An Excellent Wife?. CHARLOTTE LAMB

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СКАЧАТЬ you wouldn’t refuse. She looks as if a breath of wind would blow her away.’

      ‘Can’t you understand English? As far as I’m concerned she’s dead. I’m not interested in renewing our acquaintance. Now, let go of me, will you? Drive on, Barny!’

      He was hot with temper, partly because for a second he had felt his heart lift as if with delight, and that was disturbing, and partly because some of his employees were coming out of the bank, shamelessly eavesdropping and staring. This would be all round the bank tomorrow morning. In all his time at the bank James had never been the centre of scandal and he was furious at the prospect of all the gossip he could be sure would follow.

      ‘How can you be so hard-hearted?’ Patience Kirby hurled at him, her eyes glittering. ‘Your own mother!’

      James heard an intake of breath from Barny, felt him swivel in his seat to stare with clearly shocked eyes. Damn her! What was she going to do next? Ring the national newspapers and give them the story, spread it right across the country?

      ‘I’m going to shut this window; get your hand out of it!’ he muttered, his hand reaching for the button.

      The window began to slide upward. She snatched her hand away only at the last moment.

      ‘Drive off, Barny!’ snapped James.

      Barny automatically obeyed, accelerating away fast just as James realised that the window had shut on Patience Kirby’s sleeve. To his horror he also realised that she was being dragged along with the car, her red hair blowing around the pale, frightened face he could still see outside his window.

      ‘Stop! For God’s sake, stop!’ he yelled at Barny, who slammed on his brakes. The Daimler came to a shuddering halt.

      It was at that point that James made a stupid, overhasty move. He operated the electric switch, the window slid down, releasing her sleeve, and the red hair disappeared from his view. It was only at that second that he realised he should have waited, got out on the other side of the car and held her while Barny opened the window. As it was, she tumbled to the pavement with a crash that made his heart crash in echo. Jumping out, he found her lying face down; he hurriedly knelt down beside her, white-faced in shock. By then a crowd was beginning to gather, staring with a mixture of curiosity and hostility.

      ‘What’s happened?’ one woman asked another, who shrugged.

      ‘Think he knocked her down.’

      ‘Poor girl! Looks bad to me. Dead, I’d say.’

      Barny had got out too. ‘How is she, sir?’ he asked, and James noted the slight frost in his tone and knew Barny was now as disapproving as Miss Roper. What was happening to everyone in his life? They were all starting to look at him as if he was a monster.

      He had a strange suspicion that if he looked in a mirror right now he would find his own eyes held a similar expression.

      Patience Kirby sat up shakily. ‘Are you okay?’ James asked. ‘You’d better not move until we get an ambulance.’

      She put a hand to her head; James saw blood on both.

      ‘You’re bleeding! Barny, ring for an ambulance!’

      Patience Kirby hurriedly staggered to her feet, using James’s arm for support.

      ‘No, really, I don’t want to go to hospital. They are bound to be busy. It will mean spending hours in Casualty waiting to be seen and all that’s wrong with me is a few cuts and bruises.’

      ‘You don’t know that! You could have some broken bones.’

      She flexed a slim ankle, took a couple of swaying steps. ‘See, I can walk; I haven’t broken anything.’

      ‘What about your head? That hit the pavement with an almighty crack.’

      ‘Oh, I’ve got a tough skull.’ But she did not seem to James to be too steady on her feet, all the same.

      ‘Was she trying to snatch something out of your car?’ a man in the crowd hissed next to him. ‘I saw her grabbing at you through the window. Don’t know what the City’s coming to, street girls hanging about in broad daylight! You expect them up West, but not around here. You be careful, mister, I don’t think she’s hurt at all—just a bit of blackmail. I’ll be a witness for you if the cops come. I saw it was an accident; don’t you let her trap you.’

      James gave him such a ferocious sideways glance that the man backed off hurriedly, muttering. ‘Oh, well, if you want to make a fool of yourself, don’t let me stop you.’

      ‘You should be X-rayed to make sure there are no fractures,’ James told Patience, who shook her head, grimacing.

      ‘I hate hospitals.’

      ‘Nevertheless it’s only sensible...’

      ‘I won’t go, okay? Look, if I feel any worse tomorrow I’ll go along to Casualty. Please stop fussing. You’re worse than my grandpa.’

      Being compared to her grandfather went down like a lead balloon with James. Tight-lipped, he said, ‘Get in the car, please. I’ll give you a lift home.’

      The crowd began to disperse, seeing that no further excitement was likely.

      Her hazel eyes glinted mischievously up at him. ‘Remember, I might pick your pocket if you let me get close enough.’

      ‘Very droll, Miss Kirby. Please get into the car.’

      She obeyed this time, but was still looking up at him, which was why she stumbled over the edge of the kerb.

      Before she could hit her chin on the open car door James grabbed her, slid an arm around her waist, another behind her knees, and carried her to the car, very conscious of her glinting red hair brushing his jawline, her heart beating under that shabby old sweatshirt she wore, picking up a faint, flowery scent from her throat. If you missed the slight rise of those tiny breasts you’d think she could be a boy, she was so slightly built, so skinny of hip and leg, but it would be a mistake to forget her femininity. He had already been stung by it once or twice. Looking at her was one thing; having her in his arms made an entirely different and disturbing impression.

      She looked like a child, but she got her own way with a woman’s maddening deviance. He had been determined not to visit her home and here he was, committed to doing just that—and the really infuriating part was that he didn’t even really mind.

      Not that he was really attracted to a skinny brat like this, of course! Good God, no! It was just that... He tried to explain his reactions to himself, to be rational and level-headed, but she had slid her arms round his neck and put her head on his shoulder and James was suddenly having some sort of problem thinking at all.

      Almost feverishly he deposited her in a hurry on the back seat of the car and climbed in beside her, trying not to make his agitation visible.

      What the hell was the matter with him? He was behaving like some sex-starved lunatic.

      Slamming the door, he watched Barny get back behind his driving wheel. Without looking at the girl, James asked curtly, ‘What’s the address?’

      ‘Muswell СКАЧАТЬ