account but in the interests of their other guests. It won't be the kind of house party where a child wouldn't be noticed. They would find her presence intrusive, and she wouldn't feel comfortable either.'
Without stopping to think, she said curtly, 'What on earth do they do when not skiing? Smoke hash and go in for group sex?'
His grasp on her arm made her stop short. As he scowled down into her face, she found several new and alarming ideas flashing through her mind.
He was looking furious. Was it because she had hit on something? Could it be that his father had thrown him out and disowned him because he had been caught taking drugs or, worse, pushing them? At one time there had been a wave of expulsions at England's so-called public schools, which were actually very expensive fee-paying schools, for such crimes. Obviously, a man as fit-looking as James Gardiner couldn't be on drugs himself; but it could be that the huge income he claimed to be making from computers came from a more sinister trade.
The thought that Emily might now be dependent on a man who lived on the proceeds of other people's degradation filled Summer with horror and rage.
'No, they do not,' he said tersely. 'They're merely a group of people who don't happen to want children underfoot—or yapping lap dogs, or chain-smokers, or any of the various other nuisances which people are perfectly entitled to exclude from their lives if they wish to.'
'They sound a fun crowd,' she retorted, equally tersely.
His black look lightened a little. 'I wouldn't say that precisely. They're all interesting, distinguished people whom I count it a privilege to mix with. If you must know, they include a couple of older people who haven't yet got over a particularly horrible tragedy. Their son and his wife and their two grandchildren were involved in an accident with a car driven by youngsters who were high on drugs. The parents and one child were killed outright. The other child—a girl the same age as Emily—is now a permanent hospital case. Now do you see why I can't ask my hosts to include her?'
'Yes,' she conceded. 'Yes, I do. But what I don't understand is why your concern for Emily doesn't outweigh your concern for them. Would it be such an intolerable sacrifice to give up your Christmas plans to make her Christmas less forlorn?'
'It won't be forlorn. She'll be in an interesting new environment and she'll have you with her. Until a few days ago, she barely knew I existed. You're a much more important figure in her life than I am—and at this stage, she's more important to you than to me,' he added. 'She seems a nice enough child, but I'm afraid my affections are not so easily engaged that I'm ready to prefer her company to that of my friends.'
Now that her flare of anger and suspicion had subsided, she could see the force of his argument. Emily had taken to him because she was an impressionable teenager whose father had never quite fulfilled her longing for someone to love, admire and depend on, and whose uncle seemed, on first acquaintance, as if he might fulfill all those needs.
He, on the other hand, was a mature, sophisticated male who, if he needed affection and admiration, would seek it from girls much older than Emily. Sex, perhaps pride of possession, and possibly intellectual stimulus would be what he required of the female sex. Not the innocent hero-worship of a flat-chested child of thirteen.
They walked the rest of the way without speaking. At the entrance to the building, as he pushed open the heavy swing door for her, she was aware of the pleasure of being treated with chivalrous courtesy by a member of the opposite sex. Yet at the same time she knew that, on this occasion, he had performed the action as an automatic reflex, not because she aroused his protective instincts. He didn't see her as a woman; only as the grotesque outsize frump who was tutor to his niece.
She didn't want to be, but she was glad of his support in the discussion
Without stopping to think, she said curtly, 'What on earth do they do when not skiing? Smoke hash and go in for group sex?'
His grasp on her arm made her stop short. As he scowled down into her face, she found several new and alarming ideas flashing through her mind.
He was looking furious. Was it because she had hit on something? Could it be that his father had thrown him out and disowned him because he had been caught taking drugs or, worse, pushing them? At one time there had been a wave of expulsions at England's so-called public schools, which were actually very expensive fee-paying schools, for such crimes. Obviously, a man as fit-looking as James Gardiner couldn't be on drugs himself; but it could be that the huge income he claimed to be making from computers came from a more sinister trade.
The thought that Emily might now be dependent on a man who lived on the proceeds of other people's degradation filled Summer with horror and rage.
'No, they do not,' he said tersely. 'They're merely a group of people who don't happen to want children underfoot—or yapping lap dogs, or chain-smokers, or any of the various other nuisances which people are perfectly entitled to exclude from their lives if they wish to.'
'They sound a fun crowd,' she retorted, equally tersely.
His black look lightened a little. 'I wouldn't say that precisely. They're all interesting, distinguished people whom I count it a privilege to mix with. If you must know, they include a couple of older people who haven't yet got over a particularly horrible tragedy. Their son and his wife and their two grandchildren were involved in an accident with a car driven by youngsters who were high on drugs. The parents and one child were killed outright. The other child—a girl the same age as Emily—is now a permanent hospital case. Now do you see why I can't ask my hosts to include her?'
'Yes,' she conceded. 'Yes, I do. But what I don't understand is why your concern for Emily doesn't outweigh your concern for them. Would it be such an intolerable sacrifice to give up your Christmas plans to make her Christmas less forlorn?'
'It won't be forlorn. She'll be in an interesting new environment and she'll have you with her. Until a few days ago, she barely knew I existed. You're a much more important figure in her life than I am—and at this stage, she's more important to you than to me,' he added. 'She seems a nice enough child, but I'm afraid my affections are not so easily engaged that I'm ready to prefer her company to that of my friends.'
Now that her flare of anger and suspicion had subsided, she could see the force of his argument. Emily had taken to him because she was an impressionable teenager whose father had never quite fulfilled her longing for someone to love, admire and depend on, and whose uncle seemed, on first acquaintance, as if he might fulfill all those needs.
He, on the other hand, was a mature, sophisticated male who, if he needed affection and admiration, would seek it from girls much older than Emily. Sex, perhaps pride of possession, and possibly intellectual stimulus would be what he required of the female sex. Not the innocent hero-worship of a flat-chested child of thirteen.
They walked the rest of the way without speaking. At the entrance to the building, as he pushed open the heavy swing door for her, she was aware of the pleasure of being treated with chivalrous courtesy by a member of the opposite sex. Yet at the same time she knew that, on this occasion, he had performed the action as an automatic reflex, not because she aroused his protective instincts. He didn't see her as a woman; only as the grotesque outsize frump who was tutor to his niece.
She didn't want to be, but she was glad of his support in the discussion
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