Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine (reading an ebook TXT) 📕

us a nice bottle of Amontillado in Harrods before I came. Why don't you open it, Nick. And pour Jo one as well. " She glanced at him with a gentle smile. "Think about what I've said, won't you? Don't just dismiss it out of hand. "

Jo was in her bedroom, lying on the bed, her arm across her face. Nick sat down on the bed beside her. "I've brought you a sherry, Jo. "

She turned and looked at him, her eyes still swollen from crying. "What do you think of Ceecliff's theory?"

He smiled. "I'll buy it. Anything is better than mine, and I hear John is next after Richard III for reappraisal and rein- statement by historians. " He reached forward and pushed her hair gently back from her face. "I want to believe Ceecliff's love story, Jo. " He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "I want to very badly. It would mean that at the end of the story you will marry your handsome prince and live happily ever after. "

Jo gave a snort. She pushed him away and reached for the sherry glass he had put down on the bedside table.

"Don't overdo it, Nick. " She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her smile faded. "What about Sam? He's not going to want a happy ending, Nick. " She couldn't hide the sudden tremor in her voice.

"I'll deal with Sam. " Nick put his arm around her. "But you mustn't see him, Jo. You are too susceptible, and you do realize, don't you, that you must never, never go back to Matilda's world again? You know as much of her story as you need to know. There must be no more. "

She nodded. "I had already decided that. I didn't want to know any more anyway. It was you who forced me to go on last night, Nick. "

He grimaced. "God forgive me. Jo, just for a while, I still don't want you ever to be alone with me either. Not yet. Ceecliff has said she'll stay with you for a few days, if you want. I think you should let her. "

Jo nodded. "I'd like that. "

He grinned. "Good. It'll soon be over, Jo, I promise. It will soon be over now. "

"Why so formal, Nicholas?" Sam eyed his brother across the table with grim amusement. "And so extravagant. Claridge's, no less!"

Nick was looking at the wine list. "I wanted to talk to you somewhere quiet. "

"Then why not the apartment?"

"Because I don't trust you. " Nick ordered a bottle of claret, then he leaned back in his chair and looked Sam straight in the eye. "It hasn't worked, Sam. You're a devious bastard, and I'll admit you had me shit-scared for a while, but it hasn't worked. "

Sam smiled. "Pity. " He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand, looking at Nick through narrowed eyes. "You are quite sure, are you?"

Nick felt a prickle of unease stir the small hairs at the nape of his neck. "I know it, " he said firmly. "But tell me one thing. Why? Okay. You despise me. Fair enough, I suppose: a brother's prerogative. But why Jo? Why hurt her?"

"It amused me to see you both dancing like puppets at my command. " Sam stretched his long legs under the table. "You and that wimp, Heacham. His memories are genuine, you know. He's a real sensitive, poor bastard. " He sat back in silence as Nick scrutinized the label on the wine bottle and then sipped thoughtfully from his glass.

With a curt nod at the wine waiter Nick watched the two glasses slowly poured, then he picked his up and extended it toward Sam. "I'll drink to your speedy and permanent return to Scotland. "

Sam clinked glasses with him amiably. "It will be within the week, " he said. "I have only one or two things left to do in London. "

"Just so long as they don't involve Jo. "

Sam smiled. "Jo barely exists for me any longer, " he said cryptically. And he took another sip from his glass.

Nick reached into his pocket. Silently he laid the crucifix on the table.

Sam looked at it. He set down his glass. "Where did you find that?"

"In the wastebasket. Is it a symbol of discarded belief or a prop you don't need anymore?"

After picking up the cross, Sam held it in his hand for a moment, staring at it expressionlessly, then he slipped it into the pocket of his suit. He glanced up at Nick, who was watching him closely. "Oh, I need it, " he said softly. "I'll need it for another week at least. What's wrong? Did you think I would shrink back like a vampire and disappear in a puff of smoke when you confronted me with it?" He laughed out loud. "You are rattled, little brother. " His eyes had grown suddenly very cold. "Rattled and rather stupid. " He turned to the food that had been put down before him.

Nick fought back a wave of nausea. Doggedly he picked up his knife and fork. "Just keep away from Jo, " he said again. "And just in case you feel like looking her up, I warn you, her grandmother is staying with her, so she won't be alone, ever. "

Jim Greerson sat back in his chair and began to fill his pipe slowly. He glanced at the man opposite him. "Nick won't be too keen on us pursuing this King John business, " he said with an apologetic smile. "It's one hell of an invasion of his privacy. "

Mike Desmond smiled. "Privacy is there to be invaded, Jim. Look. " He handed him a piece of paper. "One of your fellows slipped me this. " It was an unmistakable caricature of Nick with, on his head, a lopsided crown.

Jim whistled. "You'd better not let Nick find out who drew that.