Ginny could see where this was heading, and her heart sank. 'The Brigadier has other plans for you,' she said flatly.
'How do you know?' Lucy asked in surprise, and Ginny winced sympathetically.
'He told me so last night.'
'You've seen him?'
'Oh, yes,' Ginny confirmed wryly.
Lucy looked dispirited. 'He gave me this list of people he wants me to pick a husband from! I couldn't believe it. It's positively medieval!'
'Have you told him about Peter?' Ginny queried, and Lucy shook her head forcefully.
'I didn't dare to. I was afraid of what he might do. Peter wanted to confront him, but I knew that wouldn't work. Now Dad's turning on the pressure and I don't know what to do.'
Ginny knew, but it depended on one answer. 'Does Peter love you?'
Lucy's face took on a glow that would have made words unnecessary. 'Oh, yes. But he's not a rich man, and he doesn't come from a prominent family. Dad would never agree. Never. I thought about running away, but Peter shares with two other students. I had nowhere to go.'
'You do now,' Ginny corrected firmly. 'You must come to me.' She reached into her purse for a pen and snapped a tissue from the nearby box. She wrote quickly and handed the paper to her sister. 'This is my address. Hide it somewhere safe. As soon as you can, you must leave home and come to me. The Brigadier can't stop you. You're eighteen now, and legally free to leave home.'
The relief on Lucy's face was countered by a swift frown. 'But, Ginny, are you sure? If Dad found out he would be furious.'
'He can't do anything to me, Lucy,' she reassured immediately. 'You can stay with me as long as you like.'
Lucy bit her lip. 'I couldn't pay you much until I get a job, but I'm willing to try my hand at anything. Peter and I want to get a place of our own as soon as we can, but he has a student's loan to pay off, so it won't be anything grand.'
Ginny gave a swift shake of her head. 'You don't have to pay me anything. I just want you out of that house.'
'Will Roarke mind if I move in with you?' Lucy surprised her with the next question.
'Why on earth should he?' she asked, quite forgetting the role she was playing.
Lucy coloured up. 'Well, I mean … You two are used to being alone, aren't you?'
The penny dropped with an almighty clang. 'Ah! Actually, Lucy, things aren't quite what they seem. I'm just doing Roarke a favour,' she explained uncomfortably.
'Are you trying to tell me there's nothing between you?' Lucy asked in surprise, and Ginny nodded. To which her sister gave an unladylike snort of disbelief. 'I don't believe it. When you two are together there's a positive zing in the air. There's something putting that buzz in the air, and it isn't bees!'
That was something Ginny didn't want to hear. 'Roarke and I have been at loggerheads since we met. That's what you're picking up.'
Lucy tutted disappointedly. 'I didn't come down in the last shower of rain, you know, but if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine with me,' she declared airily, getting to her feet. 'I'd better go before he sends Mum out in search of me.' Bending, Lucy kissed Ginny's cheek. 'Thanks Ginny, you're a lifesaver.'
'That's what big sisters are for,' she retorted with a smile.
At the door, Lucy glanced back over her shoulder. 'I'll come as soon as I can.'
'I'll be waiting,' Ginny promised, and sank back with a sigh as the door closed behind her sister. It was going to be all right. Lucy was smart. She would play the dutiful daughter until the moment she left, and after that their father couldn't touch her.
She had Roarke to thank in the long run. If he hadn't asked for her help, she would probably never have known about James, and would never have seen Lucy. A lot had happened in the last few days, and mostly for the good. Now, if only she could help Roarke out with his father, she would have gone some way to balancing the scales. As for her attraction to Roarke himself, she was going to do her best not to think about it at all, because it was frightening in its intensity, and she had no idea how to deal with it. She was unsettled by what she was experiencing. On the one hand she didn't want it, yet on the other she knew that she had never wanted anything as much.
If there was a funny side to this turn of events, she just couldn't see it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHEN Ginny returned to their table some time later she discovered it was still empty, and began searching the crowd of dancers for Roarke. She found him without too much trouble-and the blonde head resting on his shoulder.
Anger shot through her like a rapier at the sight, and she had to restrain herself from rushing on to the floor and pulling Jenna off him physically. She reminded herself that Roarke was not hers, but that did little to quell the anger. All she could think was that the woman had no right to be acting so possessively and that she, Ginny, was going to put a stop to it once and for all.
How, she didn't know, until her roving gaze fell on Lewis Adams and saw that he was watching the couple too. His expression was tight, and she didn't have to be a mind-reader to know that he wasn't happy with the situation. Ginny knew it wasn't Roarke's fault that Lewis's wife was behaving so brazenly, but she wasn't so sure that Lewis would see it that way. She knew Roarke was against telling his father what had really happened with Jenna, for fear of making the situation worse, but Ginny credited the older man with more wisdom now. Someone had to put him straight, and if Roarke wouldn't do it, it fell to her to do so.
She had got no further than that when the man himself appeared before her. He smiled as he stood looking down at her, then held out his hand.
'I think we ought to go and break that up, don't you?' he suggested, taking her by surprise.
'Well … er … I was thinking the same thing myself,' she admitted, getting to her feet and eyeing him warily. 'Only … the situation might not be quite what you think.'
'And just what would that be?' he queried, ushering her the few yards to the dance floor and swinging her into his arms with decided panache.
Ginny licked her lips nervously. 'Roarke isn't … I mean, he wouldn't … ' The words tailed off lamely as she wasn't sure how to proceed.
As it happened, Lewis Adams smiled kindly. 'I'm fully aware of what my son isn't doing or wouldn't do, Ginny,' he told her confidentially, and she blinked at him.
'You are?' she asked doubtfully.
'Oh, undoubtedly. I'm grateful that my son has better instincts when it comes to women than I do. You, my dear young woman, are the real McCoy, whilst Jenna is merely fool's gold. Myself being the fool,' he added with wry humour.
Her lips twitched. 'It wouldn't be polite of me to agree with you.'
'But to disagree would be a lie?' Roarke's father finished for her. 'You're quite right, of course. I did my son an injustice some years ago, and I fully intend to put that right. Firstly, though, I think it's about time I put you and Roarke out of my misery.' With which he steered her over to where his wife and son danced and tapped Roarke on the shoulder. 'Ready to change partners, son? It's time I took care of my wife. Come along, darling.'
Ginny and Roarke watched as he danced a scowling Jenna away from them, then they were jostled by a couple and he guided Ginny out of the way.
'We're creating a minor log jam here,' Roarke declared humorously, and Ginny eyed the crush dubiously.
'Let's go back,' she suggested, but Roarke caught hold of her hand and used it to twirl her into his arms.
'And waste a perfectly good dance floor? I think not,' he countered, giving her no chance to refuse.
This wasn't at all what Ginny had had in mind, but she could hardly create a scene over a dance. And dancing was all it was, she told herself firmly. Slowly, they began to circle the room.
'What was all that about with Dad?' Roarke asked curiously, and Ginny pulled away enough to look him in the eye.
'That was your father's way of telling you he's not as blind as you think. At least, not any more,' she told him seriously, and saw the message strike home in his eyes. Roarke tried to find his father amongst the dancers, but he had vanished from sight. He turned back to Ginny.
'What did you do?' he challenged suspiciously, and she shook her head.
'Nothing, honestly. He came to me and suggested he break you and Jenna up-in the nicest possible way, of course. From what he said, he's no longer fooled by her, and he's sorry he misjudged you.'
Roarke's eyes shone with affection for his parent. 'The old fox. He said that, did he?'
Ginny smiled, pleased for him. 'Not in so many words, but I could read between the lines. I won't steal his thunder. Anything else you want to know, you'll have to take up with him.'
'I will, just as soon as the time is right,' he confirmed, then held her gaze, looking deeply into her eyes as if searching for something. 'You're something of a lucky charm, Ginny Harte,' he murmured softly, but she shook her head.