Deceit of Angels by Julia Bell Page B

bit
temperamental.  It will probably spit at you.”
    “Then
I’ll just spit back,” she said crisply, closing the door on him.
    After
her bath she changed into something more presentable and made her way along the
corridor to the head of the stairs.  She met Jason coming the opposite way.
     “I
thought you might not find the dining room,” he said, smiling.  “As you said,
there’s a lot of doors in this place.”
    At
the top of the stairs was a large portrait and her eyes were drawn to it.
    “Are
these your ancestors?” she asked, gesturing towards the painting.
    “Yes,
they are.  May I introduce you to Frederick and Elizabeth Harrington.”  The
portrait depicted a middle-aged man in long tailed coat, waistcoat and cravat
standing behind a chair on which sat an attractive woman with fair hair and
dressed in late Georgian period.  Her blue dress was pinched tight at the waist
and then flowed out in endless silk and lace.  The elbow length sleeves were
gathered with wide, ruffled lace and round her throat she wore a white, silk
ribbon.  Her smile was barely perceptible, but there was a glint in her eyes as
though she was amused at something just said to her.  In the background Anna
could just make out the fuzzy image of the Grange.  “He’s the Harrington who
bought the place.  My grandfather about six times removed, I think, but the
lady is my favourite. When I was a young boy, I would stand for hours
looking...” His abrupt break in conversation, caused Anna to glance quickly at
him. He was staring at the painting with a bewildered expression. Then he
turned to look at Anna before returning to gaze at the woman in the portrait.
“Good God! It’s you. It’s definitely you.”
    “Me?
Oh Jason, I don’t think so!”
    “It
is you!  Same eyes and colour hair, same face and figure!”
    Anna
began to feel cross.  “Oh, don’t be silly!  I’m nothing like her!”  She ran trembling
fingers through blonde hair that was cut in a neat bob.
    “Take
a look for yourself.”
    She
studied the portrait closely and saw that he was right.  She did bear a
resemblance if a person looked hard enough.  Suddenly Anna closed her eyes in
shocked awareness.
    “That’s
why you thought you knew me the day of my interview!  I’m the lady in the
portrait. The one you’ve admired since you were a boy.” 
    “Maybe.
But I didn’t connect you at all with this painting, when I first met you.”
    A
terrible thought came into head.  “Oh God, you didn’t employ me because I
fitted a boyhood fantasy, did you?”
    He
swung her round to face him, his hands gripping her shoulders firmly.  “No, I
did not!  Don’t you dare start accusing me of ulterior motives. I’m a
businessman and I run my business with logic and a great deal of acumen.  I do
not go around making decisions based on whims and speculation.”
    “Then
why did you employ me, if not because I reminded you of her?”  She nodded in
the direction of the portrait.
    “Because
you had the right qualifications and the right experience.”  He paused
slightly.  “I felt that we would work well together and…” He licked dry lips. 
The time wasn’t right to tell her how she had affected him the moment she had
walked into the office, walked into his life.  He had been so pleased that she
fitted his specifications for a PA and then been bitterly disappointed when she
had turned down the job.  For weeks afterwards he had felt a melancholy that
had stifled his thinking and made him restless.  When he had come back from New
York to find her sitting at Sharon’s desk, he actually believed jet lag was
causing him to hallucinate.  He would tell her how he felt, but he would choose
his moment.  “After all, I was right, wasn’t I? You turned out to be an excellent
personal assistant,” he added, watching her.
    “You’re
a smooth one,” Anna muttered.
    “Thank
you, kind lady!”
    She
knew by his smile that he hadn’t taken offence and