Anne Mather by Sanja Page B

sighing. 'I only stayed at Slayford because of the fog. It was a vile night.'
    'I know, I know. But I couldn't help remembering who you were with and wondering whether he would take advantage of such a heaven-sent opportunity.'
    'We were not alone,' said Caroline wearily, tiredness overtaking her. 'His son and his girl-friend arrived last night for the weekend. Not to mention his housekeeper and her husband. Honestly, Amanda, don't fuss over me so much. I'm perfectly all right and still sound in wind and limb. Nothing happened.'
    Amanda shrugged her shoulders, looking hurt, and Caroline frowned. She didn't want to be unkind to her friend, but at the moment she was in no mood for gossiping. As for her relationship with Adam; she realised that she was like putty in his hands and that Amanda would have been shocked to the core if she ever realised it. Caroline knew she had never felt like this before, and was not likely to do so again with any other man. Up till now, boys had hardly disturbed the surface of her emotional state,- suddenly Adam had plumbed the depths and she felt shaken at the upheaval he had caused. Would he ever feel the same way towards herself? She doubted it. He had known too many women to get himself seriously involved with a teenager.
    If Amanda wondered why Caroline was so miserable for the rest of the day she did not comment on it and refrained from asking any questions. It was obvious that Caroline did not want to talk about things concerning Adam Steinbeck and Amanda had to resign her curiosity and forget all the things she would have liked to have known.
    The week that followed seemed the longest of Caroline's life. She went to work automatically, just living for the weekend and Adam's return. Ruth, who questioned her about Adam, received monosyllabic replies and soon tired of asking. Caroline felt sure Ruth thought she was a misery and she tried to be her usual cheerful self without much success.
    The weather was cold and miserable too, and as it was only the middle of December everybody was forecasting a long, hard winter. Caroline listened to the old men on the bus grumbling about the inadequacy of their pensions to provide coal or heating of any kind and she thought how lucky she really was to be young and still able to work. Although she and Amanda thought their lives were dull, compared to some theirs was an ideal existence and she resolved to be more tolerant in future and more cheerful. After all, it was Thursday already and Adam was due back tomorrow.
    Mark Davison came into the typing pool on Thursday afternoon with a sheaf of letters for one of the other girls. After delivering them and seeing that Miss Morgan was not about he strolled across to Caroline's desk. A tall, slim, fair young man dressed in a light grey suit, he looked debonair and quite handsome, and was well aware of it.
    He leaned on Caroline's desk, familiarly, and said:
    'Hi, gorgeous!'
    Amused at his rather old-fashioned.line of introduc- lion, Caroline smiled. 'What do you want?' she asked. Miss Morgan will be back any minute and you know she doesn't like you lingering in here any longer than is necessary.'
    'Oh, but this is necessary,' replied Mark airily. 'Besides, the old dragon is closeted with Mr Willis, so she won't be back for quite some time. Now. . .what's this crazy story I hear about you having lunch with the boss man?'
    Caroline shrugged. The story was gradually circulating round the whole building.
    'That was last week,' she remarked coolly. 'It's quite old news now.'
    'Maybe,' said Mark, raising his eyebrows. 'But it's still pretty hot stuff, isn't it? My, my, we are playing for high stakes. No wonder yours truly isn't even in the running.'
    'Don't be ridiculous, Mark,' Caroline retorted, feeling angry now. It was one thing for people to gossip about what had actually taken place. It was quite another for them to speculate on what might happen in the future. She didn't like the idea of Adam's name being bandied