Free Romance of a Lifetime by Carole Mortimer Page B

And then she realised he was talking about the piece of paper she still held in her hand with her mother's message on it.
    'It could be important,' he prompted.

    It could be, but somehow she doubted it. It was probably just her mother letting off steam again.
    She unfolded the piece of paper, feeling her legs go weak as she read the message there.
    'Beth?' Marcus questioned concernedly as she swayed in front of him. 'Come and sit down,' he ordered, taking hold of her arm to guide her away from the reception area and into one of the comfortable armchairs in the large ornate lounge.
    As she sat down the piece of paper fell from her hand and drifted to the floor, fluttering slightly before it settled on the carpet. Beth stared at it uncomprehendingly.
    Marcus picked up the paper, glancing at it briefly before pushing it out of sight into his pocket, coming down on his haunches in front of her. 'Beth?' he prompted again softly, taking her chilled hands in his and gently rubbing them in his much warmer ones.
    It didn't matter that he had put the note away out of sight, that she could no longer see the words printed on it; she knew exactly what was written there. 'M has announced his engagement to Brenda Carlisle'.
    M had to be Martin. And Brenda was the daughter of Beth's father's business partner, and just eighteen years old. Brenda was young and beautiful, and must surely be being used in yet another shrewd move by Beth's father and Martin.
    Martin would very shortly be Charles's heir; by marrying Brenda the whole business empire would one day be his.
    Not that Brenda wasn't attractive; she was a small vivacious brunette with a mischievous sense of humour. But if Chloe had been in Martin's life before and during Beth's marriage to him Beth had no reason to suppose it was any different now. In fact she was sure that Martin was still with Chloe. And, of all the people Martin could have chosen to marry, it was too much of a coincidence that he had chosen Brenda Carlisle, heiress to her father's business and money.
    Beth actually liked Brenda, had found her good fun on the few occasions the two of them had actually met, although she had been a little too young for Beth to have made a good friend of her. She certainly couldn't believe Brenda would be any match for the ultra-sophisticated Chloe!
    Did she feel pain at Martin's engagement? She wasn't really sure what she felt. She had loved Martin once, but his cruelty to her when and after she had lost their baby had left her in no doubt how he felt about her, had ultimately killed any feelings of love she might have had for him.
    'I'll get you some coffee,' Marcus said firmly at her side, going in search of a waiter.
    Beth closed her eyes to stop the room from swaying. No wonder her mother had telephoned her so promptly, she obviously knew what this meant too; another naive and trusting youngwoman sacrificed for the sake of the Palmer empire.
    She would have to go back to England as soon as possible, couldn't let Brenda marry Martin without at least trying to tell her what sort of man he was. Not that she thought for a minute that Brenda would actually believe her; the younger girl obviously loved him and had no reason not to believe he loved her in return. And Martin could be very convincing when he chose to be
    —Beth would never have believed what he was capable of herself if she hadn't seen and heard it with her own eyes and ears.
    She couldn't meekly sit back and let that happen to another woman without at least trying to tell Brenda the truth about him.
    Marcus was returning to her side now, frowning grimly as she went to get up. 'You aren't going anywhere until you've drunk some coffee,' he announced autocratically. 'And gained some colour back in your cheeks.'
    She automatically raised a hand to her cheeks, her skin seeming to burn while her hand felt cold. But she could believe she looked pale; she had just received a great shock. It had never even occurred to her that