Kitabı oku: «The Diamond Bride»

CHAPTER ONE

‘IF YOU’RE thinking of jumping, I should wait another couple of hours until the tide is back in!’

Annie turned with a start at the sound of that deeply masculine voice—a voice she didn’t recognise!

A dark figure loomed in the fog. A tall, menacing figure.

‘At the moment,’ that deep voice continued, ‘you’ll most likely just find yourself buried up to your ankles in mud!’

She had been lost in thought as she stood on the end of this small jetty, troubled thoughts that went round and round in circles, their beginnings always meeting up with their ends, giving no answers.

She had been so lost in those thoughts she hadn’t heard the man’s approach, but she was conscious now of how alone she was, the thick, swirling afternoon fog meaning she couldn’t be seen by anyone up at the house that stood so majestically on the clifftop above. This small, private beach was rarely used by any member of the Diamond family, and was certainly not going to be visited by any of them at this time of the day.

Alone now, with this stranger, she realised how foolish her choice had been.

‘I also don’t think the Diamond family would be too pleased at another suicide taking place on their estate,’ the gravelly voice continued harshly.

Another suicide...? Had someone once killed themselves here? What—?

Another suicide! Surely this man didn’t imagine that was what she intended doing down here? Although in truth, with the tide obviously out, and the fog making visibility negligible, it must seem strange for her to be standing out here on this waterless jetty. But suicide...!

She took an involuntary step backwards as the man moved towards her out of the mist, only to find herself pressed up against the railing with nowhere to go—except, as he’d said, down into the mud below.

Her eyes widened apprehensively as the fog seemed to part to allow the man to step out in front of her—a man, she was sure, who must be the epitome of every fictional hero.

She gasped even as the ridiculous thought jumped into her head. But at first sight he was the personification of that romantic hero Rochester: so tall, dark hair long and unruly, his face strong and powerful, eyes as dark as coal. He was Rochester come to life!

Annie shivered. Whether because of this overpowering stranger, or the dampness of the fog penetrating to her bones through the light jacket and denims she wore, she wasn’t altogether sure.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ he challenged with a rise of one dark brow.

Up close—too close!—she could see that his eyes weren’t black at all, but a very deep blue, the iris barely discernible from that dark cobalt, his features so hardly hewn they might have been carved from granite.

He tilted his head to one side, his expression speculative, black hair resting almost on his shoulders, seeming immune himself to the dampness of the weather in his dark jacket, blue casual shirt and faded blue denims.

“‘Trespassers will be prosecuted”’. He dryly quoted the sign that precluded access onto this secluded beach.

She swallowed hard, moistening her lips as she realised how dry her mouth had become. But the only way off the jetty was past this man, and being slightly built—only a little over five feet in height—she thought her chances of making good her escape were probably a little slim.

An avid reader, she tried to think what a fictional heroine would do in these circumstances. Humour him, that was it. Then wait until he was off-guard—and make a run for it. Once she had disappeared into the thick fog he would have great trouble finding her again.

She attempted a slight, conciliatory smile. ‘I’m sure that if you leave now the Diamond family will never be aware that you were ever here at all,’ she suggested lightly—desperately hoping that none of the panic she felt was evident in her voice.

Dark eyes widened. ‘If I leave...?’ He frowned. ‘My dear girl, I have no intention of leaving.’

He didn’t intend leaving...

Annie swallowed hard again, hands tightly clenched in her jacket pockets. ‘I really think that would be the best thing for you to do.’ She forced soothing calm into her voice. ‘Before—er—Mr Diamond comes down here and finds you trespassing on his land.’

‘Mr Diamond...?’ he echoed questioningly.

‘Anthony Diamond,’ Annie supplied quickly, at last feeling she might be making some progress in her effort to get him to leave.

‘He’s here?’ the man rasped, casting a look in the direction of the house above on the cliff, now hidden by the fog.

‘Oh, yes.’ She nodded eagerly. ‘All of the family are in residence.’

‘Are they indeed?’ he mused harshly, his brow clearing, his mouth twisting with contempt. ‘Well, I can assure you there’s no possibility of Anthony coming down here,’ he dismissed derisively. ‘He hates the sea and everything to do with it—more so since a boating accident several years ago. Unless, of course, the two of you have arranged to meet down here?’ he added slowly.

Annie looked at him sharply, momentarily forgetting her fear. Exactly what did he mean by that remark? He couldn’t possibly know anything about Anthony—or her, for that matter.

‘Have you?’ he prompted softly. ‘It would be the one place Davina wouldn’t think of looking for him; she knows of his aversion to moving water!’ he mocked.

And this man, she realised, at the mention of Davina, Anthony’s fiancée—whoever he was—knew far too much about the Diamond family!

The man looked at her consideringly now, seeming to take in everything about her appearance in that one sweeping glance: her short, curling red hair, which framed her gamine face, a face dominated by deep brown eyes; her small and snub nose, her wide and smiling mouth—usually, when she wasn’t accosted by complete strangers!—a chin that was small and pointed, her figure boyish in her jacket, blue cropped top and fitted black denims.

‘You don’t look like Anthony’s usual type,’ the man finally drawled insultingly. ‘But then, as he gets older, perhaps young and impressionable is easier to deal with!’

Easier to impress, his dismissive tone implied!

Well, at thirty-six, she didn’t consider Anthony old, and she wasn’t that young either; at twenty-two she could quite easily be married with small children.

She eyed the man coolly. ‘Anthony Diamond, as you have already mentioned, already has a fiancée.’ Some of her fear was fading now, to be replaced by anger; not only was this man trespassing on the Diamond estate, he was also insulting the family—well, one of them—as well now!

‘Davina,’ the man acknowledged. ‘I’m sure their engagement is of mutual benefit to both of them,’ he went on, ‘but it hasn’t stopped Anthony’s roving eye. You must be new to the village,’ he added tauntingly. ‘Last I heard, Anthony had already gone through all the available females there. Unless, of course, you’re one of the married ones?’

It had quickly become obvious to her that this man thought she was one of the girls from the local village two miles away. Which meant he must be new to the area himself, otherwise he would have known she was nanny to the youngest member of the Diamond family. Admittedly, she had only been working here for two months, but he seemed to know so much else about the Diamonds...

‘I’m not married, but I’m not an “available female”, either,’ Annie told him tartly. ‘And I would appreciate it if you didn’t continue to insult members of the Diamond family!’

‘But I’m only insulting Anthony,’ he replied knowingly. ‘And he makes it so easy to insult him,’ he added scathingly, glancing at the plain gold watch on his wrist. ‘It doesn’t look as if he’s coming now; I was watching you for at least ten minutes before I spoke to you,’ he informed her softly.

She shrank back defensively, uncomfortable with the knowledge that she had been watched when she hadn’t been aware of it. Her emotions had been in turmoil when she’d come down here, her thoughts troubled, and she was sure that must have been obvious from her expression when he’d first caught sight of her. Which was probably why he had made that assumption about suicide! Admittedly, her life did feel a bit complicated at the moment, but certainly not that desperate!

‘Perhaps it’s as well that he didn’t. For your sake,’ she snapped as he raised questioning brows. ‘You’re trespassing,’ she pointed out irritably as he still looked unimpressed.

He shrugged unconcernedly. ‘So are you. And although Anthony may not mind your being here, what about the rest of the family?’ he challenged. ‘Rufus, for example?’

‘Rufus isn’t here,’ she told him impatiently, tired of this constant baiting.

Rufus Diamond, the male head of the family and her small charge’s father, was away at the moment, and had been for the last three months. As an investigative reporter of some repute, he had been away in some wartorn country or other since before Annie had come to work with his daughter. His mother, Celia, the matriarch of the Diamond family, had been the one to employ her when the previous nanny had left without notice.

The man looked at her assessingly. ‘I thought you said all of the family were in residence?’ He tauntingly echoed her words of earlier.

‘They are.’ She frowned at him. ‘But Mr Diamond senior—’

‘You mean Rufus?’ Amusement darkened his eyes even more; his teeth were white and even as he gave a wolfish grin. ‘I’ve never heard him referred to as that before; you make him sound ancient!’

‘I have no idea how old Mr Diamond—Mr Rufus Diamond—is,’ Annie told him in a flustered voice. ‘But I do know he’s older than Anthony.’

‘By three years.’ The man nodded. ‘And, believe me, I feel every one of them,’ he added, watching her as he waited for her reaction to his announcement.

And he wasn’t disappointed, Annie felt sure!

This was Rufus Diamond? This man, with his shaggily long dark hair, piercing eyes, hard-hewn face, tall and leanly powerful body? This was Rufus Diamond?

She didn’t know what she had been expecting from the brief mentions of him that had been made by the rest of the family, or from the absolute adoration with which Jessica spoke of her father, but it certainly hadn’t been this dangerously good-looking man with his assured air of power!

Perhaps it was that he was such a complete contrast to his brother, Anthony was tall and blond, extremely handsome, with eyes as blue as the sky on a summer’s day, always immaculately dressed in his tailored, designer clothes. The two men were complete opposites, and she would never have guessed they were brothers.

She hadn’t!

She drew in a controlling breath, doing her best to gather her scattered wits back together. ‘It’s good to meet you at last, Mr Diamond.’ She held out her hand in formal greeting.

He didn’t move, watching her through narrowed lids. ‘Is it?’ he returned guardedly.

She swallowed hard, her arm falling back to her side, her hands feeling slightly warm and damp, despite the cold clamminess of the fog that still surrounded them. ‘I’m Jessica’s new nanny, Mr Diamond—’

‘Are you indeed?’ he cut in grimly, all humour gone from those hard dark eyes now. ‘What about Margaret?’

She moistened her dry lips once more, some of her earlier fear returning; this man was a power to be reckoned with when he was angry. As he was now. ‘I believe she left—’

‘I’ve already gathered that,’ he rasped icily.

‘Yes, well.’ Annie looked confused. ‘Mrs Diamond contacted the employment agency—’

‘Why?’ His grimness was increasing with each passing second.

Annie frowned. ‘I just told you, Margaret left, and Jessica needed—’

‘I meant, why did Margaret leave?’ he bit out coldly.

‘I have no idea.’ She shook her head a little dazedly. ‘You would have to ask Mrs Diamond that—’

‘Don’t worry, that’s exactly what I’m here to do!’ he replied harshly, turning on his heel and striding off down the jetty in the direction of the cliffs and the house. He paused before the fog swallowed him up completely, turning slightly. ‘And I would advise you to get back to your young charge instead of mooning about down here waiting for my wastrel of a brother!’ He disappeared into the swirling clouds, and everything suddenly became eerily quiet again.

As if he had never been there at all...

But Annie knew that he had, was still shaking from the encounter. She almost wished now that he had been a trespasser; that would have been far preferable to knowing he was actually her employer!

How quickly his mocking humour had vanished once he’d realised exactly who she was. He was obviously very angry at the departure of Jessica’s previous nanny. And certainly not impressed with her replacement!

Rochester, indeed! She had read the classic story at a young, impressionable age, had found herself, probably because of her own parentless circumstances, relating to Jane Eyre, although her own time as an orphan in care had been a relatively happy one. But Rufus Diamond certainly wasn’t Mr Rochester. Any more than she was Jane Eyre...!

Would she have behaved any differently if she had known who he was from the first? Probably, but only slightly, she conceded. After all, he had been the one, without knowing a thing about her, who’d been so insulting about her supposed relationship with his brother...

Her thoughts were even more troubled now than they had been when she’d come down onto the beach an hour ago! She had been so excited about the chance of this job on the east coast of England, had come here full of enthusiasm, glad to be out of London, the place she had lived all her life. And being out here, surrounded by rural countryside, had suited her perfectly. She loved the wide open spaces, the friendliness of the locals—she had certainly never been on a first-name basis with a milkman before! In London she hadn’t even had a milkman; she had bought all her food supplies, including milk, from a convenience store around the corner from the flat she’d shared with three other girls.

Moving here had offered her a completely different way of life from the one she had always known. Her early years had been spent in care, and the college course to qualify as a children’s nanny had seemed the obvious choice of career after years of helping look after younger children at the home where she had been placed. As had deciding to share a flat with three of the other girls from the children’s home when the time had come to move out.

She had taken employment at a local kindergarten once she was qualified, but helping in the day-care of forty young children who went home to their own families at the end of each day hadn’t given her any more roots than she had found at the children’s home, and so she had signed on at an employment agency with the intention of working in a family environment. Jessica Diamond was her first individual charge. And Annie had quickly learnt to love her.

Aged eight, Jessica was a lovely child, tall for her age, with long, curling dark hair and eyes as blue as cornflowers, and a lively intelligence that Annie found enchanting. And with only Jessica’s grandmother in residence most of the time, her uncle Anthony a regular visitor at weekends, it had been easy to become fond of the little girl who greeted her so eagerly at the end of each schoolday. Their weekends had been spent exploring the beach and horse-riding; even wet days had been fun as they’d played with the numerous toys Jessica had up in her bedroom.

But now Jessica’s father had returned.

And he didn’t seem at all happy about the fact that his daughter had a new nanny...

The future suddenly looked even bleaker than it had an hour ago. Even more so because once Rufus Diamond got up to the house he was going to discover that Jessica had fallen from her horse over the weekend and was resting in bed with a badly sprained ankle. So much for being in the care of her newly hired nanny!

Admittedly, there had been nothing Annie—a mere novice when it came to riding a horse—could have done to prevent Jessica’s accident. But she very much doubted that Rufus Diamond would see it quite that way, especially as he already seemed so displeased at Jessica having a replacement nanny in the first place!

Annie felt the prick of tears in her eyes. She had loved Jessica on sight, their better acquaintance only deepening that emotion as she’d discovered just how hungry for affection Jessica was too. Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Jessica become that fond of her, but when the young child was effectively as parentless as Annie had been herself, it was impossible to push the young girl aside.

As Jessica’s mother had died when Jessica was still a very young child, she really had little memory of her. Celia Diamond, Jessica’s paternal grandmother, was a tall, stately-looking woman, blonde and still beautiful despite her sixty-or-so years, but a woman who obviously found it difficult to show affection to a young child; a summons to her private sitting-room before bedtime was the most attention she paid her granddaughter.

But Jessica’s father was back now, so perhaps things would change...

And one of those changes could be the dismissal of the new nanny!

Annie’s feet dragged with reluctance as she made her way back up to the house. Nevertheless she took the path carefully—the weather seemed to be worse than when she had set out and she grabbed onto the handrail several times as she almost lost her footing on the rocky path, relieved when she saw the ominous shape of the house rising up in front of her.

Clifftop House was a magnificent building, almost gothic in proportions, and it had taken Annie a week to find her way around its many rooms. It had seemed incredible to her at the time of her arrival that one elderly lady and a small child should live in such a large house.

Although she had to admit that within several hours of Anthony’s arrival at the weekend, with his fiancée, for a week’s visit, the house hadn’t seemed big enough for all of them!

She had a feeling it was going to seem even less so with Rufus Diamonds’s impressive presence!

‘Really, Rufus, I didn’t see the point in contacting you,’ Celia Diamond was protesting impatiently as Annie moved quietly past the sitting-room doorway. ‘The doctor said it’s a simple sprain, nothing to get in a panic about, and Annie has been taking very good care of her—’

‘Who the hell is Annie?’ that oh, so familiar voice rasped harshly.

‘The new nanny you seem so angry about,’ Celia responded coldly. ‘You weren’t here, Rufus—but then, you never are,’ she added cuttingly. ‘What else was I supposed to do when Margaret walked out so unexpectedly?’

Annie couldn’t move, had become frozen to the spot the moment she heard her name mentioned...!

‘I suppose it was too much to expect that you could look after Jessica yourself,’ Rufus drawled scathingly. ‘Although you still haven’t given me an acceptable explanation as to exactly why Margaret walked out. And if this Annie is taking such good care of Jess, why is it that she’s upstairs in bed at this moment with a leg injury?’

Annie gasped at the injustice of this last remark; there was simply no way, without completely smothering the child, that she could monitor every move of her young charge. And Jessica had been riding for years; in fact, this man had bought her the horse she had fallen from!

‘Maybe I should just ask Annie that myself!’ Even as Rufus spoke, the door to the sitting-room was wrenched completely open, exposing an embarrassed Annie eavesdropping in the hallway. ‘Well?’ Rufus Diamond barked at her. ‘I presume you are Annie?’

She looked at him with widely startled eyes—and it wasn’t all due to being caught out in this way. He knew damn well she was Annie; she had told him down at the jetty that she was his daughter’s nanny.

‘Really, Rufus,’ Celia Diamond admonished haughtily. ‘Sometimes I find it difficult to believe you could possibly be David’s son; he was always such a gentleman, so aware of his position as head of this family,’ she continued scathingly.

Rufus gave her a contemptuous glance. ‘You mean you were always so aware of your position as wife of the head of this family!’ he returned disgustedly. ‘I’m sure my father only died at the relatively early age of sixty-five so that he could at last get away from you and your social-climbing!’

‘Really, Rufus!’ Celia’s gasp was one of dismay now as she clutched at the double string of pearls about her throat, her expression one of deep hurt. ‘Your long absence hasn’t made your tongue any kinder. And have you forgotten there are servants present?’ She flicked a chilling look in Annie’s direction.

She meant her, Annie realised after several stunned moments. A servant! Well...she supposed she was, in a way; she did work for these people, and was paid a wage for doing so. But even so...!

‘I don’t think Annie took too kindly to that last remark, Celia,’ Rufus Diamond interjected.

Annie turned her gaze in his direction, only to find those dark eyes regarding her with amusement. He had obviously been watching her every expression—and deriving great enjoyment from doing so!

Her head went back proudly. ‘Mrs Diamond is perfectly correct in her statement,’ she said smoothly. ‘This appears to be an extremely private family conversation. But I would be quite happy, Mr Diamond, to talk to you about Jessica’s accident at a more convenient time.’ She met his eyes challengingly, still slightly confused as to why he didn’t seem to have told his mother that the two of them had already met earlier down on the beach.

Why hadn’t he told Celia Diamond? Why hadn’t she confessed? The answer to the last was easy; she shouldn’t really have been down on the beach at all this afternoon. Celia Diamond had warned her when she’d first come to work here not to go down there when the weather was like it was today...

‘Now is a convenient time for me,’ Rufus Diamond invited her.

‘It’s Annie’s afternoon off,’ Celia told him quickly before Annie could make any sort of reply.

Rufus looked at her with narrowed eyes now. ‘Is it indeed?’ he finally drawled slowly.

Annie didn’t need to be told that, with this new information, he was again adding up two and two and coming up with the answer of five! The speculation was clearly there in his mocking gaze.

‘It is,’ she confirmed briskly. ‘But I’m not going anywhere, except upstairs to check on Jessica, so I’ll be perfectly happy to talk to you once you’ve finished your conversation with your mother—’ She broke off with a puzzled frown as her remark brought forth a harsh laugh from Rufus. ‘Did I say something...funny?’ she said haltingly—although for the life of her she couldn’t imagine what it had been.

‘To me, yes. To Celia, no,’ Rufus replied, his grin wolfish again now, as it had been down on the beach. ‘If you’ve been here two months someone really should have filled you in on the family history by now—’

‘Rufus!’ Celia admonished sharply, two spots of angry colour in her cheeks.

He gave her only a cursory glance. ‘Something else the servants shouldn’t know?’ he taunted.

Celia gave him one of her chilling looks—a look that had no visible effect on him whatsoever!—before turning back to Annie. ‘Perhaps if you wouldn’t mind going and checking on Jessica now...?’ she suggested smoothly—although it was more in the order of an instruction. ‘I’m sure you and Rufus can catch up with each other later,’ she dismissed.

Annie was beginning to wish she had never set eyes on the man!

There was no doubting that Celia Diamond could be slightly condescending in her manner, or that things had become a little complicated since Anthony had arrived with his fiancée for a visit, but for the main part Annie had enjoyed her time here, found Jessica a delight to work with. Admittedly, it hadn’t all been peace and harmony, but she loved Jessica, and anything else was just discomfort she had learnt to live with.

With the arrival of Rufus Diamond, she had a feeling all that was about to change!