Free Unknown by Unknown

she was ripe for an amorous proposition. That she would have understood and would have repulsed him firmly, but he had offered . . , marriage. He was right when he had pointed out that she had no future, unless she married. Domestic work was not exactly a career, and it would give her great satisfaction to ensure that the news filtered through to Tony that she had made a good match. But a loveless marriage whatever the material advantages was not ideal, and Gray had only obliquely mentioned love and that derisively, he did not seem to regard it as a necessary or important ingredient. He had decided he wanted a wife, and had chosen her because she had an even temperament, would make a good housekeeper and would be an undemanding mate.
    Her own feelings towards him were mixed. Physically he attracted her strongly, but she had fought against it, not wishing to be one of a crowd. He had shown that he could arouse in her a passionate emotion which bore no resemblance to the tepid feeling she had had for Tony. It might be love or merely infatuation with a being so unlike anybody she had ever met before. She was vaguely aware that if he had loved her, he could awake in her a wholehearted response, but he had made it very clear that he did not. He found her sufficiently desirable to be ready to sleep with her, and looked upon her as a sort of insurance against predatory females, and a pleasant companion to whom to return when he needed home comforts and relaxation. His absorbing interest was Silver Arrow and her success, next came the family business and she ran a poor third. Was it enough?
    'I'll think about it while you’re, away,’ she conceded. ‘You may change your mind when you get to the States and everyone lionises you.’
    ‘I can’t wait,’ he returned shortly. 'If I get a special licence there’ll be just time to get married before I go.’
    ‘Oh no!' This precipitancy startled and appalled her. But it was typical of the man who could never wait for anything he desired. ‘That’s much too soon!’
    ‘What is there to wait for?’ Gray looked away over the sparkling water. 'I might not come back.’
    In the ensuing silence, a cloud passed across the sun, causing the bright scene to dim. Overhead a herring gull, planing on wide extended wings, uttered a melancholy croak. Frances shivered, drawing her cardigan more closely about her. Gray had always minimised the danger his sport entailed, but it existed. Anything that went at the speed of Silver Arrow presented considerable hazards. It was impossible to imagine that anyone so vital and virile as Gray could be extinguished, but it might happen.
    ‘Don’t go!’ she cried impulsively.
    ‘You're being ridiculous—of course I must go,’ he reprimanded her. 'I've set my heart on Silver Arrow’s triumph and I couldn’t let Stu down. If the worst happens you’ll be provided for as my widow.’ He smiled sardonically. ‘Others may claim to be ex-fiancées, but no one can dispute a marriage certificate.’
    His thought for her touched her, though the implication shocked and chilled her.
    ‘As if that mattered ’ she began, and he interrupted her:
    ‘It does matter. That’s why we must be married before I go. I’ll will everything to you, you’ll acquire my holding in Crawfords—I’m the biggest shareholder—and it’s up to you to keep the business going and prevent Sandy and Alison trying to sell. You’ll do that for me?’
    ‘Gray, for God’s sake don’t talk like that,’ Frances exclaimed desperately. ‘You’ll be all right, you must be all right. And I haven’t said I’ll marry you.’
    ‘But you will,’ he insisted softly.
    ‘I don’t know ... I can’t decide . . .’
    He leaned forward, staring at her intently. ‘There isn’t anyone else, is there?’ he asked sharply, and his eyes glittered menacingly. ‘You’ve not fallen for that besotted calf, Ian?'
    He might not love her, but he could be jealous, and he had always resented her