The Designer(76)

Copper had known this would be difficult. ‘I’m so sorry. I care about you, but I can’t live alone forever.’

‘You don’t have to be alone.’ Suzy’s long fingers slipped behind Copper’s neck, drawing her forward. Her lips searched for Copper’s. ‘I will take care of you.’

‘Oh, Suzy,’ Copper whispered against the moist, warm mouth. ‘I just can’t—’

‘Say nothing.’ She silenced Copper with kisses. ‘Think nothing, be nothing – except mine.’ She pulled Copper on to the sofa, tugging at the buttons of her dress. Her hand slid under the fabric, her fingertips trailing along the curves of Copper’s breasts, raising the soft skin in gooseflesh.

‘Stop, Suzy. It’s too late for any of this.’

‘Don’t say it’s too late. I’m begging you, chérie.’ She poured on to Copper like a mountain lion, pinning her down on the cushions. Her warm limbs enfolded her. Suzy’s greater physical strength was thrilling, this creature who could run and swim like an athlete, but with all a woman’s grace. Her eyes had darkened as she stared into Copper’s. ‘You were only trying to hurt me, weren’t you? You don’t really mean to marry that man. Tell the truth.’

‘The truth is that I love him, and he loves me. I’m so sorry.’

‘Little liar.’ Suzy kept Copper’s wrists pinned as she brushed her eyelids with her mouth. ‘You say you don’t want me to suffer,’ Suzy whispered. ‘Yet you enjoy my pain with those cruel grey eyes of yours. You feed on it.’

‘No, I swear I don’t.’

‘I don’t care. You may torture me, if that is what you want. I will be your victim, your slave, anything you want me to be. You can whip me if it pleases you. Only, don’t leave me.’

‘We’ll always be friends.’

‘Damn your friendship.’ Suzy straddled Copper’s chest, settling her weight on her heart. For all her talk of being whipped, she loved to take these dominant positions, asserting herself. ‘Stop thinking about him,’ she hissed, looking down at her trapped prey. ‘He will never love you as I love you.’

Copper couldn’t face it any longer. She should not have come here. She fought Suzy off her and escaped, fastening her dress with trembling fingers. ‘I have to go.’

‘Don’t leave me.’

She made for the door. ‘Goodbye, Suzy. Thank you for everything.’

She heard Suzy call her name in a harsh, anguished voice. ‘I hate you, Copper.’

Then she slammed the door behind her and hurried down the dark, narrow stairs into the street.



Copper was still shaken when she arrived at Dior’s apartment. ‘What on earth’s the matter, my dear?’ he asked, ushering her in.

She was blotting her eyes. ‘I’m going to marry Henry.’

‘But that’s wonderful,’ he exclaimed, putting his hands on her shoulders and kissing her on both cheeks. ‘Congratulations. What are you crying about?’

‘I’ve just come from telling Suzy.’

His expression changed. ‘Ah. I understand. You’d better have a cup of tea.’

Copper sniffed. ‘Thank God I can always rely on you for a little stability.’

‘I take it she wasn’t exactly delighted,’ Dior said as he served the tea in his cosy little parlour.

‘She took it hard,’ Copper admitted.

‘It’s all somewhat sudden,’ Dior pointed out in his mild way. ‘You didn’t give anybody much warning, my dearest. Speaking of which – when’s the big day?’

‘Henry said he’s going to arrange a registry office and a special licence, so perhaps Saturday the fifteenth.’

Dior rose to his feet in horror, his hands upraised. ‘The fifteenth? You wretch. How am I going to make you a wedding outfit by the fifteenth?’

Copper shook her head. ‘I don’t want you to make me a wedding outfit at all,’ she said firmly. ‘This is going to be a quiet affair.’

‘There is no wedding so quiet that a gown can be dispensed with!’

‘This one will be. We’re having a quick registry office ceremony and the smallest possible reception. It’s my second time around, remember? I’m not exactly a blushing virginal bride. And there won’t be time for any of my family to get here. I’m not even asking a lot of friends. But there is something you can do for me.’

‘Yes?’

‘Give me away at the ceremony.’

‘With the greatest of pleasure,’ Dior said, his cheeks going pink. ‘Thank you for asking me. You know that I regard you in the light of a daughter.’ He seemed to have been diverted from the idea of making a wedding gown for now. A big production was the last thing Copper needed. Getting this over, and getting Henry back by her side to start her new life with him was all she wanted.

In fact, Dior had transferred his attention from her wedding outfit to his own. ‘I shall wear the English light-grey morning suit,’ he decided happily. ‘It’s almost brand new. And a blue silk tie from Charvet. And a buttonhole from Lachaume, of course. Lachaume will do your bouquet, too.’

‘I don’t want a big bouquet.’

‘Lilies of the valley,’ he said decisively. ‘My favourite flower, as you know. Oh, it will be such fun! Bébé will be enchanted. This will really perk him up.’