Part 20 (1/2)

”Oh, this dress will be ruined!” She leapt up, almost knocking Claudia over, and brushed the clinging strands from her silk skirt, while her companion got to his feet, scowling at Ellis.

”Now look what you've done! That dress is real silk--it cost me a fortune.”

”I didn't lay a hand on the lady,” Ellis said coolly. ”I wouldn't dream of it.”

The woman gave an offended squeak, and her companion snarled.

”Do you want a punch on the nose?”

By now, n.o.body was eating--everyone was watching with open fascination and enjoyment, and, realising that another big scene had developed, Annette intervened hurriedly, grabbing Claudia by the arm and tugging at her.

”Go into the kitchen, I'll deal with this.”

Ellis was still confronting the other man, ready for a fight if one broke out. Annette gave him an impatient look.

”And take him with you,” she told her sister, who took hold of Ellis and pulled him, reluctantly, out of the -restaurant into the kitchen. Pierre gave them a sideways look, then went on with the veal he was cooking, turning his back deliberately.

”Every time you come here, there's a big scene,” Claudia said and Ellis bent to kiss her quickly on the mouth.

”I'm sorry. I didn't start a scene deliberately, I just got angry when I saw that woman staring at us, bolt-eyed.”

”I know,” she said, ruefully, looking at the hard angles of his face and realising that he was always going to be aggressive and hard to manage; that was his nature. Then she remembered what they had been talking about before the little scene happened, and she asked him, ”You didn't make love to me just to get me to take that job with your father in Switzerland, did you?”

It wasn't a serious question--every instinct she had told her that Ellis hadn't been acting when they made love. It had been too real to be phoney, 182 the feeling in him--but he was capable of using his own emotions to win an argument, all the same, and she still didn't trust him.

”What a devious mind you have,” Ellis said, watching her in his turn.

”No, Claudia. If you really don't want to take the job with my father, then don't, but I want you in Switzerland, because I spend more time there than anywhere else, and I want you with me as much as possible. You know how much I travel. I don't like doing it, but it is necessary, and I'm going to miss you badly when I'm away. I can't keep coming to London, we would hardly ever see each other if you lived here. You must come with me back to my home, in Switzerland.” He paused, grinned.

”Of course, you might be bored when I wasn't there, so it might be a good idea for you to work for my father?

”Oh, yes?” she said, her face wry.

”You call me devious What do you call yourself?.”

”In love,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her nose.

”Not in my kitchen!” growled Pierre from the other side of the room.

Annette appeared, gave them a scolding look.

”Well, I got rid of the other couple, but it cost us the price of their meal so far, and they won't come back here, so we've lost their custom for good.

You really are a nuisance, Mr. Lefivre. Every time you come here there seems to be a scene.”

”Put the price of the other couple's meal on my bill,” Ellis said.

”I'm sorry, Annette, and call me Ellis, please. We are going to know each other very well in the future, you might as well get used to that.”

”Oh,” Annette said breathlessly, signalling wild enquiry to Claudia with her eyebrows.

Ellis looked amused.

”Shall we go and eat?” he asked Claudia, who was blus.h.i.+ng, and looking hara.s.sed, and she nodded gratefully, glad to escape from her sister's rampant curiosity.

They took a long time choosing their meal and ate it at leisure, absorbed in their own company and unaware by then of everyone else in the room. There was so much to ask, so much to tell each other.

Claudia wanted to know everything about him, and he seemed to feel the same way; he asked question after question, listening with intent interest to her answers.

One thing she had to know about was his relations.h.i.+p with Estelle, although she knew he would immediately suspect her of being jealous.

Since she was, she admitted it almost defiantly, and Ellis gave her an amused, smiling look.

”Estelle and I had a brief fling some years ago,” he admitted.

”It wasn't me who ended it, actually, it was her. She suddenly dumped me.

I wasn't expecting it. and it hurt. It was a bad time for me. Shemet a Texan billionaire and went off to the States with him, but thatdidn't work out, and she came back and rang me up again. ” He pulled awry face.

”By then, though, I'd got over her and was bus'dy engaged elsewhere andI wasn't interested. Oh, we stayed friends, I've known her for years,her and her whole family. We move in the same circles, have the samefriends, we meet all the time. But as far as I was concerned ouraffair was over.”

”I didn't get the impression Estelle felt the same,” she said.

”And you just took her to Germany! If your affair was over, why did you do that?”

184 ”I didn't,” he said.

”Her father did. He was going, toomdidn't you realise that? There were half a dozen of us--five men, and Estelle, and she was only along for the ride. I barely set eyes on her while I was there, I was much too busy working.”

”She made it sound as if...” Claudia began, relieved and yet still not entirely certain of him.