CHAPTER SIX

      THEY ARRIVED AT just past midnight when huge white flakes were tumbling from the night sky as if someone were having a celestial pillow fight. Rafe’s limousine negotiated the final bend of the narrow road and it began to inch its way up the long drive towards his brother’s Cotswold mansion.

      Sophie peered out of the window at the night-time English countryside, thinking that if circumstances were different she might have enjoyed the snowy beauty of rural England—especially in contrast to the beating heat of Australia. But for now she was just grateful for the fact that the big house was shrouded in darkness—the faint, fairy-lighted glow gleaming behind the glass over the front door indicating that everyone had gone to bed. Thank heavens. She wasn’t sure if she could face a reception committee and wondered if Rafe had arranged that deliberately by insisting they stop at a small pub for dinner on the way here. Perhaps he’d been delaying the inevitable meeting with his family because he didn’t know how to introduce her. It meant she’d eaten her first ever meal in a British pub, enjoying the shepherd’s pie the landlord had recommended though less keen on the warm beer Rafe had insisted she try.

      In the back of the car were a large selection of clothes which he’d ordered to be delivered to the plane when they touched down in England—and she was now wearing some of them. Gone were the cheap jeans and T-shirt and in their place was an exquisite cashmere dress, which clung to every curve of her body, along with a pair of beautiful leather boots. They were the kind of clothes she was used to wearing, but along with her sudden change of image came that familiar sense of being on show again. She stared straight ahead, realising how much she had enjoyed her uncomplicated life of anonymity and realising it was about to come to an abrupt end.

      ‘You okay?’ Rafe questioned as the car slid to a halt in front of the house.

      ‘Not really. I feel as nervous as hell,’ she said truthfully.

      ‘You?’ In the shadowy light, his eyes narrowed. ‘But you must have met hundreds of new people over the years.’

      Probably thousands, she thought—but never like this. Meeting somebody’s family on equal terms was something she’d never had to do before. Mostly people knew who she was and had prepared accordingly and everyone was always on their best behaviour when a princess was around. She stared out of the window again and it seemed that the sleeping house had been nothing but an illusion, because the moment their car swished to a snowy halt the front door opened and a woman appeared in the doorway as if she’d been listening out for them. Her greying hair matched a dress which was clearly a uniform and Sophie saw immediately what the glow behind the front door had been—a giant Christmas tree, dominating a vast and imposing wood-panelled hall.

      Rafe smiled as the woman in the uniform stepped forward.

      ‘Sophie, I’d like you to meet Bernadette, our housekeeper,’ he said, ‘who has been with different factions of this family for many years. And if she wasn’t the soul of discretion, she could earn a living writing about the exploits of the infamous Carter family, couldn’t you, Bernadette?’

      ‘Sure, and who would want to read anything about you lot?’ answered Bernadette, her accent warm and Irish. ‘And aren’t you forgetting your manners? Who’s this beautiful young lady?’

      Rafe introduced her simply as ‘Sophie’ and Bernadette seemed content with that. And at least Sophie was able to chat easily to the housekeeper. Six months ago and her observations would have been stiff and formal, but working at Poonbarra meant she could now identify with the housekeeper in a way which would have been unthinkable before. She had learnt how to mix with ordinary folk, she realised—and for that she must be grateful.

      ‘Is everyone else here?’ Rafe was asking.

      ‘No. You’re the first.’ Bernadette closed the heavy oak door on the snowy night. ‘Some of the others are flying in tomorrow. Your father’s got the four-by-four so he’ll be okay. And Sharla rang to say she’s coming by helicopter, so she’ll be here about midday.’

      Sharla.

      It was an unfamiliar name which sounded vaguely familiar, but Sophie’s interest was heightened by the sudden tension which had made Rafe’s body stiffen. She glanced up to see a hardness distorting his taut features—and a darkening look which made him seem like a stranger.

      But he is a stranger, she reminded herself fiercely. You don’t really know anything about him. All they’d done had been to fall into bed where he’d made her feel stuff she hadn’t thought she was capable of. Made her long for things which were way out of her reach.

      A sense of unease whispered over her but she said nothing as they were shown up a grand staircase into an enormous bedroom, dominated by a king-size bed covered with a brocade throw in deep shades of claret and gold. Beside the bed, crimson roses glowed in a bronze bowl and, against huge windows, velvet curtains were drawn to blot out the snowy night. A huge crackling fire had been lit in the grate, scenting the air with the crackle of applewood, and the glitter of the flames was reflected in the overhead chandelier. The overall effect was almost medieval and Sophie unbuttoned her new coat and hung it up in the old-fashioned wardrobe before slowly turning round.

      ‘Who’s Sharla?’ she questioned.

      Rafe was reading something on his cell-phone and didn’t look up as he answered. ‘You’ve probably heard of her. She used to be a model.’

      Wondering if his reply had been deliberately casual, Sophie nodded as she realised