Robyn Donald – Iceberg Read Online Free PDF Page A

movements with that
    same awkward-grace. Only she didn't have a generous mouth like yours, and you look strong and honest. She
    wasn't.'
    'You loved her,’ Linnet said softly."
    A sudden movement spilt some of the liquid from his glass. Cursing, he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his
    hand, and the floor, before sinking into the chair, raising his glass to her in a mock toast.
    'Clever, too. Alison was stupid. Yes, I loved her—oh, not the love of a; lifetime, just a boy's crush, but it hurt.
    She had a way of laughing as if she alone could see an exquisite joke—it used to drive me mad. Justin fell for
    her in a big way. He was twenty-three, and he wanted her. I think she knew that she wasn't for him, but he was
    always a masterful man and she wanted his money. Him too, to a certain extent. He had a kind of fascination for
    her.'
    Linnet didn't want to hear any more. This man was too perceptive, saw too much in spite of his weaknesses—
    or perhaps, because; of them, and she didn't want to be made to relive old sorrows or suffer with others. Her
    own pain, because of her propensity, was almost too much for her to bear.
    'Don't tell me any more,' she said crisply, springing to her feet. 'I don't want to hear; none of it's my business.'
    She made to" walk across to the window, but he caught -her hand and kept her still, his expression sardonic. He
    was not drunk, but he had had more .than was good for him, yet there was a keen intelligence in the glance he
    directed at her and his grip on her wrist was strong.
    'Why do you do this to yourself?' she demanded impatiently.
    'Want to try and reform me?' he asked, laughing.
    He was still laughing when Bronwyn and Justin Doyle came into the room. Linnet met the searing contempt in
    Justin's glance, felt a heat in her cheeks which made her angry and with a swift jerk of her wrist freed herself.
    'Oh; Stewart!' Bronwyn's voice was delicately scornful. 'Trust you to come bothering Linnet the moment my
    back is turned!'
    He grinned, apparently unperturbed.
    'Darling Bron, I wasn't bothering her at all, merely filling her in on a few details. She's rather a darling, isn't
    she?’
    'I'll take you home,’ Justin Doyle said curtly; after that first piercing scrutiny he had not looked anywhere but at
    his cousin.
    Stewart shook his head. 'No, thanks. I'm happy here.’
    'On your feet.'
    The words were spoken softly, almost without expression, but they jerked Stewart Doyle upright as if he were
    on wires and Linnet felt a ripple of naked fear. Suddenly the idea that Alison Doyle had killed herself rather
    than go on living with this man did not seem so unbelievable at all.
    After they had left Bronwyn asked sharply, 'What was that drunk doing here?'
    ‘Just talking.' Linnet had rather liked Stewart, but one took at her sister's tight expression was enough to make it
    clear that now was no time to say so.
    'Don't let him in if he comes again. He's a damned nuisance.' The older girl picked up his glass and with a
    gesture as foreign as it was unexpected, hurled the contents through the open window. 'He makes me sick,' she
    said curtly, 'wasting his life.'
    'He doesn't seem terribly happy.'
    Bronwyn gave her a cold stare. 'He's had all of the advantages. Justin has bailed him out of trouble time and
    time again, and all he does in return is drift and run up debts.'
    Another aspect of Justin Doyle's character. He must have some of the normal affections, or he wouldn't help
    Stewart. Then remembering the icy menace of that command, Linnet wondered if perhaps he merely hated the
    thought of one of his name being hauled through the courts. Yes, that was more like it.
    A yawn split her face. Everything suddenly caught up with her, rendering her limp and boneless, so tired that
    she could barely lift her feet.
    'You'd better go to bed,' Bronwyn told her, her voice level and without expression. 'Your eyes are burning holes
    in your face. Goodnight.'
    'Goodnight'
    Sleep came swiftly even "in