Page 133 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

He amused her with light chatter while she ate the pie, and then he produced the earlier bag. ‘Custard tarts,’ he said. ‘I know you like them.’

‘Pastry and pastry,’ she said. ‘What a shocking diet.’

‘You should have let me take you out.’ He could charge at most restaurants.

She cocked her head. ‘Why do you bother with me?’ she asked. ‘I thought—’

‘You thought? Yes, I tried that once. Didn’t take to it at all.’

She laughed. ‘You like to pretend you are careless and frivolous, but I know you are a good, kind person.’

‘You don’t know the half of it! I’m not at all good, and rarely kind. It’s just that you bring out the best in me.’

‘I thought,’ she went on, with a sort of determination, ‘that you came here for Chloë’s sake. In the beginning, you seemed struck with her. And she is very beautiful – though I’m her mother, I can say that, because her beauty is of a special order.’

‘She is one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen.’

‘And she has extraordinary talent.’

‘She has. I admire her extremely. And I’m so glad she is at the Royal College every day, so that I can have you to myself.’

Her cheeks reddened, and she looked away. ‘You mustn’t say things like that, Richard,’ she said quietly.

‘Mustn’t I – Molly?’ he replied.

‘Don’t joke,’ she said. ‘I’ve thought sometimes – you’ve been so kind – it’s ridiculous, I know – but I’ve thought—’

‘That it’s you I come here for, not your pretty daughter? Yes, that’s pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? But it does happen to be true.’

She put her hands to her face. ‘Don’t!’ she cried.

‘Why not?’ he said. ‘Chloë is sweet, but she’s a child, and I’m long past childhood. Naïve innocent girls don’t appeal to me, haven’t appealed to me since before I went away to Africa. I’m long past sops and cocoa, Molly Sands. I want a woman of intellect and character, a woman who can talk to me on my own level, a woman,’ he slipped from his chair to his knees before her, capturing her hands, ‘who shakes all my senses to their foundation.’ She tried to pull her hands away. ‘No, no, you invited me into your parlour, remember? I’m tangled in your web. You are the spider in this case, and I am the helpless fly.’ He lifted her hands and kissed them.

With a determined jerk, she pulled them free. In a harsh voice, she said, ‘Richard, get up! At once!’

It was the sort of voice that was obeyed. He resumed his seat, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, not yet upset, not yet accepting rejection. Her cheeks were hot. ‘That colour suits you,’ he said conversationally. ‘You should wear it more often.’

‘Richard,’ she said desperately, ‘you must stop this.’

‘Don’t you like it?’

‘Don’t you understand? I was your father’s mistress. I slept with your father. Your father!’

He hadn’t thought of it quite like that, and for a moment he was taken aback. She saw the thought permeating his mind as clearly as if it had been water trickling down a glass. And then, shockingly, he grinned. ‘Oh well,’ he said. ‘what’s that jolly song Vesta Tilley sings? “Following In Father’s Footsteps”?’

‘Richard!’

‘Dear, darling Molly, don’t fret. What does it matter? It isn’t a case of incest. We aren’t related by blood. You slept with my father, but you’re not my mother, for God’s sake! If I don’t care, why should you? Don’t you fancy me? I thought you did. Did I get it completely wrong? I’m not usually so insensitive, but if I’ve mistaken your feelings, I’ll apologise and clear out.’

‘I—’ she began, and stopped. Her eyes moved away.

‘Ha! Thought so,’ he said triumphantly.

‘I think you should go now,’ she said quietly.

He looked at her for a moment, and then got up. ‘All right,’ he said, quietly too. ‘But you haven’t got rid of me. I came to tell you that I’m going down to Ashmore for a few weeks. My brother has summoned me – I suppose he wants to find out what I’m going to do to pay for my keep. I came to take my leave, and to tell you that I shall miss you. But I shall be back. And in the mean time, if there’s anything you need, anything at all, send me word, and I’ll come hurrying to your side as fast as the train will carry me.’

‘You’re very good,’ she said, in a subdued voice. ‘But we’ll be all right.’ She got to her feet, and went to the door to show him out.