Deceptions by Judith Michael

gown, her warmth and vitality the center around which the party revolved. Where was the cold, distant woman who had attended his wedding four years earlier at Biyn Mawr, and the reserved sister-in-law who had made two brief visits, spent mostly with Stephanie, when their children were bom?
    Garth knew he had never met this woman. Either something had transformed her - or the Sabrina he had met in the past had been hiding her true self.
    He looked at his wife. In a long, pink dress Sabrina had bought her in Paris, she was softly beautiful, a pastel portrait in the slanting afternoon sunlight. She said she'd gained weight, though Garth had not noticed, and she no longer had the regal posture drilled into them at Juliette, but she outshone every woman there except Sabrina, and she was holding her own with the aristocracy of England. Garth was proud of her.
    'Clever man, to escape,' Sabrina said with a low laugh, suddenly beside him. The reception line had wound to an end. 'I wish I'd been able to. Let's get Stephanie and hide somewhere.'
    * And your husband?'
    'Denton is discussing racing cars; he's investing in one for the Grand Prix. Do you know anything about the Grand Prix? Neither do I. but I have a strong suspicion I will soon learn. For now, though, I deeply desire a hiding place where I may remove my shoes.*
    He chuckled as they rescued Stephanie from a plump earl 'who kept talking about spaniels,' Stephanie exclaimed, as they slipped into a small study. 'He said the wedding reminded him of his last dog show!'
    They laughed together. Sabrina pulled off her shoes and curled up on the couch with a happy sigh. 'Oh, how I've

    missed you. Nobody else always laughs at the same things I do. Stephanie, how can you keep your shoes on? Two hours in that line—I'
    At the other end of the couch, Stephanie shook her head ruefully. 'I can't take them off. Not in a castle. I can talk to your lords and ladies and feast at your table, but I cannot take off my shoes. It's all right,* she added quickly.'! think what you have is wonderful. It's just that I'm more comfortable in my own home, I'm happy to say.'
    Sabrina relaxed. 'I'm so glad. I was afraid—'
    'I'd be jealous?'
    'Not exactly. That you'd think I'd grabbed a bigger spotlight.*
    'Oh. No, I don't. Isn't that strange? Maybe because I have my own now and I like it.*
    'No more being shoved in the shade?*
    Stephanie thought about it. 'Seems it*s gone.*
    Garth looked at them with patient curiosity. 'A code?* he guessed.
    Stephanie started. She'd forgotten he was there. For a minute it had been just her and Sabrina, alone, as they used to be, their thoughts and words weaving together. She tvumed to him. 'Once I told Sabrina her spotlight put me in the shade where no one noticed me.'
    'And then she went off to America,' Sabrina said. 'Leaving me alone with my spotlight.*
    Stephanie gazed out the window at guests drifting like flower petals through the gardens, accepting champagne and hors d'oeuvres that waiters presented on silver trays. Four years ago, standing before Judge Fairfax in a different garden, she'd brushed aside the thought that Sabrina might need her; she hadn't really wanted to know.
    Well, now she knew. She heard the echo of Sabrina's voice: 'Leaving me alone with my spotlight.' So Sabrina had missed her. Sabrina had needed her. Maybe as much as she had missed and needed Sabrina, even though, with Garth and the excitement of getting settled in Evanston, it had taken her a long time to realize it.
    On the lawn, the guests were beginning to congregate near the tent. Sabrina sighed. 'If I dcm't get back, Denton's mother

    will say I'll be criticized.' Groaning, she pulled on her shoes. 'Weddings should be held in bed. That's where most of them begin these days anyway.'
    Garth chuckled. Stephanie turned from the window. 'Sabrina, when are you and Denton coming to visit us? We have so much to talk about, so much time to make up—'
    Something stirred in Sabrina. Stephanie's