The Desert Castle Read Online Free

My brother seemed to think she could do with the money. ’
    M arion stiffened. ‘ My mother and I manage very well— ’
    ‘ I ’ m sure you do, but it would be unkind to upset all her arrangements now, wouldn ’ t it? You leave from Heathrow Airport, Miss Shirley. Lucasta will expect to find you there at the Pan-Am desk shortly after ei ght o ’ clock. Oh, and you ’ ll need a visa. You ’ d better give your passport to Parsons when he runs you home and he can see to it for you. There, I think that ’ s all. I can ’ t think why my husband thinks women are no good at business. Look how quickly we arranged all that ! ’
    “ We” was an exaggeration, Marion felt. The amusement inside her surfaced as a quick smile. ‘ Who is your brother, Mrs. Hartley ? ’ she asked in a shaken voice.
    ‘ But I thought I told you, ’ Mrs. Hartley reproached her. ‘ My brother is Gregory Randall. The writer, you know ? ’
     
     

 
    CHAPTER II
    ‘ Mother, how could you ? ’
    ‘ Oh dear, ’ said Mrs. Shirley, ‘ I had a feeling you were going to be angry, but he was so persuasive and it will be lovely to have something to do again. I ’ ve felt so old and useless these last few weeks. There ’ s absolutely nothing here I have to do ! Gregory wants me to do for him what I used to do for Henry: put all his papers in order and re-type those pages that need it, and put a bit of polish on his house which has been s h ut up for years— ‘
    ‘ He ’ s getting married. ’ Marion sniffed. ‘ And since when has it been Gregory ? ’
    ‘ Since I first saw him. He never knew his own mother and I would rather like to have had a s on as well as a daughter, so we agreed to adopt one another as honorary relations. I could hardly call him Mr . Randall after that ! ’
    Marion ’ s eyes kindled. ‘ And what does he call you? Mother ? ’
    ‘ Not that it ’ s any of your business, but I asked him to call me Helen. He always wrote to your father as Henry and it seemed the best solution. ’
    Marion choked. ‘ None of my business ! ’ she exclaimed. ‘ I like that! You can ’ t foist an honorary brother on to me and then tell me it ’ s none of my business! It isn ’ t—it isn ’ t decent ! ’
    Mrs. Shirley looked wise and very knowing. ‘ What a curious word to choose, ’ she said mildly. ‘ And it has absolutely nothing to do with you. It ’ s my relationship, and I ’ m very pleased with it. If you want to be related to him too, you ’ ll have to make your own arrangement with him— ’
    ‘ Mother ! ’
    M rs. Shirley laughed, delighted. ‘ I ’ d forgotten for the moment how easy it is to shock the young, or perhaps I thought you older than you really are. I thought you told me he ’ s about to get married ? ’
    M arion nodded. ‘ To a girl called Judith. ’
    ‘ Well, is that anything to look gloomy about? ’
    ‘ Of course not, ’ Marion denied. But she hadn ’ t liked the sound of Judith and she thought it would be a pity if she succeeded in putting a collar and lead on Gregory Randall and turned him out of his ruined castle in the desert . ‘ If I ’ m gloomy about anything, it ’ s the discovery that my mother can be downright sly. Father always said you couldn ’ t keep a secret no matter how hard you t ri ed, and now look at you! Meeting strange men behind my ba ck — ’
    ‘ Henry would have known. ’ Mrs. Shirley saw the hurt in Ma ri on ’ s eyes and smiled at her. ‘ Don ’ t mind, darling. You ’ re my daughter, not my husband, and you can ’ t wrap me up in the cotton-wool of your protection for the rest of my life. You have your own life to live and I ’ m the first to be glad whatever you want to do. Won ’ t you be glad that Gregory has made it possible for me to have a niche of my own too? I like that young man so much. He doesn ’ t waste time wondering what the fuss is all about He ’ s like Henry in that. Henry too, would have done something about his friend ’ s