Free Island of escape by Dorothy Cork Page A

her way about the kitchen, and doing a little swift reorganising of the cupboard shelves. She prepared vegetables and took the steaks from the refrigerator to take the chill off them before she cooked them. She located the dining room—a beautiful rather narrow room with one wall made completely of glass, looking through the green leaves of vines on to the side garden. There she laid the table, which she first covered with a gorgeous red linen cloth she found in the sideboard. All the cutlery and china and glassware were of high quality, and there were teak plates that she decided were used instead of table mats.
    It It was a charming house, and she only wished that its
     
    owner was half as charming.
    With everything prepared, she glanced at her watch and went quickly upstairs. Leanne hadn't reappeared, but the bathroom was unoccupied and she decided to take a shower. She laid out on the bed the outfit she had decided, after a little thought, that she would wear. She wasn't going to dress up. No, she was the housekeeper, and to remind Steve Gascoyne of that she'd wear her office-girl blouse and the black skirt.
    As she laid it out on the bed she tried not to remember what had happened last night when she'd worn that blouse. The memory very nearly unnerved her, and quickly she departed for the bathroom.
     

 
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CHAPTER FOUR
     
    WHEN she came back to her room the wall lamp was on and Steve was there, rough-looking, 'almost a stranger in his checked shirt and tight cord pants Ellis stood stock still in the doorway, clutching together the folds of her dressing gown that she'd belted carelessly in her hurry to get back to her room and dress.
    `What's this in aid of ?' he demanded; his eyes glittering.
    As he was standing over the clothes on the bed, she couldn't pretend not to know what he was talking about.
    `It's what I'm going to wear to dinner,' she said, her voice cold but her cheeks hot.- The wardrobe door was open, and she knew she hadn't left it like that, so he must have been looking over her clothes, and as she came into the room he moved towards it.
    `You've got a whole closet full of finery. Will you find something more suitable for dinner, or shall I?' He pulled a long-skirted green and ivory muslin dress free of its hanger and tossed it on to the bed. 'How about that thing? It will match your ring.'
    `What ring?' she said, freezing.
    `This ring,' he said, and took the box from his pocket.
    Ellis stepped back a pace. 'I'm your housekeeper, Mr
    Gascoyne, in case you've forgotten, and I—I'll wear
    what I please. I'll be putting on that big apron I found
    hanging in the pantry when I go downstairs, anyhow.'
    `Oh no, you won't. Leanne will be in the kitchen
    tonight.' He crossed the room to slam the door shut,
     
    then came to face her, his eyes hard as they looked down into hers. 'I told you when I left you this afternoon that Leanne would get the dinner, and I meant it. What have you been doing? Taking charge while I've been way? And exactly what did you tell my sister-in-law?'
    `What about?' she prevaricated, shivering inwardly.
    `What do you think?' He was no more than fifteen inches away from her and he took her roughly by the arm as if he wanted to shake her. She could feel her gown slipping and she clutched at it anxiously, her heart hammering. 'About us, of course. About you and me.'
    `Nothing. There's—there's nothing to tell. I—I just said I'd come with you,' she stammered, angry and frightened at the same time, and thinking what a fool she'd been to come here with a man of whom she knew nothing. No wonder Jan had broken her engagement if he'd treated her like this ! Yet she knew he wouldn't have treated Jan like his. He'd have made love to her, and she would have let him—just as she was letting Paul make love to her. But her morals weren't Ellis's morals. The fact was, Steve was a fantastically handsome man, if you could get past the cynicism, the bitterness in his face. He had money too, that