Flame of Diablo Read Free

a more discerning
    writer, he thought, might have detected
    the vulnerability beneath the poise which
    betrayed itself in the soft curves of her
    mouth, and the faint shadow which so
    often lurked in her green eyes.
    He said abruptly, 'But what about your
    career? The play you're in—and that
    panel game on television?'
    She smiled. 'The play closed—and I've
    finished my stint on that particular game.
    My agent has other offers which I've
    been considering, but there's nothing as
    yet that I feel I would die rather than
    miss. For all practical purposes I could
    go to Colombia. I've been promising
    myself a holiday, and it would get me
    away from the English winter.'
    'Oh, it would do that all right,' said
    Doctor Kingston grimly.
    Rachel leaned forward, setting down her
    empty cup. 'I told him I'd go,' she said
    quietly.
    'What?'
    'You told me not to let him get excited.
    He saw that I was hesitating and he
    started to get—very excited, so I had to
    agree. He wants Mark home. It means
    everything to him—the sorting out of this
    stupid quarrel. Mark won't refuse to
    come back with me when he knows what
    the situation is.'
    'But do you have to be the one to tell
    him?' he demanded. 'This fellow—
    Forsyth—who saw Mark in Bogota.
    Couldn't he arrange something—have the
    boy traced?'
    Rachel sighed. 'But don't you see that
    would mean including other people—
    strangers—in
    a
    family
    upset?
    Grandfather wouldn't be able to bear
    that. You're really the only person
    outside the family who knows what
    happened, and you're my godfather, so
    that makes it—legal, I suppose. And it
    isn't really so onerous, you know. The
    arrangements have all been made for me.
    All I have to do is fly out to Bogota next
    week, trace this Arviles family and
    persuade Mark to come home—that is if
    he wants to see. Grandfather alive.' She
    swallowed painfully. 'I doubt if I'll be in
    the country more than forty-eight hours.'
    Doctor
    Kingston
    nodded
    almost
    absently, his fingers playing with the cap
    of his fountain pen. Then he said gently,
    'My dear child, what are you trying to
    prove?'
    He saw the colour rise in her face. 'That
    isn't fair!'
    'It's the truth, Rachel, so what about it?'
    She got up from her chair and went over
    to the window, pulling back the curtain
    and looking out into the darkness. She
    said, 'Do you know, it's snowing quite
    hard now.' And then with barely a
    change of tone, 'Don't you see, Uncle
    Andrew, he's asked me to do this for
    him. It's the first time in my life that he's
    ever asked me for something. He's
    always been the one to give—you know
    that, ever since Mother and Father died.
    And he always made it clear that no
    return was ever expected or wanted,
    because I was a girl.'
    'But he's always been proud of you. And
    you're making a name for yourself in the
    theatre now. That must please him.'
    She smiled wryly and let the curtain fall
    back into place.
    'Grandfather
    has
    always
    secretly
    believed that women belong in two
    places—and the theatre is neither of
    them. He has always looked on my
    career as a, curious aberration which
    will be cured when I do the right thing
    and marry, and produce a family—boys,
    naturally.'
    'Rachel!'
    'Oh, it's true, Uncle Andrew, and we
    both know it. He forgave me for my sex
    a long time ago, but he's never let me
    forget it either—until now—and I'm not
    going to let slide an opportunity for
    'Grandfather to see me as a person. I
    want him—I need him to be grateful to
    me, and if that sounds an unworthy
    motive for going to find Mark, then I'm
    sorry, but it's the only one I've got.'
    She swung back towards him, her lips
    smiling and her eyes luminous with
    unshed tears.
    She said lightly, 'I'm relying on you to
    give me the necessary shots, Uncle
    Andrew. I'd rather it was you than this
    strange doctor that Grandfather has
    found. You know what a coward I am.'
    Andrew Kingston said soberly, 'That
    isn't quite the word I'd have used, my
    dear. But