âDonât be so prissy,â he advised her sourly, âIâm no mealymouthed parson.â
She allowed herself a momentâs comparison of Mr. Campbell and the man before her and was surprised to find that Mr. Campbell came off second best. âIâm sure heâs a very good man and kind.â
âMeaning that Iâm not? As though I care a damn what you think, my pious Miss. Darlingâgoing to church in your best hat and probably making the reverendâs heart flutter to boot. You sound just his sort.â
âIâm not anyoneâs sort, Mr. van Manfeld.â She picked up her empty basket and went to the door, her voice coming loud and rather wobbly. âItâs a good thing you canât see me, because Iâm extremely angry.â
His voice followed her, still sour. âBut I can see you after a fashion. Itâs true youâre dark blue and very fuzzy round the edges, but since you assure me that youâre a plain girl, I donât really see that it matters, do you?â
Cassandra ground her teeth without answering this piece of rudeness and banged the door regrettably hard as she went out.
Romance readers around the world were sad to note the passing of BETTY NEELS in June 2001. Her career spanned thirty years, and she continued to write into her ninetieth year. To her millions of fans, Betty epitomized the romance writer, and yet she began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind still sought stimulation. Her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. Bettyâs first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and she eventually completed 134 books. Her novels offer a reassuring warmth that was very much a part of her own personality. She was a wonderful writer, and she will be greatly missed. Her spirit and genuine talent will live on in all her stories.
THE steamer from Oban drew into the islandâs small jetty, deserted and unwelcoming, shrouded as it was in the chilly October rain and buffeted by an even chillier wind from the north. The few passengers it had brought over from the mainland disembarked smartly, bidding each other good-day as they went in cheerful voices which paid no heed to the weather. But the last passenger left the boat slowly, as though reluctant to exchange its shelter for the rain-swept quay. She was a young woman, obviously a stranger, sensibly dressed in a thick tweed coat and high leather boots. She carried a hold-all over one arm and clutched the head scarf tied over her rain-drenched hair with a gloved hand. One of the passengers had carried her case for her; he put it down now beside her with a smile and she smiled her thanks in return, a smile which transformed her ordinary face, so that the man looked at her a second time with rather more interest than he had shown.
âBeing met?â he asked.
She nodded, âYes, thank you,â and she didnât add anything, so that after a moment or so he said: âWell, so long,â and walked away towards the huddle of houses around the end of the quay. Cassandra Darling watched him go and then turned her attention to her surroundings. She was quite a tall girl with a face which her mother had once hopefully described as jolielaide, for her hazel eyes, while of a good size and colour, were fringed with unspectacular, mousey lashes, her nose was too sharp and too thin, which gave her rather an inquiring look, and her mouth, although nicely curved, was far too large. She was almost twenty-three, but seemed older than this, partly because she had formed the habit of screwing her pale brown hair into a severe bun, and partly because she was a quiet girl who enjoyed tranquil pursuitsânot that this trait in her character had prevented her from having a great number of friends at the hospital where she had just completed her training, for although quiet, she had a sense of humour and a ready but not unkind wit.
She surveyed the scene around her now with calm eyes. Before her, straight ahead, there loomed a tree-covered hill, presumably quite inaccessible. At its foot, on either side of the village, there were roads, narrow and lonely, each disappearing around the base of the hill. She knew that her sister lived on the south-west side of the island, so it would be the road on the leftâshe stared at it patiently and was presently rewarded by the sight of a Land Rover belting along towards the quay. It was her brother-in-law; he drew up exactly beside her, got out, embraced her with affection, flung her luggage into the Land Rover, besought her to get in beside him, and almost before she had time to settle herself, had turned the car and was racing back the way he had come.
âRotten day,â her companion volunteered. âGood journey?â
âYes, thanks, Tom. It seemed to go on for ever and ever, though. Are you and Rachel ready to leave?â