Chapter Seven

PREDINNERdrinks, then on to dinner.

Olivia willed herself to calm as Marigole broke away from the group to hurry towards her as though Olivia was her latest best friend. She had taken a minute to check on the kitchen. All in order, just as she knew it would be. Kath and the girls had given her the thumbs up.

“You’re a star! ” Kath, the spokeswoman, had delivered the unanimous verdict.

But it was the golden flare in McAlpine’s eyes that had put her on cloud nine. She’d even caught a flicker of surprise in the knockout Chloe’s eyes. Didn’t think she had it in her? Well, she hadn’t until Bessie had stepped in as fashion guru.

In the end it was Marigole who wore the little black dress, a saucy number if ever there was one—very short to show off her dancer’s legs, the neckline curving in low. Killer black evening sandals with strapping adorned her small feet; radiant silver lustred pearls dropped in a shepherd’s hook hung from her ears. Olivia was impressed. Marigole was a very glamorous woman and she could obviously afford the best.

And, surprises for everyone—who obviously went back years with Marigole—she had greeted Olivia affably, complimenting her on her outfit and what great hair she had. “You can’t know how many times I’ve cried into my pillow about mine, ” she exclaimed, waiting a second or two for someone to offer amazement. They didn’t. “Ever since I had Georgina it simply won’tgrow. ”

“The bob suits you beautifully, ” Olivia said. It was no less than the truth.

“And it comes at a price! ” Marigole tossed off a laugh. “I have to say I’m taken aback by the thing you have around your neck! A bit tacky, dear! Then I suppose you didn’t bring any of your jewellery with you? ”

“Strange if I did. ” Olivia had been prepared in advance for Marigole to bare her true self. As an insult, it didn’t carry a lot of sting. “I’ll only be here for a short time. I don’t share your opinion of the necklace. I think it’s beautiful. ”

Marigole half cupped her hand around her mouth as though fearing she would be overheard. “My dear, it’s just a piece of junk you can pick up at street markets. ”

Although the smile was bright, smile and tone didn’t match up. There was something vaguely threatening about Marigole’s demeanour, causing Olivia to do as Bessie had instructed—gently rub her flashing magic crystal.

Even afterwards she wasn’t sure what happened. Had she imagined it? A trick of the light? All she did know was a ripple of apprehension ran down her back. Pinpoints of blue light had manifested themselves in Marigole’s dark eyes like some weird phenomenon.

“God! ” Marigole suddenly screeched. “What the hell are you doing? ”

“Doing? ” For the life of her Olivia couldn’t clear up that mystery. She watched transfixed as Marigole threw out her arm as if stung by a wasp. At the precise moment McAlpine swiftly closed in on them, alerted by his ex-wife’s all-too-familiar screech. He had been carrying a crystal flute of champagne, but the flailing of Marigole’s arm knocked the flute clean out of his hand. Sparkling wine flew out of the flute, splashing onto the carpet, giving Marigole a good spray on the way down.

“OK, so it’snot Krug. ” McAlpine tried to make a joke of it but his ex-wife wasn’t having any.

“She shone something in my eyes, ” Marigole erupted, to all appearances in dead earnest.

“You’re seriously asking me to believe that? ” McAlpine looked at Olivia as if in apology. “Do not make a scene, Marigole, ” he stressed.

“Let me get you a napkin. ” Olivia, innocent of any wrongdoing, was feeling positively guilty. “I don’t think the wine did any lasting damage to your beautiful dress. I’ll get someone to mop the wine from the carpet. ”

“And how would you know about the damage to my dress? ” Marigole’s petite body was coiled in fury. “It cost a fortune. I’m appalled. You shone a light in my eyes. Enough to blind me. ”

“As in some high-powered ray? ” McAlpine’s expression was caustic. “Though where Olivia could be hiding it, I can’t imagine. ” As he spoke he produced a snowy-white handkerchief, handing it to his ex-wife. “She can’t have shoved it down her camisole. ”

Olivia took a deep breath. “Marigole, I did nothing but watch you throw out your arm. I thought something had stung you. ”

“Then where’s the mark? ” Marigole cried, holding up her right, then her left, arm for inspection. “What’s that? ” Marigole couldn’t hold back her disbelief.

“I’d callthat a bite, ” McAlpine said, his voice a dark rumble. A red welt about the size of a five-cent piece had appeared on Marigole’s right arm. “You need to put something on it. ” He wondered how any stinging insect had got into a room like this.

“I’ll get it. ” Olivia turned away at once. She would have to put what shethought she saw out of her mind. It was a trick of the light. Nothing else. But the red welt made no sense at all. She’d had Marigole under close observation the entire time. There had been no red welt on her arm. It had only appeared when Marigole had demanded to know where the mark was.

Maybe there’s some ancient curse attached to the stone?

Don’t be silly!

The aboriginal people are much concerned with magic.

I’m not listening.

At least think about it.

By the time the main course was out of the way and dessert was being served by Kathy’s well-trained girls, Marigole had regained her equilibrium. Even more extraordinary to Olivia’s eyes was the fact the red welt had entirely disappeared. Was the local snake oil as effective as all that? She should order in a couple of bottles.

Much to her satisfaction, each course had been received with enthusiasm.

McAlpine caught her eye, raised his wineglass in a silent toast to her. He saw with pleasure how the lovely colour warmed her cheeks. Tonight she was as beautiful and serene as a swan. Breeding showed. She would make some man a splendid wife. He could have mourned the fact he hadn’t met a woman like her years ago, but then he reminded himself she would have been a student at Oxford. Just a girl. Selfless, devoted, overseeing too much for a demanding father. Not that Oscar wasn’t very proud of her. But Oscar had shaped the life his daughter was now finding she wanted to be free of. He didn’t fool himself that a woman like Olivia Balfour could settle in a desert kingdom, though his business affairs took him all over the world. He would want a clever woman like Olivia at his side. He was long past wanting an affair. He wantedher. Heart, mind and body. Only wanting and getting were two different things.

Marigole, unlike the others, wasn’t so much eating and enjoying the various dishes as rearranging what was presented to her into a more pleasing pattern on her plate. Either way she didn’t take more than a bite, demonstrating her awesome self-discipline. A very different story, however, with the wines. His ex-wife obviously rejected the theory that one to two small glasses of wine a day was enough for a woman as classic scare tactics from the medical profession. He genuinely wished Marigole well. But he wanted her out of his life. She had done enough damage. It was Georgina who had to be considered.

The conversation ranged easily and fluently over a broad number of topics, touching on the political and also, of great interest to Olivia, dressage, or as it was often referred to, “horse ballet. ” Olivia herself had been an upper-level dressage competitor in her early twenties.

“Babs is a wonderful equestrienne, ” Barbara Corbett’s husband said proudly, no mean horseman himself, having come second to his friend, McAlpine, in several top-notch cross-country endurance races.

Everyone at the table was a seasoned world traveller which provided an additional source of discussion. McAlpine and his friend Brendan juggled the conversational balls back and forth between them. Both were charming, witty and clever. It was McAlpine who started talking about the adventures they had shared since boyhood. And there were many, including an unforgettable trip to Antarctica.

“But if you want to know how the world began, you might try visiting the Galapagos Islands, ” McAlpine said. “Bren and I once watched a volcano erupting from the deck of a yacht we’d chartered. ”

“I do hope at a safe distance, ” Olivia offered to general laughter.

“Safe enough. ” McAlpine winged a smile in her direction. “You should have been there, Olivia, to hear the way the lava roared and hissed as it poured into the cold current. The violence of it, the shooting flames of molten red in the darkness! God, it was exciting! It’s volcanos like that and the others that make up the archipelago where Darwin cracked his code of evolution. ”

Brendan picked up on that to add the disturbing news that the giant Galapagos tortoises were being senselessly slaughtered by pirates on floating fish factories.

“Oh, for God’s sake, don’t let’s talk about tortoises, ” Marigole interrupted with great impatience, much put out by the way the superposh Balfour woman managed to shine throughout the evening. Worse, her ex-husband’s gleaming eyes were alighting on her far too frequently. “Save the whales, save the trees, save the tortoises! How boring! You weren’t being entirely truthful telling us you were here on a study tour were you, Olivia? ” she accused, a teeny slurring to her words.

Lucas, who had been thoroughly enjoying himself, suddenly looked perturbed. His neck, half covered by an expensive silk cravat, went a deep red. It was apparent to all of them he was seriously worried about what Marigole was about to say.

None more so than McAlpine, who had survived his marriage for a relatively long period. “You have a great nose for gossip, haven’t you, Marigole? I’m sure, in this case, none of us wants to hear it. Certainly not Lucas, who is looking alarmed. ”

More like freaked out! Olivia thought, strongly suspecting what was to come next. Her stomach muscles clenched in anticipation of an attack.

“My dear chap—” Lucas addressed McAlpine directly, apparently desperate not to be part of anything Marigole might say.

But Marigole, not to be denied her moment of triumph, cut in. “As I hear it, you were banished for bad behaviour. ” TheB s were given full explosive throttle.

“If that’s the case, I’ll say a prayer for you, Olivia. ” Brendan yawned, as if uninterested in anything Marigole might say.

But Olivia wasn’t her father’s daughter for nothing. “Not the sentence I would have applied myself, Marigole, ” she said, not losing her cool composure. “My father simply wanted his daughters out of the spotlight for a time. I’m certain there’s nothing unusual about that? Obviously you’ve been doing some checking. One wonders why? ”

“Blue Blood Turns Bad! ”Again theB s shot out like bullets. It was obvious Marigole had no thought whatever for anyone’s feelings. “Wasn’t that the way the headlines ran? The high-and-mighty Balfours and their illicit affairs! Not one buttwo illegitimate daughters! I’m shocked. I don’t know if I want my daughter near you. ”

It was Brendan who blew his top. He had worn best-man regalia for his closest friend and ever after wished he had expressed his heartfelt doubts about Marigole long before the event. “Marigole, what a vicious bitch you are! ” There was a fierce scowl on his face. “What you really need—”

“Is an early night. ” McAlpine held up an authoritative hand to indicate his friend should stop there.

Red flags mounted to Marigole’s cheeks. “And who do you think you are? You’re notGod, Clint. ”

“How would you know? You don’t speak to Him. ”

Marigole was not to be deflected. “Why is this woman here? ” She was displaying all the bitterness and sense of betrayal appropriate in a wife. “Are you sleeping with her? ”

Brendan’s current girlfriend, Chloe, who wasn’t exactly renowned for her IQ, uttered a shocked four-letter word beneath her breath. She thought the ex-Mrs McAlpine, though still a stunner at thirty-eight, should keep well clear of the booze.

McAlpine gave them a taste of the dominant male. He slammed a fist onto the table. “That’s quite enough. Olivia is a guest in my home. ”

“And I’ve been sleeping very soundly at night, Mrs McAlpine, ” Olivia assured her. “Alone. Does that answer your question? Not that I can see it’s your business. ”

“Damned right! ” Brendan gave Olivia a look of stout support.

Only Marigole was staring back at Olivia, apparently oblivious to anyone else. “I’m serious. ”

“So am I. ” Olivia was debating whether to call on her magic crystal again. She had an urge to touch it but backed off in case it knocked Marigole clean out of her chair.

Her man of the moment, Lucas, wore the deep remorseful expression of a basset hound. One could only marvel at the contrast between McAlpine and his successor! “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I’m afraid in an unguarded moment—”

“Lucas, if you would escort Marigole to her room, ” McAlpine asked suavely, “before she nods off? ”

A bitter laugh from Marigole. “What a beast you are, Clint! I’m not a child to be sent from the table. ”

“Off you go. ” He waved a hand. “We’ll see you at breakfast perhaps. ”

Such an embarrassing incident should have put paid to the success of the evening. With Marigole out of the way no such thing happened. They all adjourned to the great room for coffee and liqueurs, the subject of Olivia’s “banishment” dropped as if no one knew or cared what Marigole had been talking about. Alternatively theydid know but didn’t consider it a big deal in the light of daily catastrophes and revealed illegitimacies. Even among the high and mighty. Lucas, however, did not return. Very possibly a lover’s tiff? Marigole would have seized on her new target with renewed vigour. It would have been obvious to a blind man—why not Lucas? —that Marigole was still deeply in thrall to her ex-husband. Love or hate? Lucas, nice as he was, could never in his life have inspired either. And he had been married twice.

The evening finally came to an end well after midnight with everyone deciding to meet up for breakfast around 8: 30 a. m. A swim in a safe freshwater lagoon? Not for me, thought Olivia, feeling her stomach lurch. And who could blame her? The odd saltwater monster had found its way into a few peaceful havens. She didn’t know then that someone in the party always carried a rifle. Just in case.

Maybe take the horses out? More to her liking. All were accomplished riders, except Brendan’s girlfriend, Chloe, who claimed she didn’t know one end of a horse from the other.

“Then I shall teach you, little darling, ” promised Brendan.

Everyone had retired when Olivia suddenly remembered she had left her crystal necklace on a table in the great room. She had taken it off so Barbara, who was fascinated by it, could examine the stone more closely. She had meant to put it back on, but had become distracted by a question from Chloe about life in London. She wasn’t anxious about the necklace. No one would touch it. Nevertheless she felt the urge to go get it as though she should always keep it by her side. The huge house was softly aglow. The main lights had been switched off, leaving on soft down-lights. No guest would be called on to wander about in darkness.

She had discovered she loved this house. Although she had lived all her life in a grand country house—very large, very dark, very old—much as she loved Balfour Manor and its great park, the house with its enormous panelled rooms and endless corridors could at times be oppressive. It was also crowded to the hilt with valuable furniture, paintings, tapestries, marbles and porcelains, dating back centuries, to say nothing of a couple of resident ghosts. Everywhere one looked at the manor, there were so many splendid things to behold it was near impossible to focus on any one object. Growing up as she had she had become quite a connoisseur of art and could speak very knowledgeably about it. So it came as something of a shock to realise, though born a Balfour, she could easily and happily move into this extraordinary house in its even more extraordinary Northern Territory setting. There were beautiful and valuable things here as well, but there was no danger of bumping into anything. And theair! The pure golden air, the quality of the sunlight, the colorations of the vast empty landscape! It was like living inside an Albert Namatjira painting.

She had lived a life of privilege, but it had its downside in constriction, relentless media attention, living up to her father’s very exacting standards. Really, she’d had none of the freedom she found here. She didn’t want to be disloyal but it was as if she’d been handed a get-out-of-jail-free card. And to think in a few months’ time she would have to pack up again and go away!

Doesn’t bear thinking about.

She was passing McAlpine’s study, necklace in hand, when the brass knob on the door turned. She jumped like a startled cat.

“Olivia! ” He stood there, the most dashingly romantic-looking man in the world, delivering her name on a slow-drawn breath. “Were you about to knock on my door? Could I be so lucky! How did you know I was still up? ”

Her heart started up its now-familiar thumping routine. For a moment she was too off balance to smile or even speak. “I haven’t been keeping tabs on you, if that’s what you mean. I left my necklace in the great room. I’d been showing it to Barbara. I thought I should come and get it, seeing as it’s my very special talisman. ”

“It might very well be, ” he said in a deepening tone. “You’re not going to sleep in it, are you? ”

“Under my pillow, ” she said. No wonder she was fighting to keep calm. He looked shockingly sexy, on high alert, very elegant but dangerous. He had taken off his jacket and slipped a couple of buttons on his black silk shirt for extra comfort. His skin, she saw, beyond the light mat of hair was like polished bronze.

“So what happened tonight? ” he asked. “The stone arranged it? ”

She was held by the force of those golden eyes. “Why ever would you say that? Marigole was stung. Wasn’t she? ”

“She was stung all right, but not by any flying insect I know of. Do show me that stone again if you would. ”

She opened out her palm.

“See. It’s duller and darker. ”

Her head bent nearer his, golden blonde, a wonderful foil for rich dark auburn. “So? ” She stared up at him perplexed. “Has it lost its powers? ”

He gave a brief laugh. “I see we’re both in agreement ithas powers. ”

“Well, I’m not going to say it hasn’t and be struck dead. ”

“Me either. I’ve seen too many extraordinary things in my time, all to do with aboriginal sorcery and magic. Your stone is governed by kinetic forces, movement, being close to your heart. Put it back on for a while. ”

“Are you serious? ”

“Why are you whispering? ” he asked gently.

“I don’t know. ” She was, in fact, caught up in high tension.

“Here, let me. If you’ll just grab that glorious mane and hold it out of the way. ”

At the touch of his hands on her nape she felt her blood glitter. Her father would have frowned at her “glamour girl” look. The wrong look, he considered, for her. “I’ve been so accustomed to pulling my hair back, ” she said shakily. “I don’t feel like myself with it floating around. ”

“Yourold self, ” he stressed. “I love it! It’s the new you! Now turn around. ”

She would when she could steady herself.

“OK, I’ll turn you. ” His hands slid to her shoulders. “There! Your magic talisman has come alive again. ”

Her eyes dipped to her breast. The sparkle had returned, along with the flash of iridescent colours. “I suspected Eerina was a sorceress the minute I met her. How does one get to be like that? ” She lifted her eyes to meet his, felt a swift pulsing of sexual desire.

“You’re a sorceress in your own way, ” he said, his tone low. “Right now I feel quite powerless. ”

“You, powerless? To do what? ” She was still whispering, trying to pull herself out of an erotic trance.

“Resist you, ” he said. Dead serious. No flirtation.

He stood there, looking at her with such intensity that she felt herself swaying towards him. They were only a breath away.

You’ve found him! But what about the highly antagonistic ex-wife, Georgy’s mother?

“I should go, ” she said falteringly.

“Don’t. ” He caught the silky flesh of her arm, turned it, exposing her narrow wrist with its fine tracery of blue veins. While she held her constricted breath, he slowly raised her upturned hand to his mouth. “If I start anything more, I won’t stop, ” he confessed. His voice sounded torched. Maybe tormented. Gently he touched his mouth to her wrist, his tongue a warm pulse on the blue veins. “I want you. You know that? ” He lifted his head, casting aside all pretence.

Olivia felt a blinding rush of something beyond pleasure. All serenity had left her. She was adrift on a wild sea. She tried to explain. “This level of feeling is frightening to me, Clint. I’ve led such a quiet, contained life. No impressive collection of lovers. So please don’t lead me on if you don’t mean it. I couldn’t bear to be another victim. ”

“Victim? I don’t lie. ” The denial came out on a harsh rasp. He was still holding her hand, his thumb rubbing back and forth over her transparent wrist. “The truth is, I want you more and more every day. I acknowledge there’s terror in that. For both of us. ”

“You fear to put yourself in a woman’s hands again? ”

His stunning features had drawn taut with desire. “You could be the one exception. I want to scoop you up and take you to my bed. ”

“But that doesn’t answer the question. We’re drawn to each other. We were from the beginning, I think, even though your way with me was infuriating. ”

“I realise now I was spectacularly rude. ”

“You were, ” she said raggedly.

“Forgive me? ” His smile was slow and heart melting. “Kiss and make up? ”

Oh, God, yes!

She had been waiting for him all her life. Here was one man who wouldn’t let her hide away. Voluptuously she let her head fall back. Her eyes closed. Her senses were reeling. Rapture was flooding her brain and her body. That intense longing manifested itself in a sob that was muffled beneath the weight of his mouth.

She would never forget being kissed like this. Not if she lived until she was one hundred. The erotic splendour of it all drew her into its glory. No matter what happened—she was far from certain of what lay ahead of them—she would remember these moments out of time.

Involuntary tears rose to her eyes. An ache of yearning and anguish.

“Olivia? ” He drew back, a sharp catch of concern in his voice. “Surely I’m not making you cry? ”

“Women cry when they need to. ”

Her tone stabbed at his heart. Was he rushing her, frightening her with the strength of his ardour? “Olivia, I’m here to take good care of you. You’re under my protection. I’m sorry if I’m moving too fast. I have to remember I’m older than you and far more experienced. I must apologise too if Marigole upset you tonight. ”

“She did upset me, ” Olivia admitted, drawing back very slightly. “The malice behind it! I’m rather good at hiding my upsets. ”

“I know. But there’s nothing much I can do about Marigole, ” he told her tersely. “She’s a tease and a bully, but she’s also Georgy’s mother. Sometimes I think I’ll always have Marigole in my life. ”

“Because of the daughter you created together? ” She spoke with the utmost gravity, mindful of that fact.

“Well, yes. ”

“I understand. ” She did. “But surely when you remarry? ”

His golden eyes burned into her. “It has to be the right woman. Marriage can bring out the best in people and the worst. Only an idiot would make the same mistake twice. ”

“So you’re not ready for commitment? ”

He knit his dark brows together. It gave him a dangerous air. “Are you? ” He badly needed to know.

She looked away towards a painting. Not really seeing it. “I want to get married. I want children. I love children. But, like you, I’m frightened of making a mess of my life, settling on the wrong man. ”

“You want asafe man? ”

She gave a broken little laugh, more like a sob. “When I first saw you coming towards me at the airport, I thought, My God, a wild man! ”

His expression lightened. “I’m sure I looked like one after Justin. ”

“Justin told me he was very fond of me. ”

“God! ” he exclaimed in disgust. “Couldn’t he do better than that? ”

“Seems not! ” She shrugged her creamy shoulders. “I suppose I’ve always appeared sort of ordinary beside Bella. Half the eligible men we knew were in love with her. And used me to get to her. ”

“More accessible, ” he said. “Bella is very beautiful and vivacious. I rather formed the impression Oscar enjoyed Bella’s wildness. She could get away with things you couldn’t. Ever think you proved too difficult? Too unassailable? That touch-me-not air. I like it. What I like better is touching you. But as I pointed out once before, there are inherent dangers in falling at a goddess’s feet. ”

The way he was looking at her—surely with a marvellous tenderness—made her want to sob her heart out. Get rid of the pain. The pain of years of conforming to what her father wanted. He was right. As always. Their fatherhad enjoyed Bella’s escapades, barring the last one. Bella was allowed to go wild. It was condoned. Olivia had been obliged to toe the line. A lone tear like a crystal drop trickled down her cheek.

“Olivia! Come here to me. ” His mastery of her was running at full throttle. He drew her back into his arms, cradling her against his chest. It was extraordinary the way he made her feel small and deeply feminine. As much a woman as she could ever be.

She let him cradle her, revelling in his strength. “Don’t mind me, ” she murmured. “I’m ashamed of myself really for breaking down like this. ”

“But Ido mind you, ” he said tautly. “I thought we’d established that. For all your sophistication, your age, your beauty, you still carry around the grave child you once were. Lift your head. ”

She was compelled to obey, driven by desire. His head bent over hers, the tip of his tongue catching up the teardrop that still lay on her cheek, taking it into his mouth. “I can’t waste one of your tears. Don’t let me frighten you away, Olivia. Sometimes I think of you as a gorgeous butterfly that’s alighted on my shoulder. One false move and you’ll fly off! ”

“Clint! ” Her voice broke with helpless emotion.

“I’ve never heard my name sound so good! ” He dropped an exquisitely gentle kiss on her mouth. It pierced her with such sweetness she could have expired at the rapture. Fully aroused, he deepened the kiss, holding the back of her golden head to him so he could have more of her.

Little arrows of sexual yearning lanced deep into her body. They caused multiple involuntary contractions at the sensitive delta, as sharp and immediate as jabs of adrenalin. She didn’t attempt to break away, though the level of passion was extremely high. She remained locked in his arms, a woman desperate for his kisses…He could do what he liked with her. She was a woman on fire. Absolutely aflame.

A howl of feline rage split them apart.

“I knew it. I knew it! ” Marigole stood several feet away, dancing with pure jealousy. Her large dark eyes were almost starting out of her head. She was wearing an exquisite cream nightgown with a matching peignoir, the flawless skin she prized wax white with outrage.

Olivia was too shocked to feel embarrassment. Kissing wasn’t a hanging offence. Even the passionate kissing that had generated such sizzling heat.

McAlpine predictably was swift to react. “Thank you, Marigole, for treating us to that howl. A wild dingo out there couldn’t have done it better. Couldn’t sleep? ”

“You bastard! ” she cried with ferocity, throwing back her peignoir so the outline of her body showed clearly through the near-transparent silk. “How could you? And with me in the house! ”

Olivia came to her senses. These two people had been married for years. They knew each other intimately. Marigole had borne his child. He had admitted to an inescapable bond. Was it possibleshe was acting as a barrier to reunion? The woman still loved him. She even felt a pang of pity for her. It was a terrible thing to be unhappy whether one deserved it or not. And Marigole was dreadfully unhappy. So too was Georgy. She had been distraught at the divorce. Could she be in the way of causing the child further hurt?

Incredibly, even to her own ears, she sounded totally in command of herself. Long years of practise sometime came in handy. “I’ll leave the two of you to talk. ”

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you? ” Marigole cried, looking like a wild cat ready to use its claws.

“We shouldn’t be talking when you’re in this state, Mrs McAlpine, ” Olivia said, not without pity. “Sometimes a kissis just a kiss, you know. I amnot sleeping with Clint. That’s your ex-husband? ”

Marigole took a dancing pace towards her. “Think you’re very clever, don’t you? ”

“Only about some things. ” Olivia stayed her hand from moving to her crystal. It was there for her to call on when needed. She could handle Marigole. At any rate, she thought she could. She had never figured in a love triangle.

“What say we call it a night? ” McAlpine suggested briskly, apparently well used to Marigole, the drama queen. “Lucas no doubt is tucked up fast asleep in your bed, Marigole. I would remind you that both of you are guests inmy house. And you’re looking to me to take full custody of our daughter. I have to say, if you’re looking to Lucas as your next husband, at least he’ll be able to keep you in style. Now I suggest you stop going ballistic at the thoughtI might remarry. ”

Marigole’s great dark eyes flashed lightning. “You have to be very, very careful with this man. ” White faced, she turned her attention back to the appalled Olivia. “He takes your heart, then he stomps on it. Why do you suppose I had to leave him? ”

Was there something more to this than met the eye? Usually was. Sad to say.

“Not thinking clearly, Marigole. ” McAlpine’s expression was frankly mocking. “If you haven’t realised it yet, you will. We’redivorced. It took you less than a week to take another lover. ”

“And what aboutyou? ” Hot colour stained her slanting cheekbones. “What about angel face here with the golden hair and the sapphire eyes and the so-posh voice. You’ve really been giving her the rush, haven’t you? I bet it wasn’t the course of action her father had in mind when he sent her. ”

Though rocked by Marigole’s jealous rage, Olivia considered she had the right to intervene. “Either way, it’s none of your business, Mrs McAlpine. My affairs are none of your business either. Let’s keep it that way. I’ll say goodnight. ”

“Good night, Lady Olivia, ” Marigole carolled after her. “Just don’t make the mistake of thinking Clint can make you happy. He’s a dangerous man. Believe me. You might have fallen for him hook, line and sinker—I’m not a fool—but you don’t know him well at all. ”

Against the creamy skin of Olivia’s breast, the flashing iridescent colours of her crystal had shaded into a pearly silver-grey.

It made her feel uneasy. Frightened too.

Marigole had made her point. She really didn’t know McAlpine all that well.

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