Laura Possessed by Anthea Fraser

anxiously.
    â€˜Laurie! All right, honey? You don’t look all that good.’
    â€˜I’m all right. It’s lovely to see you again. And Gilly.’ She smiled across at the slight, red haired girl. Really, Caroline thought in exasperation, where does he find them? Gillian was wearing a curious full-length dress in browns and oranges and a selection of beads and bangles. Her hair gave the impression of having been absent-mindedly chewed by a succession of hairdressers, since it was layered all the way down the back of her head, finishing in a wispy straggle below her shoulders. The fact that the whole incongruous mixture added up to an effective and attractive whole Caroline could hardly deny, but she resented the casualness of the girl, which made her own tailored linen seem ultra-smart and sophisticated, as though she and not Gillian were striving to make an impression.
    Richard had his arm across Laura’s shoulders and was leading her to the sofa. ‘Come and sit down and tell me what you’ve been doing. Are you sure you’re resting enough? Did you go to the doctor with Banstead’s note?’
    Caroline watched him resignedly. He was, without doubt, the best-looking of the three brothers, with wide candid eyes beneath straight brows and a firm, sensitive mouth. His toffee-coloured hair was midway between the dark brown of Edward and the light honey colour of Toby and Laura, but his attractiveness was in his manner as much as his appearance. It was his gift to make every woman, even his sister, feel she was the only one in the world that he cared about. Every woman except Caroline herself. Whether this was out of some idea of loyalty to Edward, she had never fathomed, but she always felt a little piqued that he had never, by so much as a flicker of an eye, betrayed any appreciation of her own charms.
    He had been a boy of seventeen when she first met the family, two years younger than herself, but the fresh-faced charm that made women love him had been apparent even then. Caroline would willingly have entered into the half-bantering, half-flirtatious relationship which could be enjoyed innocently enough between brother and sister-in-law, but to her secret chagrin Richard had shown no inclination other than to accept her as Edward’s fiancée and then wife. He had treated her from the first with an off-hand politeness which baffled and needled her.
    â€˜I’m afraid we really must go and eat now,’ she said. ‘The meal has been ready since half-past seven. I hope it will be all right.’
    â€˜Oh, we’re used to eating cinders!’ Richard remarked casually from the sofa. ‘Gilly doesn’t profess to be a cook, do you, love? Everything’s either burnt or half-raw. I’ve always said I must have a cast-iron stomach!’
    â€˜Well, for those of us who haven’t,’ said Caroline tightly, ‘let’s go in to dinner.’
    Mrs. Baines had had a word or two to say to Caroline about the result of the delay on her carefully prepared meal, and Caroline feared that her displeasure, always inescapable once incurred, might create an uncomfortable atmosphere when she brought in the dinner. She had reckoned without her brother-in-law.
    â€˜Hello, Bainsy! You’re not going to be cross with us for being late, are you?’
    â€˜It’s not my place to be cross, Mr. Richard,’ she replied severely, but her eyes were beginning to twinkle.
    â€˜That’s my girl!’ and the preposterous Richard leant forward and kissed her soundly on her smooth round cheek.
    â€˜Really, Mr. Richard! Away with you!’
    But Caroline had seen the genuine affection in the glance which followed him as he laughingly joined them at the table.
    Laura, whose usually pale cheeks were flushed with pleasure, was only picking at her food and Caroline noted both the guests watching her anxiously. She felt unaccountably criticized, as though she personally