Secrets Of The Outback

Jewel frowned. “Lady Copeland, what do I have to be discreet about? Do you think people will gossip if they notice our strong resemblance?”

Keefe Connellan exhaled loudly. “You bet your life they will. It’s impossible to miss.”

“Do you think so? They’d have to be looking for a hidden mystery then,” Jewel said. “However, it hardly matters, since I don’t move in Lady Copeland’s circles.”

“No doubt Skinner hoped to change that?” He spoke so sharply his words gave Jewel a twinge of fear.

They stared at each other like combatants, neither yielding, both tense. “No need to investigate Blair Skinner,” Jewel said firmly. “He never puts a foot wrong.”

“You mean so far,” Connellan returned curtly. “Playing us for fools would guarantee disaster.” He moved then, touching Lady Copeland’s delicate shoulder. “I think we should go, Davina. Jacob will take you home and drop me on the way. I have an appointment with Drew Westaway uptown. I’d break it, but it’s critical.” He glanced at Jewel, brilliant black eyes narrowed. “You can inform your boss we’re leaving,” he said, his face taut.

“If that’s what you want. Let me say again that I deeply regret any upset I may unwittingly have caused you, Lady Copeland. I’ll speak of it to no one.”

Connellan laughed—an attractive if discordant sound. “That’s a bit rich. Skinner can’t wait to discuss this.”

“What do you expect, given your attack on me? Naturally I have to say something.”

“Of course. Is your mother in on this, too?”

Nothing so far had prepared Jewel for that. She went white. “My mother is a very sick woman, so watch it, Mr. Connellan. I’d just love to slap you again.”

“Only this time, I’ll deal with it,” he promised, gently propelling Lady Copeland to the door.

Nearing it, Lady Copeland paused. “If I asked you to come and visit me, would you consider it, Eugenie?” Her still-beautiful face revealed a strange longing.

Jewel found herself nodding, lured somehow by the use of her Christian name. “I think I want that, too, Lady Copeland, just so long as Mr. Connellan is nowhere nearby.”

“Are you sure about that, Davina?” Connellan shot a questioning look at her.

“Quite sure, my dear.” She smiled at him and patted his arm. “I need to learn more about Eugenie. You see that, don’t you?”

He turned, studying Jewel’s resolute stance. “I do, in a strange sort of way,” he admitted. “Just bear in mind that Ms. Bishop, for all her beauty and avowed brightness, could pry us all apart.”

Shaking inside but using her characteristic self-confidence as camouflage, Jewel went in search of Blair Skinner, finding him in the boardroom frowning over a coffee.

“Well?” He looked distressed, and was without his usual bold quip. “Can I go back into my office?”

“They’re gone, Blair.” Jewel resisted a groan. “Connellan had an appointment.”

“Mr. Connellan to you,” Skinner reminded her stonily and stood up. “I don’t understand this. They left without speaking to me?”

“I’m sure Mr. Connellan will be remedying that,” Jewel answered abruptly, bringing a chill to Skinner’s eyes.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Beats the hell out of me, Blair.” She gave a brittle laugh. “It’ll be mentioned, so I’m not betraying a confidence. It seems that both of them—Lady Copeland and Mr. Connellan—figure we’re playing some kind of game with them. I’m quoting Mr. Connellan himself.”

Skinner actually blanched. “My God, Eugenia, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious,” she said.

He looked at her with a grim expression. “You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you,” he accused. “I suspected it right from the beginning.”

“Nevertheless you hired me. Why?” The why was starting to worry her.

“Because I thought there was something special about you,” he answered testily. “Don’t act like a dolt. It doesn’t suit you. What caused Lady Copeland to faint? Keefe looked at me quite murderously. It was all about you, wasn’t it. And your father. What on earth did he do? If you tell me he made off with Copeland money, I promise I won’t scream. God knows, old Sir Julius broke a few laws. But then, he had us legal eagles to get him out of trouble. What does hurt is the fact that you’ve never seen fit to confide in me, Eugenie.”

“I never thought I had much to confide.”

“Sit down,” Skinner advised briskly. “I know you well enough to realize beneath that brazen exterior you’re falling to pieces.”

Jewel took a seat. “I think you’re right. What about getting me a cup of coffee—to show you care?”

This was received with a scowl. “You’re really something. You know that?” He disappeared, then returned a moment later with two steaming china mugs. “Give it to me straight. Any lies, and I promise you’ll be out of here just like that!” He snapped his fingers.

“You and me both.” Jewel took a tentative sip. Too hot. At least the coffee was good. “Blair, I’m going to ask you something.” She switched her eyes from the mug to him. “And I’d appreciate the truth. Have you been aware of the resemblance between Lady Copeland and me?”

Skinner’s jaw dropped in amazement. Either he was a wonderful actor or he had just suffered a severe shock. “What are you saying, Eugenie?”

“Have—you—ever—noticed?” She leaned closer to him, deliberately spacing her words.

“Sweet, sweet Lord! What a fool I am.”

“Welcome to the club. I take it you haven’t. However, the cat is out of the bag. Whatever cat it might happen to be.” Jewel had just enough left in her to speak flippantly. It was her way of overcoming her own tremendous shock. “Lady Copeland told me she thought I was the image of herself when young.”

Skinner put his knuckles in his mouth. He rose to his feet shouting, “That’s right!” then fell back, lowering his head and holding it in his hands. “And they think the two of us set up a meeting!” he muttered despairingly.

“I think they saw themselves as two blackmail victims.”

“If I’ve made enemies of those two, I’ll have to move abroad. Oh, my God!” he cried. “I could weep.”

“Ordinarily I’d enjoy that, but bear with me,” Jewel said, taking another gulp of the strong coffee. “I told them you’d never, ever remarked on even a passing resemblance. You are a man of great integrity. I kept assuring them of that. I told them you respected Lady Copeland far too much to ever want to upset her. I explained that I’d never laid eyes on her in my entire life. The whole thing was one monumental coincidence.”

“My dear, my mother taught me to be very suspicious of monumental coincidences,” Skinner said. “This is not the end,” he predicted. “So, how can we make sense of this? Now that the scales have fallen from my eyes, I can see you’re a dead ringer for Davina. I knew there was something familiar about you, right from the beginning. I even ran through a few film stars. The young Lana Turner with blue, blue eyes. That kind of look. Soft, sexy yet challenging.”

Jewel gazed at him in astonishment. “You thought all this, Blair? Shame on you. I’ve always seen you as a good, solid father figure.” A dreadful lie.

He shook his head. “Just an objective judgment. I have eyes. Or so I believed.” He stared at her directly. “What would you advise?”

“You mean, you’re going to listen?” This all felt like a strange dream, except that she was actually hurting.

“What I’m saying is you were there the whole time. How did it all end?”

“In Lady Copeland inviting me to visit her.”

Skinner made a whistling sound through his mouth. It could have been admiration. “And Keefe?”

“What a gorgon!” Jewel said with a shudder.