The Designer(75)

‘My darling, please don’t cry,’ he said gently.

‘I didn’t know whether you were alive or dead.’

‘I am very much alive,’ he said. ‘And longing for you.’

‘Are you coming home?’

‘Not just yet.’

‘When will you come?’ she demanded. ‘I miss you so terribly. I worry about you. Please come back to me.’

‘Nothing will stop me once I am free,’ he promised. ‘But I still have things to do.’

‘Are you in danger?’

‘None at all.’

‘Don’t get killed,’ she said, breaking into fresh tears. ‘I don’t want to be here without you.’

‘You won’t have to be, I promise.’

‘Come back,’ she heard herself saying, ‘and I’ll marry you.’

There was a silence on the line and for a moment she thought they’d been disconnected. Then he said, in an altered voice, ‘Do you mean that?’

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. ‘Yes.’

‘You’ve made me the happiest man in the world,’ he said, and she could hear the joy in his voice. ‘I’ll be back in Paris in a week. I’ll arrange a registry office.’

‘Please keep it quick and simple!’

‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to give you time to change your mind.’

What have I said? she asked herself when the call was over. What have I done?

She replaced the receiver with a shaking hand. She’d been missing him so badly that she would have said anything to get him to come home. But hadn’t she been telling herself she was not ready for another marriage?

There was no retracting her acceptance now. That would break Henry’s heart. She’d said the words – she wouldn’t have let them out of her mouth if she hadn’t meant them. Would she?

She fought against her second thoughts. It was time. She’d been rattling around Paris alone for far too long, rootless and fancy-free. It was time she settled down before she ended up half-crazy, like Amory. Henry offered her so much – security, devotion, companionship. She lay back in bed, cradling the sleepy dog in her arms. She loved Henry, that much was certain, and in the end, that was all that mattered. Like Catherine Dior, if she could have her man, what more did she need? She was glad she had finally capitulated.



Copper decided that the first person she should tell was Suzy. She went to see her the next day. For once, Suzy was out of bed before mid-afternoon and wrapped in her dressing gown. She opened the door of her apartment. Her face lit up. ‘You came, after all.’ She held out her hands. ‘Forgive me, chérie. I behaved badly.’

Copper was moved by the expression in Suzy’s dark eyes. ‘You’re forgiven, of course.’

Suzy kissed her on the lips. ‘I was afraid you would never come back to me.’

‘Well, here I am,’ Copper replied ruefully. ‘I wanted to talk.’

‘Don’t reproach me. I was vulgar and cruel. I showed the nastiest part of myself to you. You were right. At least now you have seen the worst. There it is, my ugly soul bared to you.’

Copper smiled. ‘You’re never ugly.’

‘You’re so beautiful when you smile.’ Suzy was staring into her face.

There was no point in delaying it any longer. She took a deep breath. ‘I’ve come to tell you that I’m going to marry Henry.’

An icy wind cut down all of Suzy’s joy in an instant. ‘What?’

‘I’ve agreed. He’s coming back to Paris in a week. We’ll just have a quick ceremony.’

‘You crush my heart.’

‘I don’t want to do anything so violent, I promise you.’

‘But you do. You can’t help it. Is this because of Yvonne?’

‘Oh no, of course not.’

‘It is. You want to punish me.’

Copper shook her head. ‘It’s because I love him.’

Suzy buried her face in her hands. ‘Damn you. Nobody has ever tortured me as you have.’

‘Tortured you? Oh, Suzy!’

‘You’ve made me suffer agonies of waiting.’ She raised her face from her hands. Copper saw that Suzy was in earnest. Her face was pale, her lips bloodless. ‘And now this. I can’t bear it. There is nothing as cruel as the cruelty of beautiful young women.’

Copper was dismayed. ‘You know I never wanted to hurt you.’

‘I have given up so much for you. All my affairs, all my friendships. My every thought. My every desire. Everything, sacrificed for you. And now you’re flying away from me, and it will all have been in vain.’

‘We’ll always be friends,’ Copper said helplessly.

‘I want to be more than your friend.’ As though by accident, Suzy let her gown slip open. She was naked beneath it. The warm scent of her blonde skin was intoxicating, of that smooth woman’s body that was as supple as a man’s yet had a woman’s softness; a woman’s curves. ‘I want to be yours. All of me. Did you never love me? Even a tiny bit?’

‘You know that I did – I do.’

‘Then why are you killing me like this?’