Long Night's Loving

Maggie arched a dark brow. ‘Her husband? The man we saw at the gatehouse when we arrived?’

‘No.’ Neil was patient. ‘The man you saw was Frank Pitt. He works on the estate. Mrs Fenwick’s husband is the gardener, and occasional chauffeur.’

‘I see.’

Maggie was impressed. By her reckoning that was at least four people working directly for Neil, and goodness knew how many more in the stables and about the estate. Some of the land was tenanted, of course—she remembered that from when they had first come here—but it was obvious that Neil took his position seriously.

Her lips twisted. Neil had always known what he wanted out of life, whereas she had spent the past ten years trying to find her own identity. It had been different when she was younger. Then, just the fact that she was Neil’s wife had been enough. When had she started being dissatisfied with that scenario? When had she begun to believe that life owed her a living too?

Luke finished his coffee, and set his cup back on the tray. ‘Well—’ he yawned, stretching his arms above his head ‘—I think I’m ready to call it a day.’ He looked at Maggie. ‘I expect I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll come over for breakfast, if it’s all right with Neil?’

‘Come over?’ Maggie moistened lips that were suddenly dry. ‘But I thought—’ She broke off, and then began again. ‘Don’t you live in the house?’

‘Not precisely,’ said Luke, grinning. ‘As a matter of fact, I have my own apartment over the garage. Oh, don’t worty—’ this as he saw her expression ‘—it’s really very comfortable. You’ll have to see it tomorrow. I’ll give you a guided tour before you leave.’

Before she left.

Maggie managed a tight smile. ‘Thanks.’

But she was still aware of a feeling of apprehension. Which was silly really, because she couldn’t have expected any support from him. But she’d felt more relaxed knowing he was within calling distance. The knowledge that there’d only be herself and Neil in the house—discounting his other employees, of course—was rather daunting.

Yet why should that be so? she asked herself as Neil escorted the other man to the door. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t spent a good portion of their lives together, even if they had been seldom entirely on their own. It was the memory of that treacherous weakening she had felt in the bath that troubled her, she knew. The awareness that she wasn’t as indifferent to him as she’d like to appear. She could think of nothing more embarrassing, more painful than allowing him to think she had some hidden agenda of her own in coming here.

She was aware that Neil had returned before he came round the sofa to resume his seat. She felt his presence the minute he appeared in the doorway, knew that he paused there for a moment, probably deliberately, assessing how he would handle her request.

Not that he knew what that request was—yet. But he must have guessed it was something serious, as she hadn’t been willing to discuss it in the car. What was he thinking? she wondered. Was he speculating on how he would refuse her? Although she had made the journey, she wasn’t totally optimistic, particularly after that crack he had made about Lindsey earlier.

‘Would you like a drink?’ he enquired, his hand hovering over the tray of bottles and decanters residing on a small table against the wall, and Maggie shook her head. She’d had sherry—and wine—and she needed her wits about her. Apart from not giving him another chance of criticising her lack of sobriety.

‘Not for me,’ she said, unable to prevent herself from shifting a little nervously in her seat. She wished he would just sit down and listen to her. She was tired of this game of cat-and-mouse, tired of bearing the burden she carried alone.

‘You don’t mind if I do?’

She shook her head again, biting hard on her lower lip to stop herself screaming. Her nerves felt as if they were stretched to breaking point, and she was pretty sure he knew it, too.

‘OK.’ At last, he seated himself across the table from her again, sitting forward on the sofa cushions, legs splayed, hands holding his glass of either Scotch or brandy suspended between them. ‘How much?’

Maggie swallowed her chagrin. ‘How much what?’ ‘Oh, please.’ Neil heaved a weary sigh. ‘How much is it going to cost me to get rid of you?’

Maggie could hardly speak now. ‘Why, you—you—’ ‘Bastard?’ he queried flatly. ‘I sensed your feelings towards me in the car. Nevertheless, I think we should be honest with one another. There’s nothing much else left between us. You implied that Lindsey’s in some kind of trouble, so how much is it going to take to bail her out?’

Maggie pressed her lips together to prevent them from trembling. ‘You think money can cure everything, don’t you?’

‘And you’re going to tell me it can’t?’

‘Yes.’ Maggie shook her head. ‘If only it were that simple. Do you think I’d have come to you if all I needed was money?’ Her lips quivered. ‘I’d have mortgaged everything I owned before I asked you for a loan!’

Neil’s eyes flickered. ‘Then I don’t see what else I can do,’ he averred. ‘Lindsey’s too old for me to punish. I doubt she’d take any notice if I did.’

‘Maybe. Maybe not.’ Maggie permitted him a fleeting look from between her lashes. ‘I suppose we haven’t set her a very good example.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ retorted Neil sharply. ‘I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of, and don’t you forget it.’ He halted, as if realising they’d get nowhere by sniping at each other. ‘So what is it? What’s she done? What kind of trouble is she in?’

‘She says she’s in love with Mike Reynolds.’

‘You’re crazy!’

She’d caught his attention now, and Maggie allowed herself a moment’s satisfaction at his furious reaction. Then, ‘I wish I were,’ she declared offhandedly. ‘Now do you see why I had to come?’

Neil stared at her in horror. ‘But Reynolds is my age!’

‘Do you think I don’t know that?’

‘So what the hell is he doing playing around with someone who’s little more than a kid?’

‘Lindsey’s seventeen,’ Maggie reminded him gently.

‘She wouldn’t appreciate your calling her a schoolgirl. These last two years—well, she’s grown up. I can’t tell her what to do any more.’ She paused. ‘If I ever could.’

‘Have you tried?’

That caught her on the raw. ‘Of course I’ve tried. Do you think I want her involved with him?’

‘I don’t know what you want,’ said Neil dourly, getting up from his seat and pacing restlessly about the room. ‘I sometimes think I never knew you at all.’

‘That’s not true!’

‘Isn’t it?’ He shrugged his shoulders, clearly using her as an outlet for his frustration. ‘You’ve never given a damn for anyone but yourself. Is it any wonder Lindsey’s screwed up now?’

Maggie chose not to answer that, and then stiffened when Neil came back to where she was sitting. But all he did was pick up his glass and empty it, returning to the tray to pour himself another. Having mixed it to his liking, he turned back to her again, swallowing a mouthful, and then crossing his arms at his waist.

‘So, what am I supposed to do about it? As I’ve already said, I don’t have any magic potion. I doubt if she’d even want to hear what I had to say.’

‘She might.’ Maggie composed herself. ‘It’s worth a try, anyway. If not...’ she paused ‘...Mike has his own agenda. He says he’ll drop Lindsey if you agree to make another album.’

‘What?’

Maggie drew an uneven breath. ‘I think you heard what I said.’

‘OK, I heard,’ he bit out savagely, ‘but you don’t seriously expect me to do it? I gave up performing seven years ago, and I don’t intend to make a come-back, for you or anyone else.’

‘Or Lindsey?’ ventured Maggie tautly, and Neil paused behind the sofa opposite to give her a killing look.

‘Or Lindsey,’ he snarled. ‘Goddammit, what are you trying to do to me? Why the hell should I disrupt my life for someone I hardly know?’

‘Someone you hardly know?’ Maggie could sit still no longer. She sprang to her feet to gaze angrily at him. ‘Until she was twelve, there was no one else in her life but you!’

‘Because you had no time for her.’