Free Arian by Iris Gower

wanted was to encourage the man to think she was interested in him. Indeed, she was almost repelled by the raw edge of masculinity about him.
    ‘That’s fine by me,’ he said, smiling. ‘I’m not here to be liked, I think we shall work very well together, don’t you?’
    Arian lifted a fork to her lips to save her the necessity of replying. She hardly tasted the food, wishing herself away from the strange presence of the man.
    As soon as she could, she returned to her room, a larger one than she had previously occupied with Bella as befitted her new status in the house. As she sank onto the bed, stretching her feet to the fire, she tried to force away the dark thoughts that hovered painfully on the edges of her mind.
    But that night, the dream came again. She was being beaten and her body violated, invaded by the man she had come to hate, the man who had died but lived on in her nightmares, and as she came sharply awake, she acknowledged to herself at last the reason for her dislike of Gerald Simples. It was because he bore a startling resemblance to Price Davies.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Arian sat in the newly appointed office that looked over the lawns at the back of Stormhill Manor. The smell of freshly sharpened pencils was finer than that of any scent and Arian breathed a sigh of contentment as she turned away from the sight of the large lawns and sturdy trees to study the figures before her.
    She had found, in the last few weeks, several discrepancies; small, it was true, but enough to prevent the books from balancing.
    Mrs Richards’s pique had manifested itself in a deliberate attack on Arian’s morals. She had made it her business to learn more of Arian’s past and never missed an opportunity to make a sly dig about what she called her unconventional life-style. Her attitude succeeded only in bringing to the fore painful memories that Arian would have preferred to forget, for no-one took the slightest notice of Mrs Richards’s spiteful gossip.
    With the new steward, though, it was more difficult to be off-hand. He made her feel distinctly uneasy whenever she was alone in the office with him.
    And yet, he had a fine mind, there was no questioning that. Columns which it took Arian several minutes to total on paper were done in seconds in Mr Simples’s head. To be fair, he was quite ready to teach her a few tricks of the accounting trade but still Arian’s instinct was to mistrust him.
    ‘Now let’s decipher these accounts of last month,’ she said out loud, ‘see what a nonsense our good Mrs Richards has made of them .’
    Arian smiled, amused to realize that she was adopting Mr Simples’s speech mannerisms, copying his clearly enunciated words. ‘ Duw , I’ll be getting above myself if I don’t take care.’ She gave voice to her thoughts, her tone wry.
    ‘Talking to yourself, Miss Smale?’ Gerald Simples had come quietly into the room and stood looking down at her, his dark eyebrows raised. She sat up straighter, brushing back a tendril of hair.
    ‘Just thinking out loud,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t expect you back yet.’
    ‘If you had, you would have reserved your gems of wisdom for me, I suppose?’ He peered down at the book. ‘There,’ he pointed, ‘a mistake of two shillings, that is an extravagance even for Mrs Richards. I think we’d better go over the books for the last six-month period.’
    Arian sighed. There seemed little point in that; the mistakes had been made and however correct the books were, the money would never be recouped.
    ‘Later,’ Mr Simples said, ‘I want you to go to his lordship and inform him of the money his housekeeper has lost him to date. I make it almost an entire guinea.’
    Arian looked up at him. ‘Is that really necessary?’ she asked. ‘It will only get Mrs Richards into trouble.’
    ‘I’m here to do a job, Miss Smale. So are you. We will do it properly or not at all.’
    He settled himself at his desk, his back towards her and Arian watched him