Savage Awakening(28)

He'd entertained the brief hope that it might be his mother. But of  course it wasn't, and naturally Diane had been peeved that he'd been out  the previous day. He hadn't mentioned Fliss. He'd let Diane think he'd  been alone, embroidering his story by saying that he hadn't got back  until quite late.

'But what were you doing?' Diane asked irritably. 'I thought the whole  idea of you moving to the country was that you could get some rest and  quiet.'

'What makes you think anything's changed?' he countered, annoyed that  she felt she had the right to make judgements. 'I went to the coast, if  you must know. I felt like some sea air.'

'Sea air?' Diane snorted. 'You?' She sounded amused. 'Darling, when you  want sea air you fly to Cannes or St Tropez. Not some leaky resort on  the south coast.'

'That's only your opinion.'

'It used to be yours, too!' Diane exclaimed, her humour vanishing. Then,  with an obvious effort, 'Look, why don't we do that next weekend, mmm?  Fly to Cannes, I mean. I imagine Hugh's boat's still moored there. He'd  be happy to have you use it. It might persuade him that you weren't  serious when you told him to stuff his job.'

'But I was serious,' said Matt flatly. 'And, for the record, I didn't  tell him to stuff his job.' Hugh Gregory had been his boss at Thames  Valley News and he was still a good friend. 'In any case, I don't have  any desire to fly to Cannes. I'm perfectly happy here.'

'Well, I'm not,' retorted Diane bitterly. 'And if you think I want to  spend my days baking cakes for the local jumble sale or fielding a stall  at the church fête, you're mistaken.'

'In other words, you don't want to be like your mother,' remarked Matt drily and Diane reacted with predictable vehemence.

'No, I don't,' she snapped peevishly. 'Nor do I want to be like Fliss  Taylor either.' She paused, as if the name had set off some  extra-sensory premonition. 'Have you seen her again, by the way?'

Matt sighed. He could lie, but what was the point? 'Well, as she works  for me, I'd say that was a no-brainer,' he replied evenly. 'I'm  surprised your mother didn't tell you.'

'You've given her a job!' He'd expected an angry outburst and he wasn't  disappointed. 'My God, Matt, how could you do such a thing? You know how  I feel about that woman.'

Matt only stopped himself from saying that he didn't give a damn how she  felt about it with an effort. Instead, he remained civil as he said,  'She's a good housekeeper, Diane. Why shouldn't I employ her? She knows  this house better than I do.'

'Do you think I care if she's good at her job?' Diane was incensed. 'And  to think, I almost drove down to see you yesterday when you didn't  answer your phone. I was worried about you, Matt. But I'd have been  mortified if I'd discovered Fliss Taylor was there.'

He'd have been mortified, too, Matt acknowledged, remembering what he'd  been doing the previous afternoon. It would have been horribly  embarrassing if Diane had turned up at the house. But that was all, he  realised with some amazement. He'd have been embarrassed, but not  altogether sorry if she'd found him with Fliss. It would have been  easier than having to go on pretending they had a future together.

But he could hardly tell her that over the phone, and, choosing the  least provocative option, he said, 'Fliss doesn't work Saturdays.' Which  had the virtue of being true.

'Big deal.' Diane was not appeased, her tone turning from resentment to  petulance. 'I miss you, Matt. I can't believe you're going to stay there  indefinitely.' She sniffed. 'You haven't even said you're sorry I  didn't make the trip.'
                       
       
           



       
'Diane-'

'No, I mean it, Matt. I'm beginning to think you don't care about me at  all,' she broke in, her voice rising as she spoke. 'If you did, you'd be  interested in why I couldn't come. You'd want to know where I was and  who I was with.'

Matt blew out a breath. 'OK, tell me,' And then, when she didn't  immediately answer him, he added, 'I guess it was something to do with  the gallery, yeah?'

Diane hesitated, but as he'd expected she couldn't resist boasting about  her achievements. 'Actually, Tony arranged for us to go to Winchester,'  she said triumphantly, obviously expecting him to be impressed. 'To see  the Charteris Collection. Can you believe that? I mean, the curator  almost never allows members of the public to see it, but Tony has a  friend who has a friend and he organised it just for me. Wasn't that  darling of him?'

Matt suppressed a wry smile. 'Darling,' he agreed mockingly, and he heard her expel an angry breath.

'Of course, I might have known you'd make fun of me,' she snapped, and Matt felt contrite.

'I'm sorry,' he said, not wanting to upset her unnecessarily. 'But forgive me, I don't know what the Charteris Collection is.'

Diane huffed, but she obviously wanted to tell him, and she spent the  next few minutes describing the collection of antique snuff boxes in  great detail. 'The colours were amazing,' she added. 'Tony and I were  absolutely overwhelmed. Of course, he is an expert in fine arts and  jewellery, and these little boxes used to be carried by absolutely  everyone.'

'Absolutely,' agreed Matt, and then could have bitten out his tongue when Diane pounced on his sardonic response.

'There you go again!' she exclaimed. 'You can't resist it, can you? My  work means ab-practically nothing to you. That's why you think I should  give it up and move back to Mallon's End.'

'I've never suggested you should give up your job to move back to  Mallon's End,' Matt replied wearily. 'I made it clear, right from the  start, that this was what I wanted to do. Nothing else.'

'In other words, I don't matter,' Diane snorted. 'You know, I really  think you don't care where I go or what I do.' She paused, and then  continued defiantly, 'If I told you Tony and I had spent the night  together in Winchester, you'd probably still have that smug note in your  voice.'

'Sorry,' said Matt, but he didn't sound it. He paused. 'So, did you?'

'Did I what?'

Matt's mouth compressed. He was tempted not to play her game, but  perhaps it would be easier for both of them if he did. 'Did you sleep  with him?' he repeated, and once again she gave an outraged gasp.

'Of course I didn't sleep with him,' she cried.

'No?'

'No.'

Matt took a gamble. 'Well, it wouldn't be the first time, would it?' he  suggested mildly. 'You didn't remain celibate all the time I was away.'

'Matt!' She sounded horrified. 'How can you say such a thing? I was  positively devastated when you went missing. Ask your mother. She'll  tell you. She was the only person I could turn to, the only one who  understood how I was feeling.'

'So Corbett was lying, was he?'

'Tony?' She caught her breath, confused. 'What do you mean?'

Matt chose his words with care. 'He told me he'd comforted you,' he  responded casually. 'That you'd turned to him when you needed-emotional  relief.'

There was silence for so long that Matt had begun to think she'd hung up  on him. But then she burst out chokingly, 'Don't pretend you care!' And  Matt knew his gamble had paid off. He'd suspected for some time that  Diane's relationship with her boss had changed significantly. He'd just  never had the opportunity to test his theory before.

Before he could explain, however, Diane spoke again. 'When did he tell  you?' she demanded. A sob thickened her words. 'He swore-he swore he'd  never do anything to break us up.'                       
       
           



       

'He didn't.' Matt heard her sudden intake of breath and continued  flatly, 'I may seem brain-dead to you, Diane, but I'm not stupid.'

'You mean-'

'I was only guessing,' he admitted tiredly. 'Corbett said nothing to me.'

'You bastard!'

Diane didn't pretend to mince her words now and Matt decided he deserved  that. 'We've both been looking for a way to end this, Diane,' he told  her gently. 'It was good while it lasted, but you and I have both moved  on.'

'You haven't moved on.' Diane refused to listen to reason. She was hurt  and, like a wounded animal, she lashed out. 'If you hadn't tried to be a  hero, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I've always known a good  story was more important to you than I was.'

'That's not true.'

'Isn't it?' Diane gave a scornful laugh. 'You can't blame me because I have needs only a real man can satisfy.'

Matt stifled a groan. 'I'm not blaming you, Diane-'

'Damn right.' She felt humiliated now and she'd evidently decided she  had nothing left to lose. 'Blame yourself. Blame whatever those bastards  did to you. But don't blame me for needing something you can't give me  anymore.'

'Diane-'

'No, you listen to me. You're not the same man I fell in love with.  You've changed, Matt. Really changed. Even your mother has noticed.  You're harder, crueller. You don't care about anyone but yourself. Oh,  and by the way, you don't need a woman. You've either forgotten-or lost  interest in-what to do with one.'