Images Of Love. Anne Mather

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СКАЧАТЬ your swimsuit on, honey. We don’t stand on ceremony here, and I intend to show you how fit I am, in spite of just surviving an English winter.’

      Tobie managed a slight smile, and then rose to accompany the older woman into the house. Her last image was of Robert’s face turned politely in her direction, with just the faintest hint of a frown drawing his brows together.

      They entered the house by means of a garden room, where flowering plants and shrubs filled the air with their exotic perfume. All thresholds had been moulded to allow the free passage of Robert’s wheelchair, Tobie noticed, and she wondered who looked after him. Someone must help him to bathe and dress, but so far as she could see, there were only the two servants.

      ‘Robert’s rooms are downstairs, naturally,’ Mrs Newman observed now, as they entered an almost circular entrance hall, with a magnificent chandelier hanging at the foot of a curving flight of stairs. ‘This is the oldest part of the house, but as you probably noticed, there have been various additions made in recent years.’

      ‘It’s—beautiful,’ said Tobie helplessly, unable to think of anything else to say, and after a moment’s hesitation, Mark’s mother led the way up the stairs.

      At the top of the stairs, a balcony circled the hall below, with corridors leading off in several directions. Their complexity made Tobie believe that she would never be able to find her way about, and after following Mrs Newman along one of them, up and down odd little staircases set into the hillside, she was convinced of it.

      Nevertheless, when they reached the suite of rooms assigned to her for her stay, her gratitude was such that she forgot her earlier antipathy.

      An arched doorway led into a spacious sleeping apartment overlooking the sweep of the headland and the ocean beyond. French doors opened on to a comer balcony, private from the rest of the house, with an unlimited vista of the terraced gardens that fell away below the villa. The room itself was furnished in shades of cream and turquoise, with a heavily embossed cream quilt on the wide bed and long turquoise silk curtains at the windows. Adjoining this room was a small dressing room, and beyond that a luxurious bathroom, in matching pastel shades.

      ‘I don’t know what to say,’ Tobie murmured. ‘It’s just—perfect.’ She fingered a label hanging from the handle of one of her suitcases, which had been set on an ottoman at the foot of the bed. ‘Thank you so much.’

      Mrs Newman paused in the doorway. ‘Don’t thank me,’ she responded tersely. ‘As I said before, this is Robert’s house, not mine.’

      She would have gone then, but Tobie knew she had to say something. ‘You—you don’t want me here, Mrs Newman?’ she queried cautiously. ‘You—have some objection to my—friendship with Mark?’

      ‘Did I say so?’ The older woman’s eyes were wary.

      ‘No, but—’

      ‘So long as both my sons are happy, I’m content,’ Mrs Newman replied smoothly, and without giving Tobie a chance to say anything more, she left her.

      It would take too long to unpack all her clothes, so Tobie contented herself with unlocking the cases and taking out the most crushable items. Then, stripping off the skirt and cotton shirt she had worn to travel in, she rummaged around for her swimsuits. She had brought three bikinis—a white one, with black edging, a yellow one, which she knew toned well with her creamy skin, and a dark brown one, with red beading, that was without doubt the most provocative of them all. Mark had asked her to put her swimsuit on, and she had no doubt he meant what he said, but looking at their skimpy appearance, she was curiously unwilling to expose herself before Robert in one of them. Before she had known of his accident she had intended to do so deliberately, but now—now she felt quite different, knowing he could not join them.

      Running distraught hands through the silky weight of her hair, she caught a glimpse of herself in the long mirrors attached to the vanity unit, and on impulse she turned to face herself fully. In nothing but flimsy bikini briefs she studied her reflection critically, wondering whether, had Robert not suffered the amnesia, he would see any great change in her. She was older, of course, three years older, with the memory of her experiences adding a touch of mystery to eyes he had always found fascinating. Green eyes, they were, with long curling lashes, her best feature, she had maintained, in spite of Robert’s assertion that she had more desirable attributes. Certainly her figure was good, with full, rounded breasts, and a narrow waist above the swell of her hips. Her legs were long, slim, without being angular, and she had lived long enough to know that she had that indefinable something that men found attractive. Did Robert find her attractive now? she wondered, despising herself for the traitorous thought, but unable to prevent it. If she had met him as she had done before, without ties or complications, would he still have found her desirable? It was a tantalising idea, but one which she recognised as being the most dangerous notion she had had since first she learned of Mark’s identity.

      In the event, she decided to wear the yellow bikini, teaming it with a wrap-around cotton skirt patterned in shades of brown and white. It left her legs and shoulders bare, but it was at least as concealing as a sundress, and she could easily shed the skirt when she had to.

      Finding her way back to the patio was not as difficult as she had at first imagined. There were plenty of windows along the winding passages to keep her in touch with her whereabouts, and she emerged on to the balcony above the hall with a feeling of achievement.

      To her relief, Mark was just mounting the stairs as she went to go down, and she waited at the top for him to join her. ‘Do I look all right?’ she whispered protestingly, as he reached for her, but his murmur of approval was muffled against the satiny skin of her shoulder.

      ‘Go and talk to my brother,’ he said huskily, when at last he let her go. ‘I won’t begrudge him a few minutes of your company. But remember, I saw you first, hmm?’

      Tobie’s tongue circled her lips. ‘I—I’ll wait for you,’ she demurred, reluctant to leave the safety of his presence, but he urged her forward.

      ‘I shan’t be long,’ he promised, bestowing a last kiss on her parted lips. ‘And knowing you’re with Rob, I’ll make sure I don’t waste time.’

      Tobie’s smile was uncertain, but she had no reason not to do as he asked, and besides, why should she feel so anxious? Robert had not recognised her. So far as he was concerned, she was his brother’s girl-friend, and nothing else. If all went well, she could leave here without even ruffling the surface of her relationship with Mark, and surely that was what she wanted.

      Taking a deep breath, she descended the stairs, and walked briskly across the hall and out through the garden room. The gurgling fountain that kept the plants watered had a cooling sound, and she tried to emulate its unhurried progress.

      Outside, the sun seemed more brilliant, and she wished she had thought to bring her dark glasses with her. Their shade would have provided anonymity as well as protection against the glare, but aware that Robert had observed her appearance, she could hardly turn and march back into the house again. Instead, she compelled herself to put one sandalled foot in front of the other, crossing the tiles to where his chair was situated with what she hoped appeared to be calm composure.

      He was alone. No doubt Mrs Newman was attending to her duties as housekeeper and supervising the arrangements for lunch, but Robert remained much where they had left him, staring thoughtfully out across the sparkling green waters of the pool. There was a moment, before he turned to greet her, when Tobie could watch him unobserved, and her heart lurched at the remembrance of what they had once shared. It was almost impossible, seeing him sitting СКАЧАТЬ