The food, wine and the conversation subtly directed by André, all must have gone slightly to her head, Eleanor reflected later when it was time to leave and she realised that she was standing almost invitingly close to André as he came to her side.
Almost immediately she distanced herself from him, thanking Pierre Colbert for the evening and promising him that she would sign and return the contract to him just as soon as her solicitor approved it.
His terms, although stringent, were fair, the fees more generous than she had expected, although the time clauses he had wanted to insert had initially proved to be a small stumbling block. In the end Eleanor had got her way and he had agreed to modify them.
‘There really is no need for you to drive me back,’ she protested to André. ‘I can get a taxi.’
‘I want to drive you back,’ he assured her, and the way he smiled at her sent an urgent warning homing into her brain, at the same time as her body responded to the smile he was giving her and the light pressure of his hand on her arm.
They were in the car when he turned to her and murmured, ‘It’s early yet; there is a small village close to here with a stone fountain built by the Romans. It is still in use today. You would like to see it…?’
‘But it’s dark,’ Eleanor protested, laughing in spite of herself. How long was it since she had last felt like this, behaved like this, felt so free and unburdened, and, yes, perhaps a little silly as well? But it was fun being with André, being flattered and admired by him, even though she knew he was not the kind of man she would ever want to have a permanent relationship with… a serious relationship…
Was that part of what was wrong between her and Marcus… they had become too serious, forgotten what it was like to have fun together? Marcus seemed so distant and disapproving these days; where André made her feel almost giddy and girlish, Marcus made her feel increasingly aware of all her responsibilities, and her inability to deal properly with them.
He was impatient with her, irritated by her, she sometimes felt, shutting himself off from her, and not just when it came to Vanessa.
Caught up in her thoughts as she was, it was several seconds before she recognised that André had turned off the main road.
As she turned to look at him, he smiled at her and told her softly, ‘The moon is almost full; it will give us enough light for you to see the fountain by.’ And then he started to grin and added more prosaically, ‘Besides, the square is floodlit at night so that tourists can admire the fountain and the church all the more easily.’
Eleanor had to laugh, but she still shook her head.
‘No, André, I can’t,’ she told him regretfully. ‘My flight leaves early in the morning and I still haven’t packed. Please turn round and go back…’
‘If you are sure that is what you want.’
Eleanor looked steadily at him. He was right about the moon; its light was strong enough for her to see the outline of his profile, strongly beautiful in a way that was entirely masculine. He had to have just about the most sensual mouth she had ever seen on a man, she admitted to herself, and that included Jade’s Sam. And just for a second she allowed herself the indulgence of wondering what it would be like to be kissed by him…
Just for a second. As soon as her brain recognised what her emotions were doing, it caused her to sit more firmly upright in her seat and to turn her head away from him as she told him quietly, ‘Yes, that’s what I want.’
He didn’t make any attempt to change
her mind, although she noticed the way the car slowed down slightly as he passed a secluded shadowy lay-by.
When she made no response the car soon picked up speed again, and if he was seriously disappointed by her refusal he gave no sign of it, chatting easily to her about his uncle’s business and his own part in it.
Any small feminine frisson of disappointment she might have felt that he had accepted her refusal so easily was soon squashed by her own acknowledgement of the dangers involved in even such a small indulgence of vanity.
A brief verbal flirtation, the odd languishing look, perhaps even the odd kiss, there was no harm in them in themselves, but as to where they might lead…
It was not the desire and admiration of another man she wanted, she admitted as they reached her hotel, it was the return of her relationship with Marcus to what it had once been.
André escorted her towards the hotel entrance, but once they reached the doors she turned round and smiled at him.
‘There’s no need for you to come any further,’ she told him softly.
He paused for a moment, looking searchingly at her.
‘If you’re sure…’
‘I’m sure,’ she told him.
There had been a moment in the car when she had been tempted, not so much by André himself, she recognised now, as by what he represented, but that moment was gone now. What it had done more than anything else was to reinforce her awareness of how much Marcus meant to her. But how much did she mean to him? Their marriage, their relationship, which had once seemed so strong and sturdy, had seemed recently to have grown increasingly fragile, or was it just that the recent damage to her own self-confidence made her see things that way?
Suddenly she couldn’t wait to reach her room and telephone home; suddenly it wasn’t enough that she would be there herself tomorrow. She wanted and needed to speak to Marcus now.
She was halfway across the foyer when she saw him, shock, disbelief and then finally incredulous joy illuminating her face as she stood watching him walk towards her.