Free Kaleidoscope by Danielle Steel Page B

she was very angry.”
    Arthur suspected why, but he asked anyway. “Why was she angry?”
    Sam stared at the floor, remembering Solange's fury. He had never seen her like that. He knew he had pushed her too far this time. And he was desperate not to lose her. But he had anyway … the only woman he loved. … He looked up at Arthur in despair. “She knew I was having an affair again … it didn't mean anything … it never did …”
    “Except to Solange, Sam.” His voice was quiet, andhe had to remind himself that it was Sam he was defending, not Solange now.
    Sam looked at him strangely in answer, and he was silent for a long time.
    “Did she threaten to divorce you?”
    He nodded, and then he had to clear the air. He had to ask him. He had to know. It was, in a sense, why he had killed her. Except that he was also drunk and had lost control and the things she said were so terrible, and he was terrified that she meant it and he would lose her. “She said you and she were having an affair. Is that true?” His eyes pierced his friend's, and Arthur looked back at him with sorrow.
    “What do you think?”
    “I've never thought about it before. I know you were close to her … you two used to go to lunch a lot …”
    “But did she ever hide it?” like all good lawyers, he knew the answer before he asked the question.
    “No … she always told me … at least I think so …”
    “Don't you think she was just trying to get back at you by saying that, for all the pain you'd caused her, and how else could she?”
    Now, in the clear light of day, he knew that. But the night before, in the heat of passion Sam had believed her … he had gone crazy … and he had actually killed her. The thought of it made the panic rise in his throat like a hand reaching up from his guts to strangle him, and he knew he deserved it. He deserved to die for what he had done to Solange. He began to cry again and Arthur held his shoulders.
    “What's going to happen to the girls now?” He suddenly looked up at Arthur with fresh panic.
    Arthur had been thinking about it all morning. “I'm sure you have enough money to take care of them while all this is pending.” And there was the nurse, and a maid in the apartment. They lived extremely well at the apartment on Sutton Place.
    Sam looked bleak as he stared at his friend. “How much is all this going to cost me?” It had cost Solange her life, and now … Arthur had to fight his own feelings again and again. How could he have done this to her? And yet, Sam was his friend, more than that, he was almost his brother. They had survived the war side by side, Sam had carried him across the mountains, and to the medics when he was wounded near Cassino. They had liberated Paris and Rome … Paris … and the rue d'Arcole where they had first seen her. It was all so tightly interwoven, and now it wasn't just a matter of Sam and Solange, there were their daughters to think of. Hilary, Alexandra, and Megan. But Arthur tried to force his thoughts back to answer Sam's question. He wanted to know how much his defense would cost him.
    “It depends on who you hire to defend you. I want to think of who to recommend. But you should have the best. This is going to be a very big trial, and there will be a lot of sympathy for Solange. You've had a lot of press with your lady friends in recent years, Sam, and that is not going to help you.”
    But Sam was shaking his head with determination. “I don't want someone else. I want you to defend me.” He looked up at Arthur and Arthur almost visibly shuddered.
    “I can't do that.” His voice was a croak in the room full of echoes.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I'm your friend. And I'm not a criminal attorney.”
    “I don't care. You're the best there is. I don't want anyone else. I want you.” His eyes filled with tears, it was all so horrible, it was beyond belief, but it was happening, it was real. He had made it real. He had made reality from a