Whisper Of Scandal

‘Yes, they seem very happy,’ she said lightly.

For a moment his gaze locked on her heart-shaped face. ‘You seem very fond of Garth,’ he said quietly.

She looked away from him. Sometimes there was a look in Marc’s dark gaze that was deeply disturbing. ‘Yes, I am. He’s been very good to me.’

‘Garth has a kind heart.’ He paused before continuing. ‘It would be very easy to play on his sympathy.’

Sabrina looked up at him with a frown. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

He smiled, then reached out a hand to tip her chin upwards so that she was forced to hold his dark gaze. ‘Perhaps I’m just a little jealous? After all, you seem to spend a lot of time with Garth and I can’t get so much as a lunch date out of you.’

She laughed breathlessly at that, unsure whether to take that comment seriously or not. ‘That’s ridiculous ... I’m doing work for Garth.’

‘You could always come and do some work for me.’ He was standing very close to her, she noticed suddenly, her heart skipping a beat nervously. ‘What do you say?’ he asked huskily. ‘Shall we go out for lunch tomorrow and discuss it?’

‘Marc, I——’ Her polite refusal was cut short abruptly as his head lowered towards hers. ‘Marc,’ she whispered in a helpless tone as his lips brushed against hers. The kiss was gentle at first but it sent shock-waves racing straight through Sabrina. She felt herself leaning weakly against the soft material of his jacket. Then she was kissing him back, her whole body trembling as she arched towards him, hungry for the sensuous heat spiralling through her.

He was the one to pull back from her, his hands resting on her shoulders as he looked down at her. ‘Shall I pick you up at about ten o’clock?’ he murmured. He sounded so cool and calm while Sabrina felt as if a time bomb had just started to tick inside her.

Confused at the way she had just responded to that kiss, Sabrina could only stare at him for a moment. ‘I...I don’t know.’ She shook her head, trying to clear it of her muddled thoughts. ‘Isn’t ten o’clock a little early for lunch?’

For a brief moment there was a glimmer of triumph in his dark eyes. ‘Not for what I have in mind,’ he drawled softly. Then his hands left her shoulders.

She felt strangely bereft as he moved away from her. ‘So ten o’clock it is,’ he said decisively and Sabrina had the strange sensation of being carried along with something that was already out of control.

Garth joined them at that moment. ‘There you are, Marc,’ he said, looking slightly harassed. ‘I’m sorry about that. Nadine has just been on the phone—she says she will be flying home tonight after all.’

‘Well, that’s marvellous news.’ Marc smiled at Sabrina. ‘Can I give you a lift back to town now that you’ve finished here?’ he asked silkily.

‘It’s all right, Marc, I’ll drop Sabrina back,’ Garth cut in quickly. ‘There are one or two things I want to discuss with her before she goes.’

Marc shrugged. ‘As you wish.’ For a brief moment his eyes rested on Sabrina. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he said calmly.

Sabrina sat down for a moment as Marc left the room. Her legs felt as shaky as if she had just run a marathon.

‘What was that all about?’ Garth asked with a frown as his eyes moved over her pale features.

She shrugged. ‘He’s...he’s taking me for lunch tomorrow.’

Silence met that remark and she looked up at him with anxious eyes. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’

‘No... no.’ Garth raked an unsteady hand through his hair. ‘Are you serious about him, Brina?’

Sabrina gave a nervous laugh. ‘I hardly know him, Garth.’

For a moment there was silence as Garth regarded her silently. ‘My stepson is a good man...a bit of a womaniser. He has a tendency to break hearts——’

‘Really, Garth, you don’t need to worry. I can take care of myself,’ she cut across him hastily, but he looked unconvinced.

‘Damn it all, Sabrina... I’ve made such a mess of everything, I should have told my wife about you years ago: I feel I’ve let her down, and you and Marc——’

‘Don’t say that, Garth,’ Sabrina interrupted him sadly. ‘You haven’t let anyone down. It wasn’t as if you had the affair with my mother while you were married to Nadine.’

‘No... but I was married when I met your mother.’ He saw the look of shock on her face. ‘You didn’t know?’

She shook her head. ‘There was nothing about that in my mother’s diary.’

For a moment Garth’s face was lit with a ghost of a smile. ‘Dear Lucy. She hated the deceit. She felt terribly guilty.’

Sabrina could hardly take in what he was saying. She couldn’t believe that her mother would have had an affair with a married man; it seemed so out of character.

The shrill ring of the phone interrupted the silence. Garth turned impatiently towards it and flicked on the answering machine. ‘Let’s walk out in the garden,’ he suggested gently. ‘At least out there we will have no interruptions.’

She nodded. She wanted to hear Garth’s story... she wanted to try and place the pieces together in her mind. Maybe then she could understand why her mother had kept so many secrets from her.

Despite the sunshine it was cold outside. Garth linked his arm through hers. ‘Are you warm enough, sweetheart?’

For a moment the concern in her father’s voice made Sabrina’s eyes mist with tears. She nodded, and he patted her hand. ‘Come on; I’ll give you a tour of my lovely gardens,’ he said gently.

The landscape was very beautiful, and for a little while they walked in silence, just drinking in the colourful spring flowers as they both collected their thoughts.

Then Garth began his story and Sabrina forgot her surroundings as her mind closely followed his every word.

‘You know, you are a lot like your mother,’ he said with a sad smile. ‘I thought the world of Lucy; her death was a terrible shock.’

‘Yes, I miss her terribly, Garth,’ she said huskily. ‘We were so close... at least I thought we were close.’ Her voice broke for a moment. ‘I just can’t understand why she didn’t tell me about you. I feel as if I’ve been living a lie all my life.’

‘Lucy did what she thought was best,’ Garth said gently. ‘I know she loved you very much; she never meant to hurt you.’

‘Then why didn’t she tell me?’ Sabrina demanded, a note of anger in her tone now. ‘She lied to me, Garth. She told me that my father was dead.’

‘You have every right to be angry. But you have to remember that your mother was only young when she was expecting you. Attitudes to unmarried mothers have changed radically since then. In your mother’s day it was very hard...’ He trailed off and for a moment he seemed lost in thought. ‘Lucy was such a beautiful woman... very spirited, very stubborn.’ He sighed. ‘She was about your age when I met her. She was an idealist—she had dreams of being a famous lawyer, a force to be reckoned with in the London courtrooms.’

‘She didn’t do so badly.’ Sabrina smiled. Despite everything she was proud of her mother. She had been a very strong woman, a successful lawyer who had been highly respected.

‘We had an affair.’ Garth ran a hand through his thick hair. ‘I was already married to a woman called Jessica when I met your mother.’

‘Your wife didn’t understand you.’ Sabrina’s voice for a moment was angry.

He sighed. ‘I know it sounds bad, but Jessica and I were not in love. We were more or less going our different ways when I met your mother. Jessica was seeing another man, a very wealthy man whom she had set her sights on once she had discovered that I was not as lucrative a proposition as she had thought.’

‘So if you loved my mother so much, why didn’t you divorce your wife and marry her?’ Sabrina’s voice was dry.

‘Oh, believe me, I would have.’ He shook his head emphatically. ‘But when I asked Jessica for a divorce she became hysterical. Suddenly I was the most important thing in the world. Obviously the man she had been seeing was not interested in making an honest woman of her.’ His mouth twisted bitterly. ‘So she figured that she would hang on to me.’

Sabrina could hear the pain in his voice and she reached out a hand to cover his. ‘You don’t have to tell me this,’ she said suddenly. ‘It doesn’t matter; it’s in the past now.’

‘Oh, it does matter. You see, the past has a way of shaping the future.’ For a moment he was silent. ‘Jessica and I had a dreadful row, and I said things I shouldn’t have...cruel things. She ran out of the apartment and straight in front of a car.’