Impetuous Masquerade. Anne Mather
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he moved forward. ‘You’ve been unconscious for more than twenty-four hours, old buddy,’ he remarked, his tone light and deliberately cheerful. ‘You couldn’t expect—Val—to sit with you all that time. She had to sleep, too.’
‘I know.’ Glyn acknowledged this, his eyes turning again in Rhia’s direction, evidently more interested in her than his uncle right now. Rhia, watching those light eyes, felt the hot colour surging into her cheeks. It didn’t seem possible that he could look at her without seeing her.
‘You’re sure you’re okay?’ he insisted, holding on to her fingers. ‘How—how do I look? Did they tell you about my eyes? I’m having some difficulty focussing.’
‘You—you look fine,’ Rhia assured him huskily. ‘And—and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before your eyesight is back to normal.’
‘I don’t look like a freak, then?’ Glyn persisted, his voice growing a little breathy as his strength drained away.
‘No!’ Rhia was swift to answer him. ‘No, of course not.’
‘Then why don’t you kiss me?’ he demanded, gazing up at her sightlessly, and Rhia could only do as he asked with Jared Frazer and Sister Harris looking on.
Glyn’s lips opened beneath her tentative caress, creating an intimacy she had not expected. She half drew back in protest, and then, her startled eyes meeting his uncle’s dominant gaze, she gave in and returned his kiss.
‘You can do better than that,’ Glyn whispered, when she would have returned to her seat, but to Rhia’s relief, Sister Harris intervened.
‘Not now, Mr Frazer,’ she declared firmly. ‘I think you should get some rest. Miss Mallory can come back later, if she wants to, but for the present, I think she should leave.’
‘Oh, no …’
Glyn protested now, but Sister Harris was insistent, and Jared assured his nephew that ‘Val’ wouldn’t be far away. ‘Give the girl a break, eh, Glyn. And yourself, too. We don’t want you overdoing things, do we?’
Glyn twisted a little restlessly beneath the thin sheet. ‘You won’t go away, will you, Val? I mean—you won’t leave the hospital.’
‘I—’ Rhia looked up at his uncle. ‘I—no. No, I won’t go away. You—you get some sleep now. I’ll see you later.’
Outside in the corridor again, Rhia faced Jared with only mildly concealed resentment. ‘You knew that would happen, didn’t you?’ she exclaimed. ‘You knew Glyn would react the way he did. How can I stay at the hospital? I have commitments of my own.’
‘Then I suggest you try and work out where your sister might have gone,’ Jared responded dryly, falling into step beside her as they walked back towards the lifts. ‘But for now, I suggest you let me buy you lunch. There’s a bar right across the road where they serve a passable hamburger.’
Rhia pressed her lips together frustratedly as the huge lift glided smoothly down to the ground floor. He was right, of course, Val would have to be found; and when she was, she would have to be made to face up to her responsibilities.
Installed in the pub, with a glass of lime and lemonade beside her, and a sesame seed roll filled with hamburger and cheese in her hand, Rhia regarded her companion with slightly less hostility.
‘He—he seems all right, doesn’t he?’ she ventured, as Jared spread his legs to accommodate hers, as they sat together on stools over a small circular table. ‘I mean, at least there hasn’t been any brain damage.’
‘No.’ Jared conceded the point, taking a generous mouthful of his own roll before adding: ‘Your sister can thank her lucky stars. That’s one charge she won’t have to face.’
Rhia sighed. ‘You really believe she was driving, don’t you?’
‘Don’t you?’ The dark, almost black, eyes narrowed.
‘Will—will Val be arrested?’ she ventured, avoiding a direct answer, and Jared Frazer frowned.
‘That depends.’
‘Depends on what?’
‘Whether a charge is brought against her.’
‘But won’t the police—’
‘The police? You seem obsessed with the police.’ He shook his head. ‘I guess they could act independently, but unless Glyn chooses to implicate your sister, it might not come to that.’
‘But he will, surely he will!’ exclaimed Rhia fiercely. ‘I mean—when he finds out she left him—’
‘How will he find out? Right now, I have no intention of hindering his recovery by telling him something like that.’
Rhia gazed at him. ‘You mean—you mean you still approve of—of his relationship with—with my sister?’
‘No!’ Jared was adamant about that, his dark eyes sparkling with a sudden violence. ‘No, I do not—approve of his relationship with your sister. The way she’s behaved is nothing short of criminal, and she deserves everything that’s coming to her! But—and it’s a big but—until Glyn is strong enough to be told the truth, until he’s fully recovered, I intend to do everything I can to avoid unnecessary publicity.’
Rhia nibbled at her sandwich. That was all very well, she thought uneasily, but what if Valentina didn’t turn up? What if Glyn didn’t regain his sight? Surely Jared Frazer couldn’t expect her to go on acting the part of her sister indefinitely.
‘At least the first hurdle is over,’ Jared remarked now, finishing his hamburger and swallowing half the lager in his glass. ‘Glyn accepts you as Val. He’s not going to fret over why she hasn’t come to the hospital to see him. That’s quite a relief.’
‘But I can’t go on pretending to be Val,’ Rhia protested. She glanced at her watch and then gasped. ‘It’s half past two already. I’m supposed to be meeting Simon at three!’
‘Well, you can’t.’ Jared was infuriatingly matter-of-fact. ‘You’d better ring him and tell him you’ll speak to him later. If he doesn’t understand, blame your sister.’
Rhia caught her breath. ‘You—swine! You don’t care a damn about me, do you?’
Jared studied her resentful expression for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. ‘Should I?’
Rhia’s face suffused with colour. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘I only know that my sister-in-law, Glyn’s mother, is waiting desperately for word of her son. He’s all she’s got. And I’ll do anything I can to ensure she isn’t disappointed.’
Rhia held up her head. ‘Including destroying anyone who stands in your way!’
Jared grimaced impatiently. ‘I’m not destroying you, Rhia. Believe me, I’m being very patient. But don’t push your luck, or you may not like the consequences.’
Rhia put down the remains of her roll. ‘Are you threatening me, Mr Frazer?’
‘Threatening you?’ His gaze moved over her anxious face in narrow-eyed appraisal. ‘I doubt you know the meaning of the words. And my name is Jared. Use it. Somehow I can’t believe Valentina would be so formal.’
Nor could Rhia, in all honesty. In fact, she had the distinct suspicion that in her place, Val would have found Glyn’s uncle infinitely more interesting than his nephew. She wondered how he would have handled that, then thrust the thought aside. Somehow she had the feeling that any complication of that kind would only stiffen Jared Frazer’s resolve to bend her to his will. He might not be old enough to be Glyn’s father, but he was certainly more experienced, and Rhia wondered for the first time what his wife thought of his evident attachment to his brother’s widow.
‘Tell