A Woman of Courage Read Online Free Page B

again, and desirable, and she loved it.
    She had never had a nicer meal. Afterwards she could not have said what they ate or even what they talked about but during dessert he had said there was something he would like to discuss with her and she, sipping her second or was it third glass of wine, had given him her telephone number. Of course nothing would come of it, she would make sure of that, but it was an unfamiliar experience and she welcomed it, especially since Davis always made her feel like a middle-aged frump with her best years behind her.
    It was enough to make anyone rebellious; she was not even forty , and Anthony Belloc’s appreciative eye showed she still had what it took to please a man. She felt excited and a little breathless, like a teenager on her first date.
    The party broke up at ten o’clock. She went through the motions, offering her host and hostess extravagant thanks for a wonderful, truly memorable evening. She kissed the air beside Mrs Hawthorn’s cheek, fluttered her fingers at Anthony Belloc and followed Davis into a black and rainy night. Then there was hell to pay.
    â€˜Where is your car?’
    Her ears singing with wine and excitement, she laughed. She felt braver than she had for years. ‘It broke down. I had to walk.’
    â€˜I suppose you never took it in for a service?’
    â€˜I had things to do.’
    â€˜And why were you so late?’
    Ignoring the rain she stopped and glared at him. ‘I waited for you. I was ready at six o’clock but you never came –’
    â€˜For heaven’s sake, Jennifer! I told you before I left this morning that I would meet you here.’
    Careless of the other guests who were also leaving, she raised her voice. ‘You did no such thing.’
    Davis gritted his teeth. ‘Stop making an exhibition of yourself.’
    â€˜I am not making an exhibition of myself. You said to be sure I was ready. You said nothing about meeting you here.’
    Some of the guests were listening to what promised to be an out and out slanging match. There were smiles.
    â€˜Get in the car.’
    Jennifer sensed an advantage. ‘If you open the door for me I shall.’
    He did so, slamming it as soon as she was seated. The tyres screeched as he took off. He drove down the drive and turned right into Hopetoun Road with a violence that pressed Jennifer back in her seat.
    â€˜Are you trying to kill us?’
    He did not answer. They passed her car parked forlornly at the side of the road. They drove home in a fanged silence that did not last beyond the front door. Davis strode to the phone and rang for her car to be towed in. Then he turned on her. ‘Are you trying to ruin us? You arrive late wearing a dress like that…’
    â€˜What is wrong with my dress?’
    â€˜It makes you look like a trollop. And then behaving the way you did at dinner –’
    â€˜I am going to bed,’ Jennifer said and headed for the stairs.
    â€˜I have not finished talking to you.’ Thunder roared beyond the window as he followed her into the bedroom. Thunder in the street; thunder in the house. He snatched up a hand mirror and thrust it in front of her. ‘Look at yourself! You turn up late and half naked at what I told you was an important dinner…’
    That was what had annoyed him. He wanted her to be a mouse and mice did not wear dresses like that. Suddenly she was glad she’d had the courage to wear it. A gesture of defiance, she thought. No wonder he’s so mad. ‘You never told me –’
    â€˜Of course I did!’
    Over and over the same arid ground, flinging words like grenades, getting nowhere.
    â€˜And letting Anthony Belloc come on to you the way you did,’ Davis said. ‘Anthony Belloc, of all people.’
    Until tonight she had never heard of Anthony Belloc.
    â€˜What do you mean, Anthony Belloc of all people?’
    â€˜Anthony Belloc is a crook,’ Davis