Free Witching Hour by Sara Craven Page B

and sit down, Morgana. We have some talking to
    do.'
    She said huskily, 'I think we've said it all.'
    'We haven't even started. Now, do you come here and sit on the
    sofa, or do I have to fetch you?'
    Morgana moved hastily. The last thing in the world she wanted
    was for him to touch her again, and although obeying him even in
    this small way wasn't something she relished, nevertheless it
    seemed the wisest thing to do.
    'That's better,' he approved unsmilingly. 'Now the first thing I have
    to say is that I've decided to take your mother up on her offer of
    accommodation. As I said before, I've only a limited amount of
    time at my disposal at present, and I want to be on the spot for the
    next few days while I put my plans for this house into operation.'
    'So when do you want us to leave?' she asked. Now that the
    moment of truth had finally arrived, she felt strangely calm.
    'Who said anything about leaving?' He turned his head and looked
    at her coolly.
    'Well -' she floundered for a moment, nonplussed. 'We can't
    possibly stay . . .'
    'You'll be surprised what you can do,' he said softly. 'Now, here
    comes your mother, so let's try and act as if we're not at each
    other's throats.'
    Elizabeth Pentreath came into the drawing room on a little burst of
    apology. Miss Meakins had a complaint about the light switch in
    her room. 'And it has given trouble in the past, I'm afraid, although
    Martin did look at it once or twice.' She gave a little sigh. 'But he
    wasn't much of an electrician, I'm afraid.'
    'I think he'd probably have to have been a genius to have made
    much improvement,' Lyall said drily. 'The whole house needs re-
    wiring, Mrs Pentreath. Surely you must know that?'
    Elizabeth sighed again. 'Knowing it and being able to do
    something about it are two different things, I'm afraid. It's ail been
    such a worry, and then people started making threatening noises
    about new fire regulations.' She shook her head. 'Oh dear!'
    Lyall studied her for a moment, then he said quite gently 'Mrs
    Pentreath, do you actually like the hotel business?'
    She brightened. 'Oddly enough—yes. Oh, I don't like the business
    side—trying to make silk purses out of sows' ears all the time, but
    I do like people. I like trying to make them comfortable—even the
    rather difficult ones like Miss Meakins, although she's only lonely,
    I think, poor soul.'
    He said, 'Then I hope you'll listen to the proposition I have for you,
    Mrs Pentreath. As it stands, this place is frankly a white elephant.
    It's too big to be a family home these days, and it never had the
    injection of capital it needed to be a successful hotel. Now, I'm
    prepared to change all that.'
    Morgana said slowly; 'You mean—you want to run it as a hotel?'
    'Not quite. As it happens one of van Guisen-Lyall's subsidiaries
    owns a hotel chain, but I'm not proposing to add Polzion House to
    that. Winters in England rather preclude it from becoming One of
    the world's playgrounds. No, what I'm suggesting is rather
    different. I want to see a complete facelift—new wiring, proper
    heating, any repairs necessary, redecoration throughout—but
    nothing that's going to spoil its country house image. For most of
    the year it can continue to be run as an ordinary hotel, although I
    hope the improvements will bring in more trade, but there's one
    proviso—I want van Guisen-Lyall employees always to have top
    priority. In fact there'll be times when the place will probably be
    occupied by no one else.'
    Mrs Pentreath said withfaint bewilderment, 'I'm not sure I
    understand. You want to run Polzion House as a private hotel for
    the staff of your companies?'
    'In a way. I also envisage holding company conferences here.
    People seem to think better, become more creative in a relaxed
    informal atmosphere. And I'd say this place is about as far from the
    rat race as it's possible to get. In between times—well, strain gets
    to everyone. I want a quiet refuge where members of our
    companies'