Free The Guilty Secret by Margaret Pemberton Page B

Miles was occupying, and some twenty-five yards behind them, mine. Aunt Harriet pushed open the door and switched on the light.
    A large stone fireplace linked the two main downstairs rooms together. The floor was tiled and scattered with the same pretty rugs I had seen in Phil’s villa. But here, instead of only two grand pianos and floor cushions for furnishings, were comfortable settees and deeply upholstered chairs in rich velvet and small, marble topped coffee tables. A scattering of softly shaded lamps had switched on simultaneously at Aunt Harriet’s touch, giving the room a soft, welcoming glow.
    â€˜There’s only one bedroom in this villa,’ Aunt Harriet said, leading the way into a beautifully equipped kitchen. ‘It isn’t often in use, being the furthest away from Rozalinda’s.’ A wrought iron spiral staircase led enticingly upstairs. While Aunt Harriet began making coffee I went up, gasping with pleasure at the bedroom with its four poster bed with white lace canopy and decadent looking silk sheets. Through an open door I could see the bathroom and a wealth of gold fittings. I ran back downstairs.
    â€˜It’s super! Are all the villas as nice as this?’
    â€˜This,’ Aunt Harriet said dryly. ‘Is the most spartan. Most of the furniture was taken out of Phil’s at his request. Rozalinda knew that without a piano she would never persuade him to come here. Miles comes quite regularly and so his villa has a lot of his personal possessions in it and is never used by anyone else. Mary and Tom’s villa is the one guests usually have. Mine is next to it and so far Rozalinda has left me its sole occupant.’
    â€˜And you like it here?’
    â€˜Yes. When it’s quiet.’
    â€˜You mean when Rozalinda is away?’
    â€˜Rozalinda doesn’t bother me and never has done.’ Aunt Harriet said reprovingly. ‘I love her just as much as you or Phil and you should have the common sense to know that. No, it’s been Harold who has been making all the commotion this last few days.’
    â€˜Harold?’
    â€˜Him and Miles. I could hear them rowing the other night.’
    â€˜I can’t imagine Harold rowing with anybody.’
    â€˜Well, he has lately. Miles wants Rozalinda to sign a contract for this film he’s going to star in and we keep getting frantic telephone calls from her agent in London, but Rozalinda is adamant she isn’t going to do it. Harold has got himself quite steamed up about it. He’s quite insistent that Rozalinda needs a rest and that she is staying on at Ofir until the end of the summer.’
    â€˜Does she need a rest?’
    Aunt Harriet nodded her head emphatically. ‘ Yes. I’ve never known her nerves to be so bad. Which is why, of course, she’s acting so stupidly.’
    â€˜You mean flirting with Tom?’
    Aunt Harriet nodded. ‘Though don’t let that worry you, Jenny. I’m going to have a word with her about that tomorrow. If she knew she was hurting Mary she’d stop immediately. She just doesn’t think.’
    â€˜Then she should,’ I said, remembering the hurt on Mary’s face.
    Aunt Harriet patted my hand reprovingly. ‘You mustn’t be hard on her, Jenny. She never had the advantages of a loving mother and father. I hate to say it but my youngest niece was totally selfish. She hardly ever spent any time with Rose at all. Which is why she was always round at my house and always wanting to be with you, Phil and Mary. And if it hadn’t been for Mary she would have been left out altogether. You and Phil were sufficient unto yourselves. That little girl was intensely lonely and she has always been insecure. All Harold’s money can’t give her the security she needs. That’s why she clings to you all so much. Underneath that veneer of sophisticated gaiety Rose is nothing but a frightened little