Mistress at a Price Read Online Free PDF Page A

was wearing, systematically destroying it petal by petal.

    Cat said uncertainly, ‘ Aunt Susan — they ’ re just leaving — Belinda and Freddie. Don ’ t you want to say goodbye? ’

    Her aunt shook her head. She said quietly, ‘ I seem to have been saying that for a long time now. ’ She paused. ‘ Some things end — others begin. That ’ s the way it works — isn ’ t it? ’

    Cat knelt beside her impulsively. ‘ Would you like me to come back with you tonight? Stay for a day or two? ’

    Susan Adamson stroked her cheek almost absently. ‘ No, my dear, but thank you for offering. I have a lot of thinking to do, and I need to be alone for that. ’ She paused, forcing a smile. ‘ I may even go away myself for a while. I need a rest after all this — chaos. ’ She gestured around her at the littered tables, but Cat knew she wasn ’ t merely referring to the wedding.

    ‘ I ’ ll be in touch, ’ she promised quietly.

    With the departure of the bridal couple a sense of anticlimax had set in, and people were already beginning to drift away. As Cat went towards the stairs she glimpsed her uncle in a shadowy corner of the foyer, talking with soft urgency on his mobile phone.

    No prizes for guessing who he was calling, she thought, remembering bitterly her aunt ’ s quiet, contained expression.

    Even now people were stopping her. ‘ So good to see you again, Catherine. ’

    ‘ Thank you. ’ She couldn ’ t even try any more to match names to faces.

    ‘ What a marvellous day it ’ s been. Gone without a hitch. ’

    ‘ Yes, fantastic. ’

    ‘ So lucky with the weather. ’

    ‘ Perfect. ’

    Were they all blind? she wondered incredulously as she finally won free and went upstairs to her room. Hadn ’ t they realised what was going on in front of them? Or were they too carried away by vintage champagne and their preconceptions of married bliss to care?

    And what would they have done if she ’ d stood up and shouted the truth aloud?

    Ignored me, probably, she decided with a wry twist of her mouth.

    But everything that had happened simply confirmed and hardened her resolution to stay clear of entanglements — especially the emotional kind.

    They ’ re not worth the suffering, she told herself.

    Sighing, she unlocked the door of her room and went in. The deep sunlight of early evening was pouring through the window, bathing the pastel walls and the charming flower-sprigged fabrics in a mellow glow.

    Cat found herself sending the wide, canopied bed a regretful glance as she discarded her wedding finery and put it into her case, after extracting clean underwear and a plain white skirt, to be teamed with a short-sleeved knitted top in dark blue silk. She ’ d been looking forward to spending the night here and waking to the sound of birdsong instead of London traffic.

    She examined her sandals minutely before packing them, but apart from a tiny fleck of mud on the inside of the heel, which she removed with her thumbnail, they were as good as new. Apart, of course, from the memories they evoked. She wouldn ’ t rid herself of them quite so easily.

    On the whole, rural peace offered rather too many opportunities for brooding, she decided, particularly over things that she could not change.

    For an uncomfortable moment she found herself remembering the way her mother had spoken of grandchildren, and David ’ s immediate reaction when Vanessa had caught the wedding bouquet and smiled up into her lover ’ s face.

    But they were actors, she reminded herself with sudden harshness. So who could say if the emotions she had glimpsed were genuine?

    Apart from that, the Anscote Manor Eden had its own built-in snake, she thought, her mouth twisting. So it would be far more sensible to get back to the city, real life and sanity, and avoid unnecessary temptation. Because this Liam was simply not for her — and for all kinds of reasons.

    She bit her lip. She was still ashamed of her unguarded