âYou asked me to come if I changed my mind.â
Deborah rushed on nervously. âWell, I have. But if you donât want to marry me now, Iâll understandâ¦.â
âI still want to marry you.â Gideon smiled a little. âMy daughter will be delighted, and for that matter, so am I.â His mouth twisted in a wry smile. âI should have said that sooner, shouldnât I?â
âWhy should you? We mustnât pretend, must we?â Deborah blushed brightly because, of course, her whole life was going to be one of long pretense from that moment.
âMost sensibly spoken. Thereâs no reason to wait. I donât suppose you want to glide down the aisle in white satin, do you?â His eyes studied her face, and the blush, which was beginning to die down, took fresh fire.
She lied in a firm voice, âOh, no, nothing like thatâ¦.â
THE SEPTEMBER SUN shone hazily on to the narrow garden. Its only occupant, who was busily weeding between the neat rows of vegetables, sat back on her knees and pushed her hair back from her forehead. Long hair, fine and straight and of a shade which could only be described as sandy. To go with the hair she had freckles, green eyes and long curling sandy lashes, startling in an otherwise ordinary face. She bent to her work once more, to be interrupted by her motherâs voice from the open kitchen door: âYour cousin Rachel wants you on the phone, Debbyâshe says itâs important.â
Mrs Farley withdrew her head and Deborah dropped her trowel and ran up the garden, kicked off her sandals at the door and went into the hall. She picked up the receiver warily; Rachel was a dear and they were the best of friends, but she was frowned upon by the older members of the family, they didnât approve of her life. That she had held down a splendid job with some high powered executive was one thing, but her private goings on were something quite different. âHullo?â Deborah said, still wary, and her mother poked her head round the sitting room door to hiss:
âShe canât come and stayâI have your Aunt Maud comingâ¦â
But Rachel didnât want to come and stay, she spoke without preamble: âDebby, you havenât got another job yet, have you? Youâre freeâ¦?â
âYes, why?â
âYouâve heard me talk of Peggy Burnsâyou know, the girl who married some wealthy type with a house somewhere in Dorset? Well her motherâs ill and she wants to go to her, only Billâher husbandâis in the Middle East or some such place and canât get back for a few weeks, and there are these kidsâterrible twins, four years old, and the babyâjust beginning to crawl. Sheâs desperate for a nanny and I thought of you. Marvellous lolly, darling, and a gorgeous house. Thereâs a housekeeper; rather elderly with bunions or housemaidâs knee or something, and daily help from the village.â
âWhere exactly does she live?â asked Deborah.
âNot far from youâAshmore? Somewhere between Blandford and Shaftesbury. Do say youâll help out, Debby. Have you got your name down at an agency or something?â
âWell, yesâbut I did say I intended to have a holiday before the next job.â
âOh, good, so you can give them a ring and explain.â Rachel decided.
How like Rachel to skate over the bits she doesnât want to know about, thought Deborah; the phoning and explaining, the packing, the getting there⦠âI havenât said Iâll go,â she said a bit sharply.
Rachelâs self-assured voice was very clear. âOf course youâll go, Debby! Supposing it was your mother and no one would help you?â
âWhy canât you go?â asked Deborah.
âIâm not a trained nanny, silly. Uncle Tom could run you over when he gets back from work; itâs Coombe House, Ashmore, and hereâs the phone number so that you can ring and say youâre coming.â Before Deborah could get her mouth open she went on âIâm so grateful, darling, and so will Peggy beâbless you. I must flyâIâve a new boy friend and heâs taking me out this evening and I must wash my hair.â
âRachelâ¦â began Deborah, too late, her cousin had hung up.