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appear he was ready to go that far—though, she supposed in fairness, the P.A.s he employed in London were pretty streamlined. ‘I told you at the beginning of the week that you would be redundant from this particular job,’ he went on. Gerry waited, trying not to let her anxiety show. It seemed she would learn any moment now to which department she would be assigned. ‘After seeing some of your work I’m inclined to believe I may have been somewhat hasty in my decision,’ he ended, to her astonishment.
    Gerry felt her heartbeats quicken that this icy man in front of her could be big enough to indicate he might have made a mistake. Keeping her face as expressionless as possible wasn’t easy as the thought roared through her that perhaps he might agree to her staying on in her old job. She did hope so. She was sure to get the same money she was getting now—if they moved her to a department that didn’t pay so well heaven alone knew how she and Teddy would manage. Besides which, she had seen a new side to the work since he had taken over, and it now seemed more interesting than the work Mr Gillett had given her to do. Aware that her air of calm was in danger of slipping, she sat upright on her chair, her legs neatly crossed at the ankles as she gave him her attention. There was a pause between them which lengthened, and she was conscious he was giving her face a cold, unsmiling scrutiny. It unnerved her, and where she should have remained quiet and allowed him to finish, she found herself asking:
    ‘Are you saying I can keep my job? That I can still be P.A. to the Company Secretary?’
    His expression didn’t alter, though he leaned back in his chair, showing he was very much at ease, very much in charge, while she was becoming more and more tense with every second as she waited for his answer.
    ‘With certain provisos,’ he tossed at her.
    Here we go, she thought, getting herself ready for a lecture on her timekeeping. ‘I’ve been early every day this week,’ she blurted out, then could have bitten her tongue at his sarcastic answer.
    'I'll see you get a medal.’ Then getting down to brass tacks, ‘ All being well the new man will take over some time next month. His name is William Hudson,’ so Basil had been right yet again. ‘I think you should work well together. But,’ he paused, and she tensed at that, because there seemed to be an ominous threat in that small word. ‘But I’m rather afraid you may have picked up ways from William’s predecessor that are not in accordance with the way I want things done.’
    Gerry wanted to protest that everyone had their own way of working, but could see the futility of that argument. True enough, she had worked in the way Mr Gillett had wanted, and probably had, she was prepared to concede, picked up bad habits. On Mr Gillett’s instruction she had taken short cuts which were not her style at all, but since she badly needed this job, she was fully prepared to take heed of what Crawford Arrowsmith was telling her. If he wanted the work doing without the aid of short-cutting, she was prepared to go along with him all the way.
    ‘I’m adaptable,’ she said quietly. ‘If you want the routine altered I’m in agreement with anything you suggest.’
    He looked at her levelly, and she had a suspicion there was a gleam in his eye, like someone about to play a trump card, but nothing prepared her for his next statement.
    ‘Good,’ he said briefly. ‘I’m sure you’re a young woman who means what she says. That being the case you will, I know, have no objection to spending two or three days at our London office seeing the way things work there.’
    ‘London!’ she gasped, all calm gone from her now as her brain took in what was involved with Teddy for her to spend a couple of nights away from home. Annoyingly that unruly strand of hair had started to slip again and lay in a wave against the side of her face, as she tried desperately to remove her flabbergasted