Gentle Tyrant Read online

turned sternly forward, her eyes sparklling with anger. 159 She could, she supposed, have turned around and ridden off without him, but until it was, too late, the idea did not even occur to her. They had been traveling downhill for much of the time and were rapidly approaching the river, with its great grey boulders standing up like bulky sentinels, thrusting their way through the turf and heather, and giving the place an air of slightly unreal grandeur that the lowering sun emphasised. It was a beautiful spot and one of Laurie's favourites, although she did not come here as often now as she had once done. Perhaps because it was a much longer ride than going to the loch and she had less time for riding. The. river itself was audible as they came nearer. Splashing and sparkling over its rocky bed, its edges frothed and frilled with creamy foam created by its headlong rush as it sped its way westward. The sun, lower in the sky now, gave it the look of deep gold, as if it was indeed molten metal and not deep water, a look that was somehow awe-inspiring however many rimes one saw it. It was a sight she had not seen for some time and Laurie's temper evaporated in the beauty of it. It was so long since she had stood here on the baniss and seen the river turn to gold, and she was glad she had come, even if it was in the company of Quin McAdam. Perhaps because she was in his company, because there was something of her own reaction reflected ia his eyes too. 'Oh, it's so beautiful!' she breathed softly as they dismounted and went to stand almost at the very edge of the bank. Td almost forgotten just how beautiful 160 ;; it was.' He stood dose beside her, watching the rapid, deep water flow past them, and his hand touched her arm lightly, as if he feared she might go too close to the edge. 'And how dangerous?' he said quietly. She did not shake her arm free of his hold, but glanced at him over her shoulder. 'I know just how dangerous it is,' she told him. 'I've been here often before; He smiled. 'Good,' he said quiedy. 'As long as you know what you're about, then I shan't have to jump in and pull you out.' She turned again and looked at him curiously, a disturbing and rapid pulse tapping away at her temple as she held his gaze. 'Would you jump in and pull me out?'she asked. There was that disturbingly intense look in his eyes again when he smiled. 'Why not?' he asked. 'Don't-you think I would?' 'I I don't know.' She lowered her eyes at last, and looked at the swift flowing water. 'You might think it was a very good opportunity of getting rid of a thorn in your flesh.' 'I might,' he agreed gravely, and she flicked him a brief suspidous glance, 'But I'm strongly anti-pollution,' he added with a grin, 'and I don't somehow think you'd do the fish in the river very much good.' Oh, you !' To her surprise she found herself with an irresistible urge to laugh, and after a moment or, two she could resist it no longer and she threw back her head and laughed unrestrainedly. She was still laughing a moment later when his 161 hands gripped her arms tightly and pulled her to him, so close that she could see the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and the warmth in them when he looked down at her mouth intently. There was a taut exdtement about him that matched her own as, for a long moment, he held her there in silence. 'You should laugh more often,' he told her huskily then, his words warm against her lips. She could feel the rapid, dizzying thud of her own heart and the strong, steadier beat of his as his face came down closer, and she tipped back her head. Then his mouth closed firmly on hers and she felt herself being whirled along lightheadedly, as if she would never touch ground again. 'Quin!' She spoke indistinctly against his ear as he buried his face in the thick darkness of her hair, his lips warm on her neck and throat as he held her irresistibly tight and with an urgency that at once both alarmed and exdted her. 'Quin!' Another, harsher voice echoed her whisper, and brought Laurie swiftly back to reality. She freed herself from Quin's strong hands and moved away from him instinctively, turning to meet the blazing malice in Rose McAdam's eyes. She was riding Suli and the thin, bony hands were gripped tight on the Arab's rein, as if it served to hold back her anger too. 'Hello, Rose.' Quin sounded quite unconcerned at her arrival. 'You could have waited for me,' Rose told him, her voice taut and harsh, but still hanging on desperately to her temper. 162 .i . ;f. Quin shrugged, his smile doing nothing to placate ; the other woman, as Laurie realised. 'I didn't know you ' were coming out,' he told her off-handedly. 'You could have asked.' Laurie, in a brief wary glance, saw his brows draw closer in a hint of frown. Surely, she thought. Rose McAdam should have known her ex-brother-in-law better than that. He disLiked nothing more than being put at fault, and most especially by a woman. 'I had other things on my mind,' he informed her shortly, and she tightened her already thin lips. 'Obviously,' she said tartly. 'I saw you from some distance off, and I guessed it was you.' 'So you thought you'd come too,' Quin guessed quietly, an unfamiliar hardness in his voice which the newcomer either did not notice or chose to ignore. 'Do you mind?' she asked, and Quin shrugged. The hard, unfriendly blue eyes turned on Laurie' again and there was no mistaking her feelings at finding her there with Quin. No doubt too, she had witnessed that altogether unexpected and very disturbing kiss. What was puzzling Laurie at the moment was whether or not Quin had seen her coming and had, yet again, deliberately acted as he did to provoke the other woman. If he had, Laurie thought wildly, she would never, ever forgive him again. 'You have a bad memory. Miss Blair,' Rose McAdam told her harshly, evidently referring to her previous warning about her and Quin. Laurie flushed, biting on her lip not to be equally add in return, but she had no desire to indulge in a slanging match for Quin's probable amusement. 'I 163 should be getting back,' she said with what she considered was admirable restraint. Quin moved across towards their horses too, but Laurie's withdrawal was blocked by her antagonist and she could only reach Brownie by going right round behind her. Before she could take more than one short step, however, the Arab leapt forward sharply and without warning and she was knocked off her feet. She heard Quin's voice, vaguely, as she fell backwards, and the high, excited whinnying of the black gelding, then the cold, swift-flowing water closed over her and she momentarily lost consciousness as she went under. The river was deep and there was far less handhold on the rocks than there appeared to be when she tried to catch hold of them after her first, breathless ducking. The water was unbelievably cold as she struggled to gain a hold, her breathing short and painful. 'Quin!' Her cry was instinctive and she knew he was there in the water almost as soon as she was herself, strong hands holding on to her tightly as he fought against the surging speed of the river. 'All right, all right.' He spoke quietly, but she heard it above the sound of the water and hung on to the rock he guided her to. 'Get you breath back,' he told her, still supporting her. 'O.K.?' She nodded, her wet hair falling over her face and into her eyes, one cheek grazed on the rock as she fell. 'I I'm all right,' she assured him through chattering teeth, and was not really surprised when she saw the brief glimpse of a smile. 'Then hang on tight and try to stay upright.' 164 They were only a few feet from the bank, but gaining it was not easy for the depth and swiftness of the water, so that they were both breathing heavily when at last Quin climbed out and reached down to haul her up beside him. Laurie lay flat on her face for several moments, feeling as if her lungs would burst, her head spinning crazily, then she was lifted and turned over so that she looked up into Quin's face. The ice-grey eyes looked dark and anxious and he was not smiling now but breathing heavily as he looked down at her. 'Thank you; was all she said, and her voice was choked and husky with the water she had swallowed. 'You're all right?' She nodded, trying to sit upright, although he still kept one arm round her. 'I'm I'm perfectly all right.' She looked at him, dripping wet and looking suddenly older with deeper, craggier lines round his mouth and eyes so that the deeply tanned face had an almost primitive look as it looked down at her. 'Are yoy?' she asked. After a brief hesitation he grinned, running his lingers through the thick wet hair over his forehead. 'Like you, I'm a bit wet, but nothing worse.' Laurie looked across the moor to where the silky black Arab was flying over the turf with Rose McAdam using her heels to drive him yet faster, anger and frustration in every line of her slim body. 'She's gone,' Laurie said simp
ly, and he nodded. 'Now I must get you home before you catch pneumonia.' 'What about you?' she asked, already on the defen165 sive at his protective air. He grinned. 'I'm tough,' he told her, standing up and reaching down for her hands. 'But as stand-in grandpa for you, I'd better see you come to no harm or I'll have the real Grandpa on my trail.' 'You're not my keeper,' she told him, but smiled as she said it. Somehow it was amusing having him as a substitute grandfather and she must make the most of it. He was unrolling a waterproof jacket from the saddle and he draped it round her while Laurie tried to evade it. 'I'm your keeper for the time being,' he told her. And why you always have to be soaking wet when I rescue you after Rose's ministrations I don't know! Now put your arms in this jacket, Laurie, and don't go awkward on me, I'm in no mood to argue.' 'Then ' 'Put it on, damn you!' He grabbed her arms one at a time and pushed them into the jacket sleeves, then zipped it up to under her chin. 'Now come on, get aboard and I'll get you home and dry.' Obediently she allowed him to help her mount, then nodded when he asked if she was all right to ride. 'I'm perfectly all right,' she told him. 'I'm much tougher than I look, you know.' He grinned across at her as he swung himself up, shaking water from his hair. 'I doubt it,' he told her. 'Now get a move on before something else happens.' Brownie had seldom gone so fast for so long, but Quin was relentless in his urge for speed and the little mare complied gallantly, stretching herself to the full across the open moor, while Laurie fought a growing 166 need to cry Like a baby. It was reaction, of course, but by the time they got back to the lodge, the tears were rolling down her cheeks in dismal procession and she was crying quietly, biting her lip to try and stop herself. There was no sign of her grandfather when they reined in-just beside the cottage and Laurie wondered what he would have to say about this latest escapade. Although it was none of her doing. She could imagine what Rod's reaction would be and she wondered if it would predpitate a full-scale family row if he made his displeasure known to Rose McAdam. What Quin's attitude would be, she could not even guess. She had yet to dedde whether or not he had kissed her on impulse, as she had first supposed, or whether he had seen Rose coming and done it deliberately to provoke her. He came round to help her down and as he set her on her feet in front of him he saw the tears and the look of indecision in her eyes. 'Laurie!' One finger gently touched her cheek and she sobbed uncontrollably at the gesture. 'I'm I'm just I'm just ' 'I know, I know.' Before she realised it, she was held tightly in his arms and her face pressed against the wetness of his shirt. 'You were frightened, my sweet love, and I should have realised it. I'm sorry.' He kissed her forehead lighdy and then pressed her close to him again. 'Don't cry any more, it's all over; 'Quin, I ' He held her off from him for a moment, his eyes warm and gentle but showing a hint of their customary laughter for her bedraggled appearance. 'You look Like 167 a little water gypsy; he told her softly, then laughed, shaking his head as if to dismiss the mood of gentleness. 'I don't know what Rod's going to have to say to this latest ducking you've had. You always seem to be getting drenched, don't you, and it's been my fault each time.' 'I'm glad you admit it,' she retorted swiftly and a little breathlessly. She was unsure whether to be angry with him about that endearment or just take it in her stride, but she definitely did not Like the way he gave Rod the right to be proprietorial about her. He laughed softly and slid his hands caressingly up and down her arms. 'I might as well; he told her. 'Before you do.' It was happening again, she thought wildly. They were gradually slipping back to normal, and she was oddly reluctant about it somehow. 'Quin ' She shook her head when he looked down at her enquiringly. 'I'd better go in and get these wet things off,' she told him. 'And so had you.' She unzipped the jacket he had insisted on her wearing. 'You'd better have this back too.' He helped her out of the wet sleeves and as it came free of her arms she glanced up at him, her pulses racing crazily when his hand brushed her neck. He said nothing, but after a brief, breathless second he dropped the jacket and pulled her suddenly into his arms, his mouth pressing down hard over hers, as if there was some desperate hunger in him. Laurie had completely surrendered herself to the dizzying excitement of it and clung to him tightly when 168 somewhere in the background she heard a- familiar voice and brought herself reluctantly back to earth. 'Now what are you playing at?' Rod demanded, sounding more annoyed than surprised. 'Damn you, Quin, why can't you play fair?'

  CHAPTER TEN

  LAURIE looked at Rod uncertainly. It was going to be very difficult explaining it all to Rod without making' much more of the inddent than mere need be. She had said very little last night when he caught her with Quin in what she had to admit was a rather compromising situation. Making the excuse that she was very wet and must change her clothes immediately, she had told him that she would see him tomorrow, and fled to her room. What explanation Quin had given him she had no idea. Probably none, since he seemed so curious now. He looked less dreamily romantic than usual, she thought, as they strolled round the edge of the garden to the low wall where they invariably sat to talk. True, he was holding her hand, but he had made no attempt so far to make the contact more intimate, as he usually did, and she wondered just what he knew or suspected. 'Well, it seems you've succeeded in getting rid of Rose, anyway,' he told her. She usually went riding with him on Saturday afternoon, but after last night's episode at the cottage she was unsure just what to expect, so she had not changed into riding clothes but merely walked up to the house in the offchance of seeing him. 170 He had not questioned her about it, but had kissed her briefly and suggested that they walk round the garden. She thought he looked more shrewd than usual too as he looked at her, and it crossed her mind that he was a lot more like Quin than she had realised. 'She's she's gone?' 'Lock, stock and barrel,' Rod assured her. 'Early this morning.' She glanced at him through her lashes, curious in her turn. 'It was rather sudden, wasn't it?' she asked, and Rod shrugged. 'Who cares? She's gone; Laurie was silent for a moment, wondering what could have prompted such a hasty withdrawal, and feeling vaguely uneasy, almost guilty. 'Well, I don't think I had anything to do with it,' she denied, and he looked down at her steadily, with eyes more Like Quin's than their usual dreamy selves. 'Oh, but I'm sure you did,' he insisted. 'Judging by the bit I heard going on between Rose and Quin.' She looked startled. 'You mean they were they were quarrelling?' Rod shrugged. 'You could call it that, I suppose, though it sounded more like Quin laying down the law, and eventually Rose apparently decided she hadn't a leg to stand on, and she went off with her tail, between her legs.' Laurie looked at him uneasily. Explanations, she supposed, were inevitable sooner or later, but she did not quite know how she was going to explain to Rod that when he caught Quin kissing her he was not the first one to see them that evening. It was possible, of 171 course, that he knew all about how she came to be soaking wet, but somehow she did not see Quin going to the trouble of explaining. 'I suppose she's taken Colin with her too?' she said, and he nodded. 'Yes, that's the one drawback with her going. Poor old Russ misses Colin and she knows it, so she's bitch enough to take him with her, even though it's not him she's fighting with.' 'I'm sorry about Colin,' Laurie said, genuinely regretting it. 'I know how Russ will miss him.' Tm curious about what caused the fracas between Rose and Quin,' he said, returning to the matter in hand. 'I didn't overhear enough to get any more than the general gist of things. How did both you and Quin come to be soaking wet? Just what did happen, Laurie?' She still hesitated. Explanations were inevitable, but she wondered how he was going to take the whole truth. He had been genuinely angry last night, she thought, but how much angrier was he going to be when he knew that kiss was not the first one that evening? 'I I saw Quin down by the loch while I was out last night; she began, and he laughed shortly, flopping down on to the low wall and pulling her down with him by the hand he held. 'Yes, after he'd taken care to give me a job to do to make sure I was safely out of the way,' he said. 'Oh no. Rod!' She looked at him uneasily. 'He he wouldn't. I mean, not for the reason you're suggesting.' 'I wouldn't have thought so at o
ne time,' Rod 172 admitted. 'But lately I don't know, he's not running true to form. I've never known him comment on a woman's looks before, not out loud anyway, yet I've heard him do so a couple of times about you. Russ has noticed it too, and so, I might add, has Rose.' 'Oh, for heaven's sake,' Laurie said. 'That doesn't mean I thought all men talked about that kind of thing among themselves.' 'Not all of them,' Rod demurred, his expression thoughtful. Laurie found it hard to believe that Quin was uninterested in feminine company, and said as much. 'I can't believe Quin's never had a a girl-friend,' she said, and Rod laughed. 'You're ri'ght, he's had more women friends than most, but he's never talked about them.' He pulled a rueful face. 'And I know my big brother, if he wants a thing, he'll stop at nothing to get it, even if it happens to be my girl.' 'Oh, Rod, you're wrong,' Laurie protested. 'And I'm not at all sure that I like being referred to as a thing, either.' He squeezed her hand and smiled apologetically. 'It was just a figure of speech,' he told her. 'I still think you're wrong.' She realised suddenly, however, that she did not know for sure if she was wrong or not. Quin was a very attractive man and he would certainly be aware of it. He would be ruthless too, she had said so herself, and if a particular woman took his eye she had no doubt he would resort to whatever means necessary to get what he wanted. 173 The only thing certain in her case, she felt, was that he did not think of her in that way. Granted those last two times he had kissed her had been something she could never forget, but apart from that his usual ' attitude towards her had scarcely been that of a lover. Even thinking of him in that light, however, brought a swift bright colour to her cheeks and she saw Rod's brow flick upwards in surprise when he noticed it. 'Suppose you tell me exactly what made Rose so mad,' he told her. 'And what made Quin tear into her Like a wild thing when he came back here.' Laurie looked at him warily through her lashes and he smiled as he put an arm round her. 'I mean to know,' he told her, 'so you might just as well tell me, my sweet.' Laurie pouted reproachfully at his tone. 'You; she accused, 'sound exactly Like Quin.' 'Then just pretend I am,' he said, 'and do as you're told; She traced the rough surface of the stone with the tip of one finger, and did not look at him while she spoke. T I fell in the river,' she said, and again saw that doubting brow flick upwards. 'Fell?' he asked softly. 'Actually ' She hesitated. 'Rose rode your Suli straight at me, and knocked me in.' For a moment he stared at her doubtfully. 'Do I need to ask why?' he asked softly, and she shook her head. 'It would have been enough that I was within half a mile of Quin,' she told him. 'It probably would,' he agreed. 'But was that the only reason, Laurie ?' 174 She said nothing for a moment, then shook her head slowly. 'No,' she said. 'He was kissing me.' He nodded as if that was exactly what he had expected. 'Like he was when I saw you,' he guessed, and laughed shortly. 'His timing wasn't very good last night, was it?' 'Oh, Rod, please don't make a big issue out of it!' She felt suddenly very small and vulnerable. She had always thought the Blairs the most important family in her life until now. Now suddenly these strong-willed, implacable McAdams were taking her over and she felt as if she wanted to run somewhere and hide from them. Rod, showing all the affronted indignation of a wronged lover; Rose treating her like some kind of low life with designs on Quin, and Quin himself taking up battle on her behalf with his ex-sister-in-law after he had, yet again, put her in jeopardy from the woman's jealousy. The worst part of it all was that she could not even rely on her grandfather to see her point of view, for he was firmly and surely on Quin's side. 'I'm not making a big issue out of it,' Rod denied. 'I just don't Like Quin poaching on my territory, that's all. He's never done it before and I wish he'd stick to his own sort.' 'You have no right to talk about me Like that,' Laurie protested. 'I'm not something you own, Rod, and I can't be stolen or poached, whatever you call it, because I'm a free agent. And you have no right, either of you, to treat me as if I came with the property. The idea of of droit du seigneur went out long ago, you know.' 'Laurie dariing!' He looked quite astounded at her 175 reaction, and reached for her other hand. 'I'm sorry, I didn't realise you felt so strongly about it.' He leaned across and kissed her cheek lightly, his eyes watching for another indignant reaction. 'Forgive me?' For a moment Laurie said nothing. Not only were the McAdams strong-minded, they were far too attractive and persuasive too, especially Rod in this mood. He seemed to have completely recovered his good humour and was bent on making up to her. But Laurie was not at all sure that she wanted to go back to what had lately been normal. Certainly Rod was very attractive and she Liked him a great deal, but she did not like the idea of belonging to anybody she had a mind of her own and she would make it up for herself. 'I forgive you. Rod,' she told him. 'As long as you don't get the idea that you have some sort of claim on me.' 'Quin then?' he suggested soft-voiced, and she hastily turned her head away. 'Not Quin either,' she denied. 'I'm a free agent. Rod, with no ties anywhere.' 'All right; Rod said, turning her head round to him again and kissing her full on her mouth for quite some time. 'I'll remember, if you do,' he told her. Laurie finished typing the page she was doing and pulled it out of the machine, smiling across at Russ when he looked up. 'You've done that in double-quick time,' he told her. 'Your speed has improved, Laurie.' 'I think it has a bit,' she admitted, gratified that the improvement had been noticed. 'In fact,' Russ informed her, 'you've turned out to 176 be a very efficient secretary.' 'Thank you.' She bobbed her head in a mock bow and smiled. 'I'm glad I listened to Quin and saw you first,' he told her. 'Before I sent to Crathmean for someone from the bureau.' She looked a little startled until she remembered that it had been Quin who had suggested his brother see her in the first place. 'I'm glad you did too,' she told him. Russ leaned back in his chair, running one hand through his hair, a gesture he often used and one which was common to all three brothers. -There was something on his mind, Laurie thought, and wondered what was behind the somewhat speculative look in his eyes as he studied her for a moment before he spoke again. 'You quite enjoy working for us now that you've got used to us, don't you?' he asked. Laurie nodded. 'Oh yes, I do. At least,' she qualified, 'I enjoy working for you.' He shook his head slowly as he looked down at his clasped hands. 'Why especially me?' he asked. 'We're all partners and you take dictation from all of us at various times.' Laurie smiled ruefully as she sought to explain her preference. 'That's true,' she allowed. 'But with Rod I have to wait while he thinks up the right words to suit his mood, and with Quin I can't always keep up and he gets impatient and clucks at me.' He seemed to find that amusing and laughed, and she wondered why it had never occurred to her before that Russ was just as attractive as either of his brothers, i 177 Rose McAdam, she thought, must be very shortsighted not to have seen that in Russ she had far more than most women expect in a husband. 'Quin wants everything done at supersonic speeds,' he told her. 'But he does give you time to catch up, doesn't he?' 'Only because he hasn't any option unless he wants to write his own letters,' Laurie retorted, and smiled at him. 'Anyway,' she said, 'strictly speaking I actually work for you, and! Like it that way.' 'You wouldn't be prepared to to change partners?' he suggested, and smiled wryly at his choice of phrase, while Laurie looked at him curiously for a moment. 'Is there any reason why I should change partners?' she asked at last, and he again looked down at his hands. 'For a while there is,' he told her quietly. 'You see, I have to go away for several weeks, Laurie.' 'Oh! Oh, I see; 'It isn't permanent,' he went on. 'But there's a new treatment been developed and it could mean that there's a chance I'll walk again, after a fashion. I think it's worth trying.' 'Oh, but that's marvellous!' Laurie said, her eyes shining with genuine pleasure. 'I'm so glad, Russ, I really am.' 'It's all a bit of a gamble, actually; he confessed. 'But it might work, and I'm ready to take the chance.' 'Oh, I'm sure it will!' 'I'll be gone about eight or nine weeks,' he said. 'Starting next week.' 'And naturally you won't be needing me,' she said 178 smuing. 'Well, that's all right, Russ, I understand.' He looked at her briefly and curiously. 'I wondered if you'd stay on with Quin,' he said. Laurie stared at him for a moment.
'With Quin?' He nodded. 'Quin will be taking over my part of the business as well while I'm gone, and he'll need a secretary too. That's what I meant by changing partners.' Tsee; He looked at her, anxiously she thought. 'You don't mind working for Quin, do you?' he asked, and Laurie sighed. 'I'm not sure,' she told him truthfully. Td love to go on working here, of course, but for Quin- ' 'He wants you to, Laurie. In fact' he laughed shortly 'he expects you to.' She looked across at him, not doubting for a moment that he was right about that. Quin would expect her to go with the job. Laying claim to her as if she was part of the property, she thought, and remembered how she had objected to Rod about the same thing. 'He thinks I go with the furniture, is that it?' she asked, and he frowned. 'No, of course not, my dear,' he assured her. 'But Quin rather thought you'd rather stay on here. I did too.' 'I suppose I would,' she confessed. 'There'll be plenty to do,' he warned her. 'We're expanding all the time and as we said just now, Quin doesn't believe in marking time.' Laurie remembered something else then, and her heart turned cold as she guessed at the expansion he 179 had mentioned. 'I suppose he'll be turning Clach Aros into a stately home, won't he?' she asked. 'I'd forgotten that.' For a moment he looked as if he did not understand her, then he smiled and shook his head. 'Indeed he won't,' he said. 'That idea was abandoned before it was ever seriously considered.' The kindly grey eyes looked at her for a moment or two in silence. 'You really hated the idea of that, didn't you, Laurie?' 'I can't think of anything I'd hate more,' she agreed, and he shook his head slowly. 'That's what Quin said,' he told her softly. 'He's the last person to want it turned into a tourist trap, Laurie. He fought it tooth and nail.' Laurie stared at him for a moment, lips parted, eyes wide with disbelief. Her heart felt as if it had stopped completely and then suddenly it was pounding away at her ribs Like a wild thing, and she found her voice at last. 'Quin?' she said huskily. 'Quin fought against it?' Russ nodded, his eyes faintly quizzical. 'Does that surprise you?' he asked. 'But but I thought he was the one who ' He smiled wryly and shook his head at her. 'I know what you thought,' he said. 'Quin told me.' 'Then why didn't he tell me?' Laurie protested. 'let me go on blaming him, and all the time ' 'It wasn't his idea at all,' he assured her. Laurie looked at him steadily, knowing at the back of her mind what the answer must be, but unwilling yet to face it. Then if it wasn't Quin ' ' 'And it certainly wasn't me,' Russ said quietly, and 180 she guessed from the expression in his eyes that he knew exactly how she felt. 'It must have been Rod,' she said in a flat voice, and wondered bitterly if she had ever quite so succesfully been made such a fool of before. 'He should have been more honest with you,' Russ saidgendy. 'So should Quin,' Laurie said, close to tears. if only he'd denied it was him, I'd have known it had to be Rod.' He shook his head slowly over his brother's deception. 'Rod was afraid of you thinking badly of him; he told her, and smiled ruefully. 'He didn't realise until it was too late, you see, how important it was to you, and he didn't want to spoil his image. By then, of course, you had already earmarked Quin as the vulain; 'And what was Quin's reason for letting me go on thinking so?' she asked bitterly. 'Just the reverse, presumably.' Russ shrugged his shoulders, a little wearily. 'I don't pretend to-understand Quin,' he told her. 'I expect he had his own reasons.' 'No doubt!' 'But please don't judge either of them too harshly, Laurie,' he begged gently. 'We're a stubborn breed and I suppose we always run whichever way suits us best.' 'Not you,' Laurie denied quietly. She got up from her desk and walked over to his with the letter she had been typing. 'I know I can trust you, Russ.' He took the letter from her and laid it down carefully on the desk in front of him. "Then will you stay here and work for Quin while I'm gone?' he asked 181 softly at last, and Laurie looked at him uneasily. 'Do do you want me to ?' He looked up and smiled. 'I'd Like you to.' She nodded her head briefly and saw Russ smile as if it pleased him. 'I'll stay,' she told him. 'But we'll probably fight all the time, Russ. You know what it's Like, and with you not here to referee ' He laughed. 'You don't need a referee,' he told her. 'You can cope perfectly well, Laurie.' 'With Quin?' she said doubtfully, already having second thoughts. 'I don't know that I can. I've managed while you've been here to keep the peace but left to his own devices, and obliged to do his own office work and yours as well, I can't see myself lasting very long in those drcumstances; 'But you will try?' Laurie sighed, then nodded her head. 'I'll try,' she premised. It had been a rather upsetting day, Laurie thought, and she was glad of a walk after dinner to try and think things out. It was wonderful news that Russ might be able to walk again, of course, but she still had qualms about working for Quin in the same way she had for his brother. As for the abortive attempt to make Clach Aros into a public show, it hurt her pride badly to realise that Rod had so easily fooled her about that, and she would not easily forgive him. It was, in fact, with the intention of avoiding Rod that she had decided on a walk instead of riding, as she more usually did. Also by coming this way, through the trees that 182 bordered the drive, there was less likelihood of her meeting him. She enjoyed walking in the cool shade of the trees, espedally after a hot summer's day, and she lifted her face to the almost chill breeze that wafted a smell of rich loam and leaf mould to her. It was not going to be easy seeing Quin in any role but the one she had originally allocated to him, and she half wished Russ had not told her about his fighting to keep Clach Aros as it was. Bringing Quin over to her side was not only discomfiting but also disturbing to her peace of mind. It was with a racing heart therefore that she heard him call to her a few minutes later as she walked through to the clearing on the far side of the trees, and instead of turning round, she merely stopped in her tracks one arm round the trunk of a tree, kicking at a pile of earth with the toe of one shoe. 'Your grandpa said I'd find you here; he told her when he came alongside, and she glanced up and frowned. Her grandfather could be relied upon to tell Quin where she was, whether he thought Laurie wanted to see him or not. 'Were you looking for me?' she asked, still kicking at the soft earth with her toe. 'Not exactly; he told her, and she guessed he was smiling by the sound of his voice. 'Are you in one of your spoofy moods?' he added. 'You sound as if you've been having words with somebody.' 'No. No, I haven't.' She made no effort to walk on further, but still embraced the tree while he walked round and leaned an elbow on the other side of it, fadng her and much too close for her comfort. 'Russ 183 Russ told me about his going away,' she said. 'I see.' A brief upward glance revealed a rather surprising warmth in the ice-grey eyes as they looked down at her steadily. 'I expect he also mentioned that I wanted you to carry on in the same job with me, did he?' She nodded. 'And that's the reason for your looking as solemn as a little owl ?' 'I didn't know I was,' she said defensively. He lifted her chin with one hand and smiled down at her. 'You look as if you have serious doubts about it all; he told her. 'And I can't think why you should.' 'Can't you?' She looked up at him, holding his gaze for longer than she meant to, but it was so hard to look away again. 'I warned Russ we should probably come to blows, but he seems to think it'll be O.K.' 'Of course it will,' he assured her blithely. 'Is that all that's giving you the glooms?' He must know, Laurie thought. Her grandfather would have told him that she was upset about Rod's deception, and she put up a hand to release his hold on her chin. 'It's all I want to talk about,' she told him. 'Except ' She hesitated, wondering suddenly how she was going to word her apology. 'I have to say I'm sorry.' To me?' She nodded. 'What for?' She looked up at him reproachfully. 'Oh, you know what for; she told him. 'I'm sure Grandpa must have told you. I I've just learned that Rod was the one who wanted to exhibit Clach Aros, not you.' 'That's right.' She pouted, but hastily lowered her gaze when she saw that strange, intense look in his eyes again. 'You 184 could have told me I was wrong,' she told him. 'And spoiled your nlusions?' He laughed sofdy. 'Poor little Laurie, now you have to face the fact that even the most romantic of us has a strong commerdal streak!' For a long time she said nothing, although her brain was spinning round and round with all sorts of unanswerable questions, and he seemed content
to just lean against the tree and watch her face. 'I I seem to have had a lot of wrong ideas about you,' she said at last, and wondered that the admission came so easily. 'I'm sorry, Quin.' For a moment he neither said nor did anything, then he leaned over and kissed her very gently on her mouth. 'You're forgiven,' he said softly. 'Now smile, will you? I hate to see you looking so gloomy.' 'I'm not really gloomy,' she denied. 'I I just had a lot to think about, and I didn't think I could face Rod without being absolutely bitchy to him, so I came out here to avoid him.' He was laughing, but she did not even feel angry about it. 'Can you be bitchy?' he asked, and she could not resist the wry smile that tilted her mouth. 'You should know,' she told him. , 'I should know,' he echoed. 'You had your knife into me from the word go, didn't you? Now don't deny it,' he added hastily when she would have argued. 'I know why, and to a certain extent I understand your feelings, but sometimes you were such a pugnacious little devil I could have cheerfully spanked you!' He was speaking, she noticed, in the past tense and she laughed suddenly, as if a weight had been lifted 185 off her mind. 'You'd have been sorry if you had; she told him. 'I can bite very hard. And you couldn't really blame me for getting mad with you when you always treat me Like a little girl. It's infuriating for a grown woman to have to put up with such indignity; He grinned at her, his face dose to hers and that oddly disturbing look in his eyes again as he looked at her mouth. 'A grown woman,' he echoed softly. 'Yes, I suppose you are; 'Of course I am!' 'Then I'd better start treating you Like one." 'You had; she agreed firmly. He reached across the few feet that separated them and pulled her towards him until she was pressed so close she had to lean back her head to look up at him. Her pulses were leaping wildly and she felt oddly breathless as he looked at her steadily for a long moment before he bent his head. His mouth was at once fiercely possessive and gentle and she made no protest at all as she closed her eyes, her arms sliding up round his neck until her fingers held handfuls of the thick fair hair that grew in his neck. 'Quin!' He laughed softly against her ear, his voice muffled in the thickness of her hair. 'Is that grown up enough for you?'She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away from her, her eyes wide and a little wary, anxious too as she looked up at him. Tm not sure I ' Before she could go on he brushed her lips with his own and smiled. 'I love you; he told her softly. 'Does that make it all right, my sweet love?' 186 He had called her that once before, Laurie remembered vaguely, and nodded her head. 'I expect so,' she said huskily, and lifted her face to him again. 'Now this is going to make things quite different,' he said when he released her again and rested his face on her hair. 'It looks as if I shall have to get another secretary after all.' ' Laurie stirred briefly in his arms. 'Why?' she asked. 'Because I don't think you and work would mix very well,' he told her. 'You'd be far too much of a distraction, my love, I always thought you would be.' 'But you were so insistent that I should woris for you while Russ was away.' He laughed softly and kissed her ear. 'Only because I thought it was the only way to have you near me,' he told her, then sighed deeply. 'Now I suppose I shall have to get Miss Grieve's bureau to send me some suitable females to look over.' Laurie raised her head then, her wide blue eyes darkly shining and with a determined gleam in their depths. 'Well, you tell Miss Grieve,' she told him firmly, 'not to send anyone under for y or in the least bit glamorous.' Quin laughed again. 'Now I'm going to marry you, I shan't even notice what she looks Like,' he vowed, and . Laurie made a face. 'I hope you mean that.' His arms tightened round her until she had not even breath to protest. 'When I'm married to you, my love, I shan't have time for anybody else.' 'I seem to remember,' Laurie murmured dreamily, 'that I once said I could no more marry you than fly to 187 the moon.' 'You did?' He looked down at her curiously, that warm, intense look in his eyes again. 'That was a very rash statement to make. Who did you tell that to?' Laurie smiled, her hands rumpling his hair at the back of his neck, her eyes glowing with laughter. 'Old Margaret McKinnon,' she told him, and he laughed. 'The old matchmaker! Did she, have a go at you too?' Laurie nodded. 'You know, strictly speaking all this is her fault,' he went on. 'She put the idea into my head about marrying you, and here I am about to do just that.' 'Are you?' Laurie asked, kissing his chin. 'I don't remember you asking me yet.' Quin chuckled deeply and hugged her close again. 'I know you, my sweet love,' he told her. 'You'll never be able to resist the chance to live at Clach Aros again, will you?' Laurie knew she never would, but she was glad itwasn't the only reason, and when he kissed her again she wondered if it even mattered at all.