Free A Hallowed Place by Caro Fraser Page B

things that I can move around, your diary’s free.’
    Camilla hurried back upstairs to her room. Three weeks in Bermuda. Not bad. And the fact that Freshfields liked her was a good sign. Passing Anthony’s room, she knocked and put her head round. Anthony was busy arranging books on a shelf and smiled when he saw her.
    ‘Guess what?’ said Camilla, closing the door.
    ‘Surprise me.’
    ‘Freshfields want me to go to Bermuda for three weeks.’
    ‘Three weeks? When?’
    ‘Next week.’
    ‘You jet-setter.’ Anthony came over to her. ‘I’m going to miss you,’ he said and kissed her.
    ‘I thought you might regard it as a welcome break,’ replied Camilla, smiling and kissing him back. ‘Don’t you sometimes think we see too much of one other, working in the same chambers?’
    ‘I don’t think I could ever have too much of you. Why won’t you just move in with me and put the thing on a forty-eight-hour basis?’ It was something Anthony had first suggested a week ago and Camilla still wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea. She gave a little sigh.
    ‘Let’s not talk about that now, Anthony. I’m not in the mood.’
    ‘You never are.’
    ‘Look … I promise we’ll discuss it properly later.’
    ‘When later?’
    ‘Friday evening. Let’s go out to dinner and discuss it then.’
    ‘All right.’ He put his arms around her and kissed her properly.
    Leo came downstairs on his way out to a conference at 4 Essex Court. He paused outside Anthony’s door. He had thought long and hard about Joshua, and had come to the conclusion that it was beyond his dignity and energy to pursue someone so young, no matter how desirable. If Anthony was free to go out for a drink, maybe dinner, then his evening would be better spent. He knocked lightly and opened the door.
    Camilla was the first to see Leo. She pulled away from Anthony in embarrassment.
    ‘I apologise for interrupting,’ said Leo. His tone was lightly sardonic, but his face was unsmiling.
    Anthony coughed, moving away from Camilla and going round to his desk. ‘Not at all,’ he replied.
    Leo was astonished by how deeply affected he had been by the sight of Anthony kissing Camilla. He knew how many girlfriends Anthony had had, including Sarah, but for some reason the reality of Anthony’s sexual intimacy with any woman had been, until this moment, non-existent. The pain it gave him was extraordinary.
    Immediately aware of a tension between the two men that lay beyond mere embarrassment, Camilla excused herself. She brushed past Leo and left. Outside on the landing she hesitated for a few seconds, bemused and annoyed, then went down to her room.
    ‘Sorry about that,’ murmured Anthony.
    ‘It’s I who should apologise,’ said Leo, his voice cold; he was still trying to come to terms with his own feelings, which seemed disproportionate to so trivial a matter.
    ‘I think you already have,’ responded Anthony, glancing at Leo with something like a challenge in his eyes and voice.
    He understood only too well what Leo felt, and it angered him. There was no justification. And yet he understood.
    After a pause of a few seconds Leo said, keeping his tone deliberately casual, ‘I wondered if you felt like a drink after work.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ said Anthony. ‘I’m seeing Camilla this evening.’
    Leo nodded. ‘Of course.’ He turned to go.
    ‘Maybe some other time?’ added Anthony.
    ‘Yes, maybe some other time.’
    The door closed. Anthony sighed and sat down slowly at his desk. A pattern seemed to be emerging where his relationships with other women and Leo were concerned. First there had been Julia, then Rachel, and now Camilla. Not that jealousy could explain what had happened with Rachel, after Leo had taken her away from him, knowing how in love with her Anthony had been. Leo had, after all, married her. But it seemed as though the friendship between himself and Leo could simply not flourish as long as Anthony was involved with any