responsibilities.
It stung badly. All right, she thought, he’s a million-
aire and I’m just a schoolteacher whose salary wouldn’t
keep him in shoe leather! But I won’t stand for a
situation in which he is King Cophetua and I’m just the
beggarmaid.
She brooded all the way back to the villa, ignoring the
rugged scenery through which they passed, the tangled
glory of yellow furze, the grey rock and tumbling green
slopes. The cool mists rolled away and the sky grew
bright, burning blue.
“Going to be a great day,” Jake said hopefully as they
climb
ed out of the jeep.
Marc ignored him, but Kate gave him a warm smile.
“A lovely morning,” she agreed.
Jake shot a wary glance at Marc’s back, then winked.
Kate followed Marc up the steps on to the verandah.
As he held open the door for her to pass into the house,
she looked up with a deliberately cool expression and
said, “By the way, we never did fix how much we were to
pay you for our holiday. You’ll let us know, won’t you?”
His face looked first amazed, then black with rage.
She felt her nerves leap at the look he gave her. “You
little ...” he began violently, grabbing hold of her
shoulders and shaking her.
“Marc! My son, what are you doing? Have you taken
leave of your senses, to shake a young girl like that?”
Marc’s hands dropped from Kate like stones, and he
turned to confront his mother stiffly.