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

the rain-washed Pimlico Road. "I never thanked you for giving me such a good write-up, " she said at last to Pete Leveson, who was sitting opposite her. She turned her back on the window. "I'm sure it was thanks to you that the exhibition went so well. "

"Rubbish. You deserved success. "

Pete was watching her closely, noting the taut lines between her nose and mouth, the dullness of her eyes. "It is a bit of an anticlimax, now that it's over, I suppose, " he said tentatively.

Judy sighed. She picked up her glass, staring around the wine bar with apparent distaste. "That's probably it. "

"And how is Nick?" His voice was deliberately casual.

She colored. "He's in Scotland, on business. "

"And Jo? Is she still dabbling in the paranormal?"

Judy drank her Buck's Fizz, then with a grimace she asked, "Does the name Carl Bennet mean anything to you?"

Pete raised an eyebrow. "Possibly. Why?"

"Jo went to see him on Friday afternoon, and the thought that she was going there was enough to scare Nick to death. He shot off after her as if she had left a message that she was having tea with the devil himself. Can I have another of these?"

Pete raised his hand to beckon the waitress without taking his eyes off Judy's face. He gave the order and tossed a five-pound note on the table. "Bennet is a hypnotherapist, " he said. "One of the best, I believe. And among other things he takes people back into their previous incarnations to treat them for otherwise incurable phobias. "

Judy's mouth dropped open. "You mean that is what Jo is doing? Jesus! She doesn't believe in that sort of thing, does she?"

"You are not a believer, I take it?" Pete was looking amused.

"No, I am not! No wonder Nick is worried for her sanity. Anyone who believes that kind of thing is certifiable. No wonder she freaked out when I told her Sam thought she was schizoid. "

Pete was sitting back, still watching her closely. "She is doing it for a story, Judy, " he said tolerantly. "I think you should watch what you say, you know. "

Judy laughed again. Her third Buck's Fizz on an empty stomach was going to her head. "I don't have to in front of you, do I?" she said archly. "Or do you think there is a gossip columnist under the table? But seriously, who needs one of those when I'm having a drink with one of the most prestigious reporters in Fleet Street. " She glanced at him provocatively under her eyelashes. "You had a thing going with Jo once, didn't you?"

Pete leaned back in his chair. "I don't believe it was a secret. "

"And you still like her. Everyone who has had an affair with Jo seems to still like her. What a likable person she must be!" she added sarcastically. "Well, why don't you find out exactly what it is she is doing? It would make a good story, surely?"

"Jo is researching her own story, Judy. " His voice was carefully neutral.

"It sure as hell wouldn't be the same story if you told it, though, would it?" She ran her finger round the inside of her glass and sucked it pointedly. "Yours would be much more ... sensational!"

She had huge eyes—light gray, with radiating streaks in the irises, fringed with dark-red lashes. Pete contemplated them for a moment as he thought over what she had said. Jo was a friend and yes, he was still fond of her, but the story, if there was a story, would not hurt her. On the contrary, it would counteract that bit in the Mail. In fact, why not sell this one to the Mail? Give the real version of what was going on. Sensational, Judy had said. It was a word Peter could not resist.

Leaning forward, he put his hand over Judy's and squeezed it gently. "Why don't I get you another of those, " he said quietly. "Then you needn't lick the glass. Later I'll drop you back at your place and we'll talk about this some more. "

Two days later Dorothy Franklyn rang the bell of the apartment in Lynwood House. "I hope you don't mind, Sam, dear. I did so want to see you before you went back to Scotland. " She dropped three green-and-gold Harrods bags on the floor of the hall, then she straightened, looking at him for a moment. Reaching up to kiss him, she rumpled his hair affectionately before walking past him into the living room. "When are you going back?"

Sam followed her. "I've a few things to do in town and Nick said I could use the flat while he's in France, so I'll be here a week or so, I expect. " He threw himself into a chair and looked up at her. "You're looking very spry, Ma. "

She smiled. "Thank you, dear, " she said. "Now tell me, how is Jo?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What did Nick tell you?"

"Enough to make me very worried. This reincarnation business, Sam, it is all rubbish, isn't it? I don't like the sound of it at all. I didn't like it when you were working on your thesis under that creepy man Cohen, and I don't like it any better now. I think it's dangerous. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with medicine, or science. And to think that Jo has got involved with mumbo jumbo like that!" She shuddered visibly. "Can't you do something, Sam?"

Sam turned away from her and looked out of the window. In the distance he could see a solid wedge of traffic sitting in the broad sweep of Park Lane. "I'm not sure that I can, " he said slowly. "I think Jo has already become too involved to extricate herself even if she wanted to. I believe that we are dealing with a genuine case of total recall of a previous incarnation. There are too many facts, too many details.