Bride by Arrangement Read Free

couldn’t imagine herself working for anyone else if ever the day dawned when her services at Trelas would no longer be required.
    Life at Trelas was, to a certain extent, isolated and cut off, and for a young person it should have been dull. But Chloe was used to dullness. Her father had been a vicar in a remote country parish, and with no wife to run his household, nor any other child, Chloe had stepped into the shoes of housekeeper from the day she was sixteen. She was twenty-three now, and her father had been dead two years, but she would always be able to run a home competently on slender means, and she would never be afraid of living cut off from social amenities like cinemas, or even an adequate hairdresser.
    On the path which led upwards from the beach Chloe ran into Pierre, bathing-trunks and a towel tucked underneath his arm. He looked almost as carefree as the morning in his open-necked shirt—heavy silk, she noticed, just as she had noticed that his cigarette-case was of platinum, and that it bore some sort of a crest—and well-pressed slacks, and his good looks were quite startling in the revealing sunshine. There were none of the lines she had expected to see round his mouth and beneath his eyes. And the eyes themselves were lustrous, as well as deceptively gentle.
    For she was certain, somehow, that he was not a gentle man. “Ah, good morning, little Miss Prim!” He bowed to her in his elegant, Continental fashion. “More than ever you make me think of a Quakeress, with those downcast eyes, and that placid brow. But you weren’t placid last night. You were very annoyed indeed, weren’t you? Therefore you are not really, at heart, a Quakeress.”
    “I was annoyed because your aunt had spent the whole of the day looking out constantly for your arrival.”
    “And my poor aunt was disappointed, because I didn’t arrive until after she had gone to bed!” Once again his eyes were openly mocking. “ But I’ve already seen her this morning, and she has forgiven me. Indeed, it wouldn’t occur to her to do anything else. She’s very devoted to me, is dear Aunt Abbie, and she cannot see flaws in those she loves.”
    Chloe looked away from him, her green eyes belying the demureness of her downcast lids.
    “I could never be like that,” she said. “One must always recognise the truth.”
    “Even if the truth’s unpalatable?” His voice was jibing. “And the beloved very beloved indeed?”
    “ I was talking about your aunt,” she said stiffly. “An aunt’s affection would scarcely amount to blind adoration.”
    “That is meant for lovers, you mean?” very softly and silkily. “But you do not strike me as having the capacity for blind adoration, little Miss Prim! I do not think you would make an ardent lover. You have a mouth that wars with those strange green eyes of yours, and it says most decidedly that anything other than moderation in all things would be most unacceptable. Oh, indeed, yes, most unacceptable. But perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so revealing if you used a little more lipstick!”
    She looked him straight in the eyes, and the unadorned lips pressed themselves together.
    “Are you usually rude like this to employees, Mr. Albertin? And you know I am nothing more than an employee here.”
    “Last night I had the firm conviction you had taken over the role of mistress. Perhaps it was a moment of insight.”
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “No?” He smiled peculiarly. “But then I’m an enigma to quite a lot of people—even myself, sometimes.”
    She asked, in an effort to change the subject:
    “How did Miss de Lisle sleep? I’m sorry there was no room ready for her.”
    “Considering you conceived an instant dislike for her, you were very kind in offering her your room.” His voice was once more very smooth, but a muscle twitched at one corner of his shapely mouth. “And contrary to your expectations I haven’t seen her this morning. I haven’t even ventured as