Marriage By Arrangement

‘I don’t know,’ Red repeated.

‘Well... Will you promise me that you’ll think about it?’

Red stood up. ‘OK—I mean, yes, all right. I’ll let you know later today. Is there a phone here? Can I call you?’

‘Yes; this is the number.’ Felicia wrote it down for her. Red went to give her the key of her front door, but Felicia wouldn’t take it. ‘No, you keep it until you make up your mind. I do hope you’ll decide to come and help me, Red. I like you, and I’m sure we’d get on very well together.’

It was said in the most charming way, making Red smile. ‘I can see why you always get your own way,’ she remarked, and lifted a hand in farewell.

The entrance area of the hospital was separate from the casualty department; it had a lobby with a drinks-vending machine and uncomfortable-looking seats for people to use while they waited for whatever reason.

Linus was sitting in one and reading a newspaper, which he folded when he saw her. Getting to his feet, he put a firm hand under Red’s elbow and said, ‘Let’s go and find somewhere to have a decent coffee.’

She supposed that she ought to have realised that he wouldn’t be dismissed so easily. There was a determined set to his jaw, and Red wondered if it wasn’t the other way round: that sometimes Linus allowed Felicia to win.

There was an up-market hotel a couple of hundred yards away, and they went into the lounge, sat in a quiet corner and Linus ordered coffee. Glancing at Red’s slim figure, he added, ‘And a selection of cakes.’

‘Do you think I don’t get enough to eat?’ Red asked in some amusement, thinking of the delicious meals that she and Jenny consumed as part of their wages at the bistro.

He gave a small shrug. ‘I suppose you’re forever slimming; most actresses seem to think of little else but their figure and their diet.’

Linus spoke disparagingly, making Red wonder again what he’d got against actresses. Some bad experience in the past, perhaps? She was both intrigued and a little annoyed at his attitude; she was an individual, and didn’t like being bunched with others under such general disapproval. But she said nothing, instead leaning back in her seat to look round the room.

It was Edwardian in decor, very restrained, very expensive. The weather was better this afternoon and the guests had gone out to explore London, so they had the lounge almost to themselves.

Red expected Linus to start on her straight away, but he waited until the coffee and some absolutely gorgeous cream cakes had been served. And then he only led up to the subject in a roundabout way; English subtlety, Red presumed.

‘Have you been in England long?’ he asked.

‘About eight months.’ Red stirred her coffee then took one of the cakes, her taste buds drooling.

‘And how long are you planning on staying?’

Her green eyes flicked up to glance at him. Deciding that she could play cat and mouse too, she answered offhandedly, ‘As long as it takes.’

‘To do what?’

‘Become rich and famous,’ she replied calmly.

He blinked and said drily, ‘That’s your sole ambition in life, is it?’

‘At the moment. Why, what’s yours?’

A taken-aback look came into his grey eyes for a second, but then Linus changed tactics and said, ‘Did Felicia ask you to go and live with her, look after her?’

‘Yes.’

‘And I suppose you agreed,’ he said on a sneering note.

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘You’re hardly likely to pass up such an opportunity.’ The cynical twist to his mouth deepened. ‘You’ve just openly admitted that you’re very ambitious, and I’m quite sure you think that by ingratiating yourself with Felicia, and therefore with me, that you’ll be going a long way towards furthering those ambitions..’

Red frowned in puzzlement. ‘Felicia did offer me free voice coaching,’ she admitted.

‘And auditions?’

‘She said that I’d be free to go to any that cropped up, yes.’

‘And I suppose you expect me to provide the opportunities.’

‘You?’ Red looked at him blankly, completely mystified.

Linus eyed her searchingly for a moment; then gave a small, thin-lipped smile. ‘Perhaps you’re a better actress than I thought. But there’s really no point in going on pretending, and this sham innocence certainly isn’t doing you any good—the opposite in fact.’

‘Just what are you talking about?’

His tone had a definite edge of anger to it as he said, ‘You know perfectly well who I am.’

Leaning forward, Red placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands as she contemplated him. She was getting rather tired of his disparaging remarks, especially as she had no idea what he was talking about.

‘I feel as if I’m in the wrong conversation. Maybe I missed something somewhere along the line. All I know about you is that you’re Felicia’s son—and I didn’t find that out until this morning. Before that I thought you were her toy boy,’ she added with intentional insult.

Linus glared at her, said curtly, ‘Rubbish! It’s no secret that Felicia is my mother, and she’s often been plagued by would-be actors and actresses trying to get to know me through her, through the lessons she gives.’

‘And just why should getting to know you be such a big deal?’

Again his eyes flicked searchingly to her face, but for only the briefest moment before he said, ‘You admitted that you called my business number yesterday; if you didn’t know who I was before, you must certainly have found out then.’

She frowned, trying to think back. ‘When I called that number all I got was an answer-phone.’

‘But you heard that it was a production company.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Are you saying that it’s a theatrical production company?’

Linus sighed. ‘Must you keep up this act? As I’m sure you must very well know, Cornucopia Productions is responsible for a great many cinema films and television programmes.’

So that was what all this was about; he was afraid that she would try to take advantage of knowing him to get a part in one of his company’s productions. And the only reason he didn’t want her to help Felicia was that he didn’t want to be under any kind of obligation to her.

His arrogant assumption that she was the kind of person who would take advantage of such a situation brought an immediate spurt of anger. Red was only amazed that he hadn’t accused her of pushing Felicia down the stairs as part of some deep-laid plan to bring all this about.

Not bothering to hide her feelings, she said with as much sarcasm as he had shown earlier, ‘And what are you—the office boy?’

Linus had his cup to his mouth, taking a drink, but was so surprised that the liquid went down the wrong way, making him cough. Recovering, he eyed her narrowly. ‘Not quite.’ His mouth was so grim that Red thought that he was going to have another go at her, but he said, ‘I’m not going to allow you to look after Felicia.’

‘Isn’t that up to her?’

‘She needs a trained nurse, not a bumbling amateur.’