Web of Silver

WEB OF SILVER Lucy Gillen

Jody Pine was looking forward so much to her beloved fosterparents' silver wedding party. There was just one snag -- Jody would have to meet Ross Drummond again. She and Ross had never hit it off; he had had no time for her, and she had always been conscious of the fact that he was really "one of the family" while she was not. Still, Mark Wyley would be there as well to liven things up -- and perhaps Ross would have improved since their last meeting. Or again, perhaps he wouldn't ...

CHAPTER ONE JODY PINE put a hand to her hair, a tentative, unconscious gesture that betrayed the nervous excitement she felt at the thought of going home for the first time in three months. It was a wonderful occasion, of course, her foster-parents' silver wedding celebrations, but she would have been more delighted and less nervous if she had not to face the prospect of seeing Ross Drummond again. It was almost five years now since she had seen him last, and the idea of his being at Deep Morton for the celebration made her apprehensive, She told herself repeatedly that she was being foolish to feel the way she did, but the niggling sense of resentment stayed with her and there was nothing she could do about it. It was not as if Ross was likely to take much notice of her; he hadn't before, and he was unlikely to have changed very much. Going home and seeing Uncle Corby and Aunt Elizabeth was something she always looked forward to, and Mark would be there, of course. After more than six years in their care, Jody felt as much affection for Corby and Elizabeth Drummond as if they had really been her parents, and the occasion of their silver wedding gave her as much pleasure. ' The Drummonds had taken on the task of her upbringing when Jody's parents had disappeared on one of their archaeological expeditions to South America. That had been just before Jody's fourteenth birthday and they had never been heard of again, now she felt much closer to her foster-parents than she ever had to her adventurous but rather off-hand natural parents. Corby and Elizabeth Drummond had seen to it that Jody continued with her schooling, and that she went on to university, as they would have wanted. She was studying natural history and anthropology and it was assumed that she would in time travel the world as her

parents had done, but she always spent the vacations with her fosterparents at Deep Morton, the place she now looked upon as her home. A friend of her late father's, Corby Drummond had been a lecturer in archaeology, although he was now retired, and Elizabeth had married him when he was already forty-three years old and some eighteen years her senior. Despite the difference in their ages and the many forebodings of their friends, the marriage had worked and they had had twenty-five very happy years together. Their only regret had been in not having children of their own, but their generosity and compassion had filled the gap quite early in their married life when they took Ross under their care. Ross was the son of Corby's brother, Charles, and when he had died suddenly the boy's mother had rejected him completely. Had it not been for the kindness of his uncle and aunt. Ross would almost certainly have been put into official care. So for twenty-five of his thirty-four years Ross Drummond had looked upon his aunt and uncle as his parents and he, like Jody, thought of Deep Morton as his home. Hence his decision to travel all the way back from some remote part of India for the silver wedding celebrations. Jody came on the scene a lot later and she had seen little of Ross in the time she had been there. She had been away at school and he had followed in his uncle's footsteps and become an archaeologist, but with the difference that he travelled and saw the world instead of lecturing on the subject. Ross was, in fact, quite a well-known figure in archaeological circles, despite his comparative youth, and the Drummonds were extremely proud of him. Jody had met him last five years ago, when she was a fifteen-yearold schoolgirl, and Ross had spent several weeks at Deep Morton,

weeks that coincided with her own school holidays. She remembered him as a tall, fair and rather reserved man who had little or no time for his foster-parents' latest stray lamb, and he had treated her, in Jody's estimation, almost as if she had no right there at ail. She had not liked him one bit and nothing she had heard about him since had given her reason to change her opinion. Man of steel, one newspaper had called him, after a particularly hazardous venture into some unknown South American territory, and that was the impression that remained with Jody. A strong, hard and unrelenting man who, from her tender fifteen years, had seemed not only so much older than she was, but so remote. Three years ago, when he had last been home, Jody had been away at school and they had not met on that occasion, something for which she had sighed her relief. This time, however, there would be little chance of avoiding a meeting, for while she was travelling home for the summer vacation, Ross Drummond was already back from India, firmly established in the familiar surroundings of Deep Morton. What troubled Jody most, she realized, was an uneasy feeling that with Ross there her own welcome would be less warm than usual, although she had absolutely no grounds for supposing so. Except, of course, that Ross was a blood relation while she was only the daughter of a friend, and no matter how she tried to ignore it that twinge of resentment that niggled in the back of her mind refused to be dismissed. She tried to shake it off, yet again, and sought to bring more pleasant things to mind, like the fact that Mark would be there too. Mark Wyley was Elizabeth Drummond's nephew, and only a few

years older than Jody, and they had always got along well together, even though most of their meetings had been confined to school holidays and university vacations. Mark, and occasionally his sister Jessica, had often spent holidays at Deep Morton, that is until Jessica got old enough to prefer the more sultry delights of the continental resorts. Mark was fun, as well as being good-looking, but Jody had never felt much liking for Jessica. She was several years older than her brother and a very self- possessed and sophisticated woman who made no secret of the fact that she looked upon Jody as an interloper. For a moment Jody pondered on the rather daunting prospect of having both Ross and Jessica in the house, but then she pulled a wry face, sighing resignedly as she lifted her case down from the overhead rack. Thank heaven Mark would be there! Little Morton station was very small, set in the outer perimeter of the country town whose name it bore. It was little more than a halt, but it had escaped the Beeching axe years before because it served a very wide agricultural community spread out over the Hampshire countryside, and it was on a direct line from London. It looked exactly as it always did - sleepy and slightly dusty in the summer sun, and as the train drew in Jody heaved a sigh of relief at the familiarity of everything. The same old advertisements peeling away from the hoardings, the book stall that never seemed to be open, crates of chickens, boxes of lettuces and the dozen other piles of freight stacked on the narrow platform, ready for transport to London. Its air of shabby familiarity gave her a comfortable feeling and she smiled automatically at the man on the gate who clipped her ticket.

He touched the peak of his cap briefly. 'Morning, Miss Pine!' He always recognized her, and Jody acknowledged the greeting with a smile. 'Good morning, Mr. Hodges, how are you?' 'Fine, miss, fine!' He nodded his grizzled head in the direction of the gravelled car park, just visible beyond the dim coolness of the ticket hall. There's someone to meet you!' That would be Mark, of course, Jody thought, and nodded her thanks for the information, making her way through the dimness of the ticket hall and out into the sunshine the other side. Temporarily blinded after the gloomy interior of the ticket hall, she almost collided with someone coming in and gasped audibly. Two strong masculine hands gripped her arms above the elbows and brought her to a sharp halt with her face almost touching the top button of a pale blue shirt. 'Jody?' The deep cool voice was unfamiliar, it was certainly not Mark's, and anyway Mark would not have stood there with her arms held in that strong grip, he would have hugged and kissed her, made her welcome as he always did. 'Are you Jody Pine?' the voice asked again, and hinted at impatience, so that she looked up hastily. He was an incredibly tall man, well over six feet, she guessed, and deeply tanned, with fine lines at the corners of light blue eyes and a firm straight mouth that looked very disapproving. A strong smooth column of brown throat rose from the shirt collar and contrasted sharply with its light colour, and his jaw had a square, stubborn look about it.

It was his hair, however, blond and sun-bleached, that betrayed his identity to Jody as surely as if he had already introduced himself. It grew as far as the collar of his shirt and curled up at the back and just above his ears, thick and glossy and enough to arouse the envy of any woman. 'You're Ross,' Jody guessed with a smile, momentarily prepared to forget her dislike of him. He merely nodded his head, but did not bother to respond to her smile, and she felt earlier misgivings return tenfold. She was disappointed that Mark had not come for her, but a hasty look around revealed no sign of him. This blond giant of a man did nothing to make her feel welcome and Jody read her own reasons into his cool manner. Obviously he had not changed in the five years since they last met, and he shared Jessica's view of her as an interloper. An outsider with no place in the family celebrations. Jody was not given to feeling sorry for herself as a rule. But it was difficult to imagine this visit as being anything like as enjoyable as her visits home usually were. Her bottom lip drooped dismally at his lack of warmth and she tipped back her head in as haughty a gesture as was possible while he still held her arms. The customary warmth was missing from her brown eyes as she looked at him down the length of her nose, their expression hidden by a long sweep of black lashes. 'I was expecting Mark to come and meet me,' she informed him in a tone that left no doubt of her preference. 'I felt sure he'd come,' Ross Drummond shook his blond head, releasing her arms at last and taking her case from her. 'There was no need,' he told her, still in that deep and distinctly cool voice that was a discouragement in itself. 'I was in town

and I told Aunt Liz I'd collect you on my way back.' 'Oh, I see!' Again there was no mistaking her disappointment, but at the moment she was uncaring whether he thought her ungracious or not. It intrigued her momentarily to wonder if the idea of coming for her had been his or his aunt's. Perhaps he had been curious about her and had volunteered, without waiting for Aunt Elizabeth to ask him. He took possession of one of her arms again, a firm strong grip around her upper arm, as if he anticipated her taking flight and meant to thwart her, then he led her to where a long sleek sports car stood in the shade of the dusty trees that surrounded the car park on three sides. His stride was much too long for her and she had almost to run to keep up with him, so that she snatched her arm from his grasp when they reached the car and looked at him reproachfully, rubbing the marks left by his strong fingers. 'You seem to be in a hurry,' she complained, and he turned and looked at her briefly, one brow raised to condemn her pettiness in complaining. He put the suitcase in the boot of the car, looking at her steadily. 'It's almost lunchtime,' he told her quietly. 'You're later than I expected and the rest of the family will be waiting for their meal.' 'I could scarcely help the train being late,' Jody pointed out reasonably. She glanced again at those implacable brown features, strong and ruthless as an Aztec carving, and felt a strange stirring in her breast. Not quite the resentment she had felt before, but a kind of regret that he seemed so remote and unapproachable, 'Mark would have come

for me,' she ventured. Ross Drummond closed the lid of the boot carefully and she was aware that he was watching her all the time he was doing it He resented her as much, or more, than she did him, she felt sure, and her heart sank dismally at the prospect before her. 'Oh, I'm quite sure he would,' he said quietly, and something in his voice made her glance up hastily at him. To her surprise she saw a glitter of laughter in the light blue eyes, as if he found her reticence amusing, and Jody curled her fingers into her palms suddenly, angry at being laughed at. 'You didn't have to come,' she told him, in a small tight little voice, as she fought with her emotions. 'And you don't have to laugh at me either! I don't like being taken for a fool, and if you don't mind I'll go out to Deep Morton by taxi!' She would have walked off and left him, prepared to do anything, no matter how rash and unreasonable, rather than ride with him, but he opened the door of the car and she had little option, under the implacable gaze of those light eyes, but to get in. He walked round and slid into the seat beside her and a warm, tanned arm brushed against hers, bringing to her a sudden and startling awareness of him, so that she drew her arm against her side to try and avoid further contact. He did not start the car immediately, but half turned in his seat and looked at her, a steady and disconcerting gaze that still glittered with some secret amusement. 'Someone should have warned me,' he said quietly, and Jody looked at him in swift suspicion. 'I don't—' she began, and he laughed shortly.

'The sparks fly!' he said. 'You're probably quite a handful when you're roused!' Jody said nothing, but sat with her hands in her lap, her eyes downcast, wondering how much truth there was in what he said, although no one had ever been so blunt about her undoubtedly hot temper before. Mark always hastened to calm her when she got angry, as her other boy-friends did. Ross Drummond, on the other hand, seemed not to care very much whether she lost her temper with him or not, and the cool gaze still studied her speculatively. 'I don't know why you should be,' he said quietly at last, 'but ever since you came out of that door just now I've had the feeling that you're prickling with resentment.' She could scarcely deny it, but she shook her head in a half denial without looking up, and let out a soft cry of surprise when a large and none too gentle hand slid beneath her chin and raised her face. 'You don't like me, do you?' he demanded, and Jody looked up at him at last 'You never have,' he went on. 'Last time I saw you, four — no, five years ago, you made it pretty clear that you didn't like me being at home, and it looks as if you haven't changed.' 'That's - that's ridiculous!' She rubbed her face where his fingers had been and looked at him reproachfully, but he was unrepentant, a smile revealing excellent teeth, startlingly white in that tanned face, and crinkling the light blue eyes at their corners. 'You are determined to fight me, aren't you, Jody?' he asked softly. She said nothing and he laughed, a soft deep sound that Jody found oddly disturbing. He was so much the same as she remembered him, and yet so different. She remembered a strong and seemingly ruthless man, remote and unapproachable, but there was something

about him that her fifteen-year-old image had failed to notice but which she could not now ignore. A strong and unmistakable aura of maleness that as a woman she was irresistibly drawn to. . She had a sudden and inexplicable desire to go back to the beginning with him. To pretend that sense of resentment had never existed, and she looked at him hopefully, a tentative smile touching her lips. 'I - I'm sorry I started off on the wrong foot,' she ventured. 'Can - can we start again, Ross?' For a moment he said nothing, then he smiled again, a faint, rather ironic smile as his eyes took in the small, almost childlike face with its softly pretty features and huge dark eyes, his gaze lingering for a moment on the soft fullness of her mouth, then he shook his head. 'I can guess how you feel,' he said quietly. 'But you need not worry, Jody, there's plenty of room for both of us at Deep Morton. You can't take my place any more than I can take yours. We're worlds apart, but we're both part of the family, and we don't have to fight.' He looked at her for a moment longer, then smiled and turned in his seat to start the engine. 'Now let's go home, shall we?'

Deep Morton stood roof-high in trees. Splendid old oaks that had been there for even longer than the old house,* and they looked cool and welcoming in the warm summer sun, when Jody caught her first sight of them from the road. It was always good to come home. The house itself was soft yellow stone, mellowed with a hundred summers and solidly graceful in its beautiful gardens. Elizabeth Drummond had fallen in love with it on sight and had spent the happiest twenty-five years of her life there. Jody felt much the same about it.

Ross Drummond said very little on the way from the station, but Jody thought he was probably as preoccupied as she was herself. For him the pleasure of being home must be even more poignant than for herself, for he spent so many years away, and heaven knew how soon he would be off again. She sighed as they drove along the short drive from the road, although she could not quite say why. Perhaps for a few seconds she had experienced something of the sense of loss Elizabeth Drummond must always feel when her foster-son went away. Ross turned his head briefly and raised a brow. 'Something wrong?' he asked, and Jody hastily shook her head. She was having another moment of doubt. Remembering how she had felt so sure she would receive less than her usual warm welcome this time, because Ross was here tqo, and again the doubt began to niggle at her, as they drove up to the front door of Deep Morton. Ross had been like a son to the Drummonds for twentyfive years, before Jody was even born, and he was a blood relation it must make a difference. Only minutes later she was swept into a hug that made nonsense of all her fears, and Elizabeth Drummond kissed her cheek resoundingly. She was a small, plump woman, not pretty, but with such unfailing good humour that not only her husband adored her. 'Darling!' she cried, hugging Jody close. 'It's good to see you again!' She held Jody at arm's length and studied her for a moment with warm curious eyes. 'You look a little down in the mouth, dear. What's wrong?' Jody instinctively glanced across at Ross, but he was at the moment handing her suitcase over to the housekeeper and unaware of her glance. 'Nothing's wrong, Aunt Liz,' she said. 'I'm fine, honestly!'

Elizabeth's shrewd but friendly eyes looked at her with a hint of mischief. 'Ross found you all right, then?' she asked. 'You didn't expect to be met by him, did you?' 'I expected Mark,' Jody said with a smile. 'I certainly didn't expect Ross.' Ross was closer now and he caught his name, one raised brow questioning her use of it. 'Are you telling tales out of school?' he asked, with something more like his original brusque manner, and Jody felt herself flush, partly with resentment at his manner and partly because of the sudden glint of surprised curiosity in Elizabeth Drummond's eyes. 'Oh, my dear,' she said to Jody with a smile, 'what on earth have the two of you been up to?' 'Nothing, of course!' Jody denied swiftly, her dark eyes condemning him for his thoughtlessness in embarrassing her. 'And despite what Ross thinks, I'm no longer a schoolgirl!' Her sharp response surprised Elizabeth, she could see that, but Ross took it all in his stride, as he would most things, she guessed ruefully. 'I'm sure Ross doesn't think of you as a schoolgirl, darling,' Elizabeth consoled her gently. 'You're a student, which isn't the same thing at all, is it?' 'There's only a couple of years' difference, surely,' Ross suggested softly, and the light blue eyes were fixed unwaveringly on Jody, daring her to argue the fact. 'There's a great deal of difference,' she told him shortly. 'I was a schoolgirl last time you saw me, and I certainly don't look the same now as I did then!'

For a second or two his gaze travelled over her from the top of her black head to the toes of her red shoes, with a cool deliberation, lingering appreciatively on the better than average figure shown to advantage in a simple white linen shift. It was a scrutiny that, had Mark ever dared make it, she would have scoldingly dismissed and probably laughed about, but from a man as cool, mature and self-possessed as Ross Drummond left her feeling breathless and vulnerable, and she bit her lip and hastily averted her eyes. 'You certainly don't look the same,' he said softly. 'I hadn't really noticed!' It was a remark calculated to put her firmly in her place yet again, and she curled her fingers tightly into her palms. 'I—' she began, then bit her lip when he laughed softly. 'I suppose you must be eighteen or nineteen by now, aren't you?' he asked. 'I'm nearly twenty-one,' Jody informed him shakily, and could not resist adding with a certain malicious relish, 'For a so-called archaeologist, you haven't much of a head for dates, have you?' The dig went home, she could see that, and she sensed her aunt's curiosity at their obvious antagonism. There was a glitter of ice in the light blue eyes for a moment and his jaw tightened, giving a straight, iron hard look to his mouth. 'Usually I'm required to date things to the nearest hundred years or so,' he told her in that deep, cool voice. 'Also I need an interest in the subject I'm studying to be accurate!' It was an unkind, even a cruel jibe, and guaranteed to deflate her feminine vanity especially coming after that long cool scrutiny of

her. Being so brusquely dismissed by anyone of the opposite sex was a new experience to her and she resented it as she resented so many other things about Ross Drummond. There was something about him that disturbed her strangely, something more than the resentment she had felt from the start, and she puzzled over it while the seconds ticked by in silence. It was a kind of awareness that she had never experienced before. It was in the moment that her aunt spoke, breaking the uneasy silence, that she realized with a start of alarm what it was. She was seeing him no longer merely as Corby Drummond's nephew, and just another member of the family, but as a very virile and attractive man, and for a moment the idea stunned her. 'Mark can't have heard the car,' Elizabeth said, and Jody blinked at her for a moment vaguely, then put a hand to her throat in an uncharacteristic gesture of nervousness. 'Oh, oh yes, I wondered why he wasn't here.' She smiled, ignoring the blue eyes that watched her from a couple of yards away. CI wondered if he hadn't arrived yet.' Before Elizabeth could answer the door of the sitting-room opened suddenly and Jody turned swiftly and hopefully. 'Jody! Darling!' Long legs strode across the hall and she was swept up into a hug that lifted her off her feet, her arms round the tall slimness of Mark Wyley. Her anger at Ross was momentarily forgotten in her pleasure at seeing the newcomer, and she hugged him tightly, a flood of relief flowing over her, although she could not quite explain why. 'Oh, Mark, I'm so glad you're going to be here!' He set her down on her feet again and his grey eyes smiled down at her, his head to one side, making thick brown hair flop over one eye.

Mark was very good- looking, in complete contrast to Ross Drummond, and he would never do anything to upset her or say Unkind things to her. He was tall, though not as tall as Ross, and he had a fresh, well scrubbed look that was klso in contrast to the other man's deep tan. In fact Mark Wyley was everything that Ross Drummond was not, and at the moment Jody thanked heaven for it 'Welcome back, darling!' He hugged her to him again and kissed her, the way he always did, and Jody stood in the circle of his arms, feigning disregard for the two pairs of eyes that watched them. Elizabeth's with a gentle and approving tolerance for their youth and good looks, Ross Drummond's with a land of speculative amusement 'It's good to be home,' Jody said softly. 'And I'm so glad you're going to be here, Mark.' 'But, darling, of course I am!' He smiled at Elizabeth over the top of Jody's head. 'How could I not be here for the big occasion? It's the gathering of our very small clan! Mother and Pa are busy in the States, of course, but even Jess has spared the time to come, and I'm here, so are you and Ross, that pretty well completes the circle!' 'We are a small clan, aren't we?' Elizabeth smiled. She loved having all the young people under her roof and did not really mind that her more mercenary- minded brother and his wife preferred to put business before a family celebration. She loved having young people around her, and even Jessica professed an affection for her. 'Isn't Uncle Corby here?' Jody asked, and Elizabeth pulled a face.

'He went into the garden to do a five-minute job about an hour ago, darling, you know what Corby's like. But I'll round him up for lunch and tell him you're here, that'll get him in, for sure.' Jody laughed, suddenly more at ease, and at home, and she shook her head, her dark eyes glowing. 'Don't disturb him on my account, Aunt Liz,' she said, 'I'll go and freshen up if I've time before lunch.' 'You've time, dear,' Elizabeth told her. 'But try not to be too long. Ross told me, even before he went into town, that he was ravenous, so you'd better not keep him waiting much longer!' 'I-I'll try not to.' Ross was standing at the foot of the stairs, one foot on the bottom step, a faintly amused look on his face, and Jody prayed he would move out of her way so that she would not have to come into contact with him. She had had quite enough contact with Ross Drummond for one day, both physical and mental. He moved to one side as she approached, but not so far that she could avoid brushing against the smooth tanned arm that rested on the newel post. 'Don't be long,' he said, and she started at the sound of his voice. His eyes had a bright, devilish look in their depths and she wished she could look away. For a second white teeth glistened in the tanned face in a mock snarl. 'Like Aunt Liz said,' he whispered, 'I'm ravenous!' His laughter, soft and derisive, followed her up the stairs and Jody fled as quickly as her legs would take her up to her room.

CHAPTER TWO MARK had promised to take her into town to do some shopping and Jody looked forward to the outing mostly because it would take her out of possible contact with Ross. Not that she had let him trouble her too much in the two days since her arrival, but she avoided him whenever she could, as she did Jessica. She knew she had a fairly explosive temper, but she did not especially enjoy quarrelling, even with Ross, and staying out of his way was one way of avoiding it. .She had changed to go out with Mark - a short- sleeved dress of deep pink cotton that showed up her colouring well, flattering the golden smoothness of her skin and the black of her hair, giving added depth to the wide, dark brown eyes with their fringe of thick lashes. Her mother had admitted to a trace of South American blood, but it showed much more plainly in Jody than it ever had in her mother. Her figure was softly rounded and showed to advantage in the simple cut of the dress with its scoop neckline and short skirt. Her legs were bare and golden brown as the rest of her, and she thought Mark would be well pleased with the end result of his wait for her. On the landing outside she almost collided with someone and would have stepped back hastily if the door had not already closed behind her. Also a pair of large hands prevented her from going anywhere, grasping her tightly round her upper arms and bringing her face to face with an expanse of snowy white shirt. 'Do you always make a point of bumping into people?' Ross asked in his cool voice, and Jody resigned herself to the inevitable. 'Do you?' she retorted, and snatched her arms from his grasp, rubbing her skin as if she was trying to erase the touch of his strong fingers.

His blond hair was tidily combed and the white shirt did a lot to emphasize his deep tan, revealing the strong column of his throat and an inch or two of broad tanned chest. Jody hastily averted her eyes, appalled by her own reaction to him. He was a couple of inches taller than Mark's six feet and more lithely muscular than Mark's slimness, but he moved with an almost animal grace that made most other men look clumsy, and she wished she could overcome her almost defensive resentment of him. He stood looking down at her for some seconds while she rubbed her arms, only half aware that she was doing it, then he smiled, a hint of impatience in his eyes. 'You still snap, don't you, Jody?' he asked. 'You still have your claws out for me.' 'I didn't snap,' Jody denied swiftly, on the defensive yet again. 'There you go again,' he said with a smile of triumph. 'You spit like a little wildcat every time I get within clawing distance! You really have got it in for me, and I can't for the life of me think why you should have!' Jody gathered her reasons together, ready to tell him why she acted as she did, but she found the right words hard to come by and instead she shook her head. 'You're imagining it,' she told him in a small husky voice. 'I don't have it in for you at all.' 'Well, something makes you put your pretty back up whenever you see me,' Ross said adamantly. 'And I wish to heaven you'd get it out of your system and done with it!' 'It isn't me!' Jody protested, wondering if Mark was already beginning to wonder where she had got to. She had not expected to be held up in this way and she would hate Mark or anyone else to come along and find her involved in a slanging match with Ross.

He thrust his hands into the pockets of the hip-hugging grey trousers he wore, his feet planted firmly apart, looking as if he intended settling their differences once and for all whether she was willing or not 'Whoever it is,' he said quietly, 'for Aunt Liz's sake we'd better call a truce.' Jody looked down at her hands, grudgingly agreeable. 'I - I don't want to quarrel with you,' she said, seeing no other way out. 'It's just that you seem to go out of your way to - to pick on me.' 'Pick on you?' It was plain from the way his mouth tilted at one comer that he recognized the schoolgirl origins of the phrase. 'Why don't you just stop trying to hate me, Jody, and behave as if I have as much right here as you have? Because I have, you know.' 'I - I know.' She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, her dark eyes wide and uncertain. It had never before occurred to her that he would see her reaction to him as anything as strong as hate, and it startled her for a moment. 'You - you think I hate you?' she asked. 'Don't you?' he asked softly, and she shook her head. She stood with her hands tightly curled at her sides, her gaze held by those light, implacable eyes for several seconds before she could look away. 'Of course I don't hate you,' she said at last, in a small tight voice. 'Why should I?' 'Why should you?' Ross echoed her question softly. 'But you don't like my being here, do you, Jody? You'd rather I'd stayed in the depths of India instead of coming here for the anniversary.' 'Oh, of course I don't!' Jody denied earnestly, shaking her head to impress him with her sincerity. 'I'm - I'm glad you could come!'

'Are you?' She nodded her head, albeit a little warily, and Ross smiled. 'I can't altogether believe that, Jody!' It was impossible for her to hold his gaze for any length of time without feeling as gauche as the schoolgirl he obviously thought her, and she wished there was some logical explanation for the very strong feelings he aroused in her. Until now she had never given him much thought, except as a distant member of the family that she did not like very much and was, thankfully, not likely to see very often. Now she found herself seeing him in quite a different light, as a mature, but very attractive man, and the realization was intensely disturbing to her peace of mind. 'I'm glad you could come, for - for Aunt Liz's sake if for no other reason,' she said at last, and without looking at him. 'I know she's always glad to see you.' 'She is,' Ross agreed quietly. 'And that's why I came for the anniversary. I hadn't anticipated such antagonism from you, but I should have remembered that you didn't like me that last time we met. And don't deny it,' he added swiftly when she would have done just that. 'I wasn't going to,' Jody said frankly, and heard him chuckle to himself at her honesty. She bore the scrutiny of his blue eyes in silence for so long that she could have done almost anything to break it. 'I hadn't realized how you'd grown up,' he said softly at last, and she glanced up briefly, noting that there was a hint of laughter in his eyes again. 'I hadn't realized that Mark fancies himself in love with you, either,' he added.

'In love with me?' She looked momentarily startled. She had taken Mark's kisses and his affection for granted, but she had never seen his behaviour as that of a lover and she was briefly stunned into silence. Hearing Ross put the idea so badly into words made her suddenly acutely self- conscious and she knew she was blushing, a childish failing she had not suffered for years. 'Didn't you realize he's falling in love with you? Ross asked, and laughed softly as if the Idea amused him. 'I thought women had an infallible instinct for that sort of thing.' 'It's ridiculous to - to suggest that Mark's in love with me,' she denied. 'We're - we're close, that's all, like cousins.' 'Close?' One expressive brow gave his opinion of that. 'Is that how you see it?' He was silent again, while his eyes swept over her in a slow, intense appraisal, the way he had looked at her once before, and again Jody felt naked and vulnerable under such disturbing scrutiny. Her hands clenched into fists and she wanted to turn and run, anywhere away from this man and his ability to shatter her self- control. 'If you'd been around when I was Mark's age,' he said in a soft, deep voice that slid along her spine like an icy finger, 'and looking like you do now, you'd have been in no doubt how I felt. I'd have made quite sure of that!'

'I just wish he needn't have come, that's all,' Jody said. 'I wish he could have stayed in India, or wherever he was.' She sat beside Mark as they drove into Little Morton, and he turned his head briefly to give her a curious and speculative look.

'You don't like him,' he stated, as firmly and as convinced as Ross himself had been when he made the same statement. Jody sighed. 'I've tried to,' she said. 'But - oh, I don't know, Mark, he's so - he's so difficult to understand.' 'He's deep,' Mark agreed. 'But I've always found him easy enough to get on with.' 'Maybe it's just me,' Jody said ruefully. 'Or maybe it's because I'm a woman, I don't know!' Mark laughed shortly. 'I hardly think that's likely to put him off you,' he stated firmly. 'He's no misogynist as far as I know. Jessica seems to think he's the last word, but then Jess is impressed by his reputation as well as anything else. She likes men, and as we go, Ross is a pretty impressive specimen, you must admit.' 'He's very attractive.' Jody made the admission grudgingly. She hated to admit, even to herself, just how attractive she found Ross Drummond. Mark laughed. 'You don't sound too sure about it!' 'Oh, he's attractive enough,' Jody said. 'In - in a more mature way, of course.' 'Oh, of course!' Mark turned his head briefly and smiled at her. 'You shouldn't let him get under your skin, darling,' he told her. 'He'll be off again soon, I expect, and you probably won't have to meet him again for another five years.' It was his use of the endearment that she had until now taken for granted that reminded her of Ross's statement. Mark was in love with her, he had said, and had sounded as if he had no doubt of it.

She glanced at the good-looking face beside her curiously and with a hint of wariness. Certainly there was an air of possessiveness about Mark's attitude towards her sometimes, and he was always very attentive and willing to do whatever she wanted to do, but in love with her - she frowned over that. Curious about her long silence, he looked round at her again, one brow raised in query. 'Is anything wrong, darling?' he asked. 'You're very quiet.' Jody shook her head. 'No. No, not really.' Mark smiled knowingly. 'Which means that there is, but you don't know whether you should tell me or not, hmm?' 'Something like that,' Jody agreed. 'It's - it's difficult.' It would be foolish to spoil their relationship now by being too frank about something she was not even sure of, and she hesitated. 'Try me, darling,' he coaxed with a smile. 'I'm a very good father confessor.' Jody looked down at her hands for a long, long time before she took the plunge and then almost immediately wished she had kept it to herself. 'Mark, Ross says - he says you're in love with me.' He was so still, and he did not answer for a long time, and Jody wished she could slip through the floor of the car in an agony of embarrassment. Then suddenly he smiled slowly and a little ruefully, 'Well, of course I am, darling,' he said quietly. 'But I wish he'd let me tell you so myself.' 'Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry!' v because I love you or because you don't love me?' Mark asked quietly. He reached out a hand to cover hers.

'Oh, don't worry, my darling Jody, I know you don't love me, but I keep hoping you will in time.' Jody wished with all her heart that she had said nothing, but simply let things go on as they were, and perhaps really fall in love with Mark in time, as he said. All she felt at the moment was that she could not love him as he deserved to be loved and that she felt guilty about it because she hated to hurt him. If only Ross Drummond had not told her, she could have remained in blissful ignorance. 'Oh, Mark, I - I honestly will try to fall in love with you,' she promised, and realized even before she heard the words from her own lips how naive they sounded. No doubt Ross would have found her statement highly amusing. Her hands trembled and there was a threatening prickle of tears in her eyes, for it was a very emotional sensation having Mark tell her so quietly and sincerely that he loved her. No one had ever done that before, not with such quiet conviction, and she wished with all her heart that she could answer in the way he wanted her to. Mark reached out a hand again and squeezed her fingers gently. 'Don't try too hard, darling,' he told her softly. 'It could have the reverse effect, and I'd hate that.' He sighed. 'I wish Ross hadn't told you. At least I could get close to you before, without you suspecting and keeping me at arm's length. I could slaughter him for ruining that!' Her shopping was soon completed and they talked much less than they usually did when they were together. Already, she realized, it was beginning to make a difference, now that she knew how Mark felt about her, and she regretted it deeply. She drove with him right round to the garage when they returned, and walked back with him to the house, her hand in his, and that

uneasy silence still surrounding them. It was when they came round from the back of the house that Mark brought them to a sudden halt, in the shade of one of the massive oaks that sheltered the old house and shushed softly in the light breeze. He held her hands in his for some time before he spoke, looking down at her, his regret at the change in things clear in his voice, a dark, serious look in his grey eyes. 'Jody darling, I know you probably don't want me to talk about it, but do you really think you can love me, in time?' The tears that had been only a breath away all the way home now made themselves evident and rolled down her cheeks, glistening bright in her dark eyes as she looked up at him. He kissed her gently, his lips just brushing her wet cheeks, sharing her emotion but denied the same means to express it. 'I - I'm sure I will,' she promised huskily. 'I - I just have to have time, Mark, and there's not really much of that, is there? I mean - I mean I'll be gone back to university in a couple of months and you'll be gone before that - and - and I—' 'Jody! Darling!' He kissed her again. 'A lot can happen in that time. I'm here for another few days, and after I go back I can always drive down here and see you.' 'Two months still isn't a very long time,' Jody insisted. He brushed his lips across her forehead. 'Take all the time you need to make up your mind, my darling,' he whispered. 'I know you have a lot to consider and you're—' He smiled and pulled an apologetic face. (You're quite a baby, my love, and you don't exactly want for boy-friends, do you? I'll give you all the time you need as long as you come to me eventually.' 'Mark—'

'Ssh, darling!' He bent his head and his mouth was warm and gentle on hers, his arms holding her as if he feared he might crush her if he tightened his hold. 'Don't explain or tell me anything I don't want to hear,' he whispered against her ear. 'Just wait for the magic to work for you too !' 'Oh, Mark!' She nestled her head against him and closed her eyes, wishing with all her heart that she could take back those few impulsive words that had changed everything between them. Her ignorance had been bliss, and she saw the end of her lighthearted relationship with Mark as one more reason to regret the advent of Ross Drummond.

The sitting-room at Deep Morton was a big, bright sunny room and with so many flowers for the silver wedding day decorating it, it looked even more welcoming than usual. Jody had left the breakfast table as soon as she could and run upstairs to fetch her contribution to the little heap of presents already on one of the tables by the window. She placed the small rectangular parcel on top of the others and stood for a moment looking down at them wondering what they contained. Parcels had always held a fascination for her ever since she was a child and she fingered one or two of them experimentally, 'What are you up to?' The question made her spin round almost guiltily, her eyes wide with surprise, and Ross's raised brows made much more of her simple curiosity than was necessary. 'I - I was just trying to - to guess what was in them,' she explained, and added defensively, 'I've always been intrigued by parcels.'

'So I've been told.' She stared at him uncertainly for a moment. It had never occurred to her before that her foster-parents would talk about her to Ross in the same way that they talked of him to Jody, and it gave her a curiously close and intimate feeling for him for a moment. 'I'm not alone in finding parcels irresistible,' she said slowly. 'I -1 wasn't really being nosey.' 'Just curious,' he agreed with a hint of a smile. 'I' know, and I'm not blaming you, you don't have to put your hackles up. Not this morning especially.' She walked away from the table, further into the window, looking out at the trees and the smooth stretch of lawn and gardens, with the downs in the distance, cool and remote. 'I wouldn't do anything to spoil the day,' she told him. 'I'm not a complete idiot, Ross.' 'Will you stop spitting at me?' He came and stood right behind her, and she could feel the warmth of him through the thin dress she wore, her skin flutteringly sensitive to the whisper of his breath on her neck. 'I wasn't, I—' He leaned over and placed a finger on her lips, his light blue eyes so close she could see the fine lines at their corners as he looked over her left shoulder. 'Silence is golden,' he told her. 'Don't go on, Jody, or you'll say something I shall feel bound to deny and then we're off again!' Briefly the white teeth gleamed at her and he shook his head. 'It's a celebration, so no harsh words, no explanations, just a big happy smile, right?'

For a moment Jody said nothing, then she nodded, seeing his reason and not wanting to spoil the happiness of the two people most concerned for anything. 'All right,' she agreed. 'Good girl!' He turned her in one strong arm and kissed her lightly on her mouth. 'Now stand by, I can hear the rest of them coming!' 'There you are, darlings!' Elizabeth cried as she came into the room. 'We wondered where you two had got to!' 'Just having a preliminary prod at the parcels,' Ross said, and winked an eye at Jody, who hastily looked away and smiled at Mark instead. 'Bless you, you never could resist parcels, could you, Jody darling?' Elizabeth said, hugging her. 'Well, we'll soon put you out of your misery and open them. Oh, but it's so exciting, isn't it?' The parcels were opened and their contents admired and their donors hugged, while Elizabeth talked on with unusual garrulousness. She hugged them all repeatedly, and cried a little too when she read the sentiments expressed on the many cards they had received from friends and family alike. Jody, always sensitive to an! emotional atmosphere, felt her own eyes misty as she saw Elizabeth wipe away a tear. 'Oh, champagne!' Elizabeth giggled delightedly when Ross produced two large fat bottles to toast the happy couple. 'It's rather decadent, isn't it, darling? Champagne at this hour of the morning!' 'Why not?' Ross demanded. 'It isn't every day that you have a silver wedding, and I might not be able to drop everything and fly home for your golden one.' He looked at his uncle with bright, challenging eyes. 'You've no scruples about drinking champagne at ten o'clock in the morning, have you, Uncle?' he asked, and his uncle shook his

head, taking the first glass and giving it to his wife, making a silent toast to her when he received his own. 'Thank you, sweetheart,' he said softly, and Elizabeth smiled. Corby Drummond was a big man, and his relationship to his nephew was unmistakable, although he was much better looking than Ross. Grey-haired now, and bearded, he carried himself with the same air of almost arrogant assurance his nephew did, despite his sixty-eight years, and Jody had loved him much more in the six years she had been in his charge than she ever had her own itinerant father. He stood beside the short, homely figure of his wife and smiled his pleasure. 'We've been lucky,' he said. 'First we had Ross, and then little Jody, both of whom are a credit to us, I may say without boasting, a ready- made family without the effort of having them ourselves ! What more could we ask?' The joke, Jody knew, hid a very real regret that there had never been a child of their own, but neither Corby nor Elizabeth would have admitted to anything but joy in the acquisition of their fosterchildren. To our two wonderful children!' Elizabeth said softly, raising her glass. 'Bless you both!' Instinctively Jody looked across at Ross and found his light blue eyes watching her steadily. It gave her a strange feeling of intimacy to be partnered with him so inescapably as a family, and she could not help wondering if he altogether liked the idea. It was impossible to tell from that unfathomable gaze. 'I hope you never have cause to regret us,' he said softly to his aunt, and Elizabeth laughed, holding her glass for him to refill it.

'But of course you'll never give us cause to regret anything, either of you!' Elizabeth told him. 'How could you, Ross dear? You're well established already and little Jody is well on her way. Perhaps she'll be as famous as you are, dear!' He dismissed the flattering adjective with a grimace, but Jody felt pretty sure that he enjoyed to the full what fame he had earned during his adventurous life, and he bent his head and kissed his aunt gently. 'You're very good for my ego, Aunt Liz,' he told her, then glanced at Jody from the depths of half-closed lids, a glitter in his eyes that could have been laughter. 'Somehow I can't see Jody tramping through the jungle in tropical kit, getting chewed by bugs. She's not really the type, is she?' 'Now, darling, don't be so disparaging,' Elizabeth scolded him, only half serious. 'Jody might even be able to come with you on one of your schemes one of these days. Your two interests could very easily be combined.' Ross gazed at Jody for a long moment, then drained his glass again before shaking his head. 'No, thanks, Aunt Liz, I wouldn't want the responsibility of an inexperienced infant like Jody along on any expedition I led. There's a place for everything, and the tougher places of the world aren't for the likes of Jody. She's more a boudoir kitten than a jungle packhorse, I think.' Jody's dark eyes sparkled anger, and she curled her fingers tightly round the stem of her glass, feeling an almost irresistible urge to hit out at him. Had it not been for the fact that it was a celebration and any sort of fracas would have upset Elizabeth, she would not have hesitated. Mark looked as if he guessed how close she was to losing her temper and he took her free hand in his and raised his glass to her, his grey eyes pleading with her not to spoil the party by letting Ross goad her into being silly.

'Jody's decorative enough to go anywhere,' he said softly. 'I wouldn't mind in the least if she'd come back with me and sit in my office where I could just look at her all day.' Elizabeth's round, homely face beamed a anile at him, without even guessing how close they had come to a scene. 'You're very good at making pretty speeches, Mark dear,' she told him, and looked across at Ross, so tall and cool beside her. 'You should learn something from Mark, darling, and say nice things to Jody instead of teasing her,' 'Oh, please don't worry about me, Aunt Liz,' Jody said hastily, and smiled at Ross with a glint of malice in her dark eyes. 'As Ross says, there's a place for everything, and obviously the drawing-room isn't his scene. I expect he feels more at home among the savages.' To her chagrin, instead of being angry at her insult, Ross threw back his blond head and laughed aloud. Even Elizabeth looked startled at his reaction and Jody felt the angry colour in her cheeks as she glared at him. He would not even allow her to score off him without making her look malicious and childish, and in that moment she hated him more than she had ever hated anyone in her life before. It was Jessica, cool and rather disdainful, who brought an end to the exchange, and it was obvious by her rather sulky expression that she disliked listening to a conversation in which she did not figure or could not take part. She must have sensed the tension between Jody and Ross, but she could not know what caused it and that would annoy her intensely. Jessica was only an inch or two shorter than her brother, but she always seemed even taller and made Jody feel much less than her five feet three inches. Dressed as she was now, with her almost thin figure encased in an expensive dark dress, she looked as if she could

have been a successful model, and indeed she had been for a while, until the life bored her. Now she ran a very successful and expensive art shop. Her hair was naturally the same light brown as Mark's, but she had decided that a glossy, golden blonde was more effective, and Jessica liked to do things for effect. Especially if it impressed the opposite sex. 'Darling, your present is absolutely gorgeous,' she told Ross. 'And it looks fabulously expensive!' It was a tactless remark in the circumstances and Ross's smile had a steely edge on it as he sipped his champagne before answering her. 'Keep your covetous eyes off it, Jess,' he told her with uncharacteristic, coarseness. 'It won't be coming your way!' 'Oh, you brute!' Jessica pouted her reproach, but it was obvious that she did not mind in the least how he spoke to her, and Jody marvelled at her attitude where Ross was concerned. Mark had said that his sister thought Ross was 'the last word', and it seemed he was right. Ross's present was a beautiful and appropriate piece of Georgian silver, and his excellent taste surprised Jody until she remembered that he was something of an expert on antique silver and jewellery too. There seemed to be no end to the talents of Ross Drummond. 'Ah, but there's a necklace I have my eye on,' Jessica said, obviously seeking revenge, for it was evident, to Jody anyway, that Ross disliked the subject being mentioned. There was a mercenary gleam in Jessica's blue eyes as she dared him to silence her. 'It must be worth a fortune, isn't it, Ross?' 'It's worth a lot more than cash,' Ross told her quietly. 'And I'd rather you hadn't mentioned it, Jess.'

'Is it a secret, Ross?' Elizabeth asked, obviously intrigued, and he shrugged. 'Not a secret exactly, Aunt Liz. It's on its way to the Central Museum, I'm seeing Sir James Carwell on Friday to hand it over.' He glanced at Jessica, his blue eyes cool and speculative. 'I was checking on it when Jess saw it, she wasn't supposed to be there, and I can't resist looking at it every so often, although I shouldn't. I was responsible for us borrowing it, you see, and I'm responsible for its safety. If Sir James hadn't been away when I arrived, I'd have handed it over right away; as it was I thought I could keep it safely here.' 'Oh, it's a wicked shame to hide it in some stuffy old museum,' Jessica declared, her mouth sulkily provocative. 'I'd love to have it and wear it.' Ross looked across at her, his light blue eyes steady and calculating. 'It isn't your style at all, Jess,' he told her quietly, then switched his gaze to Jody, watching her speculatively for a moment. 'If anyone wore it, it would have to be Jody,' he said, and held Jody's gaze until she could feel her pulses racing out of control. She knew her cheeks were flushed, due only in part to the champagne she had drunk, and there was a dark wary look in her eyes. 'I - I wouldn't dare,' she said huskily, and Ross's lips curled. 'Why on earth not?' he demanded. 'I'd like to see it worn,' He spoke as if he had made up his mind about it. 'On a beautiful woman it; would look incredible.' His always deep voice slid down an octave and became blatantly seductive, making Jody catch her breath as he looked at her steadily. 'I'm going to break all the rules, by even letting anyone see it,' he said. 'But will you wear it for me, Jody? Just let me put it round your

neck and see it against a soft skin as it should be seen. You won't disappoint me, will you?' he added softly. 'I - I don't know.' Jody licked her lips and cast a swift, appealing glance at Mark, noticing the way his brows were drawn together in a slight frown as if he disliked the way she was being so deliberately used. 'I won't eat you!' Ross promised with a hint of im* patience. 'And you'll never get another chance to wear anything as valuable or as beautiful as this - but it's up to you.' 'It would be rather a thrill, darling,' Elizabeth said, urging her on. 'It's a unique and beautiful piece of history and it's quite a honour to wear it.' 'I-I know.' Jody was as tempted as any woman would have been, and Ross was watching her with his light eyes challenging her. 'You won't be exactly wearing it,' he told her quietly. 'It hasn't been worn for a hundred years, but I'd like to just put it round your throat and enjoy it for a few seconds.' Jody hesitated a moment longer, then nodded a little dazedly. 'All right,' she said then. 'If you're sure it's allowed.' 'It isn't really,' Ross told her with a swift grin. 'That's what makes it so much more fun.' His eyes lingered for a moment on the smooth golden creaminess of her throat. 'You'll be just the right background for it,' he said, nodding his blond head in approval. It was not, Jody felt, exactly a compliment to her personally, but she felt a strange sense of excitement at the prospect of wearing

anything as priceless as the necklace was reputed to be. It would probably never be worn again in the rest of its existence. She looked at Mark and smiled, aware of Jessica's black frown of disapproval, but Mark did not notice, mostly because he was looking at Ross with a small suspicious frown as if he was not altogether happy.

CHAPTER THREE IT was a lovely warm day again. Not hot enough to make walking too tiring an exercise, but warm enough to make the more distant downs look hazy and shimmery as if they weren't quite real but part of a mirage. The bees hummed their ecstasy in a surfeit of clover and meadowsweet and made almost the only sound on the still golden air. Much to Mark's disgust, he had been required to make an unexpected trip to London for a few hours to deal with some crisis that needed his personal attention. He ran the engineering business that bore both his and his father's names efficiently enough while his father was in America, but he had hoped to have a few days free to spend with Jody and his uncle and aunt. He would, he had assured Jody before he went, i be back the following day, and she had no doubt that he would be. Meanwhile she was left more or less to her own devices for an hour or two. Corby and Elizabeth were entertaining an old friend for coffee, Jessica had driven back to town to make sure that all Was well 'with her business, left in the care of a manager, and Ross was out somewhere, riding, so the morning was hers. She always did quite a bit of walking whenever she was at Deep Morton. The downs never failed to draw her, for she loved their peace and quiet, and the feeling of immensity that the rolling acres gave her. She never tired of walking over the soft cushioning turf, rising and falling in vast undulations like a sea of grass, offering breathtaking vistas from the top of warm, round hills. Nowhere, she felt convinced, had so much to offer as the downs, and she sometimes wondered if she would ever summon the necessary enthusiasm for her chosen profession to spend so much time away from them.

She sometimes wished she had learned to ride, as Mark did, and Ross and Jessica too, she could have gone a lot further, but, perhaps because she was so small, she always felt frankly scared of being so far above the ground. She felt safer depending on her own two feet, even if it was a much slower form of locomotion. Mark, she remembered with a smile for her own girlish fancies in the past, looked very much the handsome knight on a white charger. She had seen Ross only once on horseback, and then he had seemed just as over-awing to her fifteen-year-old self as he was on foot, perhaps more so. Tall and straight, he had an arrogant look, she remembered, well fitted for the man of steel he had been called. She wondered how far he had gone this morning, and if she would see anything of him, not that she had come out with any intention of finding him, but it was perfectly possible they would meet. The ground began to slope downwards again, quite steeply, and she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she had perhaps come further than she should have done when she had to take into account the journey back. But it was while she hesitated at the top of the rise that her eye caught some movement about half a mile ahead. It was someone riding, and she had no doubt about' who it would prove to be. A tall figure, straight as a lance, and with a fair head that, at this distance, looked almost white in the sun. Ross! Now she had no hesitation about what she would do. She was suddenly reluctant to meet Ross, especially out here on the peace and quiet of the downs where she would feel more small and vulnerable than ever, and she started down into the lush, sunwarmed hollow. Down there where there were harebells and clover and a dozen other wild flowers that were practically extinct elsewhere, she would be

out of sight. Perhaps long enough for Ross to ride on past without even realizing she was anywhere in the vicinity. The grass had a warm, spicy smell that reminded her of late summer hayfields, and the sky was a bright, clear blue, with only a couple of small white clouds drifting lazily across it. Jody closed her eyes briefly and arched her body in sensuous appreciation of the sun's warmth, smiling to herself. A bunch of white clover, already wilting in the warmth, was tucked into the belt of her short yellow dress whose swinging skirt blew back as she increased her pace, giving her a new sense of freedom, so that she laughed out loud a few seconds later and began to run down the rest of the slope. Her black hair lifted from her neck and flew out behind her in the wind she was creating, running cool over her forehead, and the pleated skirt of her dress lifted and spread about her slim brown legs. Her dark eyes glowing with the exhilaration of running, she sped down the grassy slope, arms wide. It was all the more startling, therefore, when she caught her foot in some unseen obstacle and went down, rolling over and over right to the bottom of the grassy hollow at the 'bottom, where she lay for a moment, breathlessly immobile. She was vaguely aware of a sharp pain in her left shoulder as she lay there, looking up at the clear blue sky, and wondering why it should so suddenly remind her of the colour of Ross Drummond's eyes. The pain in her shoulder made her wince as she sat up, and she pulled a face, rubbing it cautiously. She gushed aside the shoulder of her dress and tried to see what damage had been done, but it was impossible for her to see, and she rubbed it experimentally again, making an audible gasp of pain at the results.

She sat there for several minutes, trying to get her breath back and to ignore the throbbing pain in her shoulder, wondering if it was possible that Ross was anywhere close by. Not that she would dream of asking him to help her, she was still capable of walking home, even if her shoulder was painful, but the thought of his being not too far away would have been some small comfort. It was the sudden and indignant flight of a lark that told her there was someone else about at the top of the slope she had just rolled down, and she immediately expected Ross, looking up curiously and trying to appear as if nothing was amiss. It was not Ross that looked down at her from the rise, however, but a short, untidy figure in the oddest assortment of clothes she had ever seen, and her heart gave a sudden anxious leap at the sight of him. Where Ross was, she had no idea, but she began to hope he was not too far away. She started to get to her feet, but before she was more than half risen, the man was on his way down, and she watched him with wide, anxious eyes, not knowing quite what to do for the best To get back home she had to climb the slope again and pass that strange untidy figure on its way down, so there seemed little else to do but stay where she was for the moment. He was younger than she had expected, and he had a certain air of impudent charm about him. Bright dark eyes glinted appreciatively at her as he came closer and his grin showed quite good teeth. His clothes were a little less remarkable close to than they had looked from a distance, but still scarcely conventional garb. He had on skin-tight jeans of some indiscriminate colour between black and blue, with a multi-coloured shirt that flapped behind him in a breeze of his own creating, and a long, wool-fringed waistcoat made up of numerous patches in different colours.

He came to a halt in front of her, his eyes twinkling, one hand to his head where the thumb scratched thoughtfully at a mop of strawcoloured hair. ' 'Ello, love,' he said brightly, and Jody almost smiled in response, he seemed so harmless. It was just that there was something about that bright-eyed twinkle that alarmed her and she merely nodded her head, without speaking. 'Having a bit of trouble, are you?' he pressed, and Jody hastily shook her head. 'No.' She took care to sound offhand. 'No, I'm not having any trouble.' He was perhaps no more than a year or so older than she was herself and she wondered if he could be one of the less reputable members of her own kind - a student on vacation. Whoever he was she was taking no chances, and she walked round him, giving him a wide berth. He followed her round, his eyes on the hand she still had to her aching shoulder. 'I saw you roll down the hill,' he informed her. 'Thought you might have hurt yourself.' Jody shook her head, walking on determinedly up the steep slope, wishing to heaven he would not follow her, and wondering yet again if Ross was very far away. It was almost as if he followed her train of thought, she realized a few seconds later. 'I saw a chap on a horse about half a mile away,' he said chattily. 'You wouldn't be expecting to meet him, would you?' 'My cousin,' Jody said swiftly, her heart turning ' cold in her at the knowledge that Ross was still a long way off, and anyway wouldn't know she was there at all. 'I thought I might see him out here,' she lied, as casually as she could, and saw his grin of disbelief.

'Oh yes?' he said. 'Well, he didn't seem in any hurry to get here, an' I reckon he would be if he knew a dish like you was waiting for him.' 'I - I said I might see him out here,' Jody insisted. 'I expect he wasn't expecting me so soon.' He laughed then, a high-pitched laugh that shivered along her spine. 'You can tell 'em!' he said admiringly, and laughed again. 'Live near here, do you?' he asked, after a moment's thought, and Jody nodded. Climbing the slope so quickly was making her terribly breathless arid her heart was hammering away at her ribs in increasing panic. 'Very near,' she told him, and he grinned, the thumb busy again in his tow-coloured thatch. 'Nearest place would be about half a mile away, by my calculations,' he guessed. 'You've got quite a walk, so you won't mind a bit of company, will you?' He took her acceptance for granted, knowing very well that she had little choice in the matter, and Jody struggled with an increasingly urgent desire to cry. Her shoulder was aching abominably and she saw little chance of Ross coming to her rescue now. She was gasping for breath as they neared the top of the slope and all too conscious of the lack of hygiene so common among his sort, as her companion walked close beside her, a hand linked through her arm, a wide grin challenging her to do anything about it. 'Will you please go away?' she begged, and was appalled to hear how close to tears she sounded. 'Now don't be like that, love,' her companion admonished her with another grin. 'I'm just being friendly!'

The over-bright eyes gleamed at her meaningly, and Jody shuddered. 'You're being objectionable,' she told him. 'Now please go away, or I'll - I'll scream!' 'Scream?' He seemed to find that very amusing, and made her shudder with that shrill laugh again. 'There's nobody out here to hear you, love. That bloke on the horse'll be miles away by now - cousin or not!' 'Let me go!' She snatched at the arm he held and gasped when the movement sent a sharp stab of pain through her left shoulder. 'Quiet down!' He gripped her arm again, and much more firmly, and Jody felt almost choked by a sense of panic. He turned her towards him and held both her arms, and the pain in her shoulder made her scream loudly and so unexpectedly that it startled her as much as it did her assailant. He jerked at her arms again and Jody felt herself falling, letting out a despairing cry as she went down with her assailant beside her. 'Ross!' She hit out again and again with her good arm, panting and crying unrestrainedly, her eyes bright and huge as she struggled, still calling for Ross because it was all she could do to keep herself fighting. 'Shut up!' The dirty hands were put over her mouth, and she felt she would choke with the nausea he aroused in her. She fought like a wild thing for what seemed like an eternity, and then suddenly there was a dark shadow above them and the creature in the bright shirt and patched waistcoat was pulled bodily away from her and sent hurtling back down the hill, his voice carrying back to Jody as a shrill cry of surprise. She could see nothing for the tears that filled her eyes, but there was a comforting strength in the arms that held her close for a minute,

her face buried against the softness of a shirt that smelled faintly of horses and more strongly of some tangy after-shave that was blessedly familiar. 'Jody?' The young man in the hollow, so abruptly and violently disposed of, was forgotten for the moment, and she raised her head at last to see Ross's dark, suspicious features, his light eyes steely bright as he looked down at her. Whether his obvious anger was for her assailant only or for her as well, she neither knew nor cared at the moment. He was there and she felt safe again, even if his hold on her was hurting her shoulder to some extent. 'What the devil was that all about?' he demanded in a voice as cold as ice. 'Haven't you any more sense than to meet types like that out here on the downs? If you must go out and meet your student boyfriends for heaven's make it in the town or somewhere where there are people about, then if things get out of hand, you've got help handy!' Jody stared at him during his angry tirade and her eyes kindled darkly, a bright flush on her cheeks as she knelt there, still with his hands on her arms. She might have known that he would blame her for the incident, without even stopping to find out whether she knew the other man or not. 'You - you've got a damned cheek!' she declared, at last. 'How dare you suggest that I had anything - anything at all to do with that - that creature?' 'Don't cuss at me!' Ross ordered sharply. 'And don't look so selfrighteous, either. It could easily have been one of your student friends you'd come one to meet.' 'Well, it wasn't !'

'Then I'm sorry!' He looked at her for a long moment and she would almost have sworn that behind that steely glint in his eyes there was a glimmer of amusement lurking. The likelihood of it made her more angry than ever and she curled her hands into fists. It had not yet occurred to her that there was anything curious about the two of them crouched there on the sweet-smelling, sun-warmed turf, indulging in one of their inevitable quarrels. 'Do you always decide people are guilty before you know the facts?' she asked, her voice shaky and uncertain, and Ross looked at her steadily. 'Not always,' he said quietly, and glanced briefly down to where the bright shirt still lay in the sun- warmed hollow. 'I wonder what you'd have done if he had been a boy-friend of yours,' he speculated, and a small, tight smile touched his wide mouth for a moment. 'I suppose you'd have hit me too!' Jody did not answer, but looked down the hill, remembering her late assailant at last. There was a small worried frown on her brow when she saw him still there. 'Do you suppose you've hurt him?' she asked anxiously. Ross shrugged, riot even turning his head. 'It's unlikely,' he said coolly. 'That sort have a built-in sense of survival. Anyway, does it matter?' 'Well, of course it does!' Jody said, aghast at what she took for callousness. 'If you've—' 'Broken his neck?' Ross suggested softly, and Jody' shook her head. 'Oh, I suppose he asked for it!' She glanced up briefly through the thickness of her black lashes at the tanned face below the thick blond hair, a disturbing little skip of pleasure stirring her pulses at the memory of that avenging shadow descending so swiftly and so

violently in her defence. Hurling him away as if he was no more than an annoying insect. 'Let's go!' Ross was on his feet, reaching down to take her hands and pull her up too, and the resultant pain in her injured shoulder made her gasp aloud, beads of perspiration appearing on her upper lip as she rubbed cautiously. 'My shoulder!' Ross looked at her curiously. 'What's the matter with it?' She sank down to her knees again, her head spinning. 'I don't know,' she said huskily. 'I fell down the hill and - and hurt it.' 'Let me see!' He was on his knees again beside her and she stared at him, blinking her surprise. 'It - it won't hurt until I get home,' she told him, shaking her head. 'Oh, for heaven's sakes!' Ross gave an almighty sigh, and he was already pushing down the shoulder of her dress before she realized what he was doing, his strong fingers gently probing and sending little shivers along her spine. 'Try not to be so childishly touchy,' he said in a quiet, despairing voice. 'Come on, Jody? undo your dress so that I can see your shoulder properly!' 'No, I-' 'Jody!' Jody glared at him reproachfully, then caught a glimpse of the figure slinking away up the other side of the hill, its bright shirt flapping in

the summer breeze, its head ; turned firmly away from their direction. 'He's gone,' she said briefly, and Ross smiled. 'Good,' he said. 'Now perhaps you'll stop behaving like a maiden aunt and let me look at your shoulder, h's probably only a slight dislocation, and if it is I can put it right in a couple of seconds.' 'Can you?' She looked at him curiously, wondering if there was any end to his talents. He smiled and the white teeth gleamed in his brown face. She felt strangely lightheaded suddenly and her cheeks were flushed as she unfastened the front of her dress far enough down for him to bare her shoulder. His hands were firm and gentle, and the warm vibrance of his body made her head-spinningly aware of him. 'Where I get to,' he told her quietly, 'there isn't always a doctor handy, so we have to be our own sawbones.' 'I - I suppose you do.' She could not see much of what he was doing, but the touch of his fingers was almost hypnotic, exploring and probing her soft smooth skin and making her wince only when he found the trouble spot. Then he sat back on his heels, looking at her steadily for a moment. 'How brave are you?' he asked, his light eyes glinting a challenge, and Jody swallowed hard before she answered him. 'I - I don't know,' she confessed. 'I've never had to be all that brave so far. Why? What are you going to do?' 'Hurt you for a minute,' Ross told her frankly. 'But it'll put it right for you, I promise.'

Jody blinked at him uncertainly for a moment, then nodded. 'Only only don't hurt me on purpose, will you?' she begged, and he frowned. Sitting on his heels beside her he looked at her with an icy glint in his eyes, his hands still on her shoulder, and she would have sworn that their pressure increased slightly, so that she bit her lip anxiously. 'For a remark like that you deserve to be put through the worst torture I can devise!' he told her. 'Now hold still while I do my worst!' 'Oh, Ross!' He tut-tutted impatiently. 'Oh, for heaven's sake, child!' 'I'm not a child and I don't like you - Aah!' She let go a short, sharp scream when the manipulating fingers suddenly dug harder and her arm was jerked almost out of its socket, it seemed. 'Oh, you - oh, you—' 'It's all over!' Tears ran down her face and she looked at him with huge reproachful eyes, then buried her face again against that soft white shirt, while a cool, soothing voice murmured consolingly in her ear, muffled by the thick softness of her hair. A large hand rubbed back and forth gently over her hurt shoulder, and she was not really surprised to find that it hurt a lot less than it had a few minutes before. For a few seconds she allowed herself the comfort of those consoling arms and the strange sense of elation it gave her to be so close to the strong, warm maleness of him. Then she looked up, at last, tears still bright in her dark eyes as she studied him uncertainly, fighting to still the erratic beating of her

heart because she was afraid he would notice it. She experimentally moved her shoulder and found it no more than a little sore and stiff. 'It worked,' she said, as if it surprised her, and Ross laughed, a vibrant sensation that throbbed in his broad chest and transmitted itself to her. 'Of course it worked,' he told her. 'Only you wouldn't trust me, would you?' Jody was not prepared to argue with him on any point at the moment, and she scrambled to her feet, hands helping her before she was even half-way. It was amazing how quickly he moved for a big man. 'I haven't said thank you,' she told him quietly, and looked up at that dark, unfathomable face. 'Thank you, Ross.' 'Think nothing of it,' he said. 'Are you ready to go home now?' Jody nodded, sighing at the thought of the long trek before her. Her shoulder felt much better, but it was still a bit sore and it ached. 'I was on my way home when - when he came,' she said, and glanced back, seeing no sign of her erstwhile attacker, so maybe he was sitting in another hollow somewhere licking his wounds. 'You should keep that arm up for a little while,' Ross told her. 'I haven't anything you can use as a sling, but find a scarf or something like that when you get home.' She demurely lowered her eyes. 'Yes, doctor,' she said with mock meekness. He refused to be drawn by her mockery, but walked over to the horse that waited for him patiently and swung himself up into the saddle, a tall, impressive figure that sent a shivering chill of some unrecognized emotion sliding along her spine. 'I wish I hadn't walked so far,' she complained. 'I didn't realize how far I'd come.'

'It's nearly a mile,' Ross said, looking down at her, and she sighed again, deeply. 'I know.' She looked up at him appealingly. 'If you're going home would you please tell Aunt Liz I'll be along presently?' she asked. He looked down at her steadily, a glint of speculation in his light blue eyes. 'It's almost lunch time,' he' reminded her. 'Aren't you hungry?' 'Of course I'm hungry,' Jody said, a little crossly. She was feeling very sorry for herself suddenly and wished he would be a little more understanding. 'I'll be along as soon as I can.' 'Better make it sooner,' Ross said shortly, recognizing her self-pity. 'Come with me, Jody.' 'With you?' Jody stared at him in something like horror, appalled at the very idea of being that far from the ground, apart from the disturbing prospect of being in such close and intimate contact with Ross, held firmly in the clasp of a steely arm all the way back to Deep Morton. 'No, thank you,' she said feelingly. 'I'll walk!' 'I suggest you do as you're told for once,' Ross decreed firmly, and put down a large hand for her. 'Give me your hand and stop being childish!' 'I'm not being—' 'Jody!' She tried to outstare him, but found it more difficult .than she anticipated, and she finally shrugged resignedly. But her mouth expressed her opinion of his insistence with its pursed lips and she put her good hand into his and allowed herself to be hauled up in front of him and seated, none too comfortably at first, on the saddle.

There was little enough room for one; two made it very overcrowded and far too intimate for Jody's peace of mind. One steel-hard arm encircled her completely, the fingers spread out over her ribs, the other hand holding the reins, while he made encouraging clucking noises to the horse. It was far less frightening than she had expected, but she refused to be anything but annoyed at his highhandedness, and tried to ignore completely the warmth of the hand that held her and the lean strength of the body that she did her best not to lean against. She could feel his heartbeat and the power of the muscles that held the rather mettlesome animal in check, and there was something wildly disturbing * about that distinct and powerful aura of masculinity about him. She almost cried aloud when, after about ten minutes' riding, a warm, smooth cheek brushed hers as he leaned forward and spoke in her left ear. 'Are you sulking, Jody?' he asked, his mouth brushing her ear, and she felt herself stiffen involuntarily. 'I don't sulk,' she denied, curling her fingers at the effect of a soft deep laugh that whispered against her neck. 'All right,' he said softly. 'You don't sulk!' 'I wish—' She stopped, biting her lip, and she felt him lean forward again to look into her face. 'I wish you wouldn't always make me feel as if I was about five years old,' she complained. 'Maybe it has something to do with the way you act,' he told her seriously, then laughed again before she could argue or deny it. 'I wish you'd let me walk,' she told him, determinedly cool. 'You're not really my idea of Sir Galahad.'

'No?' 'No !' she retorted swiftly, and felt the arm about her tighten suddenly. 'Then maybe I should simply throw you off and let you walk back after all.' Jody held her breath for moment, wondering if he actually would do just that, but then she felt the deep vibrance of another laugh and the fingers spread over her ribs moved slowly and almost caressingly. 'I want my lunch,' he said softly. 'I don't want to have to wait for you to arrive before I get it, so you can stay put!'

CHAPTER FOUR 'I CAN'T leave you for long without you getting yourself hurt, can I?' Mark teased Jody next morning. Jody, sitting beside him on the window seat in the sitting-room, pulled a wry face. She wore her arm in a sling, as Ross had said she should, but it had been with Elizabeth's gentle insistence that she had complied, allowing them to put a silk scarf around her neck and rest her arm in it. 'It was all rather silly really,' Jody told him, making light of the incident. 'I simply rolled down a hill.' 'Not so simply, apparently,' Mark retorted with a smile. 'You dislocated your shoulder and it must have been very painful. It's a good job Ross happened along to rescue you.' Her rather dramatic return home on Ross's saddle could hardly have been expected to pass without comment and there had been immediate and anxious inquiries about what had happened. Ross had answered them, but had said nothing about her encounter with the strange creature on the downs; neither had she so far, although she probably would mention it to Elizabeth later, and Mark too if he was not likely to make too much fuss about it. Corby was absent this morning, working again in his precious garden, but Elizabeth sat over on the other side of the room doing some of the intricate embroidery she was so clever at, while Jessica sat curled up in another armchair, looking faintly sulky. Her reason for sulking was because she had wanted to go riding and Ross had declined to accompany her, and Jody stopped to wonder if she really thought Ross would ever do anything to please her, or anyone else, unless it suited his own plans.

'I can't think how on earth you came to dislocate a shoulder, walking on the downs,' Jessica told her, obviously intent on having her revenge on someone, and Jody smiled*. 'I was running, actually,' she confessed. Down the hill. It was such a lovely sensation and I was enjoying it enormously when I caught my foot on something •and—' she shrugged and laughed lightly at her own clumsiness, 'down I went!' 'With Ross conveniently handy!' Jessica jeered maliciously, her blue eyes darkly suspicious. 'I suppose you didn't realize he was out there as well, did you?' Jody blinked for a moment. It always startled her to realize how bitterly Jessica disliked her. 'I - I did notice him a few minutes earlier,' she admitted. 'But he was about half a mile away then, and I'd no idea he was coming my way.' 'No?' Elizabeth frowned her dislike at the tone she adopted, but Jody's ever-ready temper rose in her own defence. 'You're well off the mark, Jessica, if you imagine I'd go to the trouble of staging an accident just to get treated to Ross's version of the good Samaritan,' she retorted. 'My shoulder was too painful!' 'Well, of course you didn't, darling,' Mark told her, and frowned at his sister. 'Why should you bother to stage an elaborate accident just to come home with Ross? He'd have brought you anyway, if you'd asked him.' 'I hadn't the least inclination to ride home on that horrible great animal,' Jody assured him. 'I'm petrified on horses, and Ross knows it, but it didn't stop him taking the high hand and bringing me anyway.'

'Never mind, my darling, at least you're better today!' He kissed her consolingly, and Jessica curled her lip and returned to her sulky silence. She brightened considerably when the door opened a few seconds later and Ross came in, and she gave him a provocative look from the corners of her eyes. 'Darling,' she drawled in the husky tones she seemed to reserve especially for him, 'I wondered where on earth you'd got to. I'm getting a bit bored - are you sure you wouldn't like to come riding?' 'I'm quite sure,' Ross said firmly, and sat himself down in an armchair, completely ignoring the reproachful glare she gave him. 'I'm waiting for a call from Sir James Carwell and I want to be here when it comes.' 'The man who's taking the necklace from you?' Elizabeth asked, obviously interested, and he nodded. 'Did you try it on Jody after all, dear?' she asked. 'No. No, I didn't.' It was obvious, to Jody at least, that he would rather the necklace had not been mentioned again and she guessed he had had second thoughts about seeing her wearing it. He had already taken quite a chance with a valuable property that the Indian government had entrusted to his care, by bringing it home to Deep Morton, although it was not altogether his fault. He was to hand it over only to Sir James Carwell, and Sir James was not due back in England until tomorrow. 'Are we all going to be allowed to see it, dear?' Elizabeth asked, and he pulled a wry face.

'I was rather hoping that no one would remember that rash statement,' Ross told her. 'I've had second thoughts about it, Aunt Liz.' 'Well, I suppose it is rather a responsibility, dear,' Elizabeth said understandingly. 'But I must admit I'm a bit disappointed, not seeing it after all.' She smiled across at Jody, sitting with Mark on the window seat. expect Jody is too, aren't you, darling?' Jody looked across, catching Ross's light-eyed gaze on her, and shrugged carelessly. 'If I remember rightly,' she said, 'it was Ross's idea that I should put it on, not mine. He seemed to think I'd make the best display stand for his treasure!' The jibe was deliberate, and she saw the way his wide mouth twitched into one of those half smiles, and the gleam of amusement in his eyes. 'I would have liked to see it worn,' he said quietly. 'And as you say, you would have made the best display stand for it.' 'Thank you !' Her sarcasm met with another smile and she thought he would have said more on the subject, but Jessica, yet more angry at hearing Jody preferred for something she wanted herself, interposed impatiently, her blue eyes sharp with malice. 'If Jody's too proud to wear it,' she said coolly, looking at Ross with a frankly seductive smile, 'I'm not, darling. I'll willingly be your display stand!' For a moment Ross said nothing, then he shook his head, a small tight smile on his mouth. 'No,' he said quietly. 'It's Jody or nobody, she's the one it would look best on.' 'But she—' Jessica began, and was stopped abruptly by a large hand waving her to silence imperiously.

'She wouldn't really mind, would you, Jody?' Ross asked softly, and Jody felt her fingers curl into her palms as she hastily lowered her eyes, feeling a sudden tension in Mark, sitting beside her. 'I'm sure it would be perfectly safe here,' Elizabeth said, seeking to persuade him. 'And I'm sure we're all very interested to see it, Ross dear.' He thought for a minute, then he shrugged. 'O.K.' He got to his feet in one of those swift, lithe movements that Jody always found so fascinating but tried not to notice, and looked across at her again. 'Jody?' he asked softly, and she nodded. 'Do I come to the mountain or does the mountain come to me?' she asked, with a light and slightly nervous laugh. Ross smiled. 'I'll bring it down here,' he said, 'and then you can all see it. Though I'm sure Sir James would have a hundred fits if he knew what I was doing with the property of an overseas government!' 'He won't know, dear,' Elizabeth promised. He was gone only a few minutes and there was a strange air of tension in the room when he opened the velvet-lined leather case and lifted out the necklace, holding it suspended on one long finger. It was exquisitely worked and studded with several large emeralds that glittered like green fire even in the darker shadows of the shady side of the room, but it also looked rather frail and thin so that Jody was afraid in case it should disintegrate while it was around her neck. Looking like fine lace, the inside of the filigree was worn smooth on the edges and there was a strange sense of drama about seeing it hanging there from that strong, brown hand, as if it had been

snatched forcibly from the soft neck of its original owner by the man who held it. It's beautiful,' Elizabeth said softly, breaking the silence. 'It really is beautiful, Ross. I had no idea it would be so—' She sought for the right words and Ross smiled understandingly. 'I know just what you mean, Aunt Liz,' he told her quietly. 'Really it's not so very different from a lot of other necklaces of its period, but there's just something about it - one can't quite explain. I never tire of looking at it, and yet it isn't so very remarkably in its workmanship. It simply has an - an aura about it.' Jody was both surprised and moved by his obvious feeling for the delicate piece of ancient craftsmanship, and for the first time ever she felt in complete accord with him about something. 'Has it a history?' Elizabeth asked, and laughed. 'I expect it has most of these old pieces from the East do have, don't they?' Ross shrugged, his light eyes still watching the light playing on the silver necklace as it swung from his finger. 'Of course,' he agreed. 'As you say, they always have, haven't they? This one has a very romantic legend attached.' He sounded as if he was not impressed by romantic legends and Jody could well imagine it was true, despite his obvious fascination with , the necklace. 'Tell us,' Elizabeth urged him, and smiled. 'You can't leave us in suspense, dear!' He laughed, his eyes still on the gleaming silver and rich green stones. 'A conquering prince is supposed to have given it to the daughter of one of his captives, because he fell in love with her,' he said. 'It was meant to bring her a lifetime of happiness, and

apparently, so the story goes, it did just that. She married him and when she died she was buried in the necklace.' Elizabeth sighed, her soft heart touched by the story. 'And now she's had it taken from her,' she said softly. 'It does seem rather a shame, doesn't it?' 'I'd give my right arm for it,' Jessica said, reaching out to touch the intricately worked silver and the sparkling jewels set in it. Her blue eyes had an avid look, and her full mouth was parted as she saw it in her mind's eye encircling her own neck. 'It's a sin to put it into > some stuffy old museum, Ross, it really is!' 'It's the best way of preserving it,' Ross told her. 'And museums aren't necessarily stuffy, Jess, any more than archaeologists are elderly men with absent minds.' He was putting her firmly in her place and Jessica resented it, but the wonder to Jody was that she did not resent it even more than she did. Instead she smiled, despite the dark glitter in her eyes. 'I know that, darling,' she told him in a low and husky voice. She swung back her glossy blonde hair in a gesture guaranteed to be provocative to any man, except Ross Drummond. 'Just the same,' she told him, 'I'd give a great deal to have that necklace, even for a while.' 'Well, if it's any sort of consolation to you,' Ross told her, cno one will have sole possession of it again, and it's unlikely it'll ever be worn again after today.' * He came across the room towards Jody and she got up from her seat beside Mark, feeling her limbs trembling in the most dismaying fashion, her eyes held fascinated by that swinging silver lace in his hand. Mark, she thought, was not at all happy about her being the

chosen one; he liked Ross, but he had a certain wary mistrust of him which Jody found hard to understand in him. Ross stood in front of her, smiling to himself and looking at her steadily for a moment. Then his fingers brushed lightly on her neck as he moved her hair aside and the warmth of his body enveloped her suddenly when he leaned forward and put the silver necklace gently round her throat. It felt cool and unexpectedly hard against her skin, and she could not imagine that it would be very comfortable to wear for any length of time, but it was beautiful and that aura Ross had mentioned gave her a flutter of excitement in her heart. More disturbing still to her senses was the touch of Ross's fingers at the back of her neck as he fastened the clasp, and she closed her eyes on the dismaying way her heart leapt when he bent his blond head over her to see better what he was doing. She could feel the rapid pounding of it under the fingers of the hand held close to her body by the sling that supported her arm. That strong brown column of throat revealed by the open neck of his shirt, a glimpse of the broad chest and the warm, vibrant nearness of him. He was much too close for comfort, and she was so afraid that what she felt would somehow betray itself to the others in the room. 'How does it feel, darling?' Elizabeth asked, and smiled at her. 'It looks quite beautiful!' 'It is very beautiful,' Jody agreed readily, 'but it isn't very comfortable, in fact, Aunt Liz.' 'Who cares if it's comfortable or not?' Jessica scoffed. 'Really, Jody, you do make a fuss about nothing!'

Jody flushed, glancing hastily at the dark face above her and wondering if he realized just how easily she was knocked off balance by that inexplicable something that he always aroused in her. Not that he would be very interested if he did realize, she thought ruefully, for at the moment all his attention was on the necklace he set such store by. And for a few crazy moments Jody hated that cool, beautiful silver round her throat. 'Stop showing your claws, Jess,' Mark told his sister bluntly. 'I can see Ross's point in wanting to see it on Jody - she's perfect for it.' 'Perfect!' Ross's light blue eyes glowed in appreciation, but only for the intricately worked silver that lay against her soft golden skin, and Jody felt a strange curling sensation in her stomach when he slid a hand under the necklace and lifted it gently, his hand resting lightly at the base of her throat. 'It couldn't look anything else but beautiful in such a letting,' Mark said softly from just behind her, and Jody turned and smiled down at him. 'Thank you, Mark,' she said quietly. Mark reached for her hand and squeezed the fingers, his grey eyes smiling up at her warmly. 'Let Ross have the necklace,' he told her gently. 'I'll take the setting any time!' Jody was aware of Ross's steady gaze, drawn now to her, rather than the necklace, a slight tilt to his wide mouth that was not quite a smile for Mark's compliment, and she put a hand to her throat. 'I - I wish you'd take it off now, Ross,' she said. 'I'm rather afraid something will happen to it while I'm wearing it.' 'Nothing can,' Ross told her, but nevertheless nodded in agreement with her suggestion. 'Just the same, it's been on show long enough, I think. It's time it was locked away again.'

'Must you?' It was Jessica, and her blue eyes were sharp and glittering with malice. 'No one's likely to steal it while we're all here, are they?' 'Maybe not,' Ross agreed quietly. 'But it is quite a responsibility, and Sir James would say I've already taken far too many chances with its safety.' Jody reached up, using her left arm as well, despite its sling, hoping to undo the fastening herself rather than have him do it. But he brushed her aside and she experienced with dismay that stomachcurling sense of awareness again as his broad chest was brought closer and his body touched lightly against hers, the contact making her tingle. The necklace slid from her neck and he caught it deftly, his long fingers brushing against her throat. Instinctively she looked up at him and he smiled for a moment, some deep, dark, unfathomable expression in his eyes that made her hastily lower her own, 'Thank you,' he said softly, Jody stood still for several seconds, watching him walk across the room and put the necklace carefully back on to its velvet cushion, closing the leather case and locking it. She had a hand to her throat where the necklace had rested, and there was a strange and inexplicable sense of loss in her heart as he closed the lid and turned the key.

Jody took another look at herself in the mirror and nodded satisfaction at what she saw. She was having dinner with Mark in town tonight, and she had refused to keep her arm in the sling any longer. It no longer pained her and she had no intention of going out to dinner with anything as unglamorous as an arm sling spoiling the

efforts she had made with her appearance. Her dress was made of smooth silk jersey and it fitted to her soft curves flatteringly, its deep pink colour lending a rosy glow to her golden skin. It felt smooth and cool and almost sensual to her hands when she smoothed it over her hips and she felt much older in it somehow. Instead of wearing her hair loose about her face as she usually did, it was pulled back into the nape of her neck in a soft, smooth chignon. It was a style she had never worn before, and it made her look a little older, but also added to the vaguely foreign appearance her colouring always gave her, betraying her mother's South American blood even more plainly. She gazed at her reflection for a moment longer, some elusive, highly unlikely thought going through her head and making her smile. She put a hand to her throat, without jewellery of any sort, and put her head on one side as she pictured it in her mind's eye. The silver necklace that Ross had locked away would look absolutely right on her as she was now. Had it been Mark and not Ross in charge of the necklace she would have ventured to mention it, but such a thing was unthinkable with Ross, even in jest. Not that she would have worn it, even had she been allowed to, for she would have been much too afraid of something happening to it while it was in her charge - but the idea was attractive and she felt sure Mark would have agreed with her. She pondered for a moment on the brusque way Ross had discouraged any suggestion of Jessica's that she should be allowed to even touch the necklace, and felt a momentary twinge of pity for her, although the feeling would never have been reciprocated, she felt sure. Nevertheless if Jessica was in love with Ross she had little chance of getting anywhere, and for that Jody could feel sorry for her.

Sighing deeply over the complication of human emotions, she gave a final smooth over to her hair and turned away from the mirror, and it was only when she stood in the open door of her bedroom that she realized with a tut of annoyance that she had forgotten to change her shoes. The ones she wore were pretty enough, but she was determined to leave nothing undone tonight to appear as glamorous as possible, and she had some new, glove- soft cream-coloured ones she had never yet worn. It would take only a minute to put them on. Perched on the end of her bed, with the door standing wide open, she put on the first shoe easily enough, but the right one proved more difficult and she frowned impatiently as she struggled to get it on, adding a quiet 'damn' for good measure. 'Surely the shoe should fit Cinderella, shouldn't it?' Ross asked quietly from the doorway, and Jody looked up swiftly, appalled at the way her heart skipped at the sound of his voice. She sat for a moment with the shoe in her hand, a slight pout of annoyance spoiling her mouth, and he still stood in the doorway, one hand on the jamb, his weight resting on his arm and a glint of laughter in his light blue eyes as he watched her. 'Didn't I hear you cussing?' he asked, and Jody glared at the offending shoe. 'I said damn,' she informed him. 'And I meant it!' 'Don't your shoes fit?' 'Of course they fit,' she told him impatiently. 'I've had them on before, and the left one's gone on easily. It must fit!' 'Of course! You couldn't possibly be one of the ugly sisters, could you?' he asked with a soft laugh for her obvious temper.

Jody gave him a brief look of disgust, wishing he would go away and leave her, but to her dismay he left the doorway not to go on his way, but to stride across the bedroom towards her. His rangy height seemed to fill the room and he stood over her for a moment before going down on one knee beside her. 'Give it to me!' The quiet voice had a hint of laughter in it, and he held out his hand, but Jody stared at him for a moment in blank surprise. Her pulses were fluttering wildly out of control, for she found it hard to believe that she was really seeing Ross Drummond on his knees to her for the second time in two days. 'Jody!' His impatient voice jolted her back to reality and she blinked at him uncertainly, the shoe still in her hand. 'I - I can do it,' she told him, shaking her head. 'You don't have to--' 'It's obvious you can't do it,' Ross interrupted shortly. 'And I don't propose kneeling at your feet for no good reason, so give me that shoe!' A brief white smile gleamed in the brown face for a moment. 'I'll play Prince Charming for you!' Jody still hesitated and, with a sigh of resignation, Ross took the shoe from her unresisting fingers and lifted her right foot with his other hand. Strong brown fingers curled round her ankle with surprising gentleness and he slid the shoes over her toe, while Jody struggled with the strange turmoil that his touch aroused in her. His head, with its thick sun-bleached hair, was bent over as he tried to get the shoe on, and she curled her fingers to resist the temptation she felt to put out a hand and run her fingers through it. A warm, muscular arm pressed briefly against her thigh and did strange, disturbing things to her senses, and she wished to heaven she could do something about it.

He looked up suddenly, his eyes bright and quizzical in the darkly tanned face. 'Are you sure you've had this shoe on your foot before?' he asked, and Jody stared at him for a moment, the awful truth dawning slowly. 'Well, not that one, actually,' she said. The left one I have, but - but they're a pair, they must both fit.' 'You only tried on one?' 'Yes. I often do when I'm quite sure I want to buy the shoes, and I was in a hurry. Anyway, if one fits the other should.' Ross turned the soft leather shoe in his hand, reading the size that was printed on the inside of the heel. 'What size do you take?' he asked. 'Four.' She looked at him suspiciously. 'Why?' He smiled slowly, throwing down the shoe on to the carpet with a gesture of disgust. 'That one's size three,' he told her, and Jody groaned. 'Oh no!' He was still on one knee with his elbow resting on the raised one, a hand stroking his chin while he fixed her with a steady gaze. He missed nothing of the clinging pink dress and the chignon in the nape of her neck, and he smiled knowingly. 'All this dressing up is in honour of Mark, I presume,' he said, and Jody frowned, believing she detected a hint of patronage. 'I'm having dinner in town with Mark,' she agreed. 'I particularly wanted to wear those shoes tonight.'

'Well, you can't,' he told her flatly. 'You'll have to wear some more.' Jody resented that matter-of-fact, big-brother manner he adopted and frowned over it. 'That's obvious,' she said shortly. 'But it doesn't stop me being disappointed.' Ross laughed softly. 'Oh, I'm sure Mark won't notice what you've got on your feet,' he told her. He stood up, swiftly and gracefully, and he seemed so incredibly tall as he stood towering over her again. The last of the evening sun, coming in through the windows caught his blond head and gave him the hard, golden look of a Nordic god, and he was very masculine, and very disturbing. Jody wished he would go and give her time to gather her senses before she had to go down and meet Mark. He wore no jacket because the day had been the hottest so far, and the fine white cotton shirt he wore showed the darkness of his tan through its thin texture, making it all too apparent how strong and muscular that lean body was. Its close cut emphasized a broad chest and powerful shoulders and revealed the brown throat in the open neck. Impeccably tailored, light-weight grey trousers fitted his long legs smoothly and gave them a taut, powerful look as he stood with his feet apart, looking down at her, while Jody fought hard to maintain an air of cool detachment. 'I haven't seen that dress before,' he said suddenly, and Jody blinked for a moment in surprise. Of course it shouldn't really surprise her that he noticed what women wore, he was a trained observer, but she had somehow not seen him as a man who would comment on such things. 'You haven't,' she admitted.

He reached down for her hands and Jody, after a brief startled glance at him, curled her fingers over his, her pulses racing out of control again at the contact with him. She was pulled to her feet and he held her at arm's length for a moment, studying her with that same disturbing intensity he had done before and which she had resented so much. Even now, affected as she was, she felt a faint niggle of annoyance. 'Mmm!' He smiled slowly, revealing those startlingly white teeth again. 'Mark should be quite pleased with you!' His right hand turned her around in a circle, making a pivot for her turn, and the pink dress seemed suddenly to cling so much more and be so much more revealing. She was uneasily aware of its low-cut neckline and the figure-hugging quality of the material, and she kept her eyes downcast, wishing she had the will to deny him the right to look her over in such a way. He brought her to a stop, facing him again, and she drew her hand swiftly away, her chin lifted in the first stirrings of revolt against that almost clinical scrutiny. 'All I need to complete it is your necklace,' she told him with a slightly nervous laugh, and he shook his head. 'You don't need any such thing,' he told her bluntly. 'And you certainly won't get it, even if you did!' She could feel the nervous tap-tapping at her ribs and the unsteady throb of the pulse at her temple and she was angry with herself for responding to him so easily, and with him for looking at her in that cool, speculative way. 'I just wish you wouldn't look at me as if - as if I'm a horse you're thinking of buying,' she told him shortly, and could have curled up with embarrassment when he laughed.

'Oh, I wouldn't buy you, Jody,' he told her softly, shaking his head, a glitter of laughter, in the light blue eyes. 'You're very beautiful, but you're only a yearling and not properly broken yet. Not the sort I'm in the market for!' Jody's temper had almost reached flash-point and she looked at him with glowing dark eyes that threatened a storm. 'Oh, you always have to be so - so condescending, don't you?' 'Condescending?' He questioned her choice with a raised brow and Jody clenched her hands tightly. 'Condescending!' she repeated. 'You always treat me as if I was a an inanimate object!' He was studying her again, but she refused to look up and meet that steady gaze again. She could guess what he was thinking - that she was behaving like a child again as he had accused her of doing yesterday. 'You're talking nonsense,' he said at last, quietly. 'I suspect that you still nurse that idiotic idea that I don't like you being here.' 'Well, you don't, do you?' she insisted, and he laughed shortly. 'You were simply a stray lamb that Corby and Liz took in, as they did me,' he told her. 'You're no worse off than I am, but you just won't stop feeling sorry for yourself!' 'I'm not sorry for myself!' Jody argued desperately. 'But I wish I'd stayed away while you're here!' 'Oh, rubbish!' he retorted harshly, impatience giving his eyes an icy glitter. 'For heaven's sake stop feeling sorry for yourself, child!' 'Don't call me a child!' Jody declared sharply. Her eyes were dark and shining and glowed with an emotion she could not recognize,

but which made her want to goad him further. 'I'm sick of having you treat me like - like little orphan Annie!' 'Then stop behaving like a child!' He stood over her, his dark features like carved bronze in the evening light, his eyes glittering icily, as if he fought to control a temper that was already almost out of hand. 'And how on earth you can be treated like a child and an inanimate object at the same time puzzles me! You've got a good home, a good educational background, and Mark at your feet. What more do you want, for heaven's sake?' 'For you to treat me as an adult for once!' Jody cried desperately. 'Is that too much to ask?' There was a taut and angry air of excitement about him that filled her, not with alarm as she would have expected, but with a sense of elation, a sensation that both startled and confused her as she stood there in the centre of the room like a small avenging angel. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes had a darkly luminous look, while tendrils of black hair were already escaping from the chignon she had taken such pains with. She trembled in every limb and her breathing was so short and uneven that she felt as if her heart must stop. For a long, tense moment they stood face to face, then Ross closed his eyes briefly and put a hand to his forehead. 'Oh, good God in heaven!' he whispered harshly. He reached out for her and she was crushed against the hard, muscular warmth of his body, his hands strong and relentless, the steel-hard fingers digging into her arms. Then his mouth took hers with a fierce hard strength that forced her lips apart, depriving her of the will to do anything more than curl her hands against his chest as she closed her eyes.

It was a savage, hurtful gesture and made no pretence of gentleness, and Jody, after the first passive moment of surprise, struggled to free herself, her heart beating wildly in panic. She pounded his chest with her fists and wriggled desperately to escape from that steelhard embrace he held her in. Then he let her go so suddenly that she stood for a moment, dazed and confused, her eyes huge and unbelieving, putting a hand to the tingling warmth of her mouth. He had his back half to her and she could see the way those broad shoulders were taut under the thin shirt, then he turned suddenly and she looked at him dazedly. His eyes were bright and glittering, as if something of that overwhelming passion still lingered, but there was a small tight smile just touching his mouth and Jody saw it with a sudden sense of humiliation. 'Don't look so stunned, Jody,' he told her harshly. 'It can hardly have come as a surprise!' Anger and humiliation robbed her of speech, but she swung her right hand unerringly towards that tautly smiling face, crying out in surprise and frustration when his fingers closed like a vice round her wrist. 'Oh no, you don't, Jody!' He smiled, but his strong features looked as hard as the glitter in his eyes. 'If you want to play with fire, you must expect to get burned occasionally, but you're not slapping me for something that was your own fault!' 'I didn't—-' 'Save it!' he ordered curtly, and then eased his hold on her wrist, his ice-cool eyes raking swiftly Over her flushed face. 'You obviously don't know how to handle that temper of yours,' he told her. 'Anger breeds anger, Jody, and in certain circumstances it can give rise to

other, more explosive passions.' He took her hand in his when she did not answer and gently squeezed her fingers as he looked down at her. 'Don't tangle with me again, little one, it might just prove dangerous!'

CHAPTER FIVE JODY sat up in bed the following morning, hugging her knees and waiting for tell-tale aromas from the kitchen to let her know when breakfast was nearly ready. Thursday had been a rather disquieting day one way and another, she decided as she reflected on the previous day. First there had been the matter of the necklace which Ross had finally been persuaded to produce, and Jessica's less than amiable response to not being allowed to be the one to show it off. Then her own 'feelings of apprehension about it being broken while she was wearing it had been overwhelmed by the disturbing sensations Ross had produced in her as he fastened it round her neck. Most disturbing of all had been that almost unbelievable episode in her bedroom last evening — an incident she remembered with very mixed feelings, and she absently touched her mouth with a tentative finger, then shook her head hastily when she realized what she was doing. She had been kissed before, quite often, but never before in the way Ross had kissed her last night, and she wished she could decide whether she had hated it or been excitingly disturbed by it. Ross, of course, had blamed her for it ever happening at all, and she had been furious with him for saying so, but she had to admit to herself that perhaps she had contributed to some extent to the atmosphere of high passions that had led to his kissing her. Ross was forceful and autocratic, but try as she .would to resist it, she could not deny the strong attraction he held for her, and she was both disturbed and annoyed by her own reactions. Mark was goodlooking, and he was very kind and understanding, but she wondered if he could ever arouse in her such disturbing emotions as Ross always seemed to do.

She rested her chin on her knees and gazed at the opposite wall thoughtfully. It would please both Elizabeth and Corby enormously if she married Mark, and he would almost certainly make a very good husband, but whether he Would make a very exciting one was another matter, and somehow she felt that it was something she had to take into consideration before she committed herself. Brought briefly out of her reverie, she noted the sound of Jessica's door closing, just across the landing from hers, and sighed resignedly when the soft swish of slippered feet made their way to the bathroom that was between her own room and Ross's. Mark and Ross had already gone downstairs, but she would now have to wait for her own bath while Jessica indulged in one of her interminable make-up sessions. She was still preoccupied, but perhaps unconsciously, she registered the fact that she could not hear the sound of running water, and nor had she noticed the unmistakable sharp click of the bolt on the bathroom door, and yet she was quite sure she had heard Jessica abroad. Only briefly puzzled by it, she hastily swung her feet out of bed and into her slippers. If no one was in the bathroom after all, she would take advantage of the fact and beat Jessica to it. She gathered up her things and peeped out, still almost sure she had heard Jessica, but there was no one else about and the bathroom door was ajar. Satisfied, she scurried the few feet between the two doors, just in case Jessica should appear suddenly. , She had her hand on the doorknob when she hesitated, frowning curiously when she thought she heard Ross's bedroom door close softly, almost inaudibly, then she shrugged and went into the bathroom. She ran her bath, and, a few minutes later above the noise of the running water, she heard Ross's deep, unmistakable voice saying good morning, and Jessica answering. She had been only just in time after all - now Jessica would have to wait for her.

When Jody arrived downstairs only a short while later, she found Elizabeth looking worried and Corby and Mark seeming oddly discomfited. Ross stood in front of the fireplace, looking tall and disturbingly attractive in light cream trousers and a navy silk shirt whose short sleeves showed that the muscles in his brown arms were taut and tense. His hands were clasped behind his back and there was a hard granite-like grimness about his rugged features, matched by a cold steely glint in the light blue eyes. They all three looked across at her when she came into the room and she stopped for a second in the doorway, stunned for a moment by the atmosphere, her dark eyes wide and curious as she looked at them all in turn. It was plainly obvious that something was badly amiss and she wondered what on earth could have happened to make them all look so grim. 'Aunt Liz?* she ventured tentatively, and Elizabeth came across to her. Jody hated the dark worried look she saw in her eyes and the extra lines that had appeared beside her mouth. 'Jody? dear !' She took Jody's hands in hers and there was a kind of anxious tension about the enclosing fingers. 'Jody, something rather awful's happened, I'm afraid.' Because she was the only one not there, Jody immediately thought of Jessica, but when she looked across at Ross she met that steely coldness in his eyes, head-on and shivered. 'The necklace has gone,' he told her shortly, through grimly tight lips, and Jody's mouth opened in astonishment.

'Gone?' she echoed. He nodded jerkily. 'It's gone!' 'But—' She looked at him, only half believing, but knowing perfectly well that he would never joke about a thing like this. 'But how - how can it be gone?' 'If I knew that,' Ross told her, sharply impatient, 'I shouldn't be standing here talking about it, I should be doing something to get it back!' 'I'm sorry.' It seemed a feeble enough effort at consolation, but she could think only of the awful fact that Ross had been responsible for the necklace, and that he would almost certainly be ruined professionally if it was not recovered before he was due to hand it over to Sir James Carwell in a few hours' time. She looked at him through the thick screen of her lashes and saw that there was a paleness under the deep tail, and a drawn, anxious look behind the steely glint in his eyes. He knew exactly what lay in store for him, and her heart went out to him before she even stopped to wonder where on earth the necklace could have gone, or how it could have been taken from his room. Then something came back to her and she spoke swiftly and without stopping to consider the implications of what she was saying. 'Ross, I—' She bit her lip, suddenly realizing how vague and unlikely it would sound and wishing she had not spoken. She had been so sure that she heard Jessica leaving her room and crossing the landing to the bathroom, and yet she was not in there. And she had been almost as sure that she heard the sound of Ross's door closing a few minutes later, but had shrugged it off. The

implication of the two incidents so close together could mean only one thing, and she could not bring herself to voice it aloud. Ross, however, had no intention of letting anything slip by without question, and he was looking at her now with a brow raised above the steely coldness of his gaze. 'What do you know, Jody?' he asked bluntly, and Jody glanced at Elizabeth, silently seeking her support. 'I - I don't know if I should say—' She flicked a brief glance at Ross and caught the hard gaze fixed on her unwaveringly in a way that made her shudder. 'It's just that I thought I heard your door close,' she told him in a small, breathless voice, 'just as I was going into the bathroom, but I didn't see anyone.' 'Is that all?' The question was brusque, and he was plainly impatient with her obvious unwillingness. 'Jody, for God's sake!' She started nervously and looked at Mark and at Elizabeth and Corby. All Jessica's family, and surely not only unwilling but also unlikely to believe what she was about to imply. 'I - I don't want to say any more,' she begged, her eyes appealing to Ross not to force her any further, but he was unrelenting, as she should have known he would be. 'Jody,' he said quietly, 'if you don't tell me what you're hiding I'll shake it out of you, I swear it!' 'But I—' She bit her lip anxiously. 'Just before I went along to the bathroom,' she said reluctantly, 'I thought I heard Jessica leave her room, but she wasn't in the bathroom, so - well, I assumed I must have been wrong.' 'You were,' Ross said curtly. 'I s^w Jess on her way to the bathroom when I went upstairs.'

He sounded almost as if he were accusing her of trying to implicate Jessica for her own reasons, and she felt her heart sink dismally. 'I didn't want to tell you,' she reminded him flatly. 'Oh, for heaven's sake, Ross!' Mark sounded nervously impatient. 'Let's go and take another look in your room! I hate things like this hanging over me, it makes me feel - I don't know - under suspicion somehow, and I know I didn't take the wretched thing!' 'I suggest Jody comes too,' Ross suggested quietly. 'She might remember something useful.' 'Yes, that's right, darling,' Mark said encouragingly, taking her hand. Corby was already following in the wake of Ross's long stride and Mark drew her after them. 'Let's go and make sure the wretched thing isn't still in Ross's room after all.' The landing was deserted as they climbed the stairs and Ross turned as he reached the top, seeking Jody's presence beside him, but before he could speak, Jessica's door opened and she came out. Her eyes held a curious, speculative look and her mouth opened in surprise at the sight of them all gathered at the top of the stairs. 'What's the matter?' she asked. 'Ross?' She looked to him fox an explanation, and Jody noticed how anxious she appeared, almost as if she knew what was wrong. 'The necklace has gone from my room,' Ross told her abruptly, and spared no time for explanations, but turned to Jody, 'Now, Jody, tell me exactly what you saw and heard.' Jody was faced with a dismaying prospect and she bit her lip anxiously, but Ross was watching her with no sign of caring one jot for her feelings, and Mark was squeezing her fingers gently in encouragement. 'I - I thought I heard Jessica come out of her room and go across to the bathroom just before I got out of bed,' she

explained, conscious of the sharp dislike in Jessica's eyes. 'But when I looked out to make sure because I hadn't heard the water running, I saw that the door was open and I assumed I must have been mistaken.' 'You were,' Jessica informed her shortly. 'Ross saw me trying the bathroom door when he came upstairs.' 'I saw you about half-way across the landing,' Ross corrected her briefly. 'And that would be about - how long?' he asked Jody suddenly, and she blinked anxiously as she tried to work it out. 'It was about three or four minutes after I went in that I heard you speak to Jessica,' she told him. 'And immediately before you went in you thought you heard my door closing?' he asked, and she nodded, while Jessica looked at her with narrowed eyes. 'I heard no doors closing,' she said. 'And I didn't see anyone - should I have?' 'Someone must have been about,' Ross said shortly. For a moment no one said anything, but Ross still had that cold, hard look in his eyes and Jody thought he was already seeing his future crumbling and he had no more to help him than her own vague assertion that she had heard a door closing. 'I don't want to make anything official,' he said slowly at last, and looked at Corby. 'I wish there was some way of finding out what happened for ourselves, Uncle Corby, but—' He shrugged in a gesture of resignation that was so alien to him that Jody felt a tightening in her throat and her eyes felt suspiciously misty.

Corby's good-looking face looked much older somehow, and he looked at his nephew with a gentle understanding that was touching in its compassion. He knew as well as anyone what the loss of the necklace would mean to Ross, and yet there seemed so little he could do. 'We shall have to inform the police,' he said quietly. 'It must be found, Ross, that's the first consideration, of course.' 'Yes, of course.' He seemed so remote somehow, so withdrawn, as if he could not or would not share the utter despair that must have been in his heart as he faced the prospect of the theft being made public. 'All we can do to satisfy ourselves first,' Corby said, thoughtfully quiet as he saw possibilities that were even less comforting, 'is for everyone to consent to having their rooms - examined.' 'You mean search our rooms?' Mark asked, obviously finding the idea distasteful 'But that's surely implying that one of us—' 'What alternative is there?' Corby asked. 'If we search every room in the house ourselves, then at least when we call in the police we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that the necklace has already left the premises and that—' 'And that none of us has taken it,' Mark interrupted bitterly. 'You're right, of course, Uncle Corby, but it leaves a bad taste!' 'It's the obvious solution,' Jessica said, so brightly that Jody suspected she was finding the whole thing quite exciting. 'After all, Ross's whole career depends on the necklace being found, and surely no one will object if they're innocent, will they?'

'I don't like it!' Ross said curtly, and looked at his uncle steadily. 'I don't like the idea of suspecting anyone in the house.' 'Of course you don't!' Corby put a kindly hand on his arm, his eyes showing understanding and sharing the embarrassment and uneasiness he knew Ross was suffering. 'But it's the only way, Ross,' he said kindly. eI hate the very idea myself, and I don't imagine for one minute that we shall find the necklace, but at least we'll have proved to ourselves it isn't here and we'll have cleared the air.' Ross nodded, reluctant as ever, but seeing the logic of the suggestion. 'We'd better start with my room,' he said quietly. 'Because if I have been careless enough to have put it in a different place from the one I think I left, it, then I'll gladly take anything you care to do or say to me, and you have full rights to kick me out of house and home!' Corby placed a hand on his shoulder, quiet and reassuring. 'Never,' he said softly. Corby and Mark searched Ross's room thoroughly, while Jessica and Jody stood in the doorway, Jody far more distressed by the procedure than Jessica, who appeared to be finding it all rather a joke, although she was well aware of what the consequences to Ross's career could be if the necklace was not found. 'We'll take Jody's room next,' Corby said as they left Ross's room empty-handed, and looked at her apologetically. Ross nodded, his mouth tight and grim. He had been hoping against hope, she guessed, that he had made some silly mistake and that the case would prove to be somewhere in his own room. Now it was all too certain that it was not, and his dislike of the situation was renewed twofold. 'Jody?'

He looked down at her, and she nodded, not daring to let him see what she felt for him. Ross would never welcome pity, and particularly from her. 'Yes, yes, of course, but—' She hesitated, remembering the state in which she had left her room, with her belongings scattered all over the place - a bad habit for which she had been scolded often in her childhood. £If you wouldn't just mind giving me a minute,' she begged, looking at Corby with appealing eyes. 'It's - it's just that it's so terribly untidy in there,' she said. 'You know how I-' 'The rest of us haven't been given time to tidy our rooms first, so why should you?' Jessica demanded harshly. 'Unless,' she added maliciously, 'you have something to hide, Jody?' 'Jess, for heaven's sake stop sniping at Jody!' Mark sounded nervous and edgy, and Jody herself fought to control the angry retort that rose to her lips. This was no time for her to tell Jessica what she thought of her, however tempted she was. 'It doesn't matter,' she told Mark through tight lips, her eyes glowing darkly, 'If no one minds the mess, go ahead!' It-was Corby who went in first and he stood for a moment just inside the door, looking around at the untidiness of the room, then he turned briefly and smiled at her. 'You always were an untidy imp,' he told her softly. 'You haven't improved, Jody.' 'I'm sorry.' For a moment she felt very close to him and she could have cried for him, trapped into a situation that demanded he clear his family's collective names of something as sordid as stealing. He turned back into her room again, frowning his dislike. 'I'm not at all happy about this,' he said, and Ross nodded, his face as grim as ever. 'Neither am I!' he declared frankly.

'Oh, I don't mind, honestly,' Jody said, close to tears because she knew how they must be both feeling and this taut, uneasy atmosphere among them just did not feel right. No matter if she and Ross did not always agree on things, or if Jessica was at times spiteful to the point of being bitchy, nothing was ever as grim and uneasy as it was now, and she felt not only sad about it, but strangely alarmed as well. Ross and Corby exchanged glances, still hesitant, but then, while they still hesitated to begin searching, Jessica suddenly bent and picked up something from the floor and held it up in her right hand, a bright malicious look in her blue eyes as she looked at her uncle and Ross. 'Perhaps I can save you the trouble,' she suggested softly. 'This was behind the chair down here!'

'I don't know how it got there!' Jody said tautly. Her hands were clasped tightly together in her lap and tears shone in her eyes. She had a bright, angry little girl look that was infinitely appealing and Elizabeth took her hands reassuringly, wanting to comfort her, but not quite knowing what to say or do. Nothing like it had ever happened before and Ross seemed so much more angry than shocked that she did 'not understand him at all. 'No one believes for one minute that you stole it, of course, dear,' she told her gently, and Jody looked across at Ross's grim face, unconvinced. 'Ross does,' she said, a catch in her voice as she < determinedly swallowed more tears.

There were only the three of them in the room. Jessica would like to have stayed and gloated, Jody knew, and Mark had wanted to stay and support her, but Corby had insisted that they both come with him and leave his wife and Ross to sort out the almost unbelievable situation they suddenly all found themselves in. Ross had that cold, steely look in his eyes again, and he stood in front of the fireplace, as he had been when Jody first came down. He looked tall and menacing and she shrank inwardly from the anger she knew must be boiling up inside him, and which already showed in the taut stance of his long legs and the hard look of his mouth. 'I'm not accusing you of stealing it,' he said, his voice edged with steel. 'But I can guess what was in your mind!' Jody looked across at him, her eyes blurred with tears, unable to do anything about the husky little sob in her throat as she brushed a hand impatiently across her eyes. 'How can you guess anything of what was in my mind?' she asked bitterly. 'You only know that the case was found in my room and you won't even consider that I know nothing about how it got there! You don't know anything, you want to believe it!' 'I know that revenge is sweet,' Ross said hardily, before Elizabeth could protest at their bitterness towards each other. 'Revenge?' Jody gazed at him, wide-eyed and puzzled. 'You know quite well what I'm talking about, Jody!' He looked briefly at his aunt, as if he did not want her to know what he referred to, and Elizabeth was frowning curiously, while Jody saw the gist of his accusation at last and shook her head. 'Why - why should I want revenge?' she asked huskily, and Ross stared at her for a moment, cold-eyed and angry.

'Because you were furious with me,' he reminded her harshly. 'And you're not yet far enough out of the schoolroom to be above childish acts of revenge for what you consider a slight.' 'Oh no!' Jody stared at him in dismay and Elizabeth, sensing her distress, looked at Ross reproachfully. 'Ross dear,' she told him sadly, 'I'm sure you don't* mean to imply that you believe Jody took the necklace. You can't surely.' 'I mean she meant me to sweat for a bit before she produced it in time for me to leave for London,' he insisted harshly, his mouth straight and unrelenting. 'Isn't that how it was, Jody?' Jody felt numb suddenly. Tears were rolling down her cheeks in dismal procession and her heart felt cold and heavy in her breast. 'What's the use of me denying it?' she asked bitterly. 'Will you believe me?' Surprisingly he did not adamantly insist he was right, but looked at her for a long moment with a curiously doubtful look on his strong features. 'Are you telling me that you weren't trying to get your own back for that—' A broad-shouldered shrug dismissed the way he had kissed her last night, and she looked at him steadily through the tears that still blurred her sight of him. 'I didn't take the necklace,' she said huskily quiet. 'I know you don't believe me, but it's true.' 'Of course it's true, darling,' Elizabeth said, taking her hands again and squeezing her fingers reassuringly. Her blue eyes were gentle but curious and she looked across at Ross again. 'I don't know what Ross talks about when he suggests you had a reason for wanting

revenge,' she added softly. 'But I'm sure it couldn't have been anything terrible enough to make you want to cause him so much distress as taking the necklace was bound to do.' Ross pulled back his broad shoulders, planting his feet more firmly apart, a curiously closed look on his face. 'It doesn't matter, Aunt Liz,' he said, but Jody was not averse to this form of revenge and she lifted her chin in defiance of his refusal to mention the incident in her bedroom. Her eyes still held the last trace of tears and they sparkled darkly as she looked up at him. 'Ross came in and helped me with my shoes last night,' she told Elizabeth. 'One of them was the wrong size, only I didn't realize it until Ross told me. I - I resented the way he - he looked at me and I told him so.' Elizabeth nodded, as if she could see exactly what had happened. There's no need to go on,' Ross said firmly, but Jody ignored him. 'We quarrelled,' she said, relishing his discomfort 'And he got so angry he - he kissed me!' She looked across at him, her dark eyes challenging him to deny one angle word of the story. 'He also blamed me for that!' she added maliciously. 'Jody!' There was an ominous note of warning in his voice, and he held her defiant gaze for a moment, his own glittering and angry. Elizabeth, now that she had the whole story, looked more relaxed, although she seemed not to realize that if Jody had not taken the necklace, someone else had, and put it in Jody's room, obviously with malice in mind. 'I'm sure you're wrong about Jody either taking revenge or wanting it, Ross,' Elizabeth told him quietly. 'A girl doesn't feel that slighted

at being kissed by an attractive man, dear, no matter what the circumstances!' 'You didn't see that little firebrand in action,' Ross declared fervently. 'She would have slapped my face if I hadn't stopped her! I told you she was furious!' 'But not vindictive, dear, I'm sure,' Elizabeth insisted, and smiled at Jody fondly. 'There, now that's cleared that matter up, Jody dear,' she said. 'Not really, Aunt Liz,' Jody pointed out gently. 'I'm not sure that Ross believes me, even now, and it's certain Jessica won't. And if I didn't take the necklace, then someone else did!' 'Oh dear, of course!' Elizabeth frowned again worriedly. 'In a way we're back to the beginning again, aren't we?' Ross was looking at Jody with narrowed eyes, but there was more speculation than anger there now, and she raised a curious brow at him. 'Ross, what—' 'I'm just thinking,' he told her quietly. She got up from the window seat that she had been sharing with Elizabeth and walked across to the fireplace, her eyes wide and anxious as she looked up at the dark, strong features and light eyes. Near to him there was that same disturbing aura of fascination he always had for her and she felt small and vulnerable again but at the same time oddly elated. 'Do you believe me when I say I didn't take it?' she asked quietly, and he looked down at her steadily for a moment before a slow smile kindled his eyes into warmth and set her heart racing wildly. 'You look so blithely innocent,' he said softly, 'I think I have to !'

CHAPTER SIX IT seemed to be generally accepted that no more need be said about the matter of the necklace, now that it had been recovered, but to Jody, who was certain that Jessica was responsible, the idea was less than satisfactory. She felt that some suspicion still remained with her, and would do until another culprit was found, but it would not be an easy matter either proving that Jessica was the one, or getting the others to help her prove it. Perhaps it was best, in one way, to leave things as they were, if only to spare Elizabeth the embarrassment of it being her niece, but Jody would much rather the air had been cleared and prove to everyone that she had had nothing to do with it, no matter what motives Ross attributed to her. Ross had left for London later that same morning, carrying his precious cargo, and declared himself glad to be free of the responsibility of it. He had firmly rebuffed Jessica's suggestion that she should drive up to London with him and gone off alone, leaving Jody wondering if he really did believe Jessica had taken it, and Jessica resentful and sulky. Several times during the morning she made oblique references to Jody's supposed part in its disappearance, and Jody held her tongue only with difficulty. Not even the pleasure of telling Jessica exactly what she thought of her would make her forget that an open quarrel between them could cause a great deal of distress to Elizabeth, Mark resented his sister's acid tongue as much as Jody herself, and he made efforts to silence her, but to little avail, and it was with obvious relief that he took advantage after lunch of Jody's suggestion of a long walk. He had very little in common with

Jessica, except their good looks, and Jody often wondered that two such different people could share the same parents. Mark himself seemed especially attractive today in a pale blue shirt that added depth to his grey eyes and flattered the fresh-scrubbed, schoolboy look that was such a direct contrast to Ross's deep tan and air of maturity. Well-fitting fawn trousers gave him a lean, longlegged look and made him seem taller, and Jody smiled up at him when he put an arm round her waist and hugged her close for a moment. There was something steady and comforting about Mark, no matter if he did lack Ross's air of sensual excitement, and at the moment she needed the kind of reassurance he could offer. 'I swear I'll do something very drastic to Jess if she doesn't stop sniping at you,' Mark brooded. 'She's really got it in for you, hasn't she, darling?' Jody's rueful expression admitted it. 'We never were close friends,' she reminded him. 'I think she always resented me in a way, although I can't think what reason she had, except that I was treated as one of the family, You and she had a perfectly happy family of your own without her grudging me a home with Aunt Liz and Uncle Corby.' !

Mark hugged her close reassuringly, kissing her mouth lightly and smiling. 'Darling Jody,' he said, 'you're the sort of girl that women like Jess always take a dislike to.' He kissed her again and laughed softly. 'You're very lovely!' 'But I wasn't very anything at fourteen years old,' Jody pointed out laughingly. 'And I seem to remember that Jessica took an instant dislike to me then.' 'Ah well, then she was twenty-one and resented every other female in sight, however old they were,' Mark declared bluntly. He bent his

head and kissed her again, laughing softly against her ear. 'Anyway, you were prettier than she was, even then. Now, of course, there's Ross to complicate matters!' Jody, suddenly wary, carefully avoided looking at him. 'I don't see how Ross affects matters between Jessica and me,' she said, but did not really expect him to accept that. With two attractive young women under the same roof, a man like Drummond was bound to be a cause for dissension. 'Oh, darling, of course you do!' Mark held her tight in the curve of his arm as they climbed the first of the rolling slopes that stretched out before them, the ground warm and cushioning under their feet, and sweet-smelling in the sunshine. 'I can get pretty green-eyed myself,' he added, 'when I think of the way he looks at you sometimes!' 'That's silly!' She made the idea sound ridiculous and most unlikely, but she could do nothing to banish the memory of those long, explicit looks of Ross's that did strange and alarming things to her senses. Nor of the way he had kissed her during that bitter tirade about the way he treated her. 'It's not so silly,' Mark argued. 'And you must have noticed it.' 'I - I suppose I have,' Jody admitted reluctantly, thankful at least that he was still in ignorance of what had happened that evening. 'But it doesn't bother me, Mark, and I don't see why it should you.' 'Well, it does.' He brushed his lips softly along the soft skin below her right ear. 'Especially when I begin to wonder what softening process you must have used on him this morning after that wretched necklace was found in your room.'

Jody bit her lip anxiously. She did not want to discuss that at the moment, unless it was to discover who had really been responsible, and she did not think Mark would find her choice of a culprit very palatable. 'I don't know that I did anything to - to soften him, as you say,' she told him. Mark laughed unbelievingly. 'Well, somebody did,' he insisted. 'He went into the sitting-room with you and Aunt Liz, looking as if he was ready to have you hanged, drawn and quartered, but he looked considerably less murderous when he came out. Some body must have softened that granite heart of his, and I can't believe Aunt Liz holds that much sway with him!' 'Aunt Liz holds a good deal more than I do!' Jody retorted. Her heart was fluttering uneasily, even now, when she remembered Ross's last words on her innocence. But Mark was shaking his head. 'Oh no, darling, it was the effect of your big brown eyes, I'm prepared to bet my last penny on it!' He looked down at her curiously for a moment, as if something had just occurred to him. 'Did he believe you hadn't taken it?' he asked. Jody looked up at him through her long lashes, wondering if, despite his profession of love for her, he was as ready to be convinced of her innocence as Ross had been. 'Do you!' she challenged, and for a moment he looked taken aback. Then he bent his head and gently kissed her mouth. 'I want to believe you,' he said. 'I love you, remember?' 'I didn't take it,' Jody stated firmly. 'Then that's good enough for me!'

They walked in silence for a while, but Jody's mind was busy with the niggling uncertainty of it all, and she looked up at him again suddenly. 'Who do you think did take it, Mark?' she asked. It was obvious that the directness of the question startled him, threw him off balance for the moment, and he said nothing for several seconds, but frowned thoughtfully. 'I hadn't thought,' he confessed at last. 'I don't like to think of anyone in the family taking it.' 'Does that include me?' Jody asked gently, and he blinked for a moment before he answered, uneasily following her train of thought, she suspected. 'Of course the family includes you,' he told Her. 'But who on earth would sink to taking the wretched thing and then put it in your room with the deliberate intent to have you blamed? It doesn't make any kind of sense!' 'It does if whoever it was wanted to put me in Ross's bad books,' Jody said softly, and Mark looked stubbornly blank, unwilling to recognize Jessica as the only one prepared to go to such lengths where Ross was involved. There was a lark overhead and it whistled its flutelike song over and over in the clear blue sky, while Mark pondered the question. Every answer he got in his own mind brought him to the same conclusion, and. he liked none of it. He faced the truth with evident reluctance and there was an edge of cool dislike for it on his voice when he spoke at last. 'I don't like to think it was Jess, any more than you,' he told her quietly, and Jody almost lost the words in the shrill pleasure of the lark overhead. The arm about her waist had eased slightly, but unmistakably and she felt suddenly sad and unhappy for having reached this point.

'The alternative is Aunt Liz or Uncle Corby,' she pointed out quietly, and Mark frowned over that too. 'Yes. Yes, I suppose it is.* Neither of them spoke for quite some time as they walked to the crown of the grassy hill, lifting their faces thankfully to the cooling breeze that eased their hot brows and just stirred among the clover and the ladies' smocks at their feet. It was a wonderful quiet and peaceful place, and Jody hated to hive Mark so silent and distant as he was now. 'Mark!' She turned in the still encircling arm about her slim waist and put a hand to his face, gently touching his cheek with her fingertips, her dark eyes contrite for having upset him so. 'Mark, I'm sorry!' 'For saying it was Jess?' He looked down at her for a moment, thoughtful and speculative still. It must be hard enough to suspect it was his sister, but so much harder to have it put into words. Then he smiled wryly. 'I can see your reasons for thinking as you do,' he confessed, facing it at last. He sighed deeply. 'It has to be Jess, doesn't it?' 'I can see no alternative,' Jody said gently. 'It either had to be me or Jessica.' He put his hands to span her slim waist and held her close to him, his eyes searching her face with something of the same intensity that Ross had subjected her to. 'I like to think you'd have told me if it was you,' he said softly. 'Would you, darling?' 'Oh, Mark, I would, honestly I would!' He kissed her gently, almost absently, and pulled her close against him, resting his face on the softness of her dark hair. 'Do you think

Ross suspects her?' he asked after a moment, and Jody gave the question some thought before answering. 'I'm not sure,' she said at last. 'I think perhaps he has some idea.' 'Poor Jess!' He spoke softly, but Jody sensed the genuine sympathy he felt for his sister. Jody herself could imagine what it would mean to Jessica to have Ross realize she had been the one who took the necklace from his room, whatever her reason had been. He would be ruthless in his condemnation of her, and Jody knew just how ruthless that could be. It had dismayed her to the point of tears, and Jessica had the added vulnerability of being at least on the verge of falling in love with him. 'She's - she's very attached to Ross, isn't she?' Jody said softly, and Mark laughed, a short, harsh sound. 'She reckons she's in love with him, unless J. read the signs wrongly,' he said. 'And if Ross does believe she took that blasted necklace, he'll give her hell!'

Whether Ross believed Jessica responsible or not for taking the necklace, his attitude towards her during the next few days seemed to indicate that he suspected something, for he said very little to her at all. He went riding several times, but each time alone, while Jessica stayed indoors and looked sulky, or went out in her car. Neither way did she seem very happy and, despite everything, Jody felt sorry for her. Being in love with Ross Drummond must be a pretty shattering experience in itself, without the added burden of knowing she had incurred his anger.

It was while Mark was again in town that Ross eventually made up his mind to clear the matter 61 the necklace, even if only for his own satisfaction. Jody was just setting off for a walk when he caught her, calling out to her from the bottom of the stairs as she opened the door, and she turned with a faint, puzzled frown on her brow. He was dressed for riding, and looked tall and impressive as always, in light fawn trousers and a pale blue shirt, with short brown riding boots that were impeccably shiny and smart. He carried a crop too, and tapped it against one leg as he strode across the hall towards her. 'Are you going for a walk?' he asked, and Jody nodded, her heart stirring uneasily while she sought for a reason for his asking. 'I'm just going a little way,' she told him, and looked up at him curiously. 'Why?' A faint smile greeted her frank curiosity, and he tapped the crop rhythmically against his leg. 'I'd like to come with you,' he said. Jody stared at him, not really believing she had heard him aright 'You - you want to come with me?* she asked, and experienced that strange curling sensation in her stomach when he nodded. 'Do you mind?' he asked softly. 'You haven't any fears for your safety if you walk with me, have you?' It was a deliberate jibe at her wariness, and Jody flushed, her eyes sparkling resentment that he should so soon seek to make her lose her temper. 'There's no need to be sarcastic, Ross,' she told him, her chin in the air. 'If you want to come with me, that's all right by me, but if you're going to do nothing but - but goad me all the time we're out, then I'd as soon you didn't come!'

'Goad you?' His blue eyes glinted with amusement and he flung the crop he carried down on to a chair near the door. 'I'll leave that at home,' he said. 'Then I won't be tempted!' 'Weren't you going riding?' Jody asked, looking down at the shiny brown boots. 'You're dressed for it.' 'I was thinking of riding,' he agreed quietly. 'But seeing you I've changed my mind. I want to talk to you.' 'Oh!' Her dismay at the prospect was so obvious that he frowned over it impatiently, and put out a hand to grip her upper arm with those steel hard fingers. 'Don't look as if it's the end of the world for you because I want to talk to you,' he told her shortly. 'Stop acting as if I was an ogre, Jody, for heaven's sake! You're not a child!' 'I'm glad you realize it at last!' Jody retorted, and bit her lip when she realized how close they were to quarrelling again. She remembered what had happened the last time they had quarrelled and had no wish to have the same occur again, not here in the hall. He said nothing for a moment, but there was a warning glitter in those light blue eyes and he looked down at her as if he despaired of ever being able to talk to her normally. His self-control was incredible, she recognized a few seconds later when he drew a deep breath and turned her towards the door. 'Let's go, shall we?' he suggested quietly. The downs, as always, gave her a sense of belonging, but she was disturbed somewhat in this instance by the company she was in, and she felt much smaller even than usual with Ross's tall, straight figure striding along beside her, his length of stride adapted to suit her

slower pace. Her awareness of him both alarmed and dismayed her, and she wished she could simply walk and talk with him as she would have done with anyone else. Instead she was made constantly aware of so many things about him that were impossible to ignore, no matter how she tried. The way his fair head was bent slightly as he walked beside her, in an oddly protective way, and the way his bare brown arms swung easily at his sides, one of them brushing against hers every so often and tingling her senses into chaos with the contact. They walked some way before either of than said anything at all, and Jody realized that he was as content as she was herself to simply enjoy the quiet and the peace of the downs, and the warm, summery smell of the earth. They were, she recognized with a start, quite a lot alike in their appreciation of the good things in nature, and it gave her a thrill of pleasure to realize it They started to climb a grassy slope and a large brown hand reached out and clasped hers warmly, lending its small assistance, the light blue eyes smiling down at her in silent understanding. 'Is this better than India?' She ventured the question, breaking the silence because she felt that they were getting almost intimately close in the warm, spicy silence of their surroundings, and it made her strangely uneasy. Ross turned his head again and smiled down at her, the light blue eyes warmer than she had ever seen them, crinkling at their corners and setting her heart racing like a wild thing in her breast again. 'It's very different,' he said quietly, and she thought he regretted her breaking the silence. 'There's no comparison really.' 'I-I suppose not.'

They were silent again for a while, and then it was Ross who broke it again. 'You've never been abroad, have you, Jody?' he asked, and she nodded. 'But only as far as the south of France,' she told him. 'I suppose that's abroad, but nothing like as exciting as - as India or South America. I'd love to go there.' 'Perhaps when you're older.' She was on the defensive in a moment, despite the lack of any taunt in the remark, and she looked up at him reproachfully. 'I'm quite old enough now,' she told him. 'There's no age limit on going to India, surely, or South America!' 'None,' he agreed quietly, and a brief smile acknowledged the error of mentioning what was, with her, a sore subject. 'I shouldn't have said that, should I, Jody?' 'I don't know why you did,' she said frankly, and he laughed softly. 'Perhaps because I'm trying to remember that you're still a student,' he told her, and Jody hastily locked away, her heart hammering relentlessly at her ribs again as she curled her fingers into her palms. 'I'd especially like to go to South America some time,' she said, after a moment or two, attempting to restore normality. 'My mother was part Mexican, you know.' 'Yes, I do know.' He smiled again, and the light blue gaze moved slowly over her small, neat features, the pale gold skin and dark eyes. 'It shows!' She put a hand to her face and smiled, a little uncertainly, shaking her head. 'Does it?'

'You look like I always imagine those exquisite Aztec maidens must have looked,' he said softly, 'The ones they used to sacrifice to the gods.' 'Oh!' Jody shuddered when she recalled some of the more barbaric practices she had heard about. 'I don't think I'd like to have been one of them,' she said. 'I'd rather have been old and ugly at least it was safer!' He laughed, sounding quite unsympathetic, but the strong fingers curled about hers, squeezed gently as if in reassurance, and Jody's senses reeled out of control again. 'Oh no, you wouldn't,' he said quietly. 'I'm sure no woman, if given the choice, would rather be old and ugly than young and beautiful, no matter what risks she took of being sacrificed to the gods.' 'You think not?' Jody asked, unsure that she believed him, and he looked down at her with a raised brow. 'You'd know better than me, little one,' he told her. 'Perhaps not,' Jody allowed. She lifted her face to the warm sun, her eyes closed, her black hair falling back from her face, and Ross laughed softly. 'You're proving it,' he told her. 'You're a sun-worshipper !' She opened her eyes again and looked at him, laughing and unable to deny it. 'But not an Aztec one,' she denied. 'I'm not sure my ancestry goes back that far - maybe it was Spanish.' One long finger reached out and slid gently down the length of her small, straight nose, and he was shaking his head. 'No,' he said softly. 'It's a much smaller nose than some, but I insist it's Aztec. Straight and proud and always held high in the air, the way they always are!'

'Ross!' She struck down the hand that had traced the shape of her nose, and looked at him reproachfully. 'Don't you like being the descendant of an ancient and very proud race?' he asked, and Jody looked up at him, wondering just how serious he was. He seemed to be teasing her, but she could not be sure, and the facts of her ancestry had always intrigued her. 'I don't mind in the least,' she said. 'But you can't possibly know for sure, and anyway, there's bound to be a good deal more Spanish than Aztec by now.' 'That's true.' He sighed as if he regretted it, and Jody looked at him curiously through her long lashes, wondering what his purpose had been in coming out here with her. 'Ross, why did you want to come with me?' He did not answer for a moment, and she looked at the darkly tanned face curiously, thinking she might regret having changed the subject before very long. 'You said you wanted to talk to me,' she went on. 'And I'm sure it wasn't about my family tree, was it?' He shook his head and she thought he too regretted being brought back to more mundane things. 'No, it wasn't,' he admitted. They walked another few steps up the rolling slope in silence. 'I wanted to talk about the Jindira necklace, Jody.' 'Oh!' Her heart sank, and she sighed inwardly, foreseeing one of their inevitable quarrels looming, and regretting it more than she cared to admit. 'I - I thought you believed me - that I didn't take it.' 'I do.' She looked up hastily, her heart skipping, a warm glow of relief adding brightness to her dark eyes. 'Oh, but-'

'I'd like to know what did happen,' he told her. 'I've not had a chance to ask you alone until now.' 'But I don't know what happened,' Jody insisted. ' 'You know as much as anyone does,' he told her adamantly. 'And I'd like to hear your version, Jody — please!' The plea was more than she could resist, and she sighed over the inevitability of it. 'All right,' she said resignedly. 'But you won't like it, any more than Mark did.' 'You've told Mark?' He looked not only surprised but displeased with the idea, and she wondered why. 'I - -we came to the conclusion that it could only have been Jessica who took it,' she told him, and looked up at his face, judging his reaction. He took the statement without changing expression, and she could not be sure how he felt when he wore that cool, implacable face. 'Tell me,' he said shortly. 'But, Ross—' Tell me, Jody!' he insisted firmly, and she sighed again, resignedly. 'I told you, I thought I heard Jessica go into the bathroom, I was fed up about it because I thought I'd have to wait a long time for her to come out again. You know how long she takes.' 'I've never been lazy enough to wait for her to get up before me,' he remarked dryly, and Jody pouted her dislike of the jibe. 'She takes ages with her make-up,' she told him. 'But then I couldn't hear the bath water running, and I hadn't heard the lock snick over,

so I went out to see if she was in there. When I saw she wasn't, I went in myself, and it was when I was opening the bathroom door that I heard your door close - or so I thought, that's what it sounded like. That's all - you know the rest of it!' 'I can guess the rest of it,' Ross said quietly. 'She didn't go into the bathroom because she went along to my room for the necklace. She hadn't time to get back with it to her own room before you came out, and she was stuck, so she shut herself in my room until you were safely out of the way. Then I came upstairs and she had to get rid of the case quickly; she was by your door when! saw her, and she must have popped it into your room. She wouldn't dare go back for it then, because she knew I'd have missed it by then.' Putting it before her in such clinically ruthless fashion, Jody felt, made it sound so much worse than it had been intended. Jessica would not have kept the necklace, she had probably never even meant Jody to be blamed for taking it, but having such an opportunity dropped into her lap she had made the most of it, 'It - it sounds awful, put like that,' she said, and her eyes were darkly unhappy. 'I'm sure Jessica didn't mean to steal it!' 'No, of course she didn't mean to steal it,' Ross told her coolly. 'She meant to have her own way and wear that necklace, that's all, and she was almost caught taking it. Then, of course, she couldn't resist enjoying seeing you squirm on the hook!' 'It wasn't funny!' Jody declared angrily, her dark eyes sparkling at his matter-of-fact acceptance of what had been to her a very disturbing experience. 'You'd have had something pretty nasty to say if I'd planted it in Jessica's room!'

"For a moment he looked down at-her, his eyes narrowed. 'And you think I've let Jess off pretty lightly, don't you?' he asked quietly, but Jody shook her head. 'No,' she said, bluntly honest. 'Mark said you'd give her hell if you thought she'd done it, and you have!' 'Have I?' He asked the question softly, and she, looked up again to meet his eyes, finding a strangely disturbing warmth in them that made her hastily look down again. 'You know you have,' she told him, in a small, husky voice. 'You you can be very cruel when you want to be, Ross, you must know that.' 'I didn't,' he said quietly. 'But you're probably right.' They stood facing each other on the slope of the downs, the sun warm on their heads, their eyes just avoiding each other, and with a thousand unspoken things between them, Jody's hands trembling as she held them close together in front of her. She looked up at last, and her eyes had an anxious, uncertain look. 'Ross,' He looked at her steadily, probably guessing what she was going to say. 'You - you won't say anything to Jessica about - about what I've told you, will you?' she begged. 'I mean - well, can't it be allowed to drop now? You got the necklace back, and I can't quite see—' 'I told you, I wanted it straight in my own mind,' he told her quietly. 'Now I have.' Jody looked at him from the shadow of her lashes. 'You - you've punished Jessica enough now,' she said, and wondered why on earth she was pleading for Jessica, for certainly Jessica would never have

done as much for her. But somehow it mattered to her that he knew she was not seeking revenge, and despite everything, Jody could still feel sorry for her. 'I'll decide when she's had enough,' Ross said firmly, and Jody's heart sank at the sight of that firm straight mouth set so determinedly. 'Ross—' He put his hands either side of her face, and looked down at her with a half smile just tilting the corners of his Mouth. 'You're much too soft-hearted, little one,' he said softly, and Jody shook her head. His thumbs moved gently, caressingly on her cheeks and $he wanted to close her eyes on the warm, sensual effect they had. 'You're cruel,' she charged huskily, and he still smiled, bending his blond head over her and brushing his lips gently on her forehead. The warmth of him enveloped her as he leaned closer and she closed her eyes at last. 'We'll see,' he said softly.

CHAPTER SEVEN IT sometimes puzzled Jody how Jessica could afford to risk leaving her business in the hands of a deputy for so long, but she supposed she was prepared to take almost any risk as long as she could stay near Ross. Not that he had been any more encouraging to her lately, despite Jody's plea for her. Mark, on the other hand, had little option but to put in a personal appearance every so often, especially since his father was absent in America and he was responsible for the smooth running of the firm. Jody missed him so much when he was not there that she almost began to wonder if she was falling in love with him after all. She had Elizabeth for company, of course, and they spent quite some time together, also she often spent hours with Corby in his beloved garden, but Mark, apart from being good company, was always very good for her self-confidence. Ross, since that walk on the downs, had taken very little more notice of her than he did of Jessica. Lately she thought he seemed to have that steely look about him again, which she disliked, and which made her wonder what it was that displeased him and made him look like that. Surely not anything she had done herself, for she had seen very little of him. Never before or since had she come so close to Ross, and she regretted it more than she cared to admit. He was a strange, remote man, but on the sunny downs that day she had come close to seeing a quite different man from the one she had always seen him as. , She was helping Corby to tidy up the rose beds at the back of the house, and she brushed back her hair with a grubby hand, smiling when she saw the name on the tag attached to one of the brightly coloured rose bushes.

Montezuma! One of the greatest of Aztec kings and someone Ross was sure to know a lot about. Someone her ancestors would have known about too, if Ross was to be believed, and she smiled to herself as she cradled the bright bloom in her hand. 'Good afternoon, Your Majesty,' she whispered softly, and looked up swiftly when a shadow fell across her and she found herself looking up at Ross's sober features. 'I'm driving out to Mehan Park,' he told her, without any preliminary greeting. 'Would you like to come with me?' Corby smiled at her encouragingly, and Jody felt her heart lurch crazily, but she looked uncertain. It was so unexpected that she hardly believed it, and stared at him wide-eyed. 'To - to Mehan Park?' she asked. ' Ross nodded briefly, impatiently. He probably already regretted issuing the invitation, she thought, so that she was almost panicked into saying a hasty no. 'I'd - I'd have to go and change,' she ventured. 'I'm scruffy from gardening.' His light steely gaze took in the open-necked shirt and faded denims she wore, and a brief, unexpected smile broke the sternness of his dark features. 'I'll wait for you,' he allowed. 'I'll stay here and talk to Corby, while you go and tidy up.' 'I -I won't be long.' She told herself she was an absolute idiot to feel so pleased that he had asked her to go with him, whatever his reasons, but her cheeks were softly flushed and her eyes had a bright sparkle as she walked along the gravelled path to the house. She preferred not to think of the possibility of his asking her, simply to let Jessica know how much out of favour she was, and her heart was skipping lightly as she ran into the house.

She saw Elizabeth in the hall and she smiled when she noted her bright eyes and cheeks. 'Gardening finished, dear?' she asked. 'No, not finished, Aunt Liz,' Jody told her. 'I'm taking a break to go for a drive with—' She realized suddenly that the sitting-room door was open and that Jessica was sitting curled up on the settee, well within earshot, her yellow-blonde head bent over a glossy magazine, an air of disconsolate gloom about her. 'I'm going out,' Jody finished lamely, but Elizabeth was nodding her head knowingly. 'I thought Ross would ask you to drive out to Mehan Park with him,' she confided. 'I suggested you'd enjoy it.' Jody gazed at her for a moment in silence, trying not to mind too much that the idea had been Elizabeth's and not Ross's after all. 'Oh, I see,' she said quietly. 'You asked him to take me, Aunt Liz. I - I didn't realize.' In the sitting-room Jessica's blonde head turned in their direction and a wide, malicious smile glinted in her eyes and showed her excellent teeth. 'You surely didn't think Ross would take you of his own accord, did you?' she drawled, and laughed shortly. 'You're lucky he's taking you at all, after the way you've behaved!' 'Jessica!' Elizabeth sounded sharp and quite unlike her usual self, and she frowned discouragingly at her niece, but Jody was shaking her head. 'It doesn't matter, Aunt Liz,' she said quietly. 'I know how Jessica feels, and I sympathize, but it really wasn't my idea to go with Ross, was it?' 'You know how I—' Jessica was on her feet, her blue eyes blazing in a face flushed with anger and disbelief. For days now she had been trying to bait Jody into quarrelling with her, and now that she had succeeded she found herself at a disadvantage. Her most vulnerable

spot had been located and Jody's dark eyes were glinting with anger as she held the whip hand. Elizabeth looked from one to the other hastily, then put a hand on Jody's arm, exerting a gentle pressure that was in itself an appeal. 'Go and change your clothes, dear,' she urged quietly. Don't keep Ross waiting too long, you know how impatient he gets.' Jody would have turned and gone upstairs willingly enough, but Jessica was not prepared to let go as easily as that. She was standing only a foot or so away from Jody, tall and glittering as an angry tigress, her long slim hands curled as if she would use them as claws, and Jody's stomach gave an involuntary lurch of panic. 'How dare you make a remark like that to me?' Jessica demanded. 'You - you disgusting little thief!' 'Jessica, no!' Elizabeth sounded horrified, and Jody's own inclinations urged her to have it out once and for all with Jessica, to clear the air, but the one to suffer most would be Elizabeth, not Jessica, and she swallowed hard on her anger. Either Jody or Jessica would surely have to leave the house after such a flare-up, and Elizabeth would be very distressed whichever one of them it was. 'I'll go and change,' Jody said quietly, but her eyes were still glowing darkly with the anger that surged in her. 'Not so fast!' Jessica grabbed her arm and swung her round to face her, her long nails digging into her flesh, and her fingers as tight as steel. 'I haven't finished with you yet, Miss Pine!' 'Jessica, please!' Elizabeth sounded stern. 'This is all quite unnecessary! Let Jody go and change her clothes, and both give

yourselves time to cool down. It will be much better than having a silly quarrel that you'll both regret!' *I shan't be the one who regrets it,' Jessica assured her sharply, obviously bent on seeing it through to the bitter end. 'Neither of you need regret anything if you're sensible and this goes no further,' Elizabeth told her. Jody said nothing, willing enough to comply if she could only prise those gripping fingers from her arm. She already regretted making that impulsive remark and she was only too anxious to bring the fracas to an end, let the whole thing simmer down to reasonable proportions, for Elizabeth's sake, but she saw little hope of it while Jessica persisted. It was while Jody was still trying to free her arm from Jessica's iron grip that another voice made them all turn swiftly. 'What the devil's going on?' Ross asked, in his deep, cool voice, and Jessica let go suddenly, her eyes more wary, although they still glittered angrily. She laughed shortly, while Jody rubbed the red weals her fingers had left, and which Ross could not fail to notice. 'Oh, just a little to and fro, darling,' she drawled, seeking to appear normal. 'Nothing you need bother about.' Ross looked down at her coolly. 'I'm only bothered about Jody not being ready yet,' he told her quietly, and Jessica flushed at being so coolly dismissed. 'Ross-' He ignored her and looked instead at his aunt, finding a smile for her, as always. 'We'll be back in time for dinner, Aunt Liz,' he said. 'That is if Jody ever gets herself ready.'

'I was just going,' Jody assured him hastily. Jessica looked up at him, her blue eyes appealing, despite the lingering temper in their depths. 'You could take me instead, darling,' she suggested, and Jody hesitated, wondering if he would accept the suggestion. 'I'm taking Jody,' he told her shortly, and reached out to take Jody's arm, looking down at the marks, angry reckon her golden tanned skin. 'I'd just as soon she wasn't decorated with your clawmarks, Jess,' he remarked coolly. 'It might give rise to some speculation if we happen to meet anyone. And if you want to go driving you have your own car!' It was a cruel and heartless rebuff and even Jody could feel sorry for her, for she guessed how it must have hurt. But Jessica should know as well as anyone how ruthless Ross could be in his anger, and she could surely not have expected him to comply with her suggestion to change his plans. Ross only changed his plans if it was to suit his own book. 'Thank you!' Jessica sounded bitter and angry, as well as hurt. 'I don't know what I've done to you,' she told him, her eyes brightly angry. 'You've been an absolute horror to me the past few days!' Ross's steady gaze held hers for only a second before she looked away. 'I think you know why, Jess,' he said quietly, then immediately gave Jody a steady-eyed look and raised one brow. 'Do you ever intend changing out of those scruffy overalls?' he asked her. 'I shan't wait much longer!' Jody turned and fled, her floppy sandals flip-flopping on the stairs, and half drowning Jessica's low angry voice as she followed Elizabeth and Ross back into the sitting-room. At least, Jody thought, he now firmly believed that it had been Jessica who had

taken the necklace, and he had let her know it in no uncertain way. She had accused him of being cruel, and no matter what Jessica had done, she wished he need not have been quite so unkind to her.

The breeze created by the speed of the open car cooled Jody's forehead, and she glanced from the corner of her eye at her companion. No amount of hot weather seemed to bother him, but she supposed he was so used to it that he did not even notice. She had been briefly disappointed that bringing her with him had not been his own idea, but at least he had been prepared to wait for her, no matter how long she had been getting herself ready, and the sense of anticipation she had felt initially was in no way diminished as she sat beside him in the car. From the corner of her eye she could watch the easy way his big brown hands used the steering wheel, and she made no attempt to avoid contact with the warm, muscular arm that brushed hers time and time again whenever he turned a corner or changed gear. He looked strong and competent, but perhaps just a little too grim to be a perfect companion. But that aura of excitement about him had the same effect as always. His mouth was set into a firm, straight line, and she spared a moment to wonder if he regretted having been so uncompromising with Jessica. His brows too were drawn into a straight line, but the thick blond hair blew wildly in the wind they were creating and gave him a less remote look that was mildly encouraging. She did not even stop to consider why being with Ross gave her such a sense of adventure, but it did, and a small, secret smile just touched her mouth and curved it softly at the corners.

'Who lives at Mehan Park?' she ventured after a while, and Ross half turned his head and smiled briefly. 'I'd almost forgotten you were there,' he told her. 'You haven't much to say, have you?' 'Did you want me to chattel'?' Jody challenged, and he laughed shortly. 'Heaven forbid! But you usually do your share!' One brow questioned her as he glanced over one shoulder at her. 'What's the matter?' he asked softly. 'Did Jess knock the stuffing out of you?' Jody flushed, her eyes bright with resentment that he should see fit to suppose she had come off worst. 'No one knocked the stuffing out of anybody, thanks to Aunt Liz,' she told him shortly, and he laughed. 'I rather gathered Aunt Liz was glad to see me,' he guessed. 'It must have been quite a handful for her.' 'I was sorry about it.' Jody shook her head regretfully. 'I didn't want to upset Aunt Liz, but—' She hesitated to put the blame firmly on Jessica, but Ross cocked a brow at her knowingly. 'Did you start it, or did Jess?' he asked, and she shrugged. 'I - I suppose we both contributed in our own way.' 'Uh-huh!' He glanced at her again. 'Oh, come on, Jody,' he said softly. 'I can well believe you'd have tackled Jess if there hadn't been a referee. You're not put off by the advantage of your opponent's extra inches, are you?'

'I'm not put off by anything, except that it's very bad manners to fight in someone else's home,' she declared, resenting the implication that the blame had been hers alone. His smile both puzzled and intrigued her for a moment. 'It's never stopped you fighting me,' he said quietly, and Jody bit her lip. 'That's different,' she said. 'You're right! It's very different!' he agreed fervently. 'I could quite easily make mincemeat of you if I'd a mind to, but—' He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled meaningly. 'There are more ways of killing a cat—' he quoted softly. That never-to-be-forgotten episode in her bedroom was something Jody had Very mixed feelings about, and she preferred not to talk about it, so she merely sat straight-faced and refused to rise to the bait. 'You still haven't told me who lives at Mehan Park,' she said, after a moment or two, determinedly changing the subject, and Ross smiled knowingly. 'Professor Dumarse,' he told her briefly. 'Are you any wiser?' 'Yes, of course I am!' Jody poured scorn on his supposing she would not recognize one of the best known names in archaeology. 'He discovered the Ben Tarrif site in Egypt, and unearthed all those fabulous pieces of ancient jewellery.' Ten out of ten!' He laughed and turned his head to look at her again. 'You know quite a bit about archaeology, don't you, Jody? Corby was telling me,' he added by way of explanation, and Jody nodded. She could feel the colour in her cheeks, and told herself she was a fool to feel so inordinately pleased because he had praised her knowledge of his own subject. 'Both my parents were archaeologists,' she reminded him. 'And then living with Uncle

Corby, I suppose some of it was bound to rub off. Besides,' she added with a sideways glance at him from the shade of her lashes, 'I'm interested.' 'Are you?' He did not, she thought, have to sound quite so surprised. 'It's a fascinating subject,' she said. 'I sometimes think I'll follow in my parents' footsteps after all.' 'Why not?' he asked, surprisingly agreeable. 'Both your subjects would come in very useful.' For a moment she considered what he had said, and then remembered his vow to Elizabeth that he would never take her on a dig of his. She glanced at him curiously, her lashes concealing the expression in her eyes. 'Would you take me with you some time?' she asked quietly. Ross did not answer at once, but kept his eyes straight ahead. Then suddenly he turned and smiled for a moment before he looked back again. 'Oh no, little one,' he said softly. 'Oh no, I'm not taking on that responsibility!' 'Why not?' Jody demanded, and he laughed softly. 'Because I have problems enough controlling a team of twenty or more men,' he told her, 'without the complication of a sexy little firebrand like you making things worse! Oh no, thank you! You go and play archaeologists on somebody else's dig, my dear!' 'Oh I knew you'd go and spoil it!' She clenched her - hands tightly together in her lap, angry and inexplicably hurt by his blunt refusal, although it was no more than she should have expected.

Ross appeared genuinely surprised by her outburst, and looked at her over his shoulder again. 'Spoil what?* he asked, and Jody glared at him reproachfully. 'You know what,' she told him. 'I thought you were at last going to treat me like an adult human being, now you're being condescending again, and I hate it!' 'Poor Jody!' He was laughing at her, she knew, and she hated that too. 'But you knew how I felt. You heard me tell Aunt Liz when she made the same suggestion.' 'I know!' She did not look at him but sat still and straight in her seat, wishing the warm touch of his arm did not keep reminding her of how close he was and how he could affect her. She had more or less asked him to take her with him on one of his trips and left herself vulnerable because he would start wondering why she had done it. 'Oh, Jody!' His voice was deep and soft, and it betrayed sympathy with her hurt feelings, which somehow made it worse. 'I honestly can't see any all-male team taking you with them,' he told her. 'It just wouldn't work, my dear. You'll have to find a mixed party and try your luck with them. I could probably help there.' 'Don't you ever take women in your parties?' she asked, and Ross shook his head adamantly. 'Never,' he said firmly. 'I like a peaceful existence, especially when I'm working. I never allow women on a dig I'm working on!' 'But that's discrimination,' Jody accused, and he laughed. 'Very likely,' he agreed, willingly enough. 'But it's the way I like it.'

'And you always get your own way!' Jody guessed bitterly. He seemed not to resent it. 'So far I haven't been obliged to include a woman in the party,' he said quietly. 'So I shall continue to exclude them - from my professional life anyway.' Jody glanced at him obliquely, a new and even more intriguing question coming to mind. 'What about your private life?' she asked, and was quite surprised when he smiled. 'That's nothing to do with the subject in hand,' he told her quietly. 'But all work and no play—' He cocked a querying brow at her. 'I don't think I'm a dull boy, am I, Jody?' he asked softly. 'Jess doesn't think so,' Jody said, unable to resist the jibe, and he swore softly under his breath. 'Damn you, you little sniper! You leave Jess out of this!' 'Gladly!' Jody responded pertly, and waited for the storm to break, but he was silent for a long moment. 'I think it's just as well we're on Professor Dumarse's doorstep,' he said quietly after a while. 'This conversation has all the earmarks of another I remember .. quite recently! You can bait me into losing my temper quicker than anyone else I know* Jody Pine, and I can't yet think why!' Jody said nothing for the moment, but looked at him from the corners of her eyes, that strange, exciting sense of elation stirring in her again. She could never explain why she. enjoyed goading him as she did, but she told herself firmly that an outcome like last time must be avoided at all costs.

Ross turned the car into a long tree-lined driveway, similar to the one at Deep Morton, only this one showed definite signs of neglect, and the house itself, when they got near enough to see, had an air of neglect. It was an elegant early Victorian building, and it made Jody sad to see it so run down. 'It looks a lovely place,' she ventured as they drove towards the house. 'But it looks sad.' 'Sad?' Ross laughed and shook his head. 'What are you talking about, you funny infant?' 'I'll be a furious something if you don't stop calling me an infant,' Jody informed him shortly. 'For heaven's sake don't treat me like a stray orphan when I meet the professor, please, Ross.' He drove the car right up in front of the big double doors and braked, then turned in his seat to look at her. 'Now what makes you suggest I'd do that?' he asked. 'You - you keep referring to me as an infant, and-' 'Once,' he argued softly. He laid an arm along the back of the seat behind her and Jody was alarmingly aware of the warm, masculine nearness of him. Of the brown throat and the glimpse of broad tanned chest in the open neck of a white shirt, of the muscular thigh that pressed close against hers as he turned, and the whole disturbing excitement of him that set her pulses racing, until she felt quite lightheaded with it. 'However - however often it is,' she said huskily, refusing to meet the light blue gaze that was close enough for her to have seen the fine lines at the corners of his eyes if only she had dared look. 'Don't try to make me look small, Ross.'

He studied her small flushed face and evasive dark eyes for a moment in silence, then smiled slowly. 'Do I do that?' he asked, and Jody nodded. 'I - I wish you wouldn't.' 'Then I promise I won't,' he told her softly. 'Is - is Professor Dumarse - nice?' she asked, and realized at once that the question sounded naive enough to bring another smile to his mouth. 'He's - nice,' he said quietly. 'He's also a little crazy by everyday standards, and unbelievably vague about everything but his job, so please don't blame me if he gets some wrong ideas, will you?' 'Wrong ideas?' Jody looked startled, and he laughed softly, his breath warm on her cheek. 'I may have some difficulty getting across to him just who you are,' he explained. 'Oh-oh, I see!' Jody was already intrigued, wondering if she was about to meet the popular conception of a professor. None she had met so far even remotely resembled the vague, absentminded picture popularly held by the uninitiated and she quite looked forward to meeting the exception.

CHAPTER EIGHT PROFESSOR DUMARSE proved to be quite charming, although he was very vague, as Ross had warned, and despite several previous meetings, Ross had to introduce himself all over again. When he introduced Jody a pair of bright, interested eyes studied her minutely for a few seconds as if her presence both surprised and puzzled him. 'Come in, come in,' he told them. 'You'll have tea, of course?' He sent an aged woman, presumably his housekeeper, off to make tea and seated them in a room that would have been quite beautiful had it been suitably furnished and not full of trestle tables bearing specimens laid out for identification. There were half open packing cases everywhere, and Jody, with an eye to the possibilities of the room, despaired of the condition of the carpet. 'I don't often get visitors,' the professor confided, and Jody could well believe it was true. For one thing there was very little room for them to sit. Ross, after making it plain who he was, produced the battered briefcase that had sat in the back of the car during their drive, and handed over the papers that were the reason for their visit. The old man took them with tender care, and his whole attention was riveted on them to the exclusion of his visitors. 'Yes, yes, oh yes, of course!' He mumbled through them, apparently quite excited about the contents, nodding his head earnestly, his glasses sliding further and further down his nose until Jody feared for their safety, and she almost giggled aloud when she caught Ross's eye and he winked broadly. It was such an unexpectedly facetious gesture for Ross to make that she felt even more giggly than ever and had difficulty in controlling

her laughter. Somehow the Ross she was seeing today was as different again from the one she thought she knew. His eyes glowed with laughter and invited her to share his amusement, instead of making her feel she was the butt of it as she usually did. It gave her a pleasant, easy feeling she had known only once before with him, when they were walking on the downs together. When the tea arrived, delivered by the same elderly woman they had seen on arrival, Professor Dumarse looked at the loaded trolley curiously for several moments as if he could not remember sending for it. Then, after a moment or two, he recovered himself and became immediately hospitable again. He really was a delightfully vague old man, Jody thought, and impulsively decided that she liked him. 'You will have some tea, my dear fellow, hmm?' he asked Ross, then beamed a smile at Jody across the top of his precarious spectacles. 'And your wife too, of course! You will take tea, Mrs. Drummond?' Jody's eyes widened and she gazed at the old man in astonished disbelief. It was several seconds before she became aware that Ross was apparently finding the whole thing very amusing, for his laughter was barely contained, and he was shaking his head slowly. Jody looked at him for a moment, mildly indignant, despite her own inclination to laugh too at the ridiculousness of the situation. 'Professor Dumarse,' she began, trying to explain to the old man. 'I'm not—' Ross, however, was already ahead of her, his usually cool blue eyes glinting with that inner laughter, just as amused by the professor's faux pas as he was by Jody's indignation.

'The lady isn't my wife, Professor Dumarse,' he told him, in a cool quiet voice, despite the wicked smile he gave Jody. 'She's Miss Pine, Miss Jody Pine. Remember, I introduced her to you when we arrived?' 'Ah!' Vague grey eyes blinked in Jody's direction. 'You remember Edward Pine and his wife?' Ross asked, anxious to press home the point. 'Jody is their daughter.' 'Edward Pine, you say? Oh yes, dear me, yes!' Professor Dumarse shook his head regretfully, then he pushed his spectacles more firmly on his nose and looked at Jody through them with almost as much interest as if she had been one of his specimens, and with much the same expression on his wrinkled brown face. 'Yes, yes, of course I remember Pine and his wife - yes, of course. Delightful people, so - pleasant.' Jody smiled, grateful for the professor's memories, for her own were rather vague with regard to her parents; she had seen so very little of them during her childhood. 'You remember my parents, Professor Dumarse?' she asked, and the old man nodded. 'Yes, of course I remember them, my dear. Edward and Joan Pine. Delightful people - such a tragedy.' He studied her for a moment longer, then shook his head and smiled broadly. 'Well, well, and to think that their daughter is married to my good friend Drummond here, eh?' 'But, professor, I— 'Don't let your tea get cold, my dear Mrs. Drummond,' the professor admonished, and Jody looked at Ross appealingly. 'Give up,' Ross advised sotto voce as he leaned forward to take his cup of tea from the professor, but Jody frowned.

.But I-' 'You might just as well,' he urged, and Jody sighed resignedly. After all, perhaps it did not matter too much that the old man thought of her as Ross's wife. It was unlikely that he would remember it long enough to pass it on to someone else^ Rather surprisingly, she discovered, she was not as averse to the idea as she would have expected and she glanced at Ross from the shadow of her lashes. Not nearly as averse as she expected. Professor Dumarse addressed her again as Mrs. Drummond when he saw them off, waving a hand and urging them to be sure and come and see him again soon. Jody smiled and waved good-bye, but she swiftly turned on Ross when he laughed, the deep soft sound of it vibrating through the arm that just touched hers. 'It's not really funny,' Jody told him, a little startled by his persistent laughter. A sense of humour was an aspect of Ross she had not recognized before, and it was rather unexpected. It also made him seem suddenly less remote somehow. She had seen him amused before, but mostly at her expense, and had thought his amusement rather malicious. Today he was different; he was genuinely amused by the old man's mistake and was laughing as much at his own expense as at hers. Somehow it gave her a different view of him. As if somehow she had come much closer to the real Ross behind the man of steel she had always seen him as until now. He was looking at her with a sideways glance, and a narrow glint of speculation in his eyes. 'What was your reaction?' he asked softly. 'Annoyance or fear?' 'Fear?' Jody looked startled. 'Why should it frighten me?'

He shrugged briefly, and smiled. 'Why indeed?' he said quietly. 'I merely thought that the idea of being married to me might strike you as a fate worse than death.' 'Oh, that's silly!' She considered for a moment just how she really viewed the prospect. 'I suppose, since the professor thinks-of you as a rather important man,' she said, 'I should be flattered.' 'But you're not?' He sounded quite serious, and Jody tilted her dark head to one side and pondered further, her soft mouth pursed thoughtfully. She looked up at the darkly tanned face below sun-bleached hair and half smiled. It intrigued her to think that he was as interested in her answer as he appeared to be. 'I'm not sure,' she decided, and he laughed shortly. 'You're not very good for my ego, little one,' he told her softly. 'I think we'd better drop the subject before I get an inferiority complex about it!' The idea of Ross ever feeling inferior about anything struck Jody as not only unlikely but actually amusing, and she laughed. 'Oh, I think that's most unlikely!' she said. Ross changed gear, slowing the car down as they reached the end of the tree-lined drive, and at the same time sent her a brief look of disgust over his shoulder.. 'Of all—' He took a very deep breath, and then shook his head, casting her another look from those light, meaningful eyes as they turned out on to the road. 'Oh, Jody,' he said softly, 'you're doing it again!'

Rather regretfully Jody saw things return to more or less normal after that afternoon she spent with Ross. Jessica seemed still willing to risk leaving her business in someone else's care, and Jody guessed she would do so as long as Ross stayed at Deep Morton, unless something drastic happened to force her to return. Her manner towards Jody had changed little and she showed no inclination to be even slightly friendly towards her - something that Jody regretted. It would have made things so much better if she and Jessica could have got along better together, although what Jessica would've had to say about Professor Dumarse's mistake did not bear thinking about. Ross rode some days alone, but Jessica had gone with him the last two days and Jody guessed that he had decided to relent towards her. There was nothing she could do, she found, to still the niggle of dislike she felt at the idea of Jessica being able to ride with him while she was left to walk on the downs alone. One cheering thought was the fact that Mark would be coming back to Deep Morton at the week-end, and J she looked forward to it delightedly. It worried her when she felt so resentful of Jessica and Ross being out together, and Mark would help to restore her sense of proportion, she felt sure. _ It was the still of the evening, and the big sitting- room was cool and quiet, and fragrant with the scent of Corby's precious roses that grew under the windows. It was pleasant and friendly, just as Jody always remembered it when she was away, only Jessica's rather surly air of discontent depriving the big room of its customary atmosphere of peace. 'You'll be glad to see Mark again, Jody,' Elizabeth guessed, looking up from her embroidery. 'I expect you've missed him as much as anyone has.'

Jody smiled. 'I have missed him,' she admitted, and could not think why she should look across at Ross when she said it. He sat slightly back in the shadows, so that his blond head looked almost white against the dark wallpaper behind him, and the darkly tanned features were not cleanly distinguishable in the evening light. A cream- coloured shirt and trousers, combined with his tan, gave him a foreign, un-English look, and Jody wondered if he ever wished himself back in a warmer clime. A drifting screen of blue smoke drifted up from one of the dark Spanish cheroots he always smoked and almost hid his features, but his light blue eyes were clear enough and they held hers for a moment steadily, until she hastily lowered her own. 'Love's young dream,' he quoted softly, alluding to her pleasure at having Mark return, and Jody felt her cheeks flush warmly. Blushing was a phenomenon that returned to her only since she came back to Deep Morton this time, and she felt bound to lay the blame for it at Ross's door. 'Nothing of the sort!' she denied firmly, and hastily avoided Elizabeth's curious and slightly startled look, induced by her vehemence. Had anyone else but Ross made the suggestion she would probably have just laughed it off and Elizabeth realized it. 'My mistake,' Ross said quietly. 'I rather thought things were cut and dried in that direction.' 'Well, they're not,' Jody insisted adamantly. 'There's no rush, is there, darling?' Elizabeth asked gently. She mistook Jody's flush of resentment for one of embarrassment and meant to come to her rescue, as she always did. She looked across at Ross and smiled. 'Jody's only twenty, Ross dear, that's no age to be

worried about settling down as a married woman, especially since she's still at university.' 'I'm glad you said that and not me!' Ross's eyes glistened with malicious amusement. 'If I'd suggested that she was still at school I'd have been told where I got off!' 'Oh, Ross!' Elizabeth chided him mildly, but Jody's eyes sparkled with the desire to retaliate and she looked across at him, her eyes bright and challenging. 'You didn't have much to say when Professor Dumarse called me your wife,' she reminded him softly, 'Schoolgirl or not!' It was difficult to say who was most stunned by her statement, but the silence in the big room was almost tangible for a few seconds. Ross looked at her coolly from behind his smoke-screen, and it was difficult to imagine what was in his mind, but she felt her heart pitpattering at her ribs when she briefly met his gaze. Corby merely blinked a little dazedly and said nothing, while Elizabeth looked from one to the other before she spoke, seeking a meaning and finding none. Then she shook her head and half smiled, as if she suspected it was meant as a joke. 'Jody dear,' she said quietly, 'what are you saying?' Already regretting her rashness, Jody pulled a face and laughed a little uncertainly, wishing she was more sure of Ross's reaction. Jessica looked furious and was so far silent, but before long she was sure to be extremely verbal about it, and it would have been reassuring to know which side Ross was likely to come down on. 'Oh, it's - it's just something very silly really.' She looked across at Ross, but the appeal went either unheeded or unrecognized. 'Professor Dumarse insisted

on calling me Mrs. Drummond,' she explained, rolling the name round on her tongue. 'It just didn't seem to register with him that I was Miss Pine. I tried to explain, but— She shrugged and looked at Ross reproachfully, but apparently he had no intention of coming to her assistance. Jessica's blue eyes were as cold and hard as ice, and it was obvious she did not like a single word of it, nor did she believe Jody's explanation. 'How hard did you try?' she demanded harshly. Again Jody looked at Ross before she answered. 'Not very hard,' she admitted. 'Mostly because Ross told me not to bother.' Corby sat over near the window, in the sun, and he smiled calmly, the implications and undercurrents of the conversation completely lost on him. 'It wouldn't be very much use saying anything to Dumarse, unless it concerned his own subject,' he said quietly. 'I'm afraid most of the time he's on a different planet from the rest of us. Although he's a very clever man in his own field, of course.' 'I thought he was very charming,' Jody opined. 'I rather liked him.' 'He sounds like a complete fool!' Jessica's voice was harsh and derisive, and she distorted her good-looking face with a scowl. 'Anyone with half a mind would know that you weren't likely to be married to Ross!' Jody curled her fingers tightly, fighting the urge to be thoroughly catty, even though she might get the worst of the exchange eventually, but Elizabeth was already attempting to pour oil on to troubled waters. 'Jessica, I don't see how you can be so adamant about that,' she protested quietly.

Jessica laughed shortly, ready to launch into her reasons, but before she could say a word Ross interposed, putting his own interpretation on her words. His voice was pool and had that steely edge that Jody knew so well. 'I think, Aunt Liz,' he said quietly, 'that Jess means to imply I would have to be a cradle-robber to be married to a baby like Jody. Aren't I right, Jess?' 'Well, no, I meant—' Her voice trailed off and Ross's light blue eyes looked across at Jody. She would like to have denied that she was too much of a baby to be married to him or anybody else, but she was afraid of what interpretation he would put on her meaning too, so she said nothing but sought to still the persistent thudding of her heart at her ribs, when she met his eyes. Jessica bit her lip and tried again to explain her meaning. 'I - I simply meant that - well, that Jody isn't your type, darling,' she told him, and Ross lifted one brow briefly. 'Oh, I see.' He spoke softly, almost gently, and Jody wondered if Jessica would see the warning signs, or if she would even recognize them. Surely she should know Ross as well, or better, than Jody did, but Jody's opinion was that Ross at his most quiet and cool was at his most dangerous, and Jessica seemed not to realize it. 'Oil, you know what I mean,' Jessica told him, and laughed shakily. 'You know what I mean!' 'I gather you were defining my - type for me,' Ross told her coolly, and sent another spiral of blue smoke up towards the ceiling,

completely obscuring his expression, 'I have to !admit, I never really knew myself.' Jessica looked anxious, as if she feared she |iad gone too far this time, and her blue eyes looked across at him reproachfully. 'Ross, you're - you're just being difficult!' she said. 'You know you've never liked—' 'Jessica dear,' Elizabeth interrupted gently but firmly, 'I think this conversation has reached the bounds of good taste, don't you?' Jessica looked at once impatient, anxious and frustrated and she would like to have argued the point, Jody felt sure, but she caught Ross's eye and found no encouragement, so she subsided. 'Next time you go and see this absentminded professor,' she told Ross bitterly, 'you'd better take me, and see what he makes of that!'

It was a habit of Jody's, when she was at home, to take a last walk around the garden with Corby before bedtime. She helped him to close all the windows and bolt the doors for the night, then said good night to him at the foot of the stairs. 'I suppose you're going to have one of your secret little suppers,' Corby guessed with a smile, and she pulled a wry face at his teasing. Her late-night snacks had always been something of a family joke and were not really secret at all. 'A glass of milk and a couple of biscuits,' she said. That's all, Uncle Corby.' She smiled at him as he started upstairs. 'I'll turn off the lights when I've finished.' She always liked the old house when it was quiet as it was now, and being alone downstairs did not worry her in the least, no matter how

many creaks and groans the old place made as it settled for the night. She poured out a glass of milk and found some biscuits in a tin, then - perched herself on the edge of the kitchen table, swinging one foot as she nibbled. A sound in the hall was the first indication she had that anyone else was about, and then she was not even sure that it was any more than the boards settling in the cooler atmosphere of the night. No one else would be likely to share her late feast. She was on her second biscuit when the kitchen door opened suddenly, and she spun round hastily, her mouth open in surprise with the biscuit half-way to her lips. 'Oh!' Ross stood in the doorway, still dressed in the cream trousers and shirt he had worn earlier, and with a bright, far from sleepy look in his light blue eyes as he regarded her steadily for a moment before coming in and closing the door behind him. There was a kind of studied care about his movements and Jody viewed the closing of the door with mixed feelings. Her heartbeat was much more rapid and she felt strangely lightheaded suddenly. 'What - what are you doing down here?' she asked, and realized as she spoke that she must have sounded very ungracious, for it was as much his home as hers. His smile showed plainly enough that he had noted her lack of welcome as he started towards her. 'I haven't come to raid the fridge, if that's what's worrying you,' he told her. He shook his head and looked at the big glass of milk she held in one hand and the biscuit tin beside her. 'You've got an appetite like a navvy, Jody! A little thing like you indulging in late-night feeds is- it's unbelievable!'

'I don't see why!' She looked at him indignantly, but her heart was doing the usual wild and erratic things it always did, when he came and stood beside her. 'You've always raided the fridge,' he said, obviously well informed, and Jody took another sip of the milk before she answered. 'Is that what you came down here for?' she asked, between bites of biscuit. 'To stop me from having my supper?' 'No.' He shook his head. 'I knew you'd be down here alone and I wanted to have a straight talk with you.' Jody blinked at him in surprise as he perched himself beside her on the kitchen table. He was so close that his arm was behind her as he leaned on one hand, and the warmth of him enveloped her with the usual heady result, making her swallow a whole mouthful of biscuit with dangerous haste. 'You want - I don't understand!' 'Oh yes, you do,' he insisted quietly. ^ His face was so close to hers that she could see the fine lines that ran from the corners of his eyes, slightly lighter in colour than the deep tan that coloured the rest of his skin. She determinedly drew her eyes away from yet another disturbing aspect of him, and looked down at her hands. 'Ross, I don't— she began, and stopped breathlessly when one long finger stroked the side of her neck below her right ear and continued down into the neck of her dress, gentle and seductive as a caress, making her shiver into silence. 'You deliberately put the cat among the pigeons,' he accused softly. 'And don't you deny it, little one.'

Jody stopped swinging her foot, and she put the half eaten biscuit down on the table the other side of her. As she turned, her back was pressed against him and the warmth and firmness of his body through the flimsiness of his shirt and her own dress made her catch her breath for a moment before she turned back. It was a disturbing sensation and after that first, brief contact, she sat stiff and unnaturally straight on the edge of the table, her eyes downcast and both hands holding the icy coldness of the glass of milk. 'If you mean about - about mentioning Professor Dumarse, I—' 'I mean about Professor Dumarse,' he agreed quietly. 'I'm sorry if it embarrassed you.' That's a lie, Jody!' She turned swiftly to deny it, but found the brown face with its light eyes so close that her cheek brushed his and she hastily backed away, her pulses racing and making her feel lightheaded again. 'Ross, I didn't mean—'' 'You were getting your own back for what I said about love's young dream, I realize that,' he insisted relentlessly. 'And you meant me to squirm, you little wretch!' 'Oh no, Ross, not squirm!' she denied, and bit her lip, casting him a brief curious look from under her lashes. 'I did want to pay you back,' she admitted. 'And you knew perfectly well that Jess would pounce on that piece of news like a dog with a bone,' he accused. 'You knew quite well

that she'd start a fight about it - and don't look at me with those big, innocent eyes, Jody, because I'm not fooled for one minute!' 'Well, you asked for it!' The retaliation was instinctive and she bit her lip anxiously a moment later when she saw the bright glitter in his eyes - that steely look again. 'And you'd make quite sure I got it, wouldn't you?' he asked softly. 'Well, Aunt Liz didn't ask for it, Jody, and I won't have you upsetting her, no matter how tempted you art to snipe at me. O.K.?' Jody looked at him wide-eyed, appalled that he should think her uncaring about Elizabeth. 'Oh, but I never want to upset Aunt Liz, Ross,' she said. 'You know I don't!' 'But it does upset her when you and Jess quarrel,' he insisted. 'And that's what concerns me.' It was the first time he had ever spoken to her so seriously or so much like a big brother that she felt suddenly and strangely close to him despite he was scolding her. 'Ross—' She turned and put the glass of milk down carefully on the table beside the discarded biscuit. 'I didn't really mean to embarrass you, or to—' 'But you just speak first and think afterwards,' he guessed, and smiled wryly. 'Well, I don't care what you do or say to me, little one, I can take it all in my stride, but don't go out of your way to take a dig at me or Jess without stopping to think where it might lead. All right?' Jody nodded, feeling rather as if she had been lectured by one of her tutors at university. Then suddenly he put a hand under her chin and lifted her face gently, shaking his head over her woebegone expression. 'That's the lecture over,' he told her with a brief smile; 'But I wanted you to get the message, Jody.' For a moment he

looked down at her, his brown face serious and thoughtful, then he laughed softly. 'Spreading the blame fairly,' he said, 'I guess I did start it. I shouldn't have made that crack about love's young dream. Fair enough?' Jody kept her eyes downcast, wishing she did not feel so inclined to prolong this conversation, when common sense told her that she should take her supper and go to her room with it. 'Fair enough,' she echoed. 'It's just that I don't like you making digs at Mark and me, any more than you like me making them at you and Jessica.' 'You and Mark, me and Jessica,' he echoed softly, and" once more that caressing finger slid slowly down her neck, almost as if he found the temptation irresistible. 'You have it all cut and dried, don't you, Jody?'. 'No, no, I don't! You're the one who said it was cut and dried with Mark and me,' Jody reminded him, and shook her head so vigorously that her long black hair swung softly against his face. He leaned forward and buried his face in its softness for a moment, his voice muffled. 'Mark loves you,' he said. 'You know that, Jody, and you make a perfect pair. Why don't you marry him?' 'Why?' She sounded a little hysterical as she leaned away from him for a moment and looked up at him with huge dark eyes that tried to understand why he was so anxious for her to marry Mark. 'Why why does it matter to you whether I marry Mark or not?* she asked. 'Why should it make any difference to you, Ross?' He said nothing for a moment, then he sighed deeply, and stood up again, his feet planted firmly apart in the familiar stance, looking down at her with an expression in his eyes that she could not recognize, but which sent a chill shivering along her spine. Then he

shook his head and laughed shortly, pointing to her neglected supper. 'You'd better take your supper up to bed with you,' he said. 'Or you'll be down here all night!' 'Ross, you haven't answered me!' She slid from the table edge and stood in front of him, her head below the level of his chin, her hands held together because they were trembling so and she was trying to do something about the chaotic state of her senses. His shirt was open at the neck, almost down to the middle of the broad chest, and she found herself hardly resisting the temptation to slide a hand inside the opening and touch that smooth brown skin with her finger tips. It was a sensual, disturbing sensation and she had never experienced it before, but her hands were clasped tightly to resist it. Ross said nothing for a moment, then he shook his head slowly. 'Because you're a temptation to me, little one,' he said softly. 'And I don't want to be - involved. Not with someone like you.' Jody bit her lip, following his reasoning all too easily,, she thought. He found her attractive, but considered her too close to home to have an affair with, and that was all Ross was ever prepared to indulge in. She even wondered, suddenly, if that was why he so consistently refused to respond to Jessica's advances, because she was family, and he refused to involve the family in his love affairs. He did have affairs, she knew, because he had told her so himself, when he insisted that he always kept pleasure and work apart.

'I see,' she said quietly. 'So you want me married off to Mark so that you can more easily shrug me off as a likely mistress!' Her eyes were bright and darkly glowing as she looked at him again, her anger rising with every second she considered his purely selfish outlook. 'Jody! Don't be a little fool!' 'I've no intention of being a fool,' she stormed. 'Little or otherwise! But I don't have to marry Mark just to suit you - I wouldn't have anything to do with you if you were the last man on earth! So you needn't worry about me being a temptation - I'm not even trying!' 'Jody, stop it!' She spun round swiftly and unseeingly, and her hand caught the glass of milk on the table, sending it crashing to the floor and splintering it into a hundred pieces on the hard tiles. The sound of the crash startled her, and tears stood huge and bright in her eyes as she surveyed the wreckage, then she turned on him angrily, instinctively blaming him. 'Now look what you've made me do!' she accused tearfully. She was unprepared for the hands that gripped her suddenly and pulled her relentlessly against the hard, tense warmth of his body, the arms that bound her so tightly she could not raise her hands high enough to push him away. Then he bent his head and found her mouth with a fierce savagery she had experienced only once before when he had kissed her. She struggled for a while, fighting her own inclinations as much as his strength, but she at last gave in to both, and her mouth parted eagerly under his, her hands opening and spreading their palms over

the broad chest where his heartbeat throbbed steadily under her finger-tips. The breathless, heart-stopping excitement of it made her oblivious of everything but her own desire for him, and the need to turn the savagery of his kiss to gentleness by her own persuasion. Already his hands were caressing instead of gripping her cruelly, and his mouth more gentle, when she felt another change in him. 'No, Jody!' The words were breathed warm against her mouth and they sounded harsh and unrecognizable, but almost like a prayer. The hands that had held her so relentlessly close now sought to reject her, and there was a hard look about the straight mouth that she still gazed at in fascination. It scarcely seemed credible that he was holding her away from him and she looked up at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. 'Ross!' It was an almost irresistible appeal, but he half turned his back on her, one hand brushing nervously over the sun-bleached hair at the back of his head. 'Go to bed, Jody!' She stared at him for a moment longer, understanding at last, and feeling a cold, empty sensation where before there had been a deep, warm glow. Once again, as that first time in her bedroom, anger had aroused other, more dangerous passions, and he had kissed her not in love, but in anger and desperation. It made her feel small and humiliated, and she wanted to escape and hide her hurt. "The - the mess—' She indicated the broken glass and the spilled milk oh the floor, not quite knowing what she was saying. 'I'll see to it!'

He sounded harsh and abrupt, almost as if he blamed her for what had happened, and she remembered that he had said she could arouse him to anger faster than anyone he had ever known. It was obvious that anger was not all she could arouse in him, but it was equally obvious that he refused to yield to whatever it was he felt for her when he kissed her so fiercely. She turned swiftly, making no sound, suddenly longing for the sanctuary of her own room, and gasped audibly when the door handle was snatched from her hand. Elizabeth stood in the doorway, her eyes curious and a small frown drawing at her brows. 'Jody?' She looked across at Ross, and then at the shattered glass and the spilled milk. 'What happened?' she asked quietly. 'I heard breaking glass.' 'I knocked over the milk—' They spoke the same words and exactly in unison, but where Jody looked pale and tearful, Ross laughed suddenly and harshly, shrugging his broad shoulders. 'I guess we should both share the blame,' he told Elizabeth. 'You'd better go to bed, Jody, before you start crying over spilled milk again !' It was a harsh dismissal and Jody bit her lip, 'Crying?' Elizabeth looked anxiously at her, but Jody shook her head. 'I'm - I'm sorry, Aunt Liz,' she said huskily. 'It was my fault.' She knew how Elizabeth must be feeling, both curious and concerned, and she wondered if she should really leave Ross to make the explanations, for explanations would surely have to be made. But she felt very doubtful of her own ability to make a coherent one.

'Darling, it doesn't matter!' A kindly hand patted her arm and Elizabeth's blue gaze scanned her tear bright eyes. 'As Ross says, it's no good crying over spilled milk.' 'I'm - I'm sorry.' 'Never mind, dear,' Elizabeth told her softly, her infallible intuition telling her that she had walked into some kind of a crisis. 'You're tired, Jody,' she said gently. 'You go to bed, I'll see to it.' 'But-' She caught Ross's light blue gaze above Elizabeth's head and hastily lowered her own. 'Good night, Jody,' he said firmly, and Jody swallowed hard on her pride, and the tears that threatened again. 'Good night,' she said huskily. 'Good night, Aunt Liz.' She closed the door carefully behind her and went wearily to bed, hopeful that whatever explanation Ross gave' his aunt, she would understand Jody's point of view.

CHAPTER NINE IT was quite early on Saturday morning when Mark arrived back at Deep Morton. So early that Jody was not even down for breakfast, although when she heard his car on the drive below her window, she gave her hair a last hasty stroke with the hairbrush and ran downstairs to greet him. She was more glad than ever to see Mark again after last night when Ross had played such havoc with her emotions. And heaven knew what he had told Elizabeth had happened after she went to bed, although she could rely on him not to say anything to upset her. She ran down the last few stairs and straight into Mark's arms, throwing her own arms round his neck. 'Darling!' He kissed her soundly, then held her off for a moment, his grey eyes warm and smiling as he looked at her. 'Oh, Mark, I'm so glad you're back!' She felt rather idiotically like crying, although she could not think why on earth she should. Mark hugged her close again, burying his face in the softness of her hair. 'I've missed you,' he whispered, and his breath was warm on her neck, his lips brushing her soft skin gently. 'I know I must be dreaming - but are you really as glad to see me back as you seem to be?' 'Oh yes, of course I am!' Jody assured him, her hands still clasped behind his head. I've missed you, Mark.' He kissed her again, with much more fervour, and his arms were tighter round her, holding her close. Til , believe it because I want to,' he told her softly. For a moment he held her like that without speaking, then he put her at arm's length for a moment and there was a slight frown between his brows as he studied her, one hand under her chin. 'What is it, darling?' he asked quietly.

'It?' Jody looked at her hands, spread flat-palmed against his chest, not at all sure that she either could or wanted to answer his question. Mark, however, was not to be put off and the fingers supporting her chin tightened their hold fractionally as they raised her face to him. He kissed her mouth gently and slowly, and his voice was lowpitched and persuasive. 'Something's happened,' he said softly. 'Something that's made you I'm not sure. Sort of - wary. What was it, darling?' 'Oh, nothing's happened!' Jody attempted to laugh off his seriousness, but her laughter had a nervous, uneasy ring to it, and Mark saw through it at once. He frowned again and ran one hand through her dark hair, brushing it gently back from her forehead, his eyes watching her face for some betraying expression he could read. 'Was it Ross or Jess who upset you?' he asked quietly, and Jody looked up swiftly, then as quickly down again. 'Oh, Mark, does it have to be either of them?' she asked, and he nodded. 'It does,' he declared firmly, and for a brief moment his expression reminded her of Ross. But the illusion of similarity was soon shattered when he kissed her mouth gently. Ross had never kissed her mouth so gently, only with that fierce, angry force that left her breathless, and she found herself regretting it, even while she was standing there in Mark's arms. 'Oh—' She waved an airy hand, as much to dismiss the memory of Ross's kiss as to make light of anything serious amiss. 'We had a bit of an argument last night, that's all!' 'We?' She did not answer but looked down at her hands again and shook her head. 'Ross,' he guessed quietly. He stood with her close

in his arms, saying nothing, but looking steadily at her for so long that she lowered her own gaze for fear tie would see something in her eyes that she did not even recognize herself. 'Ross,' she agreed. Then she shook her head again, determinedly dismissing any thought of Ross now that Mark was here. She leaned back against his arms, her head to one side, her eyes quizzical. 'Have you had breakfast yet?' she asked. 'Good heavens, yes!' Mark laughed, responding to her mood. 'I was up with the lark this morning, and on the road half an hour later!' He planted a kiss beside her left ear. 'I was so anxious to get back to you!' 'Well, you can come and watch me eat mine,' Jody told him, taking his hand. 'I think I'm last down, even Jessica beat me to it this morning.' 'If she did she's going somewhere with Ross,' Mark declared with certainty as she led him across the hall to the dining-room. 'He's the only one I know who can get Jess up at a reasonable hour!' 'I wouldn't know!' She was surprised, and not a little dismayed to find how much she disliked the idea of Jessica going anywhere with Ross, but she made a determined effort not to show it and she smiled up at Mark as they went into the dining-room together. The big, sunny room was dazzlingly bright after the shadows of the hall and they blinked for a moment at the change, then Jody raised their clasped hands and smiled at the rest of the family sitting round the big table, 'Look who's here!' she said.

Elizabeth smiled fondly at her nephew as he bent to kiss her, still holding Jody's hand. 'Hello, Aunt Liz!' 'Hello, dear.' Elizabeth looked at their clasped hands and smiled again, nodding as if well satisfied. 'Now you're happy,' she murmured, although it was uncertain which one of them she spoke to. It was obvious where Jessica and Ross were going together for when Ross got up from the table as Jody sat down, she could see that he was dressed for riding. The fawn-coloured denim trousers he always wore, hip-hugging and fitting closely to his long legs, and the highly .polished brown boots. A snowy white shirt made the usual contrast to his tan and the open neck where the brown of his throat was revealed drew Jody's eyes irresistibly as always. She followed his departure to the adjacent kitchen with wary and uncertain eyes, not knowing quite what sort of a reception he would have for her this morning. He was back in a few minutes, having replenished the coffee pot, and he sat down again, opposite to her, but said nothing in the way of a greeting, except a brief hello to Mark. There was a cool, impersonal look in his eyes a few seconds later when he caught her eye as he pushed the coffee pot in her direction, and Jody felt a shiver run down the length of her spine as if someone had doused her with cold water. She wished she knew what he had said to Elizabeth last night, after she was gone, but obviously it had been nothing very shattering or Elizabeth would have shown signs of it this morning, for she was never very good at hiding her feelings. Anything to do with her family affected her, sometimes even more deeply than it did the people concerned, and it was very unlikely that Ross would say anything to upset her. ;

'If everybody will excuse me, I'll go and make last- minute repairs.' Jessica got up from the table, and her dress confirmed the fact that she was going with Ross. Being so tall and so slim, the cream trousers and blue shirt she wore for riding gave her an almost masculine look, an illusion that was fostered by her blonde hair being tied back with a scarf in the nape of her neck . She looked hard and glittery, and very well pleased with herself, no doubt because she was doing something with Ross that she knew Jody could have no part in, and after last night she would find that fact doubly satisfying. It must have been quite a blow to her, Jody realized, to have Ross so calmly accept Professor Dumarse's mistake, and the fact that they were riding together this morning would do a great deal to restore her confidence. Whether Ross had arranged the outing with some devious reason of his own in mind, Jody would have given a lot to know. 'Ross and I are riding this morning,' Jessica announced, in case there should be anyone in doubt of it. 'But I don't suppose you're interested, are you, Mark?' 'Not this morning,' Mark assured her, with a smile for Jody that promised better things to do. 'I thought not! You haven't been for ages, Mark, you'll be losing your touch soon!' Jessica looked across at Jody and her upper lip curled derisively. 'Still, I suppose you know what you're doing!' 'I do,' Mark said quietly, and kissed Jody's fingertips. But he was looking, Jody noticed, at Ross and not at his sister.

Jessica laughed, then turned and looked down at Ross who was still drinking coffee. 'I won't be long, darling,' she told him, and walked out of the room, her golden-blonde head held jauntily high. Ross, despite her assurance that she would not be long, seemed in no hurry to leave, and he continued to drink his coffee slowly, looking at Jody across the top of his cup. His eyes were cool and narrowed in the tanned face as he studied her for a moment. 'How are you this morning, Jody?' he asked softly. So softly that Mark, sitting beside her, only just caught the words and frowned curiously. 'I'm - I'm all right, thank you.' She did not meet his eyes for very long, but gave her attention to stirring her coffee. 'Good!' 'Is there any reason why she shouldn't be?' Mark asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, and Ross shrugged lightly. 'None,' he replied shortly. 'I'm just being polite.' Mark was riot altogether happy with the answer, that was evident, and he looked first at Jody and then back at Ross, his brows still drawn into a frown. Jody locked at him anxiously experiencing a moment of panic in case he should take it into his head to inquire more closely into Ross's reason for concern. Obviously he suspected that something was amiss, for he had said as much, out there in the hall, and Ross's inquiry must surely have confirmed his suspicion. But, apparently thinking better of it, Mark shrugged resignedly, and put an arm round Jody's shoulders, kissing her cheek. 'Oh well, you'll be O.K. now, darling,' he told her. 'I'll see to that!'

There was a hint of defiance in his voice, and Jody suspected he would not really let the matter rest until he knew the reason for her own quiet mood, and Ross's inquiry. Mark could be very tenacious when it suited him, Ross eyed him steadily from the other side of the table, his mouth tilted in a wry anile. 'You're in control, are you, Mark?' he asked softly, and Mark met the challenge, his grey eyes narrowed, almost wary. 'I hope so,' he said quietly.

As often happens when members of a family do not meet as often as they would like, talk over the breakfast table went on and on and it was more than two hours later when someone realized the time. Mark's business affairs were of intense interest to his aunt and uncle, although they neither of them pretended to know a great deal about the machinations of industry. They were people who took an interest in anything that concerned their family. It was the sound of footsteps in the hall that brought them to the realization of how late it was, and Jody had no difficulty in recognizing Jessica's firm, decisive tread as she crossed the hall on her way upstairs to change. Mark looked at his wristwatch and pulled a face. 'I talk too much!' he declared with a laugh, and put an arm round Jody's shoulders. 'How about a good blow on the downs?' he suggested. 'All right, darling?' 'Fine,' Jody agreed. 'As long as you give me a minute or two to change my shoes.'

*One minute,' he told her. 'And hurry!' He planted a kiss on her mouth under the benevolent eye of his aunt 'I'll wait here for you.' 'I'll run!' She was laughing and quite lighthearted as she left the dining-room and she ran across the hall, her eyes brightly dark and her black hair swinging about her shoulders. She was no more than half-way when the front door opened, and Ross came in, and it was then that she realized why Mark had been so anxious suddenly to go out for a walk. He knew very well that if Jessica was back, Ross would be only a minute or two behind her, and he wanted to be away with Jody before they met again. He was much more wary of Ross this morning, and Jody wished it wasn't so. She stopped in lie middle of the hall, her eyes wide and suddenly wary, as if she would take flight in the opposite direction, and Ross smiled slowly, following her thoughts easily as he came across to her. He stood in front of her, blocking her way to the stairs, tall and overpowering, tapping the riding crop he carried on the palm of his left hand. 'I shan't bite,' he said softly, and his light blue eyes glinted with that steely look she disliked so much. Instinctively she tilted her chin and looked down her nose at him through the thickness of her lashes. 'I'm never sure what you'll do next,' she retorted. 'Oh, you're safe enough out here in no man's land,' he taunted her. He was smiling, but she knew he resented the jibe from the way his eyes glittered down at her.

He stood close enough for her to sense the taut vibrance of his rising anger, and the woman in her responded as it always did to that strong, familiar aura of excitement that surrounded him and sent warning signals through her whole body. The warm, mingled scents of horses, and after-shave enveloped her and she curled her fingers tightly in her palms. 'I'm - I'm going out with Mark,' she told him, not quite knowing why it should be necessary to explain to him. 'I expected you to be gone somewhere together before now,' he said quietly. 'I suppose you've been talking over breakfast.' 'We have.' She would have murmured some excuse or other then, and gone upstairs to change her shoes, as she had told Mark she meant to do, but Ross was taking something from a trousers pocket. He held out a pate blue envelope to her, address upwards so that she could read it. 'I found this on the post table this morning,' he said. 'I thought it might amuse you - or maybe it won't, on second thoughts.' He would have taken the envelope back without giving her a chance to read what it said, but she took it from him and read the big, scrawled hand that took up most of the front. 'Mr. and Mrs. R. Drummond,' she read, and the address at Deep Morton. She looked up at Ross, not quite believing it, her eyes huge and incredulous. 'I -1 don't understand,' she said in a small husky voice. 'Who - who sent it?' 'Do you have to ask?' Ross said, taking the envelope from her fingers and thrusting it back into his pocket. 'Professor Dumarse, of course! No one else suspects me of having a wife!'

'Oh,! Oh yes, of course - I'd forgotten.' 'Had you?' A raised brow doubted it, and he smiled briefly, looking down at her as if he expected some comment. 'It was only yesterdays Jody.' 'Yes, yes, I know, but so much has happened since then, it it seems longer.' She looked up at him curiously, not realizing until it was too late that she had absolutely no right to ask what she was. 'What's he writing about?' she asked. That expressive brow shot upwards again and his mouth crooked into a tight smile. 'It's my letter,' he pointed out, and Jody felt the colour flood into her face. She had taken it for granted that the communication concerned them both, and it had not occurred to her that the envelope had probably only been addressed to both of them as a courtesy. After all, the letter must have been written and posed, a very short time after they left the professor, while that ridiculous assumption was still in his mind. 'I'm sorry, I didn't think.' To her dismay he was laughing softly, a warm deep; sound that did indescribable things to her senses, and she felt that strange curling sensation in her stomach again. 'I do believe you'd got yourself into the role of Mrs. Drummond,' he teased her, and Jody bit her lip, knowing that betraying colour was flooding her cheeks again. 'Nothing of the sort,' she denied, husky-voiced. 'I -1 just - oh, I don't know! You confuse me, Ross, you always do!' She hastily evaded the hand that would have cupped her chin, and shook her head. CI don't care what's in your letter, and I certainly don't care for being taken for your wife!'

He said nothing for a moment, and she could not for the life of her think why she did not take advantage of his silence and go on her way. Any minute now Mark would be coming to see where she had got to. Then he started that sharp slapping sound again with the crop on the palm of his hand. 'You'll be glad to know,' he told her quietly, 'that it has to do with me going away for quite a long time. After I finish on this present job, I've been invited to go with Dumarse to Ethiopia. It could take years, so you won't have to see me again for a very long time, Jody that should please you!' 'Ross—' She had been all set to apologize, to deny that she would be glad to see him go off for a long time, but then something else occurred to her and she bit her lip for a moment before she dared voice it, her eyes big and suddenly brighter when she remembered that pale blue envelope. 'Jody?' He was frowning at her suspiciously. 'Jody, what the hell's going on that devious little mind of yours?' he demanded. 'That letter,' Jody said softly, 'was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Drummond. The invitation didn't include me, by any chance, did it, Ross?' He said nothing for a long moment, but it was evident to Jody that the implications of it had not struck him until now, and he did not like it at all. His eyes had a cool, distant look as he looked down at her and he tapped the crop hard against his leg, his mouth straight and tight'It mentions a non-existent Mrs. Drummond,' he told her at last, quietly. 'Nowhere does it mention your christian name, so you don't come into it, Jody. Not at all? He emphasized each word carefully,

and it was obvious from his expression that he would not take kindly to argument. 'As far as Professor Dumarse is concerned, it's me he's inviting,' Jody insisted, wondering how far her insistence would get her. 'It's Mrs. Drummond,' Ross argued quietly. 'And she doesn't exist, now stop being so awkward, Jody. I wouldn't have shown it to you at all, if I'd realized you'd get such a bee in your bonnet about it.' Jody put a finger to her lips thoughtfully, her lashes concealing the expression in her eyes. 'I could go and explain to Professor Dumarse,' she mused, glancing up to see what effect that would have. 'After all, it's Edward Pine's daughter he's asked, as much as Ross Drummond's wife. And I can lay claim to that title V 'You'll do no such thing!' 'You can't stop me!' Jody informed him pertly, and Ross drew in a deep breath, fighting with that passionate temper again, so that Jody's heart fluttered wildly in the knowledge that she had, yet again, roused him to anger and perhaps more than that. His mouth had a hard, cruel look and his eyes glinted like ice as he looked down at her. 'I'll stop you,' he promised in a cold, hard voice. 'If Dumarse has you in the party, he can count me out, and I think he rather wants my expertise, not your feminine unreliability,' 'Ross!' 'I've told you before, Jody, I don't want to be involved with you, you're too much of a distraction, and I certainly don't want you with me on a dig. So forget it! Once and for all forget it, or by God I'll make you wish you had!' 'Ross, I-'

'No way!' He strode off across the hall, going out again via the back door and she watched his straight angry back disappear through a mist of tears. Only minutes before she had run across the hall, laughing and quite light- hearted, on her way to change her shoes and go out with Mark for a walk. Now, because of Ross and a pale blue envelope, she felt small and rather lonely, although that, of course, was ridiculous. There was still Mark, no matter how Ross rejected her, treated her as if she was the last person in the world he could stand to have with him. Mark would never behave in that way, and she might just follow Ross's advice and marry Mark. Surprisingly she found herself brushing big rolling tears from her eyes as she bent down to change her shoes and told herself she was an absolute idiot to mind so much.'

The air was warm and soft and walking only made one a little hotter than sitting still, for out on the downs it was possible to create a breeze, to catch the cool, light westerly that blew in from the direction of the sea, not so many miles away. Mark's arm was about her, firm and reassuring, but Jody still felt that strange sense of loss. As if she had lost something she treasured and she could not shake off the feeling, no matter how hard she tried. It was somehow connected with that scene she had had with Ross in the hall only a short while before, but to feel lost and tearful about it just did not make sense. She would have better accepted resentment and anger.

He had said some very harsh things to her, both just now, and last night when they had quarrelled so angrily, with the inevitable result. But somehow the harsh words and the anger could do nothing to dim the clear, blood-stirring memory of his kiss. Almost without realizing it she sighed deeply, and Mark looked down at her curiously, not for the first line since they came out. 'Darling!' He kissed her forehead gently. CI wish you'd tell me what's making you so-so quiet and sad.' She bit her lip for a moment, then made a determined effort to shake off the mood that enveloped her. She shook her head and smiled up at Mark with a softness in her dark eyes that appreciated his concern. 'I'm not quiet and sad, am I?' she asked. 'I didn't mean to be.' Mark hugged her close, turning her in his arm and holding her close for a moment in both arms. Then he held her away from him, looking down at her steadily, his grey eyes seeking answers when he was not even sure if he knew the questions. He slid a hand beneath her chin and raised her face to him, his mouth brushing softly on hers. 'I love you,' he said quietly. 'But somehow today I have the feeling that you're further away from me than you've ever been.' 'No, Mark-' 'I love you too much to see you unhappy,' he interrupted quietly. 'And you are unhappy, my darling, no matter how much you try to deny it. Please,' he kissed her mouth lightly, 'tell me, perhaps I can help.' 'Oh, Mark! No, you can't!'

She brushed impatiently at the tears in her eyes again and her voice sounded husky and very unsteady. Mark pulled her closer into his arms and rested his face on the softness of her hair, the way Ross had done last night. Making the comparison disturbed her more than ever and she hugged against him, her hands holding tightly on to him, as if he was a safe harbour in the chaos of her emotions. 'Oh, Jody, Jody!' He whispered her name softly, a hand brushing soothingly over her hair, his breath stirring the little tendrils of hair that lay on her cheeks and he swayed his body gently back and forth as if he was comforting a child. 'Tell me, darling, tell me what's happened.' After a while she looked up at the clear blue sky, and the few soft little clouds that gave it movement, her eyes and ears drawn to the inevitable lark, a tiny, whistling speck somewhere overhead. It was a wonderful, warm sunny day and she really had no reason to be unhappy, especially when she did not really know why she was unhappy. She should surely be able to take Ross's steely harshness in her stride by now. 'It's much too lovely a day to be miserable about anything,' she said, and she smiled up at him, although the dark shadows still lingered in her eyes. 'Just listen to that lark!' Mark obediently followed her gaze, and smiled when he spotted the lark, soaring upwards. 'He seems happy enough,' he said. 'Maybe he has an uncomplicated life!' 'Maybe he does,' Jody agreed, and turned again in his arms. 'Let's walk a bit further, Mark. You're not flagging yet, are you?' 'Not at all.' He put his arm round her shoulders again and they walked for a while in silence, only the lark with his flutey song, and

the bees busy in the wild flowers making a sound to disturb the stillness. It was idyllic out here, and she had Mark back with her again so there was no earthly reason for her to be unhappy. That fracas in the hall earlier had been no more than a momentary madness, as had the episode in her bedroom and that scene in the kitchen last night. Ross could turn her head easily enough, she had to admit, but he had made it pretty clear how he felt about becoming involved with her. It was something she had never, until now, faced squarely, and now that she did the realization of how she really felt about Ross flooded over her whole body almost like a sense of anguish. She had felt sorry for Jessica for being in love with him and now she could realize just what it could mean. She walked over the sun-warmed downs with Mark, and her body felt as if it was no longer part of her; her mind was in chaos and she could think only of Ross going away, for years, he had said. The thought of it made her numb and she felt small and cold and helpless. Mark looked down at her suddenly, and she could not bear to think of him seeing her misery. It was something she must keep to herself for as long as possible, perhaps for always. 'I'll race you to the bottom of the hill!' She broke from the curve of Mark's encircling arm suddenly, and raced ahead of him, tears blinding her as she ran down the same steep slope she had rolled down before. Perhaps she would never be able to forget the steelyeyed memory of Ross Drummond, but she was determined to try. Her feet flew over the turf and her hair flew out behind her, her arms wide-spread, finding relief in the sensation of speed. Mark, slower starting, followed her, less light-footed and taking more care not to

fall, but he caught up with her in the last few feet and grabbed her round her waist as they reached the bottom, bringing them both down, panting and breathless. For a moment they lay side by side on the warm turf, eyes closed, breathing heavily, their faces upturned to the sun. Then Mark turned over on to one elbow and looked down at her, his grey eyes dark and infinitely gentle, while Jody gazed up at him, her eyes still glistening with tears. Her heart was pounding heavily and it was partly because she realized that she could not bear Mark to kiss her in the way he was bound to in a moment. He leaned closer and his mouth was inches from her when she turned her head, swiftly and instinctively, so that his lips found the soft, pulsing spot at the base of her throat instead of her mouth. 'Jody!' She turned to look at him, a misty look of tears in her . eyes again. 'I'm - I'm sorry, Mark!' For a moment Mark said nothing, then he bent and gently pressed his lips to her forehead, one hand smoothing back the windblown black hair from her brow. 'Ross,' he guessed softly, and Jody bit her lip, turning away again rather than let him see the truth of it in her eyes. 'Is it, darling?' he insisted, after a moment, and Jody looked at him again, her eyes brimming with the tears she could no longer control, shaking her head slowly back and forth in a gesture of helplessness. 'I don't know,' she whispered. 'I don't know!' 'I do,' Mark told her quietly. He still lay there beside her, resting on his elbow, his eyes gentle and shadowed, taking in every detail of her features as if he feared he might never see them again. 'I've known ever since I walked into the house this morning,' he said, so

matter- of-factly that it was difficult to believe it could mean so much to him. 'Oh, Mark-' 'It had to be Ross,' Mark said quietly, as if she had not spoken. 'You've never been so far from me before, never since I've known you. And Aunt Liz knows something too, unless I'm very much mistaken -1 saw the way she looked at you this morning at breakfast time.' Jody looked startled. 'It has to be Ross!' he insisted. 'It can't be Ross!' Jody cried desperately, and the tears ran unchecked down her cheeks at the hopelessness of it. 'Ross doesn't care a - a damn for me! He as good as said so!' 'Jody!' 'He did,' she insisted, in a tight voice that scarcely sounded like hers. 'He - he doesn't want to be involved - he said so, not half an hour ago!' 'Oh, Jody, no! He couldn't - he wouldn't talk to you like that!' 'Why not?' Jody asked bitterly. 'He's been treating Jessica like that for a long time now. What makes you think I'm any different?' 'I just can't believe it,' Mark insisted. 'Oh, I know he's been giving Jess the cold shoulder, but in his place I'd have done the same with Jess. But you're not Jess, you don't throw yourself at him, you don't even—' He turned over and rested on both elbows, his face to the sun, his eyes half closed against its glare. 'Why would he, Jody?' 'Oh, please! Please don't talk about him any more, Mark!' She put an arm to cover her eyes. 'Please don't!'

'Darling!' He turned back to her a gentle hand soothing her forehead as he kissed her tear-stained cheeks. 'I'm sorry, my darling, I'm so sorry!' He gathered her into his arms and held her gently, consolingly, his face buried in the softness of her hair, while Jody closed her eyes and prayed for some miracle that would make her love Mark instead of Ross, who would only hurt her more.

CHAPTER TEN THE day had seemed so long to Jody, and quite the most unhappy one of her life. Although Mark was back at Deep Morton, and there was so much she had to be thankful for, she could not think of anything but her suddenly recognized love for Ross and the hopelessness of such a love. Since their walk on the downs that morning with Mark, she felt as if nothing was the same between them, and she regretted it deeply, but at the same time felt there was nothing she could do about it. The worst part of all was that her own quiet and uncommunicative mood seemed to have affected the rest of the family. Ross was missing, but even Elizabeth made little effort to indulge in light chatter as she sat by a lamp, busy with her embroidery, isolated in her little pool of light. Corby, seldom affected by the moods of others, sat enjoying his pipe over near the window and Jessica, having nothing to do apparently, looked sulky and bad-tempered. Instead of sharing the window seat with Jody, as he most usually did, Mark sat alone in an armchair, over near his aunt, and so obviously unhappy that the wonder was no one, especially his sister, had remarked on it. 'I think perhaps I'll go for a walk!' Jody said suddenly, and got to her feet, her movements restlessly jerky. 'It'll be cooler on the downs, it's so terribly hot still.' She intercepted an inquiring and not very hopeful look from Mark, and shook her head, almost imperceptibly. His downcast air made her feel guilty, but she did not want company, she wanted to walk alone, seek the quiet stillness of the downs to try and ease her restless spirit.

Also she was half afraid that if she allowed Mark to come with her, to offer his comfort to her unhappiness, she might be persuaded by his gentleness to take an irrevocable step that she would come to regret. Elizabeth looked out at the fading light and frowned her concern. 'It's getting rather late, dear,' she suggested gently. 'Wouldn't it be better not to go so near darkness?' Jody smiled at her concern, shaking her head. 'I'll be all right, Aunt Liz,' she assured her. 'I know the downs well enough not to get lost and there's a while yet before it's properly dark. Don't worry about me.' 'But I do, my dear,' Elizabeth insisted, and looked across at Mark, as if she found it hard to understand his not raising objections of his own. 'Mark dear, why don't you go with Jody for a walk?' Mark's grey eyes looked dark and shadowed in the fading light, and he looked at Jody steadily for several moments before he shook his head. 'I don't think Jody wants company, Aunt Liz,' he said quietly, and a small rueful smile just touched his mouth, doing uneasy things to Jody's conscience. 'Not my company, anyway!' Elizabeth looked vaguely disturbed at his reply, but she said nothing more, and Mark again looked at Jody, already by the door. 'Take care, darling,' he told her softly. 'Don't get lost.' 'I -I won't.' She shook her hair, and instinctively put a hand to smooth her dress, a short white silk jersey one that gave her rather a little girl look, as she walked across the hall. The light in the hall was almost gone, and it was dimly shadowed with only a long gold streak of sunlight falling across the floor, filtering in by an open' door somewhere.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that when Ross appeared suddenly at the foot of the stairs she started almost guiltily. She had not heard him coming down and his sudden appearance seemed almost uncanny in the soft grey and gold light. As on other occasions, his appearance arrested her on her way to the front door, and she was appalled to find herself trembling like a leaf from head to foot, and a threat of imminent tears in her eyes as she looked at him and then as hastily looked away again. 'You're not going out.' It was a statement rather than a question, and Jody almost smiled, wondering if anything would ever change him. 'I'm going for a walk,' she stated firmly, not prepared to stand and argue the point, for heaven knew how that would end. She walked across to the open front door, but before she could step outside into the evening cool, he was beside her, one hand curled tightly round her left wrist. 'Not alone,' he said quietly. 'I want to go alone,' Jody insisted. There was a rising note of anxiety in her voice, for her heart was thudding at her ribs in an almost deafening response to his touch, and it seemed impossible that he would not detect the way she was trembling. 'Please, Ross,' she begged huskily, 'don't argue.' 'I can't let you go alone,' he insisted quietly, and she shook her head, trying to control the wild and disturbing longing that she felt as he stood beside her in the doorway. He wore a dark shirt and trousers and With his dark tan he was barely distinguishable in the shadowed hallway, only his blond head showed clear against the background and the cool blue eyes

glistening down at her. That irresistible aura drawing her to him, no matter how she tried to resist it. 'Please!' It was a small, whispered plea, and it made her feel even more small and vulnerable as she stood there in the doorway with his fingers curled around her wrist. 'You can't go out there on the downs alone at this time of night,' Ross said quietly 'I can!' She prised the strong fingers from her wrist, desperate to be away from him and the effect he could have on her. 'I'm going for a walk, Ross, and there's nothing you can do or say to stop me!' He allowed her to free her wrist, but he walked beside her down the steps and his fingers curled now over hers in a light persuasive clasp she did not try to evade. 'There's quite a lot I could do to stop you,' he argued softly. 'But we won't go into that. If you insist on going, I'll come with you!' 'No, Ross!' She wrenched her hand free of his and stood facing him, a small, anxious and defiant figure in her white dress, and Ross looked at her steadily for a moment, then he put a hand under her chin, lifting her face to him, his unaccustomed gentleness arousing new and urgent longings in her. She curled her hands into fists when what she really wanted to do was to spread them over that broad chest and feel the strong steady beat of his heart under her fingertips. 'I've hurt you,' he said softly, and put both hands to cup her face, his thumbs moving slowly and sensually over her lips while the light blue eyes looked down at her, glowing with an unaccustomed warmth in the brown face. 'I meant to hurt you, Jody, but I didn't

mean you to—' He shook his head as if to clear it of unwanted things that troubled him. There was a kind of luminescence in the evening sky that lingered long after the daylight had gone, and it was already scattered with stars. He seemed different suddenly, although Jody could not have said how. It was just that he was less tense, less immovable, and her heart responded to the sensation with a skip of sudden hope.' Standing there in the cool of the evening, with the old house looming behind them, they seemed as far removed from the rest of the world as if they were on another planet and her body tingled with awareness of that other lean, masculine one so close beside her. She had noticed once before the way his sun- bleached head bowed over her in an oddly protective gesture, and his body too seemed to curve towards her, his hands still cradling her face, the thumbs pressed gently to her mouth. Then quite suddenly he smiled, a gleam of white in the dark face. 'I have a well ordered existence,' he said quietly, and in such a cool, matter-of-fact tone that she was not only puzzled but vaguely disappointed. 'I have plenty of work, I travel and see the world,' he went on still in the same tone. 'And I have a satisfactory but uncomplicated social life.' Jody looked up at the barely discernible features, only the light eyes clearly visible, glistening with a luminescence of their own in the shadowy light. 'I know,' she said, and the caressing movement of his thumbs began again on her mouth, only this time she ventured to purse her lips softly against them. 'Jody!' His arms tightened suddenly, binding her close, every muscle in that steel-hard body crushing her to him while his mouth sought hers.

Gentle at first, just teasing her lips apart, gentle as she had always wanted him to be, but then suddenly fierce with a hungry urgency that demanded a response she was all too willing to give. Her hands spread over that steady, strong beat of his heart and she responded with a passion she would never have believed herself capable of, slowly lifting her arms up round his neck, curling her fingers tightly in the thick sun-bleached hair at the back of his neck. His mouth roamed softly warm over her face and neck, over the soft skin of her shoulder and the slender throat, then he buried his face in the black cloud of her hair. He raised his head suddenly, and Jody felt an unexpected chill of apprehension. If he rejected her again, as he had before, she was not sure she could control her reaction. But he was smiling, a slow, infinitely disturbing smile that sent little shivers along her spine as she leaned back on his arms and looked up at him. 'I didn't want to get involved,' he told her wryly, and Jody smiled. 'So you said,' she said softly. 'But you decided otherwise, didn't you, little one?' Jody looked at him, her dark eyes wide, shaking her head, because she honestly believed that the decision had been his. She had been insisting on going for a solitary walk and he had been the one to decide that she should not go alone. 'I didn't decide anything,' she denied. 'Except that I loved you, and I wasn't very happy about that, in the circumstances.' He kissed her mouth with infinite gentleness, and smiled down at her. 'I did hurt you, didn't I, my darling?' he said softly, and shook his head when she nodded. 'And the worst of it is,' he confessed, 'I really meant to hurt you. I wanted you to marry your nice Mark and

not get any bright ideas about me. I didn't want a lovely little complication like you in my life, and now—' He sighed deeply and kissed her again, with such gentleness that she could not believe he regretted it. She looked down at her fingers, tracing the shape of a breast pocket on his shirt. 'Are you very sorry it's happened, Ross?' she asked, and he drew her again into his arms, holding her close and burying his face in her hair, his mouth pressed warmly to her soft skin. That exhilarating sense of excitement stirring her pulses again as she responded as she always must. 'I suppose I should regret the passing of such a blithely independent existence,' he said softly, against her ear. 'But somehow I don't, little one. I just have to get used to the idea of loving you so much, I still can't believe it!' Jody laughed softly, running her fingers through that thick sunbleached hair. 'I tried disliking you,' she confessed. 'But it didn't work.' She remembered something else then, and for a moment was regretful. 'Mark knows,' she said, and Ross looked down at her in the growing dark, his light eyes glistening. 'I guess Mark and Jess haven't much to thank me for, have they?' he asked quietly. 'But it couldn't have worked any other way, my darling. I'm afraid I started thinking of you as mine the minute I bumped into you outside the station.' 'Professor Dumarse must have been psychic,' Jody ventured, not at all averse to his air of possessive- ness. 'Professor Dumarse!' Ross pulled a wry face, his light blue eyes glinting at her in the near darkness. 'What about him, my darling? Shall I Write and tell him that Mr. and Mrs. Drummond will accept his invitation?'

Jody looked tip at him, trying to decide if that brief grimace, barely seen in the dim light, was genuine or not. 'Would you really break your own rules and take me with you?' she asked, and Ross laughed softly. 'Just this once,' he said, 'and only because I can't bear the idea of leaving you behind.' His arms drew her close again and he sought her mouth with that warm, exciting urgency that robbed her of all feeling except the need she felt for him. Then he buried his face against the soft curve of her shoulder. 'We'd better do something about making you Mrs. Drummond,' he murmured. 'I'm breaking my own rule even sooner than that.' Jody laughed softly, her lips brushing the smooth brown cheek beside her own. 'How can you?' she asked, and the enfolding arms tightened urgently. 'I'm taking you back to India with me,' he told her. 'I'm not taking any chances of you changing your mind.' Lifting her face to be kissed, Jody smiled. 'I won't,' she promised softly.