Teresa Hill – Diamonds are for Deception: The Carlotta Diamond / The Texan's Diamond Bride / From Dirt to Diamonds (страница 2)

Rudy grinned to himself in anticipation.

But though he would like nothing better than to see the pair of them squirm, instinct told him the first option might be the better one, so he’d try that to start with.

Either way, what he had so fortuitously overheard would give him a chance to thumb his nose at the Bell-Farringdon family, none of whom had thought him good enough to marry Lucy…

Wall Street, New York

Some ten days later, Simon Farringdon received a report from his private detective which read:

I was able to establish that shortly after she disappeared from home, Maria Bell-Farringdon changed her name to Mary Bell.

Having checked the available records, I discovered that in March 1947, in the district of Whitechapel, a Mary Bell had registered the birth of a daughter, Emily Charlotte, father unknown.

The address had been given as 42 Bold Lane.

I kept searching, and discovered that in 1951 the same Mary Bell had married a man named Paul Yancey, who later adopted her daughter.

Emily Yancey married a man named Bolton in 1967; however, the marriage ended in divorce some ten years later. In 1980 Emily had a daughter whose birth was registered as father unknown. Emily died some six months later. The baby, named Charlotte, was adopted by a Mr and Mrs Christie…

Bayswater, London.

‘How do I look?’ Unusually for her, Charlotte was nervous. The lilac chiffon dress, bought in a hurry during her half-hour lunch break, had looked reasonably sedate in the store. Now at its highest point the asymmetrically cut skirt seemed higher than she recalled, and the plunging neckline a lot lower.

Surveying the lovely, heart-shaped face framed in a cloud of silky dark hair, and the luminous grey eyes, her flatmate answered, ‘So beautiful it’s sickening.’

‘No, seriously.’

‘I’m being serious. I’d kill for cheekbones like yours and naturally curly hair, not to mention your ears. I always think nice ears are so sexy.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with your ears,’ Charlotte said crisply.

‘There’s nothing right with them. They’re seriously big, and the lobes are so long I look like a spaniel. Whereas your ears are small and neat, and you’ve hardly any lobes to speak of.’

‘Which is a nuisance. It makes it awkward to wear earrings. But to get back to the point. I meant the dress; will it do?’ Charlotte asked.

‘Do? I can only hope the poor devil hasn’t got a weak heart…’

The two girls had been flatmates since Charlotte had answered the door one evening, almost two years ago, to find a tall, rangy girl with spiky blonde hair and a thin, intelligent face standing there.

‘I’ve just been next door visiting Macy,’ the newcomer had announced. ‘She mentioned that you had a two-bedroomed flat and were thinking of getting someone to share.’

‘I’ve certainly been considering it,’ Charlotte had admitted cautiously. Then, liking the look of the girl, ‘Come on in… As you can see, the living-room isn’t very big,’ she went on, as the girl followed her into the pleasant room with its old bow-window. ‘But the bedrooms aren’t bad, there’s a reasonable bathroom, and a good-sized kitchen.’ She opened the various doors as she spoke.

‘As far as I’m concerned it’s next door to heaven after the crummy bedsit I’ve been living in for the past six months.’

Then, her blue eyes curious, the girl asked, ‘Why do you want to share? In your place I’d prefer to be on my own.’

‘I would prefer it,’ Charlotte admitted honestly. ‘But I don’t have much choice.’

‘I understand from Macy—by the way, we work for the same travel company—that you own the bookshop on the ground floor?’

‘All I have is a lease on the premises, and, until sales pick up, finding the rent is proving to be a problem. I need some help,’ Charlotte said.

‘How much help?’

After a moment’s thought, Charlotte named what she considered a reasonable sum.

‘Well, if you think we could get along, your problem is solved. I’ll pay my share of the rent up front, I promise I won’t hog the bathroom or the kitchen—I’m not into cooking—and I’ll keep myself to myself as much as possible.’

Coming to a swift decision, Charlotte said, ‘That sounds fine by me.’

‘Great! By the way, my name’s Sojourner Macfadyen. But don’t call me Sojourner, or I’m afraid I’ll have to murder you.’

Smiling, Charlotte asked, ‘What shall I call you?’

‘Sojo will do fine.’

‘When do you want to move in, Sojo?’

‘The day after tomorrow?’

At Charlotte’s nod, she had added, ‘I think it’ll work, but in case it doesn’t…?’

‘Shall we say a month’s notice on either side?’ Charlotte had suggested.

It had worked well, however, and the two girls had become firm friends. Even when the shop began to make a small profit and Charlotte could afford to pay an assistant, Sojo had stayed on.

On more than one occasion, she had remarked, ‘When you’re ready for me to move out, just say the word.’

But, knowing she would miss the other girl’s company and lively sense of humour, Charlotte had been only too happy with the way things were…

‘Who is your date, by the way?’ Sojo pursued. Then, her voice sinking to a sibilant whisper, ‘Is it still the mystery man?’

Endeavouring to look the picture of innocence, Charlotte said, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘I mean the one you’ve been so cagey about.’

‘I’ve been nothing of the kind,’ Charlotte denied.

‘Oh, give me strength! For days now you’ve had stars in your eyes, and I’ll swear your feet have scarcely touched the ground, but you’ve never breathed a word about him… I presume it is a him?’

‘Of course it’s a him!’ Charlotte said indignantly.

‘Well, come on, spill the beans. Tell all.’

‘There’s not much to tell.’

‘Rubbish! You have the look of a woman who’s on the brink of falling in love. I want to know whether to hold you back, or give you a push.’

‘Do you need to do either?’

‘Of course. What are friends for? So what’s his name? Paul? David? Jeremy?’

Throwing in the towel, Charlotte said, ‘Rudolf.’

Sojo gave a croak of laughter. ‘Bit of a soppy name, Rudolf—’ she pronounced it Wudolf ‘—unless you’re a reindeer.’

‘His friends call him Rudy.’

‘Well, they would, wouldn’t they? Anything’s preferable to Wudolf. What’s he like?’

‘Rather special. He’s—’

‘You’re blushing!’ Sojo exclaimed. ‘Dear me, you have got it bad.’

‘Do you want to know or not?’ Charlotte asked with a show of exasperation.

‘I’m all ears… What an unfortunate phrase! But do go on.’

‘He’s slimly built and just about the same height as I am—’

‘I wondered why you’d taken to wearing flat shoes. Fair or dark?’

‘He has curly black hair and brown eyes.’

‘Handsome?’

‘Yes.’