‘But can we...’ His voice trailed and, desperate to keep her there, he caught her arm in his hand.
At once, the electrical warmth of him shot from her arm through her body. Her eyes went from his hand to his face, his mouth so closeto hers that she felt a sudden longing to touch her lips to his, to pull him to her and hold on to him for all she was worth.
As if sensing her thoughts, his eyes went to hers.
‘Can I see you again?’ he said softly.
Words failed her for a moment. How could she see him? She was a married woman.
And not only that, but there was also so much at stake.
How could she risk his finding out about Annabel if he didn’t already know? Her life was difficult enough as it was without his wanting to meet her, or worse, be part of her life after so many years of silence. She’d spent so long hiding her past, covering any traces that Annabel’s father might have been someone other than Frank – hadn’t Frank made her promise never to let anyone know?
She couldn’t jeopardize her marriage, the fragile web of her life.
And especially not when it felt so out of control – whenshefelt out of control.
She had to escape.
‘I’m busy,’ she said, barely able to hear her own words, to see the hurt on his face. ‘I can’t, not now. I just can’t see you.’
And with that, she turned and sped away from him, running as fast as she could down the corridor, his soft Scottish voice calling her back, ‘Caroline, Caroline,’ as she turned into the stairwell, the door closing behind her.
There, on her own, she sank down the wall to the stair, sobs coming out of her, hot and unstoppable.
How much she had loved him!
How could he have deserted her when she’d needed him most?
But a lingering question lurked at the back of her mind: why didn’t he know about Annabel?
MIRANDA
‘WELL DONE,MIRANDA.THESE PLANS ARE VERY THOROUGH.’ The new head of the procession seating, a Mr Villiers, flipped through her various charts, maps and lists.
Miranda suppressed an urge to roll her eyes. After a few weeks of organizing it perfectly well by herself, those in power had decreed that a woman couldn’t possibly cope with a management role. Her job had been adjusted, with the addition of the word ‘assistant’.
Meanwhile, they’d brought in a new manager to preside above her, although as she eyed Mr Villiers, she couldn’t help wondering if they’d simply found the first man who was available at short notice.
Miranda sat in his office – yes, he had a proper room to himself – swallowing her pride as she kept her eye on the bigger prize, her news stories.
‘The minister told me that you’d only just begun,’ he continued. ‘But these seem pretty extensive.’ He glanced up at her, his eyes narrowing in thought. ‘Tell me, does he know how far you’ve progressed?’
Around her age, Villiers looked the part in his dark suit, but his poorly concealed boredom indicated that he’d be happier at a gala event or on a luxury yacht.
At first, she was only too thankful that he wasn’t old and stuffy, but it wasn’t long before she began wishing he could be a little more on top of things. She was hoping he might have access to more records, inside gossip. But as he leaned back in his chair, his entire demeanour indicated that coronations were there to be enjoyed rather than organized.
‘Mostly I’ve been working on my own as the manager, but now’ – Miranda pursed her lips – ‘here you are.’
‘Here I am!’ he repeated, his smile akin to that of a lion assessing its prey.
With a curt nod, she got up to leave, putting a hand out to take her report back from him. ‘Will that be all?’
His hand firmly on the file, he said, ‘Leave this with me. I can take it to the minister later. We’ll be shipshape before you know it.’ His eyes travelled appreciatively over her body. ‘Lovely to have you on board, Miranda.’
What an idiot!she thought as she closed the door soundlessly behind her. Yet, with a sigh, she acknowledged that a useless boss was better than someone breathing down her neck, especially when she needed information about the coronation gown for O’Hara.
With this in mind, she took a seat beside Caroline at morning break, hoping to befriend her.
