time because I didn’t want to hurt her and then, when it was too late, I wished I had...’ She paused and then added uncertainly, ‘Dee, it’s all very well to talk about us punishing Julian for the way he’s hurt her so badly, but realistically what can we do?’
Dee smiled grimly at her before turning to Anna.
‘Anna, you’ve told us how Julian approached you for a loan, claiming that he wanted the money to use as a deposit on a house he was planning to buy for Beth and himself...’
‘Yes...’ Anna agreed. ‘He called round out of the blue one afternoon. He said that all his cash was tied up in various investments, but that Beth had seen this house she was desperate for them to buy and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He said he’d only need the money for a few months—’
‘Yes, no doubt because he was expecting that by then Beth would have received her share of her grandfather’s estate,’ Kelly cut in angrily. ‘How could anyone be so despicable?’
‘We aren’t talking about anyone,’ Dee pointed out acidly. ‘We’re talking about Julian Cox, and Julian has a long record of very skilfully and deceitfully depriving the innocent and naive of their money—and not just their money,’ Dee concluded quietly.
There was a look in her eyes that made Kelly check and study her a little woozily. The wine Kelly had drunk was beginning to make her feel distinctly light-headed, no doubt due to the fact that she hadn’t had very much to eat, but she knew she was not imagining that unfamiliar combination of vulnerability and haunted pain in Dee’s distinctive tortoiseshell-coloured eyes. Even so, there was something she still felt bound to pursue.
‘If you knew just what kind of man Julian is, why didn’t you say something to Beth?’ she asked Dee for a second time.
‘I told you why—because quite simply, when she first became involved with him, if you remember, I was in Northumberland nursing my aunt. By the time I’d come back and realised what was going on, how deeply she was involved with him, it was too late; she was on the verge of announcing their engagement.’
‘Yes, I remember now,’ Kelly acknowledged. It was true—Dee had been away for several months earlier in the year, looking after an elderly relative who had undergone a serious operation.
‘It seems so unfair that Julian should get away with convincing everyone that poor Beth is some kind of compulsive liar as well as breaking her heart,’ Anna put in quietly. ‘I know her and I know she would never, could never behave in the way he’s trying to imply.’
‘He’s very adept at maintaining a whiter than white reputation for himself whilst destroying the reputations of those who are unfortunate enough to become innocently involved with him,’ Dee informed them bitterly.
Kelly was feeling far too muzzy with wine to take Dee up on what she had said, but she sensed that there was some kind of past history between Julian Cox and Dee, even if she knew that Dee would not welcome any probing into it on her part.
‘What we need to do,’ Dee was telling them both firmly, ‘is to use his own tactics against him and lure him into a position where his true nature can be exposed. It’s no secret now to any of us that the reason he dropped Beth is because he realised that there wasn’t going to be any financial benefit to him in marrying her.’
‘Since we do know that, I can’t help but agree with Kelly that we ought to do something to warn his new girlfriend and her family just what kind of man he is,’ Anna suggested gently.
Dee shook her head. ‘We know how blindly in love Beth was, and, although I hate to say this, we could all be done an untold amount of harm if Julian Cox started trying to tar us with the same brush he’s used against Beth to such good effect. The last thing any of us needs is to be publicly branded as hysterical, over-emotional women, obsessed by some imaginary sense of injustice.’
She was
Dee smiled grimly at her before turning to Anna.
‘Anna, you’ve told us how Julian approached you for a loan, claiming that he wanted the money to use as a deposit on a house he was planning to buy for Beth and himself...’
‘Yes...’ Anna agreed. ‘He called round out of the blue one afternoon. He said that all his cash was tied up in various investments, but that Beth had seen this house she was desperate for them to buy and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He said he’d only need the money for a few months—’
‘Yes, no doubt because he was expecting that by then Beth would have received her share of her grandfather’s estate,’ Kelly cut in angrily. ‘How could anyone be so despicable?’
‘We aren’t talking about anyone,’ Dee pointed out acidly. ‘We’re talking about Julian Cox, and Julian has a long record of very skilfully and deceitfully depriving the innocent and naive of their money—and not just their money,’ Dee concluded quietly.
There was a look in her eyes that made Kelly check and study her a little woozily. The wine Kelly had drunk was beginning to make her feel distinctly light-headed, no doubt due to the fact that she hadn’t had very much to eat, but she knew she was not imagining that unfamiliar combination of vulnerability and haunted pain in Dee’s distinctive tortoiseshell-coloured eyes. Even so, there was something she still felt bound to pursue.
‘If you knew just what kind of man Julian is, why didn’t you say something to Beth?’ she asked Dee for a second time.
‘I told you why—because quite simply, when she first became involved with him, if you remember, I was in Northumberland nursing my aunt. By the time I’d come back and realised what was going on, how deeply she was involved with him, it was too late; she was on the verge of announcing their engagement.’
‘Yes, I remember now,’ Kelly acknowledged. It was true—Dee had been away for several months earlier in the year, looking after an elderly relative who had undergone a serious operation.
‘It seems so unfair that Julian should get away with convincing everyone that poor Beth is some kind of compulsive liar as well as breaking her heart,’ Anna put in quietly. ‘I know her and I know she would never, could never behave in the way he’s trying to imply.’
‘He’s very adept at maintaining a whiter than white reputation for himself whilst destroying the reputations of those who are unfortunate enough to become innocently involved with him,’ Dee informed them bitterly.
Kelly was feeling far too muzzy with wine to take Dee up on what she had said, but she sensed that there was some kind of past history between Julian Cox and Dee, even if she knew that Dee would not welcome any probing into it on her part.
‘What we need to do,’ Dee was telling them both firmly, ‘is to use his own tactics against him and lure him into a position where his true nature can be exposed. It’s no secret now to any of us that the reason he dropped Beth is because he realised that there wasn’t going to be any financial benefit to him in marrying her.’
‘Since we do know that, I can’t help but agree with Kelly that we ought to do something to warn his new girlfriend and her family just what kind of man he is,’ Anna suggested gently.
Dee shook her head. ‘We know how blindly in love Beth was, and, although I hate to say this, we could all be done an untold amount of harm if Julian Cox started trying to tar us with the same brush he’s used against Beth to such good effect. The last thing any of us needs is to be publicly branded as hysterical, over-emotional women, obsessed by some imaginary sense of injustice.’
She was
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