give Maddy a bit of a break, so that she can go out and do some shopping or something to cheer herself up a bit...buy herself a new dress,' he added, with male vagueness.
'But Mum's over there with her,' Katie pointed out.
Joss shook his head. 'No, she isn't,' he told them. 'She had a meeting of the mother and baby home committee at three. She was just going to call and see Maddy on the way.'
'I'll drive you,' Louise told him, springing up and busying herself looking for a jacket, so that neither he nor Katie would see the emotional sheen of tears in her eyes brought there by the sudden awareness of just what kind of man her younger brother was going to turn out to be.
As she had promised herself she would do, Louise transferred to a different course and a new tutor once she was back at Oxford. Ironically her twin attended Gareth Simmonds' lectures herself now, but every time Katie mentioned him Louise very determinedly changed the subject and blanked her off, telling her quite sharply on one occasion, 'Katie, if you don't mind, can we please talk about something else, or someone else?'
'You don't like Professor Simmonds, I know—' Katie began.
Louise interrupted her, laughing harshly as she told her, ,'It isn't simply that I don't like him, Katie—I loathe, detest and abhor the man, totally, completely and utterly. Do you understand? I loathe him. Loathe him...'
But she still dreamt of him at night that first term of the new year, and into the next—bewildering, confusing dreams involving a kaleidoscope of emotions and feelings from which she awoke in the early hours, her body shaking and drenched in perspiration and her eyes wet with tears.
The phone rang sharply, piercing her thoughts and bringing her back abruptly to the present. Quickly Louise went to pick up the receiver.
'Ah, so you are back. Why have you not returned my call?'
As she listened to the plaintive voice of Jean Claude, Louise reminded herself that she was no longer nineteen, and that she had come a long, long way from the girl who had cried out to Gareth Simmonds to make her a woman.
'When will you be free to have dinner with me?' she heard Jean Claude asking her.
'Not this week, I'm afraid,' she told him firmly.
'But cherie, I have missed you. It has been so long...'
Louise laughed.
'Stop trying to flatter me, Jean Claude,' she warned him, ignoring his mock-hurt protests. 'Look, I know very well that there are scores of women besides me in your life, so don't try to tell me that you've been spending your evenings alone and lonely at home…'
She could almost feel his ego expanding as she spoke. Despite his intelligence, Jean Claude was a particularly vain man, and Louise had already discovered that it was always easy to appeal to him through his vanity. That vulnerability in him, though, didn't mean that he couldn't be extremely shrewd and perceptive on occasion. He had already challenged her to disprove to him that the reason she had not, so far, gone to bed with him was because emotionally there was another man in her heart, if not in her life. But she wasn't going to resurrect that particular argument right now.
'My boss has a big meeting in the morning, which could drag on, and then there's a formal dinner at night...'
'The committee which is to look into the fishing rights of the Arctic seas—yes, I know,' Jean Claude acknowledged. 'Our governments will be on opposite sides on this matter, I suspect.'
Louise laughed.
'Perhaps we shouldn't see one another for a while, then,' she teased him. 'Just in case!'
To her surprise, instead of sharing her laughter, Jean Claude's voice became unusually grave as he told her, 'This is an extremely serious matter for us, cherie. Our fishermen need to be able to fish in those waters. Yours...'
Louise could almost see him giving that small Gallic shrug he so frequently made.
'Yours have an area of sea—of seas—to fish which far exceeds the land mass which is your country…'
'A
'But Mum's over there with her,' Katie pointed out.
Joss shook his head. 'No, she isn't,' he told them. 'She had a meeting of the mother and baby home committee at three. She was just going to call and see Maddy on the way.'
'I'll drive you,' Louise told him, springing up and busying herself looking for a jacket, so that neither he nor Katie would see the emotional sheen of tears in her eyes brought there by the sudden awareness of just what kind of man her younger brother was going to turn out to be.
As she had promised herself she would do, Louise transferred to a different course and a new tutor once she was back at Oxford. Ironically her twin attended Gareth Simmonds' lectures herself now, but every time Katie mentioned him Louise very determinedly changed the subject and blanked her off, telling her quite sharply on one occasion, 'Katie, if you don't mind, can we please talk about something else, or someone else?'
'You don't like Professor Simmonds, I know—' Katie began.
Louise interrupted her, laughing harshly as she told her, ,'It isn't simply that I don't like him, Katie—I loathe, detest and abhor the man, totally, completely and utterly. Do you understand? I loathe him. Loathe him...'
But she still dreamt of him at night that first term of the new year, and into the next—bewildering, confusing dreams involving a kaleidoscope of emotions and feelings from which she awoke in the early hours, her body shaking and drenched in perspiration and her eyes wet with tears.
The phone rang sharply, piercing her thoughts and bringing her back abruptly to the present. Quickly Louise went to pick up the receiver.
'Ah, so you are back. Why have you not returned my call?'
As she listened to the plaintive voice of Jean Claude, Louise reminded herself that she was no longer nineteen, and that she had come a long, long way from the girl who had cried out to Gareth Simmonds to make her a woman.
'When will you be free to have dinner with me?' she heard Jean Claude asking her.
'Not this week, I'm afraid,' she told him firmly.
'But cherie, I have missed you. It has been so long...'
Louise laughed.
'Stop trying to flatter me, Jean Claude,' she warned him, ignoring his mock-hurt protests. 'Look, I know very well that there are scores of women besides me in your life, so don't try to tell me that you've been spending your evenings alone and lonely at home…'
She could almost feel his ego expanding as she spoke. Despite his intelligence, Jean Claude was a particularly vain man, and Louise had already discovered that it was always easy to appeal to him through his vanity. That vulnerability in him, though, didn't mean that he couldn't be extremely shrewd and perceptive on occasion. He had already challenged her to disprove to him that the reason she had not, so far, gone to bed with him was because emotionally there was another man in her heart, if not in her life. But she wasn't going to resurrect that particular argument right now.
'My boss has a big meeting in the morning, which could drag on, and then there's a formal dinner at night...'
'The committee which is to look into the fishing rights of the Arctic seas—yes, I know,' Jean Claude acknowledged. 'Our governments will be on opposite sides on this matter, I suspect.'
Louise laughed.
'Perhaps we shouldn't see one another for a while, then,' she teased him. 'Just in case!'
To her surprise, instead of sharing her laughter, Jean Claude's voice became unusually grave as he told her, 'This is an extremely serious matter for us, cherie. Our fishermen need to be able to fish in those waters. Yours...'
Louise could almost see him giving that small Gallic shrug he so frequently made.
'Yours have an area of sea—of seas—to fish which far exceeds the land mass which is your country…'
'A
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