Bond of Fate by Jane Corrie Read Free Book Online Page B

suspected that she was the one that was supplying most of their entertainment.
    In a way this was understandable; the hotel was like a small village community. Everybody knew everybody else's business, and a newcomer was a source of avid interest until everything was known about him or her. Under the circumstances, it wasn't easy for Melanie to take things in her stride, but she was much too sensible a person to let them get her down. Even so, there were times when she wondered if Julian was putting her through a commando training course by dropping her in at the deep end and seeing if she could survive!
    It was the only answer that made sense to her. She was sure that he was well aware that she hated the evening after-dinner sessions when they circulated among the other guests, all personal friends of his, and didn't attempt to shield her from their natural curiosity, making her feel if she had been pushed out to sea on a small raft to brave the heavy waves of the ocean as they swept over her.
    She certainly had cause to be grateful for Celia's insistence on her purchasing several evening gowns, all of which stood up well against the richly dressed women around her. She was well aware that, as Julian Cridell's wife, she had to accept more than her fair share of interest in her appearance. She was also conscious of the fact that she didn't wear make-up. Her skin was clear and unblemished, and she had never used lipstick, hence Mrs Hounslow Holmes's remark about her looking like a games mistress, which was not so very far from the truth, Melanie had to concede later when she had had time to recall the remark. She would have been more gratified to have heard another of that astonishing lady's remarks,
     
    which had likened her to a rambling rose set against a variety of hot-house orchids!
    At first, she wondered what she should tell the more curious ones who enquired how she had met Julian, and on putting this to him, got the reply that the more they kept to the truth on these matters, the better it would be in the long run. She was to say that she had been employed as tutor to Celia, and let them take it from there. Melanie recalled herself flushing at the picture this was sure to present to most of the sophisticated women around them of a love at first sight, entailing a whirlwind courtship!
    There was also the bald fact that her sudden appearance among them as Julian's wife had doused many hopes in that direction, particularly a few rich, bored divorcees, who consequently looked upon Melanie as an outsider who had had the temerity to plunder on their preserve. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, her unsophisticated manner and unadorned features must have caused much irritation, and seemed a positive insult to their beauty salon expenses.
    After her first debut, Melanie could see how right Julian had been when he had advised her to tell the truth about their association. That way she couldn't be expected to have a lot in common with his friends, and the conversation would automatically drift on to other channels, making life a lot easier for her.
    There remained only one little matter to worry her, and that was the fact that so far, no one had actually asked when they had married, and she could see a wretched time ahead should the actual date be known, for although Julian was attentive to her in company, it was hardly the kind of attention a man would give his new bride at such a time. Whatever else she felt able to
     
    seek advice on, this question was certainly not one of them, and she was only too grateful that he hadn't thought of it himself, for should he make any attempt to act the lover, Melanie didn't know how she would cope. Basically honest, she could no more go through that stage of deception than she could put up with the detestable man her aunt had married. Not that she put Julian Cridell in that class, but the state of miserable embarrassment that would ensue in such a situation would be just as acute.
    The days