Part 22 (1/2)

'I've always been like it. It's how I function.'

'Then stop whingeing about it.'

'Why are you always so unpleasant to me?'

'I'm unpleasant to everyone; you're not a special case, Hat. And why, I'd like to know, are we talking about you, when it's me we're supposed to be discussing?'

She smiled. 'Because I'm far more interesting. Where are you staying?'

'I have rooms in Trinity. Do you want to come and see them?'

'Are they worth the effort?'

'Not particularly. I'm hungry. Let's go to your hotel for some breakfast.'

Glad that he was sounding less manic, and amused at the abrupt turnabout in the conversation, Harriet allowed him to steer her back in the direction of her hotel.

It was still early when they pushed open the door of the dining room; only a handful of guests had made it down. There was no sign of Howard.

'How perfectly ghastly,' Dominic said as they sat at a table overlooking the main street.

'What?' asked Harriet.

'The other guests. They're so ordinary-looking. Corporate wage slaves the lot of them, in their rolled-up s.h.i.+rtsleeves and brightly coloured ties.'

'We can't all be like you, Dominic. And anyway, who are you to criticise with your dishevelled, unshaven, haven't-gone-to-bed look?' She had to admit, though, even in his current state, he still outshone every man in the room.

He eyed her over the top of his menu. 'How very observant of you.'

'And correct?'

'Unutterably incorrect.'

'What were you doing in the park so early, then, if not on your way back to Trinity after a night of debauchery?'

'The same as you, presumably. I couldn't sleep.'

When a waiter approached their table, they broke off from their conversation and ordered eggs Benedict for Dominic, scrambled eggs and bacon for Harriet and a pot of coffee with two rounds of toast.

Alone again, Dominic said, 'Tell me something to cheer me up. How's my brother? Behaving himself, I trust?'

'The children and I spent the day with him on Sunday. We had lunch in Maywood then went for a walk in the park.'

'Ye G.o.ds! It sounds like something out of Mary Pop-pins.'

'Hey, it might not sound very exciting to you, but it's the most fun I get these days, so quit the snide comments.'

He held up his hands in mock defence. 'I apologise. I'm sure you all had a very jolly time of it.'

'We did.'

'Good. But take a tip from me, Hat. Please indulge yourself more. Treat yourself to some sinful pleasure now and then. It'll do wonders to thaw that frosty streak of self-denial that's ruining your life.'

She folded her arms and stared out of the window, her left knee twitching convulsively under the table. Why did he always have to spoil things? More to the point, why did she let him do it? She went on the attack, as she usually did whenever she was in his company. 'Why haven't you returned any of the messages I left you?'

'I've been too busy.'

'Liar. Aren't you the least bit curious to know why I wanted to speak to you?'

'Not especially. At last, here's breakfast.'

When their waiter had left them alone, Dominic poured the coffee while Harriet b.u.t.tered herself a piece of toast. 'This is very domestic, isn't it?' he said. 'I feel quite the husband.'

'That'll be the day,' she muttered, still cross with him.

He glanced at her. 'It must be exhausting being such a b.i.t.c.h. No wonder you're single; it must be impossible to love anyone when you're carrying that amount of hatred around with you. Why do you have such a problem with my lifestyle?'

'I've never been bothered by your s.e.xuality; it's your promiscuity I have trouble with.'

'There's nothing illegal about the way I conduct my s.e.x life. There's no law that says I can't sleep with as many men as I want to. You know me: high on charisma, low on morals.'

'Sounds to me like you're justifying what you get up to. How's your spiritual self squaring up to your immoral self?'

He stirred his coffee. 'People have s.e.x for myriad reasons. Often it has nothing to do with the other person involved. I enjoy perfunctory s.e.x, which I've always preferred over hate-filled s.e.x, or self-loathing s.e.x. Good s.e.x is what makes me know I'm truly alive. But I'm curious; why should you concern yourself with what a raging queer like me gets up to?'

She winced at his words. 'I'm not concerned.'

'You are. It's coming at me in great waves of disapproval across the table. Let's face it, you always were a prude. You used to hate it when Felicity and I went off for one of our experimental romps.'

In spite of herself, Harriet blushed. She hated knowing that he still had the power to do this to her. 'What if I did?'

'Was it because you were jealous? Jealous that it wasn't you I was experimenting with?'

His tone was uncharacteristically gentle, but even so she could have thrown her plate at him, then ground it hard into that handsome face of his. Summoning all her dignity, she said, 'I know you've always had a high opinion of yourself, Dominic, but really, take it from me, I'd have to have been two shades of crazy to fancy you.'

He chewed meticulously on what was in his mouth. 'I'm sorry if I've embarra.s.sed you, but actually it was Felicity who told me you were jealous.'

'Never! Never in a million years would she have said that.'

He continued with his breakfast in silence, leaving Harriet to contemplate the inconceivable - had Felicity betrayed her to Dominic? Could she really have done such a thing? Harriet picked disconsolately at her scrambled eggs. Everything she'd believed in, when it came to Felicity, was falling apart. There were too many acts of betrayal going on. She glanced up at Dominic, and watching him un.o.bserved as he now stared out of the window, she wondered just how many more confidences Felicity had shared with him. Was it possible that he knew about Felicity's affair? Had he even encouraged it? She decided to test the water.

'Do you think Felicity was happy in her marriage?' she asked.

His fork halfway to his mouth, he said, 'What do you think?'

'I asked first.'