Free Dangerous Deception by Anthea Fraser

where there’s no danger of eavesdroppers and I intend to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, perhaps you’d make an effort to appear glad to see me. You’re acting as if I’d murdered your grandmother.”
    Harry came back with two bowls of soup, and it was a marvel to me that I could swallow it. In the space of ten minutes, everything had been shaken up like a kaleidoscope and fallen back into an entirely different pattern. Philip was Aladdin – Aladdin was Philip – and even if I wanted to, there was nowhere I could run where Philip would not find me.
    Roast Welsh lamb followed, with rich gravy and mint sauce, but my throat was closed and I managed only a mouthful or two before laying down my knife and fork. Philip was doing no better, and with a sudden movement pushed his plate away.
    â€œIt’s no good, I can’t eat and nor, it seems, can you. Once we’ve sorted ourselves out, perhaps we can act more convincingly.”
    He stood up, and as Harry anxiously approached, said curtly, “We won’t bother with the dessert, thank you.” His hand on my elbow, he guided me out of the room.
    â€œWait here while I take my case up.”
    It was an order, but I’d had no intention of following him and went instead to the ladies’ room. He was right, I looked as woebegone and frightened as I felt, my face pale beneath the tan. Any more shocks like this, and I’d have to revert to full make-up after all. I freshened my lipstick, pinched my cheeks to give them more colour, and went back into the hall as Philip was coming down the stairs.
    He stood aside for me to go through the swing doors, took my arm and led the way to his car. He didn’t release me until he had opened the door and helped me in. I wondered dully whether it was force of habit or if he thought I might make a run for it. Yet he couldn’t know how frightened I was.
    He got in beside me, and the grotesqueness of the situation struck me afresh as I recalled all the times we’d set off together in this car, often with Matthew in the back.
    But Matthew was the last person I wanted to think about just now. If he found out – I wrenched my thoughts away from him.
    Philip meanwhile had turned left on the main road and set off along a stretch new, presumably, to both of us. He drove, as always, competently and fast. I watched his long, slim hands firm on the wheel, still trying to adjust to his being Aladdin. It was unbelievable that I could actually feel frightened of Philip, who’d always been so eager to please me. But I didn’t need to remind myself that this wasn’t the same man; this was a side of him that I, and, I prayed, my uncle, had never seen before.
    And all the time I was trying to think what I could say to him. It would need to be more detailed than if Aladdin had been the expected stranger. Philip would be in an inquisitorial mood and I could not allow myself even one mistake. My mouth was taut and dry, and I could almost taste the nervous pumping of my heart.
    Neither of us spoke, and I wondered what thoughts were going round his head. After a while he turned the car off the smooth surface and we jolted over the rough ground and came to rest overlooking a small natural lake. It was a lovely scene, with drooping willows and long-tailed water birds, but neither of us gave it more than a perfunctory glance. Philip switched off the engine, wound down his window, and turned to face me.
    â€œWell?”
    I clung to what I knew. “You want to discuss the plan?”
    He brushed that aside. “What I
want
is to know how in God’s name you got mixed up in all this. I still can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
    â€œNor can I,” I admitted feelingly.
    He frowned. “Weren’t you expecting me?”
    A warning light flashed in my head. That had been a slip, and I was still floundering for an answer when he said suddenly,