Instead he looked at Julie, and she wilted before the hard brilliance of his gaze. "What have you been saying?" he demanded coldly.
"Exactly what have you been saying-in the village?"
Julie gasped and William looked bewildered. "Julie hasn"t been to the village, Da-"
"Keep out of this, William!" Rhys was in no mood to be polite to anyone. "Well?" He did not shift his attention from Julie, "^re you going to tell me?"
Julie got to her feet. She was in her stockinged feet, but the discrepancy in their sizes seemed less overpowering when she was standing. So he had found out about the Jones girl. It was her own fault. She should have plucked up courage and told him.
"I-I"m sorry," she said now. "I know I should have consulted you first-"
"Like h.e.l.l you should!" Rhys" mouth was a thin line. "For G.o.d"s sake, why did you do it?"
William stood up now. "What has she done?" he exclaimed. "She doesn"t know anyone in the village."
"Doesn"t she?" Rhys switched his attention to his son for a moment.
"What do you know about it?"
William was taken aback. "I don"t think you should talk to Julie that way. What right have you-"
"Oh, William!" Rhys" fist smote the bade of the chesterfield. "You wouldn"t begin to understand." He paused. "This is nothing to. do with you. It"s-between Julie and me. Now, if you want to do her-and yourself-a favour, you"ll get out of here right now."
"Julie?"
William turned doubtfully to die girl at his side, and she gave him a faint, apologetic smile. "I think I know what your father"s talking about, William.- And-and yes, perhaps it would be better if you left us." These kind of scenes were not good for him, and already the familiar flecks of colour in his cheeks warned of his involvement.
All the same, it was like being in a battle and suddenly discovering that half your weapons were useless, and as he went out of the door, her knees started their cowardly trembling.
Rhys dosed the door behind his son, and then turned to regard her with chilling penetration. "Well?" he said, folding his arms. "I"m waiting."
Julie took a deep breath. "I was in the post office, and these women were there, and they were talking about-about the house, and how it"s been shut up for years-"
"Wait a minute. How did they know you were from here?"
Julie sighed. "I told them. They-they said I was a stranger. I had to say something."
"And?"
"Well-they said that they"d heard a rumour that the house was going to be sold-"
"What?"
"It"s true. They said that-that your-your sister-in-law had never liked living here."
"That"s never been in question."
"No, well-I expect they thought that she might persuade you to sell up-"
"My G.o.d! So that"s why you pretended we were having an affair!"
Now it was Julie"s turn to look horrified. "I-I-what did you say?"
Rhys"s arms fell to his sides. "It was a stupid idea!" he intoned angrily. "You had no right to even suggest such a thing."
Julie almost choked over her words of denial. "I didn"t. I didn"t! I don"t know what you"re talking about."
Rhys"s eyes narrowed now, and he disconcerted her still further by coming round the couch towards her. "I suppose I should be flattered really," he muttered derisively. "No one"s ever done anything quite like that for me before."
"I tell you, you"re mistaken!" cried Julie, staring into his dark, sardonic face. "I-I don"t know what you"re talking about. What has-what has this to do with-with Mavis Jones?"
Rhys"s expression revealed his bewilderment now. "Mavis Jones?" he muttered blankly. "Who the h.e.l.l is Mavis Jones?"
Julie put her hand to her head. A tiny throbbing had started somewhere near her temple, and the confusion she felt was disorientating her completely. "Mavis Jones," she repeated, in a small voice. "You must know who Mavis Jones is,"
"I can. a.s.sure you I don"t." Rhys looked down at her curiously, and then put a finger under her chin to lift her face so that he could see it.
"You"d better tell me."
Julie endeavoured not to succ.u.mb to the temptation to . drag herself away from him. He was too close, too disturbing, she was too conscious of him to speak with real coherence.
"I-I-you wanted someone, you said so, to-Mrs. Evans can"t manage."
"Take it more slowly," he advised, half impatiently. "What has Mrs.
Evans to do with this?"
Julie"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s heaved beneath the thin wool of her sweater. Forcing herself to speak slowly and lucidly, she said: "You said that Mrs.
Evans couldn"t manage, that she needed someone to help her with the housekeeping. So I-I mentioned it; in-in the post office."
"And this Mavis Jones applied? Why didn"t you tell me?"
"No, she didn"t apply," said Julie unhappily. "These women-the ones who were in the post office when I was there -they said she was looking for a job, that she might be interested. They were going to mention it to her mother."
"I see. So that was why you pretended a relationship with me? To give you the authority to employ this unknown housemaid-"
"No!" Julie was almost in tears now. "No, no! I-I never suggested anything like that."
"Then where has it come from?"
"I don"t know .. . that is ..." Suddenly Julie was remembering that scene with Gavin Meredith on the cliffs. His insinuations, before William had come running out of the mist and driven all other thoughts from her head. Drawing her chin away from his probing fingers, she said unsteadily: "I- I"m not sure, but-perhaps it was-Gavin-"
"Gavin-Meredith?"
She nodded, and sensed his instinctive irritation.
"You"ve been meeting Gavin Meredith?" His voice was hard.
"I-no." She shifted uncomfortably beneath his contempt "That day I went to the village, I saw him, that"s all."
"And he had become a nuisance to you, so you chose to disabuse him in the only way possible!"
"No." Julie shook her head, but she knew he did not believe her.
"Interesting," he murmured, and there was another note in his voice now, one which she recognised but scarcely dared to remember. "So,"
he said moving closer to her so that she felt suffocated by his nearness, "if I"m to be used as a deterrent, perhaps I should take advantage of the facilities offered." One hand curved round the back of her neck under the weight of her hair. "If the village is talking about us already, why shouldn"t we enjoy ourselves in justifying that reputation?"
"Don"t-be-silly," she exclaimed, struggling to escape from him.
"You know perfectly well that I would never-"
"Do I? Do I know you so well?" he taunted her, his other hand circling her waist, spreading possessively over the lower part of her spine, as he pressed her relentlessly towards him.
It was like a scene played in slow motion, with Julie powerless to do anything to stop it. He was doing this deliberately, she told herself fiercely, desperately trying to hold on to her sanity when the intimate pressure of his thighs uncoiled that yielding weakness inside her. He was using the situation shamelessly, delighting in the power he had over her. All this was just a game to him, a sophisticated game to while away a rather dull afternoon, and. while initially he had been annoyed that anyone in the village should link his name with hers, now he was realising how trivial that was, and taking advantage of what had become a rather amusing interlude.
He bent his head to hers and her hands were crushed between them, against the black silk of his shirt. Twisting her head from side to side, striving to avoid the seeking pressure of his mouth, she tried to uncurl her fingers, but only succeeded in parting the b.u.t.tons of his shirt so that the fine hair which grew down to his navel was caught in her nails. She dug her nails into him then, fighting like a cat for her freedom, but her actions only seemed to incite him further and exhaustion brought the surrender of her mouth to his.
He wais not gentle this time. She had fought with him, and he had overcome her struggles, had become the victor, the conqueror, with the power to do with her as he willed. His mouth was hard and demanding, his breath mingling with hers in her mouth, parting her lips until she felt dizzy with sensual feeling.
She clung to him because she did not trust her legs to support her, and felt his hands in her hair, forcing her head back so that he could bury his face in the hollow of her throat.
"You"ve stopped fighting, Julie," he groaned, cupping her face between his hands as she clutched at his belt. "Are you conceding defeat?" His eyes darkened pa.s.sionately. "Because if you"re not, I"d advise you not to trust me. Right now, I want you very badly, and although I know I"ll hate myself afterwards, I don"t know if I can let you go."
Julie"s tongue appeared only fleetingly, and her eyes were wide and innocent as they gazed up at him. For a few seconds, they were completely absorbed in just looking at one another, searching one another"s faces with an intensity that disguised completely the sudden opening of the door, and Nerys" instinctive exclamation when she saw what was going on.
But no one was allowed to ignore Nerys, and with just the right amount of sarcasm in her voice, she said: "When you"ve finished flattering your ego, Rhys, I"d like to have a word."
They both turned to look at the woman standing negligently in the doorway, and Julie could feel the shameful wave of embarra.s.sment sweeping over her. She was sure that had she been in Nerys" position, she would have gone away quickly, too distressed to intervene, and the very fact that she didn"t proved the special kind of relationship she had with her brother-in-law. Perhaps she had witnessed this kind of scene before. Julie was sickened at the thought.
But before she could do anything about it, Rhys had put her aside, and was striding round the couch towards Nerys, making Julie feel as if she had been detaining him. "Well?" he said, looking down at his sister-in-law, and no one would have guessed from his att.i.tude that only moments before he had been completely aroused, oblivious of anything but the gratification of his senses.
Nerys looked pointedly at Julie. "Would you mind?" she murmured insinuatively, and with flaming cheeks, Julie hurried out of the room.
William was hanging about on the landing when Julie .went upstairs, and her heart sank at the sight of him. But fortunately he a.s.sociated her hot colour with the anger his father had been exhibiting when he departed.
"What was it all about?" he asked, following her along to her room, his brow furrowing anxiously.
"Oh-nothing much." Julie was abrupt, but right now all she wanted was time to gather her scattered senses.
"Can"t you tell me?"
William hovered in the doorway to her room, and turning she surveyed him resignedly. "I-well, I employed-no, I didn"t employ, exactly, but I suggested that your father needed someone else to help in the house."
"When you were in the village?"
"Yes."
William"s eyes brightened. "And someone wanted the job?"
"Well-maybe."
"Hey, that"s marvellous! I thought no one in the village wanted to work here."
"No-well, there was this rumour, you see, that your father was going to sell Devil"s Mount. The village people resented that."
"Oh." William nodded. Then he grunted. "I bet I know who was responsible for starting that."
"Yes, well, I don"t want to hear about it. The fact remains that if your father isn"t going to sell the house, then I"m sure no one in the village would object to working here."
"Super!" William sounded delighted. "Then Nerys"ll have even less reason for complaining about the conditions here." He sighed suddenly. "Not that that"s such a good thing, of course. I don"t want her to settle here."
"Now, William..."
"Well, it"s true." Then he shrugged his momentary gloom away. "Oh, but that is good news about someone else working here, isn"t it?"
Then his brow creased again. "But I don"t understand. Why was my father angry about it?"
Julie turned away, fidgeting with the cosmetic jars on the marble surface of the washstand. "He-I expect he objected to my interfering-without his permission."
"Is that what he said?"
Julie crossed her fingers. "More or less."
"Huh!" William"s toe thudded into the door jamb, and Julie turned reprovingly.
"Don"t do that, William." She Sighed. "Now, if you don"t mind, I have rather a headache.. .."
"But what about tea?" William"s cry was plaintive, but for once Julie could not respond to it.
"I"m sorry, but I don"t think I could drink any tea right now," she said.
"Let me lie down for a while, and I"ll probably be all right by dinner time."
William was clearly torn between his desire to protest and an awareness that if he argued, Julie might not come down to dinner either.
"Oh, all right," he said at last. "I suppose I"ll have to have it alone."
"Why don"t you have it in the kitchen? With Mrs. Evans?" suggested Julie. "Ner-your aunt-is with your father just now."
William nodded. "I know, I saw her go in. Nosy creature! As soon as Dulcie told her I"d been sent out of the room, she came to see what was going on."
Julie acknowledged this with an inclination of her head. So Nerys had been protecting her property after all. Well, who could blame her?
Julie took some aspirin for the very real headache which had followed her confrontation with Rhys, and after resting for a while, felt reasonably well enough to take a bath. She had towelled herself, and was sitting in her dressing gown brushing her hair before the mirror when there was a knock at her door. Thinking it must be William again, come to a.s.sure himself that she was recovered, she called: "Come in!" and then felt a frisson of alarm slide up her spine when Nerys came into the room.
She was dressed for the evening in a gorgeous gown of dark red velvet, low-necked and long-sleeved, with bands of silver fur edging the cuffs and hem. If she had set out deliberately to make Julie feel inferior, she had succeeded, and the fleeting glimpse Julie had of her own reflection as Nerys closed the door made her defeatedly aware of her red-rimmed eyes and pale cheeks. She didn"t know why Nerys had come to see her, although she guessed it was not dissociated from what the older girl had witnessed that afternoon, but she didn"t see what"she could say about something so obviously unimportant.