‘Having fun, Pierre?’
‘Always amusing to watch the preachers come undone…’
‘I am not a preacher!’
‘No? I remember a number of tedious sermons on my appalling personality, my ruinous obsession with money, my lack of proper filial concern…the list goes on.’
Georgie reddened. Put like that, it did make her out to be something of an interfering, prissy bore, and for the first time it was driven home just how much of a pain he had always seen her. Too close for comfort and hence too familiar for the subservience he enjoyed. In a world where wealth and status were everything, he was the undisputed king of the city. The way he was treated at the over priced gym in which they were now sitting told its own story of deference and respect. She, on the other hand, had always been the burr under his skin and still was.
She wondered whether it would be possible to abandon her cause and slink off back to Devon without explanation.
‘So tell me why you want the money. It’s been fun imagining the possibilities but the game has reached its limit. I need to be out of here and I dare say you need to head back to Devon.’ He had momentarily forgotten about Jennifer, but a quick glance at his watch told him that he would have to get a move on.
He looked at her impatiently and realised, with surprise, that she seemed stuck for words.
‘Oh, for God’s sake, Georgie. Just spit it out. I haven’t got time for this.’
‘I don’t want to borrow money from you, Pierre. I haven’t run myself into debt gambling on the internet, or…or anything else! I’ve come to tell you that…that…’ her mind went a complete blank and she licked her lips nervously ‘…you and I are…well, it’s kind of difficult to say this…but…we’re—’#p#分页标题#e##p#分页标题#e#
‘Oh, for God’s sake. What?’
‘Engaged! Or as good as…’
CHAPTER TWO
‘WHAT!’
Pierre’s thunderous bellow had several heads swinging interestedly in their direction. Georgie didn’t think that too much bellowing took place in the hallowed confines of the gym café. Did extremely rich, extremely influential people bellow? Probably not. However, this one did.
‘Explain yourself!’ Pierre commanded, leaning forward in his chair and thereby sending her nervous system into frenzied overdrive.
She cleared her throat and tried to maintain eye contact. ‘There’s no need to get into such a state about it…’
‘No need to get into such a state…? What planet are you on, Georgie? You hustle up to London uninvited, accost me at my gym and then calmly inform me that we’re engaged…and I’m not supposed to be just a little bit taken aback?’
‘Practically engaged…well, more sort of seriously involved…’
‘You’ve finally lost the plot, Georgie. You need to be on medication. Either that or making best friends with your local shrink.’
‘Look…I know we’ve had our differences over the years—’
‘That’s the understatement of the century!’
‘But just hear me out.’
‘I’m all ears.’
‘As you know, I’m very close to your mum…I try and look in on her practically every day. Just to make sure that she’s all right.’
‘And she is.’
‘In a manner of speaking.’
‘Look, you’re trying my patience here. I don’t have the time to play word games. She’s fully recovered after her stroke. I spoke to her consultant myself, and believe it or not, I do telephone her once a week.’
‘But you don’t see her.’
‘Let’s not go down this road, Georgie,’ Pierre said tightly. ‘It’s a little too well travelled for my liking.’ He was finding it difficult to rein in his anger and stupefaction at what she was saying. Having been born into a life of relative ease, the recipient of a family fortune that had descended through the generations, Pierre had single handedly seen his parents fritter it all away on a series of ill-thought-out-and bizarre schemes, from organic farming when organic had been barely a word in the dictionary, to investments in companies that had sunk without trace the minute his father had flung money at them.
It had never seemed to unduly bother either of his parents but it had bothered him.
Consequently, he had, from an early age, determined that the fate of his parents would never be his. He would make his fortune and he would exercise relentless control over both it and the course of his life.
He had remorselessly stuck to his game plan, and by the time his father died and the true extent of his debts were revealed Pierre had already amassed several fortunes and was considered one of the greatest financial talents in the country. His discipline was legendary.