By Marriage Divided. Lindsay Armstrong
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tilted her chin, looked at him with extreme composure and said coolly, ‘So, goodbye, Mr Keir. I don’t think there’ll be any need for our paths to cross again. My solicitor can deal with any problems you may have.’ And she picked up her hat and stalked out.
Nor did she give any indication as she strode to her car of the mixture of annoyance yet skin-prickling awareness of him watching her that possessed her until she was in the car, turning the key. And only then did she give some rein to her emotions—because nothing happened.
‘Start, damn you!’ she ordered it, and tried again. But it didn’t and she only just restrained herself from pounding the steering wheel with her palms.
While Angus Keir, standing on the veranda with his hands shoved into his pockets, grinned satanically and started to walk towards the car as Domenica Harris got out and slammed the door with a lot less savoir-faire than she’d previously exhibited.
‘It’s the starter motor,’ he said a few minutes later. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t had trouble with it before.’
Domenica, still raging inwardly, paused and thought a bit as she fanned herself with her hat. ‘Now you mention it, it has been sounding a bit strange lately. Can you fix it?’
Angus took his time about replying because he was laughing inwardly, this time at her lady-of-the-manor manner, and because he knew that, while he might be able to fix it temporarily, he had no intention of doing so. ‘I’m afraid not. But I’d be happy to give you a lift into town, Miss Harris.’ He wiped his hands on his handkerchief and closed the bonnet. ‘The only thing is, I’m starving.’
Domenica regarded him frustratedly.
‘I could also tow the car down to the local garage where you could make arrangements for it to be repaired and returned to you,’ he added.
She glanced at his vehicle, a large, powerful, latest model Range Rover undoubtedly capable of towing her rather shabby hatchback sedan, and said through her teeth, ‘Don’t rely on fate always working in your favour, Mr Keir!’
‘Certainly not,’ he responded. ‘But I’m sure you’ll feel better after a civilized lunch rather than eating on the run, Miss Harris.’
The restaurant had a garden area with tables set beneath a pergola bearing the weight of a grapevine laden with dark, bloomy fruit. It offered delicious shade on what was now a very hot summer’s day, and that was where they ate. There were birds singing in the hedge that screened the road, cicadas shrilling in the grass and yellow cotton cloths on the tables. They also shared a small carafe of the house wine, which Angus had ordered without consulting her.
But, both the wine and the delicious, home-made steak and kidney pie she’d ordered did put her in a better mood. It even made her feel that she’d been rather churlish, and she set out to make amends, although in the most general way. She followed his lead on several topics of conversation ranging from sport, to books, to politics, then found herself, without quite knowing how it had happened, telling him about her business.
‘They’re girls’ clothes,’ she said, ‘and marketed under the “Primrose” label. I cater for girls from four to twelve, which is about the upper limit for most girls to enjoy lovely, frothy, feminine creations.’
He raised a dark eyebrow.
She grinned. ‘From then onwards they go through a grunge stage or trying to look as adult as possible,’ she explained.
‘How did you work that out? Market research?’
‘No. Memories of my childhood and just looking about.’
‘So how did you start? With an old sewing machine in the garage?’
‘Hardly.’ She grimaced and paused as their gazes clashed and she saw a flicker of something that could have been caustic in his grey eyes, although she had no idea why.
She frowned faintly but he didn’t explain so she went on, ‘After university, where I studied design and marketing, I teamed up with a friend who is a much better seamstress than I am. And, after an assessment of where there might be a gap in the market, we hired a studio and a few more sewers and went into production. I do the designing, marketing and handle the business aspects, she handles the actual making of the clothes.’
‘Sounds very professional,’ he murmured. ‘How did you come up with the capital to start it?’
‘My Lidcombe grandmother left me a small inheritance but I also applied for and got a bank loan. That’s been paid off, though, I’ve recouped my initial investment and we’re making a steady, although at this stage not exactly spectacular, profit. Since I recently persuaded two major department stores to stock our clothes, which gives us a much higher profile now, and even although we’ll need to expand, I expect our profits to rise quite considerably.’
‘You sound as if you’ve got two feet on the commercial ground, Miss Harris,’ he commented.
‘Thank you.’ But Domenica sighed suddenly. ‘I just wish…’ She broke off and sipped her wine.
‘I’d like to know,’ Angus said. ‘As someone who started off with one eccentric truck way outback, and built it into a transport empire, I applaud your enterprise and common sense.’
But Domenica frowned and forgot what she’d been going to say as something else struck her. ‘Keir…not that Keir—Keir Conway Transport?’
He merely nodded, although with a tinge of rueful amusement.
‘Heaven’s above, why didn’t I connect you with that Keir?’ she asked more of herself than him, then focused on him sharply. ‘If I’d known that, I would have held out for not a penny less than—’ she named a figure ‘—for Lidcombe Peace.’
‘I’m all for knowing as much about the opposition as possible, Miss Harris,’ Angus Keir said, ‘but it wouldn’t have done you any good. I paid what I considered to be a realistic price for Lidcombe Peace.’
She regarded him broodingly. ‘I had a feeling this wasn’t a good idea.’
‘Having lunch with me?’ he queried with his mouth quirking.
‘Precisely,’ she agreed.
‘May I offer you a piece of advice?’ He was still looking amused. ‘Don’t regret what’s done and can’t be changed—that’s good personal advice as well as for business, by the way. And Lidcombe Peace was in a price bracket that could have seen you wait for years to get your price.’
Domenica pushed her plate away, and shrugged eventually. ‘I suppose so. And I didn’t have much choice. Oh, well, Mr Keir,’ she added in her mother’s tone of voice, ‘thank you so much for lunch but I really need to—’
‘Domenica, don’t go all upper crust and la-di-da on me,’ he interrupted wryly.
She stared at him. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I’m sure you do and, anyway, I’ve ordered coffee.’
She closed her mouth, then opened it to say, ‘If you’re implying that I’m—’
‘Trying to put me firmly in my place? Taking refuge behind a plummy accent and a certain turn of phrase designed to keep the peasants in their place; retreat to your coterie of privilege, et cetera,’ he drawled, ‘yes. You may not realize it, but it’s not only that. You look down your nose and those beautiful blue eyes contrive to look through me as if I don’t exist.’
She gasped.
‘Moreover,’ he continued leisurely, ‘I know exactly what kind of a tangle your mother’s financial affairs are in, and that the sale of Lidcombe Peace, while removing the immediate threat of bankruptcy, will not solve all her problems.’
She stared at him, struck dumb.
‘I know, for example, that there’s a mortgage on your mother’s principal