Authors: Unknown
'Helen darling. How marvellous to see you. Do come in, both of you.' As he closed the door he took a look at Katy's hair and raised his hands in horror. 'Heavens! What a shame! High time someone took it in hand, dear.' He looked at Helen. 'How wise of you to bring her to me and not let some of these scissor cowboys loose on it!'
In his tiny salon at the back of the house he pushed Katy into a chair and began to study her hair and face in the mirror. His fingers under her chin, he twisted her head this way and that, then turned to Helen.
'Criminal
to hide bone structure like this. So gamine—positively elfin. At the moment she looks as though she's peering through a bush! It must all come off, of course.'
Katy started up in alarm. 'All off—but—'
'Do sit still, dear,' Aubrey said tetchily, pushing her back into the chair. He enveloped her in a large overall. 'Shampoo first,' he said gleefully. 'Oh, you'll be
amazed
at the difference I shall make to you!'
Katy sank back with an air of resignation. She was prepared to believe him!
One hour later she sat staring at her reflection in the mirror, stunned into silence. Looking back at her was a small oval face with huge green eyes, made to look even larger by the smooth, shining cap of hair Aubrey had created. He had cut it with the curl rather than against it and it lay over her ears and forehead in one continuous swirl of gleaming red-gold. Helen viewed it with beaming admiration.
'Aubrey, you're a genius!'
He stood back, admiring his handiwork. 'Well of course I am, darling. Haven't I always told you so?'
She laughed. 'Modest to a fault as usual. What do you think, Katy?'
Katy was still reeling from the shock. 'Well—it's certainly a change.'
Aubrey gave it a final flick with the comb, peering at her through the mirror with half closed eyes. 'If I might venture to suggest just a
soupcon
more eye make-up, sweetie—and perhaps a brighter shade of lipstick?' He sighed with satisfaction at his own handiwork. 'You'll have every head in the street turning.'
Outside Katy felt self-conscious. Aubrey had been right—she
did
feel that people were looking at her—and she wasn't sure that she liked the experience. Helen chose a small exclusive boutique in a quiet little side street and, once inside, she combed the rails with concentration, picking out a dress here and there and holding it against Katy thoughtfully. None of them was remotely the kind of thing Katy would have chosen had she been alone, though she had to admit that one or two of them were quite stunning.
'I don't want anything too conspicuous,' she whispered. Helen stared at her, one eyebrow raised. 'Well—I've always felt that my hair made me stand out quite enough,' she explained.
'My dear girl, you play up your best features—don't try to submerge them!' Helen threw half a dozen dresses over her arm. 'These will do for a start,' she said. 'Come on, let's see how they look.'
They both agreed that the most effective dress was the first one she tried—a slim fitting gown in a vibrant shade of sea-green.
'It makes your skin look like ivory and your eyes like turquoise,' Helen said poetically. 'I'm beginning to think I should take you back to London with me to be photographed for the magazine!'
Back at Bridge House the 'new' Katy met with a mixed reception. Jake and Claire were vehemently approving but Toby had reservations. For a long time he stood staring at her, his head on one side.
'You've had all your hair cut off,' he said at last, pouting. 'I liked it better as it was before—all sort of fluffy. Will it take long for it to grow again?'
The arrangements for Saturday's dinner party went smoothly. Claire did her best to persuade Helen to stay but she was adamant.
'I have a designer to see first thing on Monday morning,' she said. 'And I lent my flat to a friend for the month—heaven knows what state it will be in by now. Thanks, Claire, but I have a million things to do.'
So, on Friday afternoon they waved her goodbye as she drove down the drive in her gleaming sports car for the last time. Before she went she gave Katy a warm hug.
'Give me a ring at the office whenever you come up to London and we'll have lunch,' she said. 'And just stop underestimating yourself,' she added in a whisper. 'Good luck, love.'
Katy watched her go wistfully, wishing that they had had more time to get to know one another.
Toby was impatient for his second swimming lesson so Katy took him to the swimming pool again that afternoon. He took to the water gleefully and by the time he came home, he had taken his first unaided stroke. His excitement knew no bounds and he could hardly wait to get home and tell everyone of his triumph.
'And Katy said that when I could swim properly we could swim here in the river,' he said happily. 'When can we, Katy—tomorrow?'
She laughed as she shook her head. 'Heavens, no! I
said
when you can swim confidently out of your own depth. You've a little way to go yet.'
But Toby was not to be put off. 'Well, I bet I could if I tried. Oh,
do
let me try, Katy,' he begged. 'You'll be there—you wouldn't let me drown.'
'Well, we'll have to see,' she told him. 'Anyway it will have to be after the weekend now—when Daddy's special guests have gone.'
As Saturday drew near Katy was beginning to have grave doubts about the dinner party. Did she have any place at such an occasion? Helen had taken it for granted that she was to be there but perhaps Jake and Claire would prefer it if she ate in her room instead. She voiced these thoughts to Claire who was outraged at such an idea.
'But of course you must be there! Why, you've bought a new dress and had your hair done specially. Besides, you'll make the numbers right.' Katy looked puzzled and she went on, 'There'll be Jake and I, Jake's agent and the editor from America— Dave Maskell, Sean and you. Oh—perhaps you hadn't realised that Lesley Francis, Jake's agent, was a woman!' She laughed 'I'm relying on you and Sean to keep the others off "shop" all evening!'
Katy was slightly comforted, although the thought of competing conversationally with all those brilliant people still daunted her a little. Claire laughed at her fears.
'Just be your charming self, my dear, and you can't go wrong, I promise you!'
The two guests of honour arrived just after lunch on Saturday and for the rest of the afternoon they were in conference with Jake in his study, discussing plans for the coming tour. Katy took Toby for another swimming lesson at the pool and to the cinema afterwards for a special treat, with tea afterwards as he wouldn't be joining the grown-ups for dinner that evening. He was tired when they got back to Bridge House and quite ready for bed, but he made Katy promise that she would come and show herself to him when she was ready to go down.
She took a leisurely bath and dressed carefully, making up her face as Helen had shown her, using the cool green eyeshadow and complementing the vibrant colour of the dress with a warm, coral pink lipstick. When she stood back to assess the result she had to admit that it was startlingly different from her former appearance. A smooth, sculptured look replaced the flyaway mop of hair and the dark green clinging material of the dress accentuated the curves of her figure seductively; finally, the new make-up gave her the look of sophistication she had always envied. Deep inside she felt a warm tingle of anticipation. Picking up her evening bag of toning green and silver she tiptoed into Toby's room but found him already fast asleep, clutching Arnold. Maybe it was just as well, she told herself wryly. With one phrase Toby was capable of shattering the most inspired illusion!
Jake and Claire were entertaining their guests to cocktails in the drawing-room and she stood hesitantly in the doorway until Jake noticed her and came across to take her arm and draw her into the room.
'This is our good friend, Katy Lang, who is doing such a marvellous job with my young son, Toby,' he said as he led her forward. 'Katy, this is my agent, Miss Lesley Francis, and this is Dave Maskell from New York—he is my editor from Globe Publishing.'
The tall, good-looking American smiled at her with candid admiration as he took her hand. 'Well, well! This is certainly my idea of what a nurse should be. Lucky old Toby! I don't know where you found her Jake, but I feel good just looking at her!'
Katy blushed under his frank appraisal and was grateful when the doorbell rang and Claire beckoned to her.
'Katy—that will be Sean. Will you answer the door to him? Mrs Benson is doing something vital with the soufflé and I told her to ignore everything else.'
Katy was glad of the chance to escape. As she passed the hall mirror she took a look at herself and tugged at a wisp of hair, wishing that her heart would stop leaping about so disconcertingly in her chest.
She took a deep breath and opened the door. Sean looked very handsome in evening dress. He stepped inside then stopped dead, staring at her, his eyes sweeping over her from head to foot and back again.
'Katy—Oh, my God! What on earth have you done to yourself?'
Her face was frozen into immobility and she held out her hand wordlessly for his coat. Claire came out into the hall to see what was holding them up.
'What's the matter with you, Sean? You look as though you'd just seen a ghost.' She looked from one to the other.
Sean pointed to Katy. 'Was this your idea?'
Claire looked furious as she said, 'Sean! For heaven's sake! Katy looks perfectly charming. She's already been receiving the most glowing compliments from our American guest.'
Sean gave a bark of derision. 'Huh! I suppose that makes it all right then,' he said sarcastically.
'Listen, Sean, this evening is important to Jake. I hope you're not going to spoil it!' Claire took Katy's arm, flashing Sean a searing look. 'Come back into the drawing-room. Perhaps Sean will join us when he has recovered. If I didn't know you better Sean I'd suspect that you'd been drinking!'
Katy turned away, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright with the hurt she was unable to hide. Sean hadn't been drinking—far from it. He couldn't have been more sober. Obviously to him she looked like a little girl, dressed up in grown-up clothes. So much for her attempt at sophistication!
The dinner party was a resounding success. The meal was delicious, the conversation sparkling and—on the surface at least—everyone seemed to be in good spirits. For Katy it was a total failure, though she didn't allow her feelings to show. Claire had placed her next to the American, Dave Maskell, who flirted shamelessly with her throughout the meal. Opposite sat Sean, next to Lesley Francis, with whom he seemed to have a great deal in common—she had a brother who was a doctor. Their conversation sounded fascinating to Katy but she was not included. Cornered by Jake's guest of honour she forced herself to keep up a steady flow of small talk. Obviously he thought her as empty-headed as Sean did.
After coffee Claire invited them all into the drawing-room again. Soft music was playing and the french windows were open on to the terrace. The minute she could, Katy excused herself and went outside, breathing in the cool evening air gratefully and wishing that the ordeal could be over as soon as possible. It occurred to her fleetingly that Helen had known what Sean's reaction would be and had encouraged her to change her appearance purposely. But she tossed the thought aside as unworthy, sure that Helen had acted out of generosity and nothing else. She wandered down to the water's edge and was watching the smoothly flowing stream when a voice behind her made her start.
'Katy—forgive me. I behaved atrociously.'
She turned to see Sean standing behind her and her heart gave the familiar painful lurch. Suddenly she was angry—both with him and with herself. Why did she allow him to have this power over her? Why was it that no matter how he treated her she was ready to forget it the moment he smiled?
;
Yes, you did behave badly,' she told him. 'And if it was your intention to spoil my evening you can congratulate yourself that you almost succeeded—
almost,
but not quite. From now on I intend to enjoy myself.'
A frown replaced his smile. 'Indeed? You seemed to me to be enjoying yourself at dinner— quite a lot, in fact.'
She stared at him. 'I wasn't aware that you were interested in whether I was enjoying myself or not!'
He laughed shortly. 'One could hardly miss the abandoned way you were flirting with that American,' he said heatedly.
'I was doing nothing of the kind,' Katy retorted. 'Anyway, what right do you have to criticise me, when for the past fortnight you've been throwing yourself at Helen Kent's feet?'
He smiled sardonically. 'Ah—so that's it, is it? Now we're getting to it. You thought you'd try to play me at my own game—well let me tell you, Katy, that to do that you'd first have to understand how my mind works—and that you never will.'
'You flatter yourself!' she hissed at him, afraid that their rising voices would carry across the lawn to the ears of the others. 'Why should I care about the wonderful workings of your mind? Your thoughts—and the rest of you too—are of
supreme
indifference to me and I hope you'll remember it!' And with that she swung round and began to walk back towards the house. But as she passed him he grasped her by the wrist and held her fast, his face dark with anger.
'Don't you dare to speak to me like that,' he growled. 'It's time you remembered that it was me who recommended you for this job, that I am a doctor and you are a nurse—and a
failed
nurse at that!'
She gasped as though he had hit her and for a moment silence hung heavily between them.
'What I choose to do with my own life is my affair, as I've told you before,' she told him quietly, the breath catching in her throat. 'I suppose you were also pulling rank when you expected me to let you make love to me?'