Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [28]
Eric must have sensed her defiance when he came to collect her the following afternoon because he immediately commented that there was something different about her. Natalie smiled and told him that the weather must have something to do with it, and it was true—the sun was shining brilliantly and through the open window the pleasant breeze made her want to shut her eyes and drowse. She had made this trip to Kane’s house several times before, and she knew that it would take at least two hours, and probably more like three if the traffic proved unreliable.
His house, which he had inherited from his parents when they emigrated to France, was in an idyllic little village in Worcestershire—one of those charming places which somehow managed to look endearingly quaint without sliding into over-cute banality. It was oddly pro-portioned, quite small upstairs, but huge downstairs, with enough room to entertain vast numbers of people without a feeling of overcrowding. Which was probably why his parents had bought it. Natalie knew that they had entertained quite extensively before they emigrated. In fact, she had been to their very last party before they left the country and had thoroughly enjoyed it. She had rather liked Kane’s parents. They were intensely charming, the sort of charm that brought a smile to your lips.
As the car edged out of the London traffic and picked up speed on the motorway Natalie relaxed and chatted to Eric about the place, about the people who would be there, and about what would be expected of her.
‘Most girls would put their foot down at working on weekends,’ he said, glancing across at her with curiosity.
‘It’s become something of a bad habit,’ Natalie told him truthfully. ‘I was very accommodating for a long time; after all, I enjoyed the work and the money was fantastic. Now he simply takes it for granted.’
‘And you’ve never considered leaving?’
‘Of course I have,’ she protested; ‘it’s just that…’ Her voice dwindled off and she thought about what it would be like to work somewhere without that constant excited tension in her at the thought that Kane would be around. Even in his absence she had not been able to shake him off because she had known that in due course he would reappear in her life.
‘The money?’ Eric prompted.
Natalie laughed and agreed vaguely, changing the subject. Recently, she had been thinking a great deal about all sorts of things, one of which was working with Kane. Sooner or later she would have to leave. When he had treated her only as a secretary, she had been able to feed her love from a distance, never questioning herself too much. But things were changing and matters which had previously only briefly popped into her head to pop back out again were looking up in a decidedly more threatening manner now.
It was just after six by the time they made it to the house. The car pulled up through the stone pillars, up the tree-shrouded avenue and into the courtyard.
Natalie had been there enough times to be fairly casual about the impressive edifice, but Eric let out a long whistle.
‘Some house,’ he said on a low, awe-struck tone.
Natalie gazed at it. It was a grand building, cream-coloured and set in acres of beautifully landscaped gardens.
‘Why on earth does he live in London when he can move out here?’ Eric asked in the same impressed voice, and Natalie laughed.
‘Kane Marshall? In the country? On a full-time basis? I think he would go mad within a week. He once told me that he’s the sort of person who needs stress to survive. He thrives on the fast pace of city life, and of course when he needs a rest he always has this to come to. In fact, you could say that he has the best of all possible worlds.’
She jumped out of the car and allowed