Unknown by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

. ‘The cheeks were sallow and half covered in black whiskers’ . . . He hadn’t shaved today, he probably didn’t while he was up here on his own and he wasn’t going to bother for her. Another day or two and they would look like a couple of tramps. More than another two days, she thought, and I shall go crazy .. . ‘The eyes deep set and singular.’ He looked up, turned his head slightly, saw her eyes on him and scowled. ‘A half-civilised ferocity’. . . Pattie recalled, and smiled at the aptness of that, amused by the little game she was playing, when he said, ‘I hope you’re not writing this article of yours in your head.’
    She gasped, because it was as though he had read her mind, flushing scarlet and hoping the light was dim enough to hide it as he got up and came towards her. She scrambled to her feet, she wasn’t crouching down here at his feet, and he said, ‘What kind of questions would you be asking?’
    He wasn’t co-operating, she was sure of that. They stood, facing each other, and his nearness was so oppressive that she could hardly breathe. ‘What do you know about me?’ he asked. Pattie could hardly speak. She knew that everything about him seemed a threat. She knew all the facts she had read in his envelope in the office library. She said jerkily, ‘What other people have written.’
    ‘Bad,’ he shook his head reprovingly at her. The beard shadow was heavy. Michael had such a smooth skin, she had never seen him even remotely in need of a shave. The sheer animal maleness of this man horrified her, and then he said, ‘You need personal experience,’ and she did stop breathing, because he was looking at her, at her face, at her body, as though he was assessing her. And for what?
    ‘You’re no beauty, Pattie Ross,’ he said at last, ‘but you’re a woman and you’re here. Don’t you think that your readers would prefer it if you could say I made a pass at you?’
    Her breath came out choking, ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
    ‘Oh, I’m not.’ He was smiling, but that didn’t reassure her at all. ‘Not as a lover, I assure you. What else do you suggest we do to pass the time?’ He put hands on her shoulders. The touch was light but she felt as though he was gripping her and she shuddered and, croaked, ‘Let me go!’
    ‘I wish I could.’ Although he wasn’t holding her any longer she could still feel his hands. ‘But that’s the trouble, you won’t go.’
    She couldn’t go, there was no way, and for a moment she believed she was about to be ravished and she knew she would go mad, then he laughed and said, ‘You wouldn’t be worth the fuss.’
    He was baiting her, deliberately terrifying her. She said shakily, ‘I hate you,’ and he said,
    ‘I’m not too crazy about you—and I’ll tell you something else, you’re sure as hell not growing on me.’
    He ate in silence, a meal of cold ham and pickles, bread and cheese which he brought from the kitchen and ate at his work table. There was no suggestion that Pattie should eat, and she couldn’t have swallowed anything. She just sat by the fire, waiting to be left alone, willing him to go upstairs, but when he did he took the lamp with him. There was another one hanging from a beam, but she didn’t know how to use it, so when he went she was in darkness, except for the firelight.
    It was still snowing outside. She opened the back door and looked into a whirling whiteness and sobbed, almost silently, although Duncan Keld couldn’t have heard her, not from upstairs he couldn’t. It was years since she had felt so vulnerable and so helpless. Never in her life had she met a man who showed her such contempt and such antagonism. Today had lessened none of it, and if things went on like this there would be an explosion, because whenever he looked at her violence never seemed far beneath the surface.
    She built up the fire, so high that the room was quite bright with it. At least she was warm and she might get to sleep.