Ripped by Frederic Lindsay Read Free Book Online

temples leapt in tiny explosions of forked lightning. In fright, he popped open his eyes and stared at the back of the chauffeur's head.
    'You were quick back, Denny.'
    'You said to make it fast, Mr H.'
    Heathers caught the chauffeur's glance in the mirror, and wondered if the man had seen him open his eyes so suddenly. He had been with him for a long time; perhaps he had remarked on that movement before and speculated about it. Heathers found that thought unpleasant and said abruptly, 'So I did. You'll be looking for a productivity bonus, Denny . '
    The chauffeur laughed dismissively. He practised an exactly calculated independence since both of them knew that was the form of obsequiousness Heathers found most comfortable. He kept silence then until the car drew to a halt. 'That's it on the left, the house should be about half - way down going by the number, it doesn't seem all that long a street.' He squinted at the house on the opposite corner. 'I can't read the numbers from here . '
    'Bloody little people,' Heathers said. 'They hide their number in wee iron knots on the gate. Put bloody silly names over the door. Pretend they're in the middle of an estate park hoatching with sheep and gamekeepers.' This time it seemed to Heathers his chauffeur's laugh was genuine.
    'I'll carry on straight ahead,' the man said. 'Find the first place on this side of the road.'
    'You do that,' Heathers said, preparing to get out.
    'One of these days when I'm sitting reading my paper, somebody'll think I'm getting ready to bag his house – and call the police.'
    'That'll be right,' Heathers said drily. 'First thing that would occur to anybody seeing a car like this.'
    The joke put him in a good humour with himself as he processed between the semi-detacheds, small family houses built in the thirties. Some had put a dormer window in the attic to get a third or fourth bedroom; at one time, somebody had set a fashion for adding a porch. The garages took up most of the space between neighbours. 'Ravenscraig', 'Beechcroft' . In Gaelic: 'Sky and Sea'. It was easy to miss the numbers.
    When she opened the door, he could smell the mingled scent of flowers and furniture polish. Inside there was a fitted carpet with a hard-wearing dark pattern, a low table for the telephone fitted with a padded seat, a stand bearing a vase of yellow tea roses. There was even a barometer on the wall. In the living room , looking at a piece of polished wood that seemed to be an imitation of the kind of tourist junk he had seen for sale in African airports, he said, 'Malcolm's a lucky man . I hadn't realised – I hadn't expected you to be the perfect housewife.'
    'You don't know anything about me,' she said.
    'Malcolm – does he know all about you? How long have you been married, a year is it, two? I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot about you he doesn't know.'
    'If you want to wait until he comes home,' she said, 'you can discuss it with him.'
    'It was you I wanted to see. That's why I phoned to find out if you'd be in.'
    'Not you,' she said. 'It was your secretary who phoned.'
    He shrugged then, as a thought struck him, smiled . 'Confidential secretary. She knows when to keep her mouth shut.'
    Irene Wilson was sitting on the couch in the full light from the deep picture window. From the comfortable chair – which had a fitted cover, of course, in a floral pattern and tied underneath with tapes – he studied her legs and was pleased with what he saw. She's better looking than I remember, he thought; like an actress.
    'Most people will do what you tell them,' Irene Wilson said.
    'And not just because you're rich. They can see you expect to have your own way.' Taking him by surprise, she laughed.
    'What is it?'
    'When I said that, you put your head on one side. You were like a cat having his ears rubbed.'
    'You rub and I'll purr,' he said; but could not resist adding, 'I'm the same man I've always been. I've never changed.'
    'J ust after I met Malcolm,' she said,