The Bannister Girls Read Online Free PDF Page B

think properly.
    Yesterday seemed decades away. She had grown up more in a single night than in the past eighteen years. She had lainwith a man and seen the derision in a hotel maid’s eyes. Without intending to, she had deceived her parents. She had fully intended going straight home early last evening. Instead…
    Angel’s throat felt suddenly thick. It was all spoiled. All the tender loving feelings between her and Jacques had evaporated, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get them back. She wanted desperately to recapture every moment, to remember every word he had said … and failed. Perhaps this too, was a part of growing up, Angel thought bitterly. Nothing stayed as lovely as you thought it would. Everything faded.
    She left the small hotel without a second glance, uncomfortably aware of the nudges between the receptionist and the maid as she went. Her knuckles were taut as she gripped the handle of her overnight bag. She felt stifled by their looks, and yet part of her could identify with them completely. Yesterday, she too would have thought a girl who went to bed with a stranger was no less than a shameless hussy.
    Outside, the air was crisp and cold, but Angel welcomed its clean sharp touch on her skin. Her wool coat had a fur collar, and she pulled it up around her face, burying her chin in its softness. She was suddenly disorientated. Not by her muddled emotions now, or even her surroundings, but by the time of day.
    It was too early in the morning to go home. Her mother would be suspicious if she supposedly arrived home from Margot Lacey’s home so early. She must wait until at least mid-morning before making her appearance at the Bannister house.
    At the end of the narrow street, she saw a small café, and went inside it to order tea and breakfast. She didn’t feel like eating, but it helped to pass the time, even though the fare was meagre, the surroundings none too clean.
    She saw a taxi-cab as soon as she left the café, and began to run for it, waving her hand.
A lady never runs for anything
, the tutors at college had instructed sternly.
A lady remains cool and dignified at all times
… a swift vision of herself and Jacques de Ville surged through her mind. Locked together in an abandonment of pleasure … hearts beating together, bodies pulsing in ecstasy…
    â€˜Do you want this cab or not, Miss?’ A voice said irritably. ‘I ain’t got all day to wait while you’re dreaming.’
    Angel jumped. She hardly remembered reaching the vehicle, nor standing beside it with her hand on the door handle. Her eyes misted for a moment, remembering the clasp of another hand over hers, on another taxi-cab … she shook herself angrily, feeling that she must be in the grip of some madness to be behaving like a lovesick shopgirl.
    â€˜Can you take me to Hampstead?’ she said jerkily.
    The cabbie’s eyes narrowed. This one looked as though she could pay for the journey, but she’d just come from a narrow back street, and it never hurt to be certain.
    â€˜Can you afford it, Miss? Hampstead’s a good way off –’
    â€˜Naturally,’ Angel snapped. ‘Will you take me or won’t you? I can easily call another cab.’
    The man leaned over at that and opened the door. He wasn’t losing this easy ticket.
    â€˜What’s the address?’ he asked, as Angel slid inside.
    His practised eyes assessed her through his mirror. What a corker, he thought. Eyes like emeralds, and hair in that rich blonde colour that wasn’t fake. And probably a shapely figure beneath the fancy grey coat. She had held it up out of the rain puddles as she’d run to his cab, and he’d glimpsed a pair of neat ankles encased in expensive looking boots. Yes, he’d get his money all right.
    She gave the address quickly. It would be a relief to get home now. She was cold and miserable, and the thought of getting into a hot