The Marriage Solution

'Poor darling.' Jennifer's voice was full of sweetness as they all walked through into the drawing-room but the hard blue eyes had difficulty in leaving Carlton's face for more than a few moments. She turned as Katie sank down into an easy-chair by the fire and held out her hand to Carlton, her eyes frankly appraising. 'I don't think we've met,' she said directly.

'I'm sure we haven't.' The mockery was back in Carlton's voice and his eyes were cool as they looked into the beautiful face in front of him. At twenty-eight, Jennifer was in the full bloom of her beauty and she knew it There was no similarity between the two sisters except in the colour of their hair, but whereas Katie's was soft and wavy Jennifer's was cut into a sleek, expensive bob that framed the lovely heart-shaped face in which the clear, vivid blue eyes with their faintly oriental slant gave her a feline attractiveness that was infinitely seductive. 'I'm Carlton Reef,' he continued coolly. 'A friend of your father.'

'A business colleague,' Katie added from her armchair. 'Carlton has offered to look through Dad's papers and see if there is any way out of the mess we're in. He was involved in a considerable loss himself.'

'Oh, dear.' Jennifer reluctantly withdrew her hand as Carlton let go of hers. 'Not too bad, I hope?' she asked sweetly.

'I'll survive.' He glanced across at Donald who had been watching the little exchange with a faint frown on his good-looking face. 'You drove Jennifer down?' he asked pointedly.

'Not exactly.' Donald stiffened even as his eyes flickered beneath Carlton's icy gaze.

'Donald's a close friend of mine,' Jennifer said easily. 'Aren't you, darling? We thought it would be fun to have a few days out of the city together as I had to come down here anyway.'

'Fun?' Katie came back into the conversation with a vengeance as she saw red. 'You are supposed to be down here to see Dad, or had you forgotten?' she asked furiously. 'I hardly think 'fun' comes into it!'

'Oh, don't be an old grouch,' Jennifer said with a total lack of heat, which told Katie that she had other fish to fry, and, as she watched her sister eat Carlton with her eyes, she had a good idea of what they might be. 'Donald can always take my car and disappear back to the fiat, can't you, darling?' She glanced across at him and continued without waiting for an answer, 'And I'll stay here to help you, Katie.'

And pigs might fly, Katie thought balefully. She knew exactly what Jennifer had in mind—she had seen that predatory gleam in her sister's eyes before with more than one man. And she also knew the reason for the quick turn-about regarding Donald's visit. He would cramp her style if she were to indulge in a full-scale man-hunt.

'How sisterly.' Carlton's voice was bland, but as Jennifer's eyes returned to his face she saw the cynical mockery evident in every hard line and her mouth curved in a seductive little pout This was the sort of man she both understood and appreciated.

'You don't mind going back tomorrow morning, do you, darling?' Jennifer turned to Donald with a languid wave of a limp hand. 'Perhaps it would be better with Father so ill.'

Donald obviously did mind, very much, but just as obviously he wasn't going to voice his protest with Carlton's piercing grey eyes trained on his face. He shrugged once, with a shake of his blond head, and said nothing but the pale blue eyes were malevolent.

As Mrs Jenkins bustled in with the coffee-tray the conversation came to a halt for a few moments, but once the housekeeper had left and everyone was seated Jennifer spoke directly to Carlton, her eyes curious. 'What exactly do you do, Mr Reef?' she asked sweetly.

' 'Exactly'?' He was openly mocking her but she didn't seem to mind, Katie thought in amazement. She had never seen anyone treat her beautiful sister like this before; normally the boot was very definitely on the other foot. 'Well, 'exactly' might take too long to explain,' he said easily, 'but among other interests I own the Tone Organisation. Perhaps you've heard of it?' he continued lightly as Jennifer's slanted eyes opened as wide as they could.

'I knew I recognised the name,' she breathed softly. 'I just knew it. You never told me,' she added accusingly to Katie who was watching the little by-play with some bewilderment.

'Told you what?' Katie asked in surprise.

'That you'd got the Carlton Reef down here,' her sister said breathlessly. 'I've been trying to fix up an interview with you for ages, you know,' she added as she turned the full hundred-watt smile in Carlton's direction. 'The paper has been doing a series on millionaires of the nineties. Perhaps you've read it?' she asked hopefully.

'I think not.' Carlton's voice was very dry.

'Oh.' Jennifer wasn't one to let a small put-down affect her. 'Well, your publicity department wasn't at all helpful,' she added with a faint touch of provocative helplessness. 'And it would mean so much to get a scoop at the moment.'

'Excuse me,' Katie interrupted as her stunned mind tried to make sense of what she had just heard. 'Are you telling me that you're a millionaire?' she asked Carlton flatly.

'I wasn't aware I was telling you anything.' His voice was guarded and very cool as he looked expressionlessly into her shocked face.

'But are you?' she persisted, still in the same flat voice.

'Do you mean to say you didn't know?' Jennifer laughed shrilly into the loaded atmosphere. 'Really, Katie, you live in a world of your own at that awful school. There is something beyond disinfectant and snotty noses, you know—'

'Shut up.' And for once in her life Jennifer did just that as her sister turned on her a glare that would have silenced Attila the Hun, before looking again into Carlton's dark face. 'What sort of man are you?' she hissed tightly as she rose slowly from her chair to stand over him like an avenging angel. 'To threaten my father like you did, to act as though the loss of that deal was the worst thing that had ever happened to you when all the time you're rolling in money…'

Carlton hadn't moved; in fact, neither had anyone else. The whole room had taken on the effect of a macabre tableau, frozen in time. 'He's lost everything—everything!' She could hardly get the words past her lips, so great was her fury. 'And you sit there like a big black spider with a hundred other webs, laughing at us!'

'I'm not laughing at you, Katie.' Carlton's voice was as flat as hers had been. 'And, if you remember, I thought your father had been…less than honest.'

'And that makes it all right?' she ground out through clenched teeth. 'To fool us—'

'Your father is fully aware of my financial position,' he cut in sharply, his voice icy now, 'which is one of the reasons why he approached me in the first place. I agreed to partner him in this venture at his insistence.'

'But the loss of the money doesn't mean anything to you,' she said furiously. 'Not really. How could you badger him—?'