Prudence by Jilly Cooper

‘I don’t know. She certainly wants him to go on wanting her, which comes to the same thing. He ought to live with her for six months; that would cure him.’
    ‘But I don’t understand,’ I said miserably. ‘Why did he bring me up here?’
    ‘I guess he heard rumours that Maggie and I were having trouble — probably from my mother, who loves stirring things. He knows my weakness for redheads, particularly beautiful ones, and brought you up here as bait. The one thing that drives Maggie mad is my chasing after other women.’
    ‘Then you think Pendle doesn’t give a damn for me?’ I tried to stop my voice trembling.
    ‘I think you’ve been dealt a marked card, darling. Whether he likes you or not is immaterial. The only thing he wants is to get Maggie back and he’s waited a long time to get her. Beneath that rock-hard exterior there’s a heart of stone.’ Oh dear, he might have been Rodney talking. ‘I’m telling you this because I like you — very much — and I want you to get out before you get in too deep.’
    I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks at the futility of the last few months.
    ‘I’ve made you cry. I’m sorry.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ I sobbed. ‘I’m sorry for you, too. Can I borrow your handkerchief please?’ It was silk and smelt of expensive aftershave. I blew my nose noisily.
    ‘I got it all wrong,’ I said. ‘I thought he was serious because he didn’t make a pass at me. People usually do, you see.’
    ‘I’m not surprised,’ said Jack, and took me very gently in his arms.
    It’s strange how unhappiness sparks off a mood of frantic sensuality. Jack was just a handsome man, kissing me because I was miserable. But as I felt those powerful shoulders and the thick hair beneath my fingers, and breathed in his expensive cologne, he suddenly seemed like a God. I kissed him back as though he were the last man on earth.
    ‘Wow!’ he said. ‘Wow!’ and he kissed me again. We were so engrossed we never heard the door open. Suddenly we were flooded in light. We swung round blinking. Jack kept his arms round my shoulders. Towering in the doorway, looking faintly amused, was a man I instantly recognized from his photograph as Ace Mulholland.
    ‘Everyone’s playing General Post as usual,’ he said. ‘Now I really know I’m home.’ Jack gave a shout of delight and bounded forward.
    ‘Ace! My God! How marvellous. We were expecting you tomorrow.’
    ‘So I see,’ said Ace dryly.
    ‘Rose! Everyone! Ace is back,’ Jack shouted down the hall.
    Rose gave a muffled shriek and after a few seconds came running downstairs patting her hair. Her dress was on inside out. Goodness knows what she’d been up to.
    ‘For heaven’s sake Jack, don’t play silly games.’ Then she saw Ace and turned pale.
    ‘My God, Ace, how wonderful to see you.’
    ‘So nice to feel wanted,’ said Ace dryly.
    I couldn’t take any more. As I fled upstairs I heard him ask, ‘Who’s that? For a minute I thought Maggie’d lost weight.’
    ‘Pen’s girlfriend,’ said Jack. ‘She’s called Prudence.’
    Ace laughed. ‘A singularly inappropriate name,’ he said.
    I was horrified when I looked in the mirror. Crying had streaked my mascara, kissing had smudged my lipstick like a clown. The top buttons of my dress were undone, and my bra strap had slipped down to my elbow. I washed my face and tried to screw up enough courage to go downstairs. I jumped in terror at the knock on the door.
    To my amazement it was Pendle.
    ‘Pru,’ he said, ‘are you OK? Suddenly you disappeared. Ace has arrived a day early and my mother’s having hysterics. Come and meet him.’
    He took my hand and led me downstairs, stopping on the way to say, ‘Sorry I’ve been uptight. This place always has a devastating effect on me. Thank you for being so sweet.’ He squeezed my hand and suddenly kissed me on the cheek.
    That threw me. I nearly started crying again. What the hell was going on? Perhaps things were