Merlyn's Magic by Carole Mortimer Page B

'Christopher, what
are you talking about?'
    'Well, if you would let me finish, I'd tell you.' He gave
an irritated sigh. 'While I was having dinner with the
Bentons—incidentally, that was why I came over to see you;
Anne took to heart your sergeant-major comments and decided a change of
scenery might do you good, and—'
    'Christopher, please!' Her nerves were completely on edge,
and she just wanted a straightforward explanation of what he was
talking about.
    'Carmichael arrived just as we were sitting down to
dinner,' he announced triumphantly.
    Merlyn swallowed hard, sure her face was devoid of all
colour. 'He did?' she said faintly. Rand had been at the hotel this
evening; had he also been in her room?
    Christopher frowned his impatience with her. 'You could
show a little more enthusiasm.'
    Her eyes flashed angrily. 'Do I have anything to feel
enthusiastic about?'
    'We all do; he's agreed to let
you
star in the film,' Christopher told her excitedly. 'Now tell me again
that you didn't go to bed with him!' He looked at her challengingly.
    Three days ago Merlyn had been in no doubt about the fact
that she and Rand had made love. It was this evening she wasn't too
sure about…

CHAPTER FIVE

    She
still wasn't sure about that two weeks later when the whole of the film
crew descended on The Forest hotel with the intention of using the
actual location for any of the outside shots, a convincing replica of
the inside of the house Suzie and Rand had shared being built in the
studio.
    Neither was she any nearer finding out why Rand had
changed his mind and agreed to let her be in the film.
    As soon as she had been well enough to venture out of the
hotel after she had the flu, she had borrowed the Range Rover and
driven over to the house to see Rand. The housekeeper, a tall woman
with iron-grey hair and an indomitable disposition, had very politely,
but firmly, informed her Mr Carmichael had gone away on business. Anne
had confirmed it when Merlyn had explained where she had been, and Rand
hadn't returned by the time she left two days later.
    Why
had
he changed his mind about
the film being made and with her starring in it? She didn't believe for
one moment that it had anything to do with their making love. Although
Christopher didn't agree with her. He had remained convinced that she
had seduced Rand, and nothing she said could persuade him to think
otherwise.
    And she had tried. The two of them had continued to see
each other occasionally once she returned to London shortly after he
had, although their main topic of conversation had obviously been the
film they were going to work on together. And Christopher had refused
to believe she had just spent the night at Rand's house and then left.
Maybe she hadn't been too convincing in her repeated denials of
intimacy between them; after all, they weren't true.
    She had thought a lot about that totally real dream,
although it hadn't returned, and she had decided that she could, in her
fever, have thrown off her own nightgown. That would certainly explain
its presence on the floor. She was clutching at straws, she knew, but
there was no other way she could live with the memories that haunted
her.

    She felt anticipation mixed in with her apprehension at
returning to the Lake District.
    She drove the whole way up in her own car this time,
wanting the use of it for the weeks she would be there. Thankfully it
wasn't raining this time, although the sky was overcast.
    Anne was her usual warm self when she came to see Merlyn
in her room shortly after she had arrived. 'Do they really need all
those people and equipment?' she grimaced after hugging Merlyn. 'I know
our busiest part of the season is over, but I feel like we've been
invaded the last few days!'
    Merlyn chuckled. 'We really need all those people and
equipment.'
    'James is in his element,' Anne groaned. 'Although I'm not too sure about his interest in the
actress who's supposed to be playing me!'
    Merlyn could see the other woman