Love Play by Rosemary Rogers Read Free Page B

him a bit of what-for too if he dares say anything
against you!' And then she couldn't help giggling, because 'what-for' had been
Nanny Staggs's favourite expression, especially when Delight came to visit:
'You come down from off that tree, miss, or I'll give you what-for!'
    'Oh, Sary, I do love you! I told Carlo you'd do it!'
    Warm arms hugged her fiercely until Sara said weakly: 'And now it's all
decided, do you think you can show me the way to bed? I feel very sleepy, all
of a sudden!'
     
    Chapter 2
    Discovering New York and rediscovering Delight was a continuous,
kaleidoscopic play of light, colour and activity that never seemed to stop.
They went everywhere, saw everything, ate at obscure little restaurants in the
Village and the most elegant dining-rooms Manhattan had to offer. There was
endless shopping to be done in the afternoons and the theatre in the evenings;
Broadway shows and off-Broadway shows — the Met and the Philharmonic. Delight
made New York City come alive and become a real place for Sara, who could not
have imagined its hectic, electric pulsebeat by herself.
    Sara learned to stay up all night, snatching a few hours of sleep before
she was ready to go again. And she learned to disco all night at elegant places
like Regine's and popular fad places like Bond's Casino and Magique and Xenon
and way-out places like the Mudd Club.
    'Don't New Yorkers ever stop going?' Sara asked wonderingly and had her
rather naive question answered by a giggle.
    'Hardly ever, sweetie! There's always so much to do, you see! And I
never get tired — it's my vitamins and health food that do the trick! How's
your energy level? And how did you like Carlo's friend Giacomo? I could tell he
dug you!'
    'Don't matchmake, Delight!' Sara said severely, and her sister rolled
her eyes upwards in mock despair.
    'For God's sake, who's matchmaking? I mean... he liked you, and you
liked him, right? So you could have asked him up — I would've slept on the
couch, you know!'
    'I didn't like him that much, and anyway he had a wet kiss, like Eduardo
. ..'
    'Aha! Eduardo, huh? So you have been around some. Thank God, I was
beginning to wonder!'
    Learning to talk like a native, Sara said, 'Oh, cut it out, Delight!'
adding quickly, 'When do you expect to hear from your divine Carlo anyhow?
Shouldn't he have called to give you a report?'
    She was sorry she'd said that when Delight's vivacious, face clouded for
an instant.
    'Big brother's probably keeping him busy - on purpose, of course! He
only flew to Los Angeles because he'd heard the rumours, you know. And now he's
probably giving my poor Carlo a hard time. But Carlo's got a stubborn streak in
him, just like I have, and this time he's not going to give in. I'll hear from
him, you'll see!'
    'Well, I was just thinking that it might be hard for him to reach you on
the telephone since we've hardly been home!'
    'He'll call me at about six some morning - that's the time he always
calls when he has to be away.'
    Delight was sure of her Carlo, still steadfastly In Love and just as
steadfast in her resolve to elope. Sara couldn't help sighing inwardly as she
wondered, with her practical mind, whether such an elaborate plan as her sister
had outlined was really necessary. Whether the Marcantoni family was
old-fashioned or not, this was still the twentieth century, after all, and all
Carlo had to do was to tell his brother to ... to go to hell!
    Since that first night they'd spent quietly talking in the apartment,
the volatile Delight - taking Sara's participation in her plans for granted -
hadn't said much more on the subject. Now, as they shared the same tiny
bathroom, Delight applying her make-up while Sara soaked in a tub that was
deliciously perfumed with Halston, Sara found herself hoping fervently that it
would all be worked out quietly in the end. Delight, bless her heart, did tend
to over-dramatise things!
    As if she'd been a mind reader Delight said suddenly: 'You think I'm
kind of crazy to be