Stars Over Sarawak by Anne Hampson Read Free Book Online Page B

when it seemed clear that Baybur was going to win. She failed to notice Carl Denver's amusement, so intent was she on her horse.
     
     'It's won!' she cried. 'My very first bet, and I've won!' She looked up into the humour-filled eyes of the man who had given her the tip. 'Thank you very much, Mr. Denver,' she said, suddenly becoming shy and lowering her head.
     
     'I told you you'd the chance of making a big profit,' he reminded her, and she nodded a little glumly.
     
     'I have to be careful, you see,' she confided. 'It's very expensive living here.'
     
     No comment for the moment from Carl. Malcolm wanted another tip, but none was forthcoming. So all three backed different horses and as before Malcolm went off to place the bets.
     
     'When are you thinking of going home?' Carl spoke immediately after Malcolm had gone. 'You've nothing to stay for now, have you?'
     
     'Well, not really,' she began, when he interrupted her to say that she should never have come in the first place.
     
     'You could have done all you wanted to do through the official circles,' he said.
     
     'I suppose so. But I felt I should be able to do more if I came myself. I had no idea how to start, though, and I do thank you for helping me.'
     
     'My help, as you call it, hasn't done you much good.' He observed her critically, noting the smoky look in her eyes, the result of anxiety. 'You appear to be at a loose end?'
     
     'Yes, I am.' She hesitated and then impulsively, 'Mr. Denver, I was talking to some people in the hotel — people who work for the oil company in Brunei — and one of them had heard that an Englishman had gone up the Yangai River—'
     
     'The Yangai? You're thinking your husband might have been that man?'
     
     'Yes, I am.' Carl Denver said nothing, merely waiting for her to continue. 'Malcolm tells me that you are going up that same river to make some investigations. I wondered if — if you'd be so kind as to inquire of the Natives whether or not my husband was there?'
     
     'And if I do inquire, and discover he was there, what then?'
     
     'I would be a little nearer discovering what happened to him.'
     
     The amber eyes narrowed.
     
     'You're hoping he has met his end, is that it?'
     
     'No, certainly not!' Colour rushed into her cheeks. 'I must know whether or not I'm a widow, though, mustn't I?' and before he could answer, 'I've told you, I want to marry again.'
     
     The thin lips twisted in a half-sneer.
     
     'Your eagerness to marry is so typically feminine,' he commented without any attempt at tact. 'You've found your ideal, you say—' This with distinct sarcasm that caused her colour to deepen to an even rosier hue. 'How long will he remain your ideal, do you think?'
     
     Roanna's pointed little chin lifted.
     
     'For ever, Mr. Denver.'
     
     His lips twitched.
     
     'Forever and a day ... How old did you say you were, Mrs. Barrett?'
     
     'I don't think I told you my age. I'm twenty-four.'
     
     'No age at all,' he declared. 'You'll learn as time goes on.'
     
     'If you're telling me I'll become disillusioned with marriage,' she retorted, 'then you're wasting your time, Mr. Denver!'
     
     Unperturbed by her spurt of anger, he said quietly,
     
     'I wasn't telling you, I was warning you. However,' he added with a significant glance, 'you shouldn't need warning. You've managed to make one failure, so I shouldn't have thought you'd be as eager as you are to add another to it.'
     
     'You're a cynic, Mr. Denver.'
     
     'Wisely so, Mrs. Barrett. A little cynicism wouldn't come amiss in your own case.'
     
     'I'm not expecting to make another failure,' she said quietly, reverting to what had gone before.
     
     'Your optimism might appear commendable to some people; to me it's not only misplaced, it's laughable. The fact of your first failure seems not to trouble you at all.'
     
     'It wasn't I who failed,' she began, but was interrupted by a harsh laugh.
     
     'What woman didn't