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  Meredith glanced at his aristocratic profile, dismayed at the anger his patronising tone aroused. He spoke of Piers as if he had started a little tin-pot corner shop instead of a clothing industry with outlets in every part of the world, and she longed to wipe that supercilious expression off his face.

  'There are several reasons why I chose not to, none of which are anything to do with you,' she said. 'In fact I find your comments about my affairs altogether distasteful.'

  He ignored the censure. 'You didn't fancy a new boss in the same firm, then.'

  'No, I didn't.'

  Her lack of encouragement made conversation difficult, but after a moment's thought, he said: 'You're probably right. If you were one person's exclusive property, indoctrinated with his ideas, it would be difficult to make adjustments.'

  It was as if he disapproved of her and was trying to cut her down. She didn't understand it, and strongly objected, but what point was there in starting an argument with an impertinent bystander? In the last two months she had built a protective wall around herself to keep the curious at bay and she was certainly not going to let this ignorant stranger knock holes in it. Her ankle throbbed, adding physical pain to the burden of her resentment, and she diverted the subject into a safer channel.

  'Edencombe is my home and I've always loved it,' she said. 'My father is a solicitor here, as I'm sure you know, and he's taken on a new partner who will be needing a secretary, so it seemed like a good idea for me to take on the job.'

  'And how does the new partner feel about having the power behind a tycoon thrust upon him?'

  She smiled for the first time. 'He's an old chap called Joseph Hamblyn,' she said, 'and if he's got any sense he'll count his blessings. In case you're in any doubt, I happen to be a very good secretary. I.... Hey, where are you taking me?'

  The cry came as he suddenly turned left into a gravel drive that led to one of the loveliest houses in Edencombe. It was an old white farmhouse, irregular in shape, its red-tiled roof sweeping almost to the ground at one end, windows stacking to two stories at the other where the lawn sloped down to a pond edged with trees. As long as she could remember Meredith had admired the house and wondered what it was like inside. It was called Eden Farm.

  'I live here,' said Joss. He looked at his watch. 'It's too late for the doctor's surgery, and as Ellen was a nurse I'll get her to see what damage you've done to that ankle. If she thinks you've broken anything I'll have to take you over to Casualty.'

  'You really don't have to bother,' she protested.

  'I know I don't,' he said. 'I'm afraid the house is in chaos. It's Kirsty's birthday and she's having a party.'

  He drew up outside a white front door with a wrought iron lamp hanging above it, and when he switched off the engine she could hear childish shrieks coming from the garden. Never having had much to do with children she was rather in awe of them, and she hoped they were better mannered than their father.

  He got out of the car and came round to open her door. When he helped her up she winced with the movement and almost overbalanced as she tottered on one high heel. He grabbed her arm.

  'For God's sake take those ridiculous shoes of!!' he snapped. 'If you'd had sense enough to walk barefoot you wouldn't have hurt yourself. Pride certainly came before that fall.'

  'Don't be so damned smart!'

  She sat back on the seat, quivering with anger. What an abominable man he was! He didn't deserve to live in this idyllic house, and she was already sorry for his wife and family. Was he always so overbearing? She longed to stalk away and have nothing more to do with him, and she was on the point of asking him to take her straight on to Combe Lodge when the front door opened and a young woman came out. She had short brown hair, cut elfin fashion so that it needed little attention, and was of medium height. There were flip-flops on her feet and her dress was of faded cotton, but her smile was the loveliest thing Meredith had seen for a long time.

  'Joss, I thought you were at your meeting by now,' she called.

  'Can you phone and tell them I'll be late. And then can you have a look at Miss Paxton's ankle, Ellen, and see what she's done to it.'

  Meredith felt embarrassed. He didn't even know how to say please, but as he helped her out of the car the girl came forward, her eyes lighting up with pleasure.

  'Why, Miss Paxton, how nice you two have met! I'm Ellen Munro. Joss'll take you in while I just make a phone call for him. Looks like you've got a bad sprain there. I'll find some strapping for it. Joss, be careful. Do you want me to come round the other side?'

  'I'm so sorry to be such a nuisance,' said Meredith, taking to the other girl immediately. Her friendliness was overwhelming, and made up for her boorish husband. 'I can manage perfectly, and I really ought to get home as soon as possible.'

  'But not until I've had a look at that sprain. Joss did right to bring you here first.'

  She dashed off indoors. Meredith clung to Joss's arm while she removed the offending sandals, then hobbled painfully into the house with him, trying not to show how much her ankle hurt in case he was tempted to pick her up again. The thought of him doing so filled her with dread.

  The house was as lovely inside as it was out, and she was spellbound. It wasn't luxuriously furnished, but as soon as she entered the hall she was aware of a happy atmosphere and had the ridiculous notion that she only had to stay here and her troubles would be washed away. The mellow golden walls seemed to fold her in comforting stillness and the tick of the grandfather clock eased her heartbeats to a similar rhythm, gentle and soothing.

  'This is beautiful,' she breathed, and for a moment even the supporting arm of the man beside her was not alien.

  He looked at her keenly. 'I'm glad you like it. We'll go through to the kitchen.'

  The spell was broken. He helped her down the hall, past a lounge where Ellen was using the phone, and Meredith saw chairs covered with rust-brown chintz. The kitchen floor had rush matting over dark red quarry tiles and there were copper pans and baskets hanging from hooks in the ceiling, just as they would have been when this was a working farm. Joss deposited her on an antique settle, and her ribs felt bruised where his fingers had dug into her.

  'Stay there,' he said. 'I'll send Ellen out to you. Sounds like I'd better speak to the man myself.'

  She apologised again, 'I really am sorry....' But he had gone, and she didn't know whether he had heard.

  She looked around with interest, deciding to ignore his brusqueness. An Aga stove filled one corner and a kettle was boiling away on it merrily. Every surface was covered with the remnants of a party—empty plastic beakers with bent straws, ice cream dishes, squashed fruit and paper serviettes crushed and torn beyond recognition, and there were toys everywhere. A baby was asleep in a carry-cot on the pinewood table. The back door stood open and as Ellen returned a horde of children surged in from the garden, shouting, laughing, crying. The noise was deafening.

  'Mummy, Mummy, I can't find my teddy bear. Shaun took it and I want it. Make him give it to me!' cried a little girl. Her short brown hair and round eyes were so much like Ellen's that it would have been impossible to mistake her for anyone else's child.

  'I didn't take it,' protested a small boy of about five. 'Gary's hidden it because we're playing hunt the bear.'

  'Well, can't you hunt something else?' said Ellen— 'I don't think Teddy will like being hidden away on his own, do you? How would you like it, Gary? Give it back to Kirsty.'

  The second boy was perhaps two years older, with short cropped hair and a tough little face which somehow seemed out of place here. If he was a party guest Meredith wondered why he had been invited.

  'I wouldn't care. I've often been locked in a cupboard,' he said, shuffling his feet. 'Anyway, it's a stupid old bear.' He flung it at Kirsty who started to howl, and a storm broke loose as a dozen infant voices were raised. The baby in the carry-cot began to yell.

  'That's enough!' Joss came back and stood in the doorway, his heavy brows lowered,
a forbidding scowl darkening his face. His hands were on his hips. 'Outside, all of you! Out!' he roared. 'Gary, don't take Kirsty's teddy bear again!'

  There was instant silence as every child turned to him. Meredith was horrified, sure he had scared them all to death. But Kirsty giggled, and the giggle spread like measles, infecting them all with squeals of laughter as they ran back to the garden.

  A moment later Kirsty was back. 'Come outside and play with us,' she begged, tugging at Joss's hand. 'Please!'

  'You horrible child,' said Joss, but the first faint smile touched his mouth. He set her aside and whacked her bottom, but instead of crying as Meredith expected, she creased into helpless laughter and ran off, followed by Joss, who picked up the screaming baby on his way and took him with him.

  To Meredith, who was not used to family life, the scene was incredible. She was bewildered by the noise and assortment of children, and the way he had shouted at them. It didn't seem at all the way he should have spoken to them, yet they all seemed to find it great fun, and she had to presume his bark was worse than his bite. She had heard that children knew instinctively the people who liked them, but this man certainly had a very strange way of showing it. She was beginning to dislike him more every minute.

  The quietness that followed was like the aftermath of a whirlwind. Ellen, unperturbed by it all, had filled a bowl with cold water and was smiling as she came over with it.

  'Sorry about that,' she said. 'I don't know how Joss puts up with them. He's marvellous with children, he really is.'

  Marvellous! That was not the word Meredith would have used.

  'How many are yours?' she ventured to ask.

  'Only two,' said Ellen. 'Kirsty and the baby, but I'm fostering Shaun and Gary for a while. The poor little things have come from rough homes and need a lot of love. Various parents will soon be coming for the others. It's been quite a day.'

  Quite a day, Meredith echoed silently. What on earth had made this girl take on two extra children when she already had so much to cope with?

  Ellen explored the ankle with expert fingers, declared there was nothing broken and applied cold compresses to ease the pain, and when she looked up at Meredith there was a certain tranquillity in her face which was inexplicable. Here she was, tied to the house by her family and impossible husband, yet she looked as happy as if she had all the riches in the world. To Meredith it would have seemed like a prison.

  Ellen chatted on about the children as she wound a crepe bandage round the swollen foot. Her face was animated, and Meredith glanced away. It was then she saw Joss in the garden with the baby resting on his shoulder, chin against the small fluffy head as he pacified it, and without warning a lump came into her throat. She had stumbled on something that defied explanation, and she understood Ellen a little better.

  'I'm very grateful,' she said to her, when she hobbled out to the car again a short time later. The ankle was firmly strapped and a lot less painful. Parents were arriving, but Ellen Munro had come out with her while Joss rounded up straying children.

  'I've really looked forward to meeting you,' said Ellen. 'I know your mother very well and I'm very fond of her. Perhaps we can get to know each other better when the children aren't around.' She gave a yell as Kirsty launched herself at her skirt, then she put her hand to her mouth. 'I don't know whatever you must think of me! I've been babbling on about the children and haven't even enquired about you, Meredith, or asked how you are. I meant to have said how sorry I was. You don't mind me calling you Meredith, do you?'

  Meredith smiled, almost tempted to put her arms round the other girl. She was the most warm-hearted person she had met in a long while.

  'I don't mind at all,' she said. 'And I'd much rather talk about you than me.'

  Joss came striding over. 'Leave your mother alone.' he shouted to Kirsty. 'Go and help the boys to tidy the kitchen.'

  'No!' cried Kirsty, her impish face daring him to touch her. She squirmed noisily as he pretended to give chase, then ran off indoors.

  Ellen had been watching Meredith's expression, and she laughed. 'Don't let Joss upset you,' she said. 'It's just an act he puts on. He's a real softy underneath.'

  Meredith found that very hard to believe. When she was sitting beside him in the car a few minutes later as he drove once more towards the village, she didn't know what to say, and an uneasy silence lengthened between them. She wanted to thank him, to comment on his house, tell him how much she liked Ellen, but words wouldn't come. His face in profile was stern, offering no friendly opening, and she was left in no doubt he still considered her a nuisance for making him miss his meeting.

  They were turning into the entrance to Combe Lodge when he spoke.

  'I phoned your mother and told her where you were. She would have been worrying.'

  Meredith's eyes showed her surprise. 'That was kind of you. Thank you.'

  'I didn't expect you to think of it,' he said, his tone derogatory. 'Thoughtfulness takes practice, and I hardly think you've had much of that.'

  She was jolted out of her complacency. The words stung, as if he had handed her a bunch of stinging nettles, and she wanted to cry out against the injustice. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, but one thing she never did was weep, and she was not going to let this objectionable man speak to her like that and get away with it.

  'I don't know what's the matter with you,' she said icily. 'You don't even know me, and I've done nothing to deserve the rudeness you've dished out ever since we met. I refuse to take any more of it. Thank you for your begrudging help, and I hope our paths never cross again.'

  There, that would show him!

  She waited for another outburst in reply, and when none came she thought she had scored, until he suddenly chuckled. She could hardly believe her ears when such a pleasantly human sound came from him. She looked up sharply, wondering what he found funny, but there was no time to ask because they were at the door, and her mother was there.

  'Meredith darling, what an awful thing to happen as soon as you get home! What a good job Joss was there. Can you manage to walk?'

  She ran towards her as Meredith opened the car door, rubbing sticky hands in her apron, and a moment later they were enveloped in each other's arms.

  'Oh, Mummy, I'm so glad to see you!'

  Joss was taking her case from the boot and he carried it inside the house as if he was used to going in and out of the place. Julia Paxton turned to him.

  'Thank you so much, Joss. Whatever would we do without you!'

  'It was a pleasure,' said Joss. The engine was still running and he got back in the car. It moved slowly away. 'Tell Howard I'll try and make the last part of the meeting.'

  'Don't worry about it, my dear. I'm sure Howard won't. Our daughter is more important.'

  Meredith faced her mother. 'How do you come to know Joss Munro so well?' she asked, with a trembling inside her that was akin to hostility. Surely her mother didn't like the wretched man.

  'Munro?' said Mrs Paxton, with a puzzled shake of her head. 'That's Joss Hamblyn, darling, your father's new partner. Ellen Munro is his sister.'

  CHAPTER TWO

  Howard Paxton roared with laughter when he heard about the trick Joss had played.

  'That's just typical,' he said. 'Joss always enjoys a good joke.'

  'Well, I didn't find it funny,' snapped Meredith. 'I think he'd made up his mind to dislike me even before we met and he did nothing but antagonise me. I'm sorry, Daddy, but I find your Mr Hamblyn quite impossible.' «

  They had just finished dinner. It had been a very happy occasion, almost like old times, and if she had had any doubts about the wisdom of returning home they were all dispelled. Her parents had gone out of their way to make her feel wanted. Even the meal had been her favourite steak and kidney pie, which no one could bake quite so deliciously as her mother. The only thing which caused slight tension was the deliberate evasion of any reference to Piers, and there was danger of the omission growing in importance, bu
t she hadn't the courage yet to touch on the subject.

  And until now there had been no mention of Joss Hamblyn, for which she was thankful. No way could she find anything pleasant to say about him, and she would have hated to start off the evening on a sour note. Then her mother related the saga of the mistaken identity, which she found very amusing, and Meredith had to speak her mind.

  'That's a pity,' said her father, 'because we desperately need you in the office. Mary Talbot left this week and it's not easy to replace someone who's been with the firm for eight years. We talked about you helping out anyway, but now it's rather urgent.'

  'I presume Joss Hamblyn drove her away,' said Meredith. 'I can't imagine her leaving for any other reason.' She was making an issue of it, and couldn't understand herself.

  'Mary's mother had a stroke on Wednesday,' her mother said quietly. 'It looks like she'll want a lot of nursing and Mary insists she can cope rather than let the old lady be admitted to hospital. She's got a lot of friends who'll rally round.'

  Meredith felt awful. 'I'm sorry,' she apologised. 'I didn't know, and of course I'll help in the office. How about starting Monday?'

  'That's my girl!' said Howard. He was a handsome man in his mid-fifties with dark hair turned an elegant silver at the temples. He had kept a youthful waistline and wore immaculate clothes, so that even in casual things he always looked well dressed. 'You and Joss'll get along fine after a day or two.'

  'But why did he deliberately mislead me?' she demanded, indignation rising in her just at the recollection.

  'Like your father said, he probably thought it was a good joke,' said Julia.

  'That man wouldn't know how to joke. And why does he have his sister and all those children there? Hasn't she got a husband?'

  'Ian Munro is a civil engineer out in Saudi Arabia. Ellen came home to have the baby and she can't rejoin him because there's too much political unrest in the part of the country where he's working.' Her mother poured out coffee and handed it across the table. 'Darling, you're much too thin, and we must get some colour back in your cheeks. You look in need of some country air.'