a whisky.

‘Actually, I wouldn’t mind a coffee,’ Marc replied easily.

‘Oh, right, I’ll just go and ask Sadie.’ Garth put down his drink and looked at Sabrina. ‘What about you, Brina? Would you like coffee or something stronger?’

‘Coffee would be nice.’ Sabrina sat down on one of the comfortable two-seater settees which were at each side of the fireplace. She wished Garth wouldn’t call her Brina in front of Marc... it sounded far too intimate.

They were left alone and Sabrina felt her nerves flutter apprehensively as she looked up at Garth’s stepson.

He leaned a hand against the mantelpiece and stared down at her for a moment as if in deep thought. Sabrina felt that familiar tug at the bottom of her stomach. He looked magnificent, she thought abruptly. He had a wonderful physique, broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips in the well-cut grey suit. She collided with his dark eyes and looked hurriedly away from him.

‘So how about dinner tonight?’ he asked suddenly into the silence.

She took a deep breath. ‘I can’t, Marc.’ It had never been so difficult to turn down a date; she desperately wanted to say yes.

‘Such loyalty,’ he murmured. ‘You must be very serious about this man, to let him stand you up and still remain so devoted.’

She shrugged and her mind searched for some answer. The awful thing about telling lies was that it seemed to snowball; you told one small one and then others had invariably to follow. It was like painting a picture—you were never quite sure when you had finished; you could keep adding things and adding things and end up in a real muddle.

‘He didn’t stand me up,’ she said in a dignified tone. ‘He rang me and told me he couldn’t make it.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Marc’s lips curved in a cynical smile. ‘Who is this paragon of virtue, anyway?’

There it was, the question she had been dreading. ‘Oh, you wouldn’t know him,’ she said airily. ‘He... he’s in computers.’

‘Really?’ There was that tinge of sardonic humour in his voice again. Sabrina frowned, but before she had time to analyse Marc’s attitude Garth came back into the room.

‘Coffee will be along in a moment,’ he said brightly, looking from Sabrina towards his stepson. ‘So, Marc, what brings you out to see me today?’

‘Actually I was rather hoping I could pick your brains about a legal matter,’ Marc said easily. ‘I’m in the process of buying a factory in Germany and there were a couple of things I wouldn’t have minded asking your opinion on.’

‘Oh?’ Garth looked extremely surprised at this. ‘Well, you know I’m always willing to give my considered opinion.’

‘Yes, but I can see you are rather...tied up, so I won’t impose on you this afternoon,’ Marc said, his eyes slipping over Sabrina.

‘Well, how about tomorrow?’ Garth said hopefully. ‘I have——’

‘It will be too late tomorrow. I have a meeting on it this afternoon.’ Marc shrugged. ‘But don’t worry about it, Garth. I’ll sort it out.’

There was a moment’s silence and Garth looked helplessly at Sabrina. Sabrina knew he was torn in two. Obviously he wanted to help Marc out.

‘If you like, I’ll make a start at clearing up that desk for you, Garth,’ she said softly. ‘I’m sure I’ll manage on my own while you discuss this business with Marc. If I have any problems I’ll come in and ask you.’

‘You don’t mind?’ Garth asked in a dubious tone.

She shook her head.

‘That’s really very good of you,’ Marc said smoothly.

As she glanced across at him she thought she detected a gleam of satisfaction in his dark eyes. It was almost as if he had just engineered that situation. That idea was so ludicrous that she dismissed it immediately.

‘I’m really sorry about this,’ Garth said in a worried tone as he showed her into his study a few minutes later.

‘It’s all right, Garth, really it is,’ she reassured him.

‘But it’s not all right,’ he grated impatiently. ‘I wanted so much to have a few quiet moments where we could just sort ourselves out.’

‘Never mind.’ Sabrina glanced at his desk with a smile. ‘At least I can put this into some sort of order for you.’

He grimaced as he took in the chaos that was spread over the large rosewood desk. ‘I meant for you to have a relaxing afternoon,’ he sighed. ‘You know, I’m really surprised that Marc’s asking my advice. I know I have a degree in law but he has a battery of high-powered solicitors to advise him.’

‘Must be something you’ve had prior experience of,’ Sabrina answered lightly, her mind already occupied with sorting through the correspondence on Garth’s desk.

‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Garth said with determination.

In the event he was nearly three hours. Garth’s housekeeper brought her coffee and then a little later some light lunch. By that time Sabrina had reorganised Garth’s desk for him and put his filing cabinet back in order. She was just closing it when some photographs at the far end of the room caught her attention.

She walked across to have a closer look at them. There was one of Garth with his wife Nadine and their daughter Madeline. She picked it up to have a closer look. Sabrina had never met Madeline, who had been living in the States for the last two years. Garth had often spoken about her, though, in very glowing terms. Madeline was just twenty years of age and an extremely talented artist.

Sabrina was filled with curiosity as she looked at that picture of her half-sister. After all these years of thinking she was an only child it was so strange to suddenly find out she had a sister. Not that it made any difference, she thought sadly. She would probably never get to meet Madeline.

The door opened behind her and Marc came in. ‘Finished your work?’ he asked drily, his eyes taking in her relaxed stance by the mantelpiece.

She frowned. It almost sounded as if he didn’t believe that she had been working. ‘Yes, I have actually.’

He came to stand beside her and glanced at the framed photograph in her hands. ‘My half-sister Madeline,’ he informed her.

He reached for another photograph. ‘And this is my mother and Garth on their wedding-day’

Sabrina glanced at the smiling, happy picture of Garth and Nadine and nodded. ‘Yes, I’ve seen that photograph before. Garth has it on his desk at Westminster.’

‘Garth’s very devoted to my mother,’ Marc said matter-of-factly as he put the picture down again. ‘I think they are still as much in love today as they were back then.’

‘Yes, they seem very happy,’ she said lightly.

For a moment his gaze locked on her heart-shaped face. ‘You seem very fond of Garth,’ he said quietly.

She looked away from him. Sometimes there was a look in Marc’s dark gaze that was deeply disturbing. ‘Yes, I am. He’s been very good to me.’

‘Garth has a kind heart.’ He paused before continuing. ‘It would be very easy to play on his sympathy.’

Sabrina looked up at him with a frown. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

He smiled, then reached out a hand to tip her chin upwards so that she was forced to hold his dark gaze. ‘Perhaps I’m just a little jealous? After all, you seem to spend a lot of time with Garth and I can’t get so much as a lunch date out of you.’

She laughed breathlessly at that, unsure whether to take that comment seriously or not. ‘That’s ridiculous ... I’m doing work for Garth.’

‘You could always come and do some work for me.’ He was standing very close to her, she noticed suddenly, her heart skipping a beat nervously. ‘What do you say?’ he asked huskily. ‘Shall we go out for lunch tomorrow and discuss it?’

‘Marc, I——’ Her polite refusal was cut short abruptly as his head lowered towards hers. ‘Marc,’ she whispered in a helpless tone as his lips brushed against hers. The kiss was gentle at first but it sent shock-waves racing straight through Sabrina. She felt herself leaning weakly against the soft material of his jacket. Then she was kissing him back, her whole body trembling as she arched towards him, hungry for the sensuous heat spiralling through her.

He was the one to pull back from her, his hands resting on her shoulders as he looked down at her. ‘Shall I pick you up at about ten o’clock?’ he murmured. He sounded so cool and calm while Sabrina felt as if a time bomb had just started to tick inside her.

Confused at the way she had just responded to that kiss, Sabrina could only stare at him for a moment. ‘I...I don’t know.’ She shook her head, trying to clear it of her muddled thoughts. ‘Isn’t ten o’clock a little early for lunch?’

For a brief moment there was a glimmer of triumph in his dark eyes. ‘Not for what I have in mind,’ he drawled softly. Then his hands left her shoulders.

She felt strangely bereft as he moved away from her. ‘So ten o’clock it is,’ he said decisively and Sabrina had the strange sensation of being carried along with something that was already out of control.

Garth joined them at that moment. ‘There you are, Marc,’ he said, looking slightly harassed. ‘I’m sorry about that. Nadine has just been on the phone—she says she will be flying home tonight after all.’

‘Well, that’s marvellous news.’ Marc smiled at Sabrina. ‘Can I give you a lift back to town now that you’ve finished here?’ he asked silkily.

‘It’s all right, Marc, I’ll drop Sabrina back,’ Garth cut in quickly. ‘There are one or two things I want to discuss with her before she goes.’

Marc shrugged. ‘As you wish.’ For a brief moment his eyes rested on Sabrina. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he said calmly.

Sabrina sat down for a moment as Marc left the room. Her legs felt as shaky as if she had just run a marathon.

‘What was that all about?’ Garth asked with a frown as his eyes moved over her pale features.

She shrugged. ‘He’s...he’s taking me for lunch tomorrow.’

Silence met that remark and she looked up at him with anxious eyes. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’

‘No... no.’ Garth raked an unsteady hand through his hair. ‘Are you serious about him, Brina?’

Sabrina gave a nervous laugh. ‘I hardly know him, Garth.’

For a moment there was silence as Garth regarded her silently. ‘My stepson is a good man...a bit of a womaniser. He has a tendency to break hearts——’

‘Really, Garth, you don’t need to worry. I can take care of myself,’ she cut across him hastily, but he looked unconvinced.

‘Damn it all, Sabrina... I’ve made such a mess of everything, I should have told my wife about you years ago: I feel I’ve let her down, and you and Marc——’

‘Don’t say that, Garth,’ Sabrina interrupted him sadly. ‘You haven’t let anyone down. It wasn’t as if you had the affair with my mother while you were married to Nadine.’

‘No... but I was married when I met your mother.’ He saw the look of shock on her face. ‘You didn’t know?’

She shook her head. ‘There was nothing about that in my mother’s diary.’

For a moment Garth’s face was lit with a ghost of a smile. ‘Dear Lucy. She hated the deceit. She felt terribly guilty.’

Sabrina could hardly take in what he was saying. She couldn’t believe that her mother would have had an affair with a married man; it seemed so out of character.

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted the silence. Garth turned impatiently towards it and flicked on the answering machine. ‘Let’s walk out in the garden,’ he suggested gently. ‘At least out there we will have no interruptions.’

She nodded. She wanted to hear Garth’s story... she wanted to try and place the pieces together in her mind. Maybe then she could understand why her mother had kept so many secrets from her.

Despite the sunshine it was cold outside. Garth linked his arm through hers. ‘Are you warm enough, sweetheart?’

For a moment the concern in her father’s voice made Sabrina’s eyes mist with tears. She nodded, and he patted her hand. ‘Come on; I’ll give you a tour of my lovely gardens,’ he said gently.

The landscape was very beautiful, and for a little while they walked in silence, just drinking in the colourful spring flowers as they both collected their thoughts.

Then Garth began his story and Sabrina forgot her surroundings as her mind closely followed his every word.

‘You know, you are a lot like your mother,’ he said with a sad smile. ‘I thought the world of Lucy; her death was a terrible shock.’

‘Yes, I miss her terribly, Garth,’ she said huskily. ‘We were so close... at least I thought we were close.’ Her voice broke for a moment. ‘I just can’t understand why she didn’t tell me about you. I feel as if I’ve been living a lie all my life.’

‘Lucy did what she thought was best,’ Garth said gently. ‘I know she loved you very much; she never meant to hurt you.’