An Unbroken Marriage

Which was quite ridiculous, she told herself as she went to unlock the discreetly concealed floor-to-ceiling cupboards in which she kept completed orders. Why should it matter to her if Simon Herries judged her as he himself was no doubt quite happy to be judged? Her relationship with Melford Taylor was her own business and no one else’s. Except of course that Mel happened to be married, she reminded herself wryly, as she removed the pale blue satin dress from its hanger.

‘I love the colour,’ Melisande enthused. ‘Darling, I really must insist that you design my wardrobe for my next role. You know I’ve landed the female lead in The Musgraves?’

India inclined her head in acknowledgment.

‘It was Simon who clinched things for me really,’ Melisande added, scarlet-tipped nails almost stroking the grey-suited arm resting on the chair next to her own. ‘He has extensive interests in commercial TV.’

‘Really?’

India was not aware quite how dampening she had made the word sound until she looked up and caught the grey eyes watching her with curt anger. She had already heard that Melisande had got the main role in the proposed new TV blockbuster series, but stage costume designing was unfamiliar territory to her, and while she appreciated Melisande’s faith in her, she felt that she had more than enough on her hands with the salon. The sudden boom in ‘high living’ had meant that she had had to take on extra staff to cope with the orders as it was, and she was cautious about who she employed.

‘I’m sure he’ll put in a good word for you with the studio bosses,’ Melisande said.

‘I’m sure Miss Lawson doesn’t need me to help her, not with Melford Taylor as her… backer.’

Fighting down the sudden surge of anger which had almost taken her unawares, India turned her back on him, glad of the excuse of suggesting to Melisande that she help her with the dress. It was years since she had felt such an almost immediate antipathy towards someone, even given that she was being quite deliberately needled. And why, she could not imagine! Even if she were Mel’s mistress, to use an outdated word, what possible business was it of Simon Herries?

In the fitting room she helped Melisande on with the blue satin. The bodice was cleverly draped to flatter the actress’s figure, with the pencil-slim skirt which India knew she favoured.

‘It’s gorgeous!’ Melisande pronounced when she had finished studying her reflection.

‘The hem has to be finished and one or two other little things done, but you’ll have it tomorrow,’ India promised.

She could hear her private phone ringing and sighed, knowing that it would be Mel. She had told him last weekend that there was no future in their relationship. She liked him; he had a good sense of humour and was a pleasant, undemanding companion, but as she had pointed out to him, he was a married man.

Hadn’t she heard of divorce? Mel had asked her quizzically, but India had cut him short. He had, as she knew, two small children, and even if she had been in love with him, which she wasn’t, she doubted if she could have brought herself to be the one responsible for depriving them of their father. The reason was quite simple; during her own childhood her father had had an affair with another woman. It had lasted about a year. India had been twelve at the time, a very impressionable age. She had known that something was wrong. Her mother and father never seemed to laugh any more, and she had caught her mother crying. It hadn’t been long before an older, more knowing child at school had enlightened her. She could remember quite vividly the sickness which had overwhelmed her; the need to be alone, to be assured that what she had heard wasn’t true. She had gone home and poured out the whole thing to her mother. It was true, her mother had explained, but that didn’t mean Daddy no longer loved her. He did, very much.

Her mother had been extremely courageous, India reflected, thinking about that time now. It couldn’t have been easy, trying not to let her own doubts and bitterness affect India’s relationship with her father, but somehow she had succeeded, and been rewarded, when eventually the affair had fizzled out. Afterwards neither of her parents made any reference to what had happened, and to all intents and purposes lived quite amicably together, but the experience had changed India, made her question life and love far more deeply than most girls of her age, and although she was reluctant to admit it, had made her wary and mistrustful, unconsciously unwilling to commit herself to any deep emotional involvement with a man so that somehow, at twenty-five she had emerged from her teens and early twenties without the sexual and emotional experience most girls of her age took for granted.

When they returned to the salon Simon Herries was studying a seascape hanging on one of the walls. India’s father had painted it before his death, and it depicted the view from their Cornish home on the cliffs high above the Atlantic. It was from her father that she had inherited the ambition which had made her successful, India acknowledged. He had been a civil engineer before his retirement, often working abroad. She herself had been conceived during a brief visit her mother had paid him when he was working on a contract in India—hence her unusual name.

‘Cornwall?’ he commented to India without lifting his eyes.

‘Yes.’

‘Your secretary came to look for you. She asked me to tell you that there’d been a call for you. Said you’d know who it was from.’ This time he did look at her. ‘It can’t be easy, conducting an affair with a married man. You’re to be congratulated. You’ve obviously been very discreet.’

He made it sound on a par with earning a living as a prostitute! Even Melisande caught the contemptuous undertone and frowned slightly.

‘Oh, really, darling,’ she protested, ‘aren’t you being just the tiniest bit old-fashioned? Extra-marital affairs are the norm these days. Be honest now, if you were married could you see yourself being faithful for the rest of your life? No, I think India has the right idea. Far better to be independent; to have a lover rather than a husband. You will make sure the dress is sent round tomorrow, won’t you?’ she asked India as Simon Herries helped her on with her fox jacket. ‘Simon is taking me to the charity do at the Dorchester and I want to look my best.’

India walked with them to the door. Melisande kissed her on the cheek; she half extended her hand expecting Simon Herries to shake it formally, but to her chagrin he ignored her hand, instead glancing curtly down the length of her body, before following Melisande out to the sleek dark green Ferrari parked outside the salon.

‘Umm, I wish I could find myself someone like that,’ Jennifer commented dreamily, unashamedly watching them depart. ‘Fantastic looks, money—and I’ll bet he rates ten out of ten as a lover as well!’

‘You’d probably be very disappointed,’ India said briefly.

‘You reckon?’

Something in her expression made Jennifer frown. ‘He really got to you, didn’t he?’ she said slowly. ‘I’ve never known you to lose your sense of humour like this before, and God knows we’ve had them all in here. What happened, did he make a pass at you when Melisande wasn’t looking?’

‘Why should he? You said yourself he’d got the lot; I can’t think of a single reason why he should spare me a glance when he’s got Melisande.’

‘I can,’ Jennifer replied. ‘Several. For a start, you’ve got far more sex appeal. Oh, I know Melisande looks all soft and cuddly, but anyone can see she’s as hard as nails underneath, while you… Are you sure he didn’t make a pass?’

‘Positive. Now, can we please change the subject?’

‘Okay,’ Jennifer agreed cheerfully. ‘What do you want to talk about? Oh, help! I’ve just remembered, you-know-who rang. Said he’d pick you up at eight. I didn’t know you had a date with him tonight.’

‘I don’t—at least not officially. He did say something about us having dinner together last week, but I’ve already told him I…’

‘You don’t date married men,’ Jenneifer supplied with another grin. ‘You certainly believe in making things difficult for yourself, don’t you? With his influence…’

‘I don’t want his influence, Jen,’ India cut in with unusual crispness. ‘I like Mel, and I value his friendship. I’ve known him for over three years—ever since I first opened this salon. My accountant introduced him to me—in fact it was Mel who first told me about these premises…’

‘Well, you could do worse, you know,’ Jennifer pointed out judiciously. ‘He’s mad about you—anyone can see that.’

‘He’s married,’ India replied stubbornly. ‘And besides, I don’t love him.’

‘Love? Who needs it?’ Jennifer demanded sourly. ‘You know, for all that I’m three years younger than you, I sometimes feel old enough to be your mother.’

‘If you were, you’d hardly be encouraging me to go out with someone else’s husband,’ India pointed out dryly, but Jennifer merely raised her eyebrows.

‘You’re kidding! With a man as wealthy as Mel, mothers tend to forget an unimportant thing like an existing wife.’

Was she being stupid? India wondered several hours later as she locked the salon and stepped out into the crisp evening air. It wasn’t very far from the salon to where she lived. She had been lucky enough to be able to buy the top floor of one of an old row of Victorian terraced houses, just before they became fashionable, and she loved the privacy and space it gave her.

Mel had hinted on more than one occasion that he wanted to put their relationship on a more serious footing, but she had always reminded him of his wife.

Perhaps it was foolish at her age to virtually abandon the idea of a home, husband and children of her own simply because she had yet to meet the man who would be her ideal. It might have helped if she had known what she was looking for. All she did know was that as yet she had not met him; the man who would touch her emotions deeply enough for her to be able to break through the barriers of distrust erected during her vulnerable teens.

The phone rang just as she was unlocking her front door. She reached for it, dropping her coat and bag on the attractively re-covered Victorian chair which was the only piece of furniture in the tiny hall.

She had several good friends who often rang her, but she knew before she heard his voice who it would be on this occasion.

‘You got my message?’

‘Yes, I did, Mel, but I’m afraid…’

‘Please come, I want to talk to you—seriously. Please, India, I need to talk to you. I’d suggest that you come round here to my place, but I know you’d refuse, and as I’m hardly likely to get an invitation to your retreat, dinner seemed to be the only alternative.’

Recognising the strain in his voice, India gave way.

‘I’ll pick you up—about eight. We’re dining at Jardine’s.’

It was one of the more exclusive new restaurants which had recently opened and tables were not easily come by, but then to a man of Mel Taylor’s influence nothing would be impossible.

He had done very well for himself, India recognised, having built up an enviable business empire from one small company, and India suspected he was drawn to her because she too had had to struggle, and knew the value of what one earned by one’s own achievements. About his home background she knew very little apart from the fact that he had a wife and two small children, both boys, who attended an exclusive prep school. Although it was never said India guessed that there was a tremendous gulf between father and sons in the way that there often was between a parent who had been forced to work hard, building up a fortune from very small beginnings, and the children who enjoyed the style of life that fortune could purchase. She had once heard it mentioned that Mel had married ‘above himself’—an expression which she detested, and which she considered in Mel’s case was grossly unmerited, as he was a man of extremely refined taste, gentle and kind, and she wondered if it was perhaps this which had given rise to his marital problems. They were not something she cared to discuss with him, and she had never pried into his private life, despite the length of time she had known him. In fact it was only quite recently that she had seen him on a regular basis, certainly within the last six months, and it had not been until a couple of months ago that she had realised that Mel was subtly trying to steer their relationship into more intimate waters.