61732871 jane corrie man with two faces

8/13/2019 61732871 Jane Corrie Man With Two Faces

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MAN WITHTWO FACES

Jane Corrie

Mills Et Boon 1 Romance


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MD83

Jane Corrie

MAN WITHTWO FACES

As an act of kindness, to help out her friend Barbara,

Rebecca had agreed to work part-time in Barbara'ssecretarial bureau. But unfortunately for Rebecca, it

was a gesture that misfired, since it led to her meeting

with the maddening Janus Leon. He was a stern, not

to say unreasonable, taskmaster, for a start. But, likethe Roman god after whom he was named, Janus hadtwo faces and the other was that of a heartless

playboy. Would he turn that face to Rebecca and

could she survive if he did?

Mills Et BoonRomance for every mood

ISBN 0-263-74120-6

UK f NET +000.95

Singapore andMalaysia $4.25

Australia $2.25*New Zealand $2.95

*Recommended

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,Books you will enjoyby JANE CORRIE

ROSS'S GIRL

Vicky Dale was having second and thirdthoughts about her engagement to Ross Janson.Suitable it might be, but the fact remained thatshe didn't love him and he certainly didn't loveher. So she broke it off. And then Ross beganto object strongly to Vicky's new friendship

with Pete Noonan. What right had he to inter-fere now?

BRIDE FOR SALE

To further her father's social-climbing ambi-tions, Rowena had been summarily married offto the local squire, Sean Tancred, who needed'her money to keep his beautiful home going. Inher teens Rowena had had a mild crush onSeanbut not any more! Not now that sherealised what . a cold, unfeeling man she hadmarried!

PIRATES' LAIR

Tragedy greeted Thea when she arrived in the

Virgin Islands to visit her brotheronly tolearn that he had been killed in a car crash. Butwhen her brother's boss, the formidable MarcusConan, asked her to marry him it looked as ifshe was going to have a happy ending after all.Until Sapphire Durley burst her dream bubblefor her ..

ISLAND FIESTA

Because they shared the same name, it had beenfairly easy for Corinne's cousin to persuade herto go to the Canary Islands in her place, toclaim a legacy. But it wasn't as simple as thatas Corinne found when she met the co-inheritor

Juan Martel and found herself trapped intomarrying him!


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All the characters in this book have no existence outside

the imagination of the Author, and have no relation

whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or' names.

They are not even distantly inspired by any individualknown or unknown to the Author, and all the incidentsare pure invention.

The text of this publication or any part thereof may

not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-

copying, recording, storage in an information retrieval

system, or otherwise, without the written permissionof the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,

by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out

or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the

publisher in any forth of binding or cover other than that

in which it is published and without a similar condition

including this condition being imposed on the subsequentpurchaser.

First published 1982

Australian copyright 1982

Philippine copyright 1983

This edition 1983

Jane Corrie 1982

ISBN 0 263 74120 6

05-0283

Made and printed in Great Britain by

Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading


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CHAPTER ONE

I WISH,' declared Barbara Basnett vehemently,that I'd chosen an easier way to make a living, but

I didn't envisage having to put up with a perfec-

tionist, or having to go into the mother hen routinewhen a shattered chick returns to the roost reducedto tears.' She stared gloomily down at her coffeecup. 'I tell you, Rebecca, if my financial affairswere on a healthier footing I'd tell the wretchedman to take his business elsewhere. Not that he'dhave any trouble, Jackson's would jump at thechance of taking over.' She sighed loudly, andlooked at Rebecca, her brown eyes behind herhorn-rimmed spectacles narrowing speculatively.`There are times when I wish I were like you,' shesaid wistfully. 'With your looks and experience, I'dstop him dead in his tracks.'

Rebecca Lindsey cast her friend an amusedglance. 'Thanks for the compliment, althoughit could have been better phrased, particularly,the "experience"bit!'she commenteddryly.

`You know what I mean,' Barbara said im-patiently.' Working among all those gorgeousdons and professors, and scything through theirproposals of undying love with a casual "You'llfeel better in the morning!" You could handle

Janus Leon with a hand tied behind your back!'5


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MAN WITH TWO FACES

`You've been absorbing too many of thoseromantic novels you're typing for Rosalie Stanton,'

Rebecca replied lightly, but with a hint of amuse-ment in her voice. 'Successful, over-opinionatedauthors are definitely not my scene, in spite of youroverrated opinion of my competence, let alone theinjustice you're doing to my learned employers. It'snot at all like that,' she added indignantly, her

lovely sapphire-blue eyes opening wide at herinsistence.

`That's not how Dulcie Jeans told it,' Barbarasaid quickly, 'she came down from Cambridge afortnight ago, and she's green with envy+ at thechances she said you'd passed up.' She eyedRebecca with a look of speculation in her eyes.'There's a John Sanderson, I believe, son of thecelebrated Sir George, who, as well as belonging toone of the most influential political families in thecountry, has not only inherited his father's brains,

but his looks as well,' she gave,

Rebecca anothersly look. 'Not to mention Ralph Hastings, whomI'm sure Dulcie had a definite soft spot for, plushalf the girls in her college, and who completelydries up in the. middle of a lecture on theNapoleonic Wars if he happens to catch sight of

you walking across the square, and what's more,it's apparently his favourite subjectneed I saymore?' she queried lightly.The door of Barbara's office was opened

suddenly at this point, and the appearance of atearful girl prevented Rebecca from attempting any

clarification of the facts, and Barbara's dismayed,`Oh, no!' on the abrupt entry of the girl took her


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MAN WITH TWO FACES 7

mind off her annoyance at being classed as aheartbreaker.

I want to hand in my notice!' declared the girl,angrily brushing away a stray tear that coursed downher cheek. 'And I'll only stay on if I can be excusedfrom any work of Mr Leon's!' she ended furiously.

Barbara shot Rebecca a look that said, 'Whatdid I tell you?' and taking a deep breath before

replying as brightly as she was able to under thesomewhat trying circumstances,' 'Very well, Jean.I'll put someone else on to his work. Erhow fardid you get?' she queried.The girl gave a sniff and replied in a voice that

spoke of relief at attaining her object and keeping

her job. 'I finished the ninth chapter. Mirabelle didthe eighth, and I think Sandra did the seventh. I'mnot sure who did the six

`Yes, well, we won't worry about that,' Barbarainterceded swiftly with a weary note in her voice.`You'd better send Linda in to me,' she ordered,

and as the girl left the office, she turned to Rebecca.`You see how it is?' she asked dismally, 'and here'sanother lamb for the slaughter,' she added underher breath as a slim, pretty girl entered the office.

`You wanted me?' queried Linda, tossing her fair

hair back from her face in a movement that spokeof vanity, and in spite of the question Rebecca,idly watching her, felt she was quite sure of thereason behind the summons, and there was a touchof importance in her bearing as she awaited heremployer's orders.

`How far have you got with Passionate Night?'Barbara asked the girl.


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MAN WITH TWO FACES

'Oh, I ought to be through with it by this after-noon,' the girl replied brightly, and waited expect-antly.There was a short pause while Barbara studied

her, then she gave her a quick smile. 'So I can tellher she can have it tomorrow, then,' she said. 'Allright, Linda, thank you,' and she dismissed thepuzzled-looking girl.

Rebecca's brows lifted in query as the doorclosed behind her, but she made no comment, andher thoughts returned to that rather unfair accusa-tion Barbara had levelled against her earlier,making her sound like the college flirt, but shedecided against making an issue of it. 'How's

Dulcie making out?' she asked casually. 'I haven'tseen her since she left college. Did she get that jobshe was after?'

Barbara gave a noncommittal grunt that showedher thoughts were far away from college affairs.Who can I send him now?' she said worriedly,addressing her question to the room at large as ifseeking inspiration from the office furnishings.As the question had not been directed at

Rebecca, she did not attempt to give a reply, notthat she could have done anyway, as apart from the

fact that her friend ran a typing agency, she knewnothing of the actual running of the business.At this point the telephone on Barbara's desk

shrilled out an imperious command, and with herthoughts still on her problem she reached out forthe receiver with a mechanical action. `Basnett

Typing Agency,' she said, then as she listened tothe voice on the other end of the line, drew in a


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quick breath before saying stiffly, 'Of course, MrLeon. We shall do our best, although I'm not sure

about tomorrow ' There was a short pausewhile she listened to the reply, and her lipsstraightened in fury before she replied, 'Very well.

Tomorrow,' and slammed the receiver down on itsrest, then sat staring at the top of her desk, beforesaying wearily, So it will have to be Linda. Damn

the man!'Rebecca glanced at her watch. She was due atthe British Museum at twelve to pick up some datafor Professor Donan, and she had to remember tocall in at the Oxford Street bookshop to collect thebook they'd promised to get for Bill Harper, and

the way things were going for Barbara that morn-ing, she would cope better without distraction.

Taking a hasty swallow of the last of her coffee,she drew her handbag towards her in preparationfor her departure. leave you to get on withyour work,' she said, with a smile of sympathy.`I've got to get to the Museum before twelve.

Anything you want me to pick up for a mealtonightor will we be eating out?' she asked herfriend.

Barbara shook her head as if to clear the fog

that had descended around her and made anattempt to concentrate her thoughts elsewhere.`Oh, I thought we might eat out,' she replied

vaguely, then as Rebecca got up to leave suddenlyasked her, 'What did you think of Linda?'

Rebecca's fine brows rose at the question. 'I can

hardly pass an opinion,' she replied lightly, 'not onsuch a short showing,' she added, as she walked


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10 MAN WITH TWO FACES

towards the door. 'I'll think about it, but shelooked capable to me. Anyway, I must get going,'as she cast another quick glance at her watch.

`Blast the Museum!' Barbara said explosively.Why can't they do their own shopping? And whyon earth should they expect you to do it duringyour vacation? Let alone have to go to the troubleof posting the stuff off to them. Here I am, in the

devil of a,

hole, and all you can do is mutter aboutdoing a few errands! Look, I'll send one of thegirls to collect the stuff for you, and do any othershopping you want done. What I want you to do isuse that cool brain of, yours and see if we can'tcome up with a solution, because if we can't, I shall

lose the Agency,' she added dismally.Rebecca turned from the door and walked back

slowly towards the desk again. 'Lose the Agency?'she echoed with a hint of disbelief in her voice.`But you said you were doing fine,' she addedaccusingly, 'and it didn't look as if you were shortof work when I came in. The clatter of typing outthere proves that. It's a positive hive of activity!' .

Barbara sighed loudly, and pointed towards thechair that Rebecca had just left. 'Appearances,' shesaid slowly, 'can be deceptive.' Then she gave a

shrug. 'Oh, well, I might as well come clean. I'vehad my eye on some new offices for some timenow, and two weeks ago they became vacant.' Shetook a deep breath. `So I took a gamble and put adeposit on them before they were snapped up bysomeone else. Getting Janus Leon's work was the

turning point for meat least I thought it was,'she added with a sigh. 'He's such a big name, you


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see, and it was bound to bring in more business forme. What I didn't take into account was that not

one of my staff came up to his high standards, andthe more the wretched man bullies them, the worsethey get. They're positively terrified of him, andshrink down on their chairs trying to look fran-tically busy each time another casualty slinks backto the bureau.'

She pressed a bell on her desk, and when the sum-mons was answered by one of the girls, she requestedthat Ann should be sent round to the British Museum,and got Rebecca to write down the name of theProfessor and the data to be collected. The bookshe had promised to pick up for Bill Harper could

wait, Rebecca decided, and she shook her head whenasked if there was anything else she wanted done.With that out of the way, Barbara settled down

to her problems again. 'It wouldn't be so bad,' shewent on, 'if he'd send the work in to the bureau,but no, he insists on having the work done at hisplace, which at the moment is in an hotel, wherehe occupies a suite until he decides whether to settledown here, or go back to Australia. At least, thatwas the inference I got from the blurb of one of hisbooks. I just can't afford to lose his business now,'

she wailed. 'I'm only existing on a shoestring atthe moment. All the capital I have in the world istied up in the new offices.' She gave a shrug. 'I

would have to move anyway, in time, this wholeblock's been taken over by a cash-and-carry storeand it would be just a question of time before they

gave us notice to quit,' she added dolefully.Rebecca sent her friend a sympathetic look, but


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1 2 MAN WITH TWO FACES

apart from that did not see what other help shecould give her. 'What about this Linda?' she sug-

gested hopefully. 'She didn't look the type to becowed. If she's at all competent she ought tomanage, and it did look as if she was hoping forthe assignment.'

`Linda,' Barbara announced with an ironic notein her voice, 'is a fool. Oh, she's competent enough.

She's also nice looking, and she knows it.' Shescrewed up her eyes. 'I can see her now, tossingthose fair locks of hers back in what she thinks is aprovocative come-on, not to mention fluttering hereyelashes at what she deemed to be the appropriatemoment.' She gave a heavy sigh. 'Linda,' she said

sourly, 'wouldn't last a day. Janus Leon has thereputation of being a playboy, but he doesn't be-lieve in mixing business with pleasure, as our Lindawill soon find out. Besides that, models and societybutterflies are more his line of country, he wouldn'tlower his standards where a small-town typist wasconcerned.'

Well, can't you give her a hint on those lines?'Rebecca suggested.

`Can you see her listening?' Barbara' replieddryly, 'because I can't, so I might as well save my

breath, and keep the girl in the bureau. She's agood worker, as long as there are no distractions.'There was a heavy silence after this, then

Rebecca said, 'Well, if there's no one else to send,it looks as if you'll have to risk it.'

Her friend did not seem to have heard her. 'One

week,' she said musingly. 'That's all I want,' thenshe gazed speculatingly at Rebecca.


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MAN WITH TWO FACES 1 3

Rebecca returned her look with a trace ofpuzzlement in her lovely eyes. She was to rememberafterwards that she ought to have seen it coming;she was very fond of Barbara, but she had a nastyhabit of organising other people's lives, particularly

when it concerned good causes, and this good causewas decidedly nearer to home than any of theothers had been.

`You're not due in Berkshire until the eighteenth,are you?' she asked Rebecca with a gleam in hereye, then looked down at her desk quickly as shesaw the look of wariness that appeared somewhatbelatedly in the other girl's eyes.

`I haven't made up my mind to accept John's

invitation yet,' Rebecca replied slowly, then addedhastily, 'and if you're thinking what I think you'rethinking, it's no gobut definitely no go! I want arest, not a wrestling match with an overflatedegoist.'

Who said anything about a wrestling match?'Barbara queried with a look of innocent indigna-tion in her voice, but she did not fool Rebecca.`Look, it's just a straightforward job of audio-typingkid's play to you. No dictation to worryabout, not personal dictation, it's all on tape. The

only thing you'll have to put up with is thewretched man hovering over you for the first dayor so, to make sure you don't ruin his preciousnovel. I shouldn't think he'd bother you after thefirst ten minutes, once he's seen your capabilities.'She shot Rebecca a pleading look. 'Please,

Rebecca. It's only for one week, and it will keepthe pot boiling until Margaret Morton joins us.'


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Rebecca threw her a dark look. 'Just for therecord,' she said dryly, 'what if this Margaret

whatnot can't make itor has 'flu or some otherindisposition that prevents her from taking overI presume you've thought of that, because if youhaven't I'd advise you to start thinking now. If Itake over, and it's a big if,' she said warningly, atBarbara's swift sigh of relief as if it were already

settled, 'it will only be for a week, and then only tooblige you, but if he starts any funny business, thenI'm off. I have enough to put up with at collegeand don't intend to spend my vacation beingchased round an office desknot for you or foranyone!' she declared vehemently.

I've told you, you've nothing to worry about inthat direction,' Barbara replied soothingly, 'andnot in the other either. Margaret won't let medown, she's a personal friend and utterly reliable.

After spending twenty-five years as a court steno-grapher, she's more than ready for a less hecticpost. I'd like to see Mr Janus Leon try to bullyMargaret, she'd flatten him with one look, andhave his work ready for him before he could turnround,' she added, with a note of satisfaction inher voice.

By the time the girls had had lunch at a nearbycaf, everything was settled, and Rebecca wasscolding herself for letting herself be talked intodoing something that she didn't want to do. She

was too soft, that was her trouble, and it was aswell for her that she was able to draw the line where

affairs of the heart were concerned, and skilfullysidestep any embroilment in that line.


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To the casual observer this attitude hadproduced a certain amount of speculation. That shewas heartless was one label given her. Too proudwas another, and failing any other explanation,that she was desperately in love with a man who

was not free to marry her.In all fairness, Rebecca did not qualify for any

of them, unless her view of not accepting any in-

vitations from a man she was unable to feel any-thing for, apart from friendship, qualified her forthe 'heartless' title, in which case she was guilty.

Now, at twenty-two years of age, Rebecca hadnever been in love. She had been the only child ofdivorced parents, and had spent her early child-

hood being used as a pawn on the chessboard ofmisguided parenthood, and could only call her lifeher own on the decease of her one surviving parent

when she was eighteen, and she had oftenwondered if her early upbringing had soured herexpectations in the matrimonial lucky dip, for that

was how she looked on it. Her mother had so oftenremarked with a self-pitying sigh, 'If only I'd hadmarried dear Tony--but no, I wouldn't listen tomy mother. I had to marry your father.' Rebeccahad privately thought that there was no 'had to'about it. She had married her father because shehad wanted to marry him, and that was all therewas to it.

In spite of the emotional gambits that had sur-rounded her early childhood, Rebecca had beenfond of both her parents. She had learnt at an early

stage how to combat each bitter tirade levelled atthe absent partner, but had at times felt a little


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sorry for her mother, for there was no doubt thather father had a roving eye, and his handsome

features and smooth manner had assured him ofsuccess wherever his attention had strayed.Rebecca had inherited her father's good looks

and his colouring. Her lovely red-gold hair andwide sapphire-blue eyes framed in a heart-shapedface, with high cheekbones and delicate aristocratic

nose, that had a habit of wrinkling in censoriousfashion if she was displeased, had earned her thenickname of 'Duchess' among her companions.

If she had spared herself the time to analyse herfeelings where romance was concerned, she wouldhave had to admit that the past had left its mark

on her. Deep down she was terrified of involvementof any kind, but as yet that fear had not been putto the test. No man had attracted her attention,not in matters of the heart, and her obstinate re-fusal to take any besotted male seriously was, inher view, completely justified, for she did not en-courage such devotion, only sheer perversity madethem determined to storm the battlements. It hadbecome a kind of game, and she knew that betshad been made on likely candidates, and this didnot only include the teaching staff, but had per-

meated through to the students, who had cheerfullydirected their energies away from the crowning ofthe central college spire with an unmentionable,object to the melting of the snows within the breastof the Bursar's secretary.

Had the students been younger, Rebecca's life

would have been a great deal easier, but as most ofthem were around her own age, and in some cases


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older, it was particularly trying for her, 'and therewere times when she had seriously considered join-ing her friend Barbara in the Agency. So far shehad managed to cope, and the fact that she lovedher job, was competent, and saw no reason whyshe should be forced to leave for such, in her mind,utterly senseless reasons, made her even more un-approachable.

The end-of-term holidays also brought their cropof delicate sidestepping away from any involve-ment during the break with any member of staff,and innocent-sounding queries on what sheintended to do with her time off period were metwith equally vague-sounding replies. It was gen-

erally known that she spent part of her vacationwith her friend in London, hence the two smallerrands she had undertaken to do for members ofstaff, but apart from that, her plans were kept toherself. Sometimes Barbara would take a week offfrom the Agency, even a fortnight, if things were

slack, but Rebecca was never at a loss for enter-tainment. Many invitations were issued to her, butshe accepted only those that ensured her freedomfrom involvement with a member of staff, or indeedanyone connected with the College.This year, however, she had decided to break

the golden rule, and accept John Sanderson's ritualoffer of a fortnight at his home in Berkshire. There

were two reason's why she had broken the rules shehad strictly adhered to in the pastone was thatSir George Sanderson's gatherings at his country

seat always consisted of large parties. He didn'tbelieve in doing things by half, and Rebecca could


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count on at least a dozen guests being included inthe party, and as far as she was concerned there

was safety in numbers.The second reason was that she knew the familythrough their daughter Laura, whom she had beenat school with, and had retained the friendship eventhough Rebecca was now a working girl, and Lauraa socialite, of whom nothing was expected other

than that she make a good marriage, preferablywith some young up-and coming politician.It had been a plea from Laura that had made

her decide to accept the invitation. 'I haven't seenyou for ages,' she had written, and, Tor goodness'sake come and rescue me. I shall die of boredom if

you don't!'The note had made Rebecca smile, it was so

characteristic of Laura, and she wondered how herfather had got her to stay on for the house party,for Rebecca knew she made a point of avoidingthem like the plague. She loathed intellectual gath-erings, and as she had once said to Rebecca,`Having suffered a surfeit of them in my youth, Ihave no intention of putting up with them now. Ishall probably marry a farmer who hates politi-cians and loves pigs. I'm quite fond of them myself,

actually,' she had added with a wistful note in hervoice.To be absolutely honest with herself, Rebecca

was quite looking forward to the house party, andknew full well that the chances were that she wouldbe urged to stay on for another week or so after

the other guests had gone, and she was not averseto this. A few weeks' cosseting in the bosom of the


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very wealthy would come as a welcome break fromthe hard, if enjoyable, daily work routine.

Breakfast in bed, if she so desired it, days of lollingabout on the spacious lawns of Pinehurst. Teataken in a shaded arbour, and nothing to worryabout except dressing for dinner, and even that wasnot strictly adhered to. Sir George's guests weremore concerned with the state of the country than

with the vagaries of fashion.With Laura present, Rebecca knew she would

be able to counteract any well-laid scheme thoughtup by her brother to inveigle her into accepting hisproposal.It was not so much that Laura thoughther brother dull, but that she was very fond of

Rebecca, and had once warned her, 'Don't getinvolved with John. I know he's good-looking, buthonestly, he's a Sanderson through and through.He'll smother you, and you won't be able to callyour life your ownand besides, I'll never forgiveyou,' she had added with a twinkle in her eye.All this went through Rebecca's mind as she

unpacked her suitcase in the spare bedroom inBarbara's flat. Barbara had gone back to thebureau after lunch in high spirits, certain that herworries had been solved, and leaving Rebecca feel-

ing intensely annoyed with herself for having beentalked into taking on such a task and having tospend the first week of her well-earned holiday inthe company of what sounded like a thoroughlydisagreeable man.

When she reached the end of her unpacking and

hung up the last dress in the wardrobe, shewondered vaguely what she should wear for duty


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the following day. She had not envisaged herselfsitting at an office desk and typing reamsshe

stopped in thought; what sort of stories did JanusLeon write? she wondered, and wished she had readone of them. She would then be prepared for

whatever literary treat lay in store for her. Shefrowned. She hoped it was literary, and not one ofthe more lurid representations of the art. She gave

a slight shudder. If Barbara had let her in for that,she would never forgive her! In which case,Margaret Morton would just have to join thebureau a little sooner than anticipated!

Her eyes then fell upon her blue woollen dress.It was absolutely plain and of a soft sea-blue, and

a particular favourite of hers, but not a dress foroffice wear, for in spite of its simplicity it was ele-gant, and like most of Rebecca's clothes was ex-pensive, and chosen with care for long-range use.She had inherited a small legacy from her father,but with the future in mind, she had drawn frugallyfrom this account, and usually saved some of hersalary to pay for the more expensive items in her

wardrobe.After another quick survey of her wardrobe, she

had to settle for the blue. There was nothing else

she could possibly wear. She had packed with theintention of getting a tan in the shortest possibletime, and her other dresses were either halter-topsor light summery concoctions suitable for loungingabout on the lawns of Pinehurst, but would stilllook eminently respectable for tea in the drawing-

room if the weather turned against them.After the girls had dined out that evening, they


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returned to the flat for a cosy evening of chat, andRebecca was able to satisfy her curiosity about

Janus Leon's work in order to prepare herself forthe morrow.On her query, Barbara expressed surprise that

Rebecca had not heard of the celebrated author.`He writes adventure-cum-detective stories, all setin the Australian bush. His backgrounds are

authentic, of course. I did tell you that he's anAustralian, didn't I?' she asked the partiallyrelieved Rebecca, who began to feel that it mightn'tbe so bad after all; at least her earlier fears hadbeen laid to rest. 'Unlike other authors, he didn'tneeds to go abroad to make his name,' continued

Barbara, 'he's just as popular in his own countryas he is here.' She gave Rebecca a wry smile. 'Youknow, it just shows how shut off you become inthat university of yours,' she wagged her headimpishly at her. 'You know what they say abouttoo much learning,' she teased Rebecca lightly.

`Oh, bosh!' Rebecca replied with a grin. It suitsme, anyway,' then she stared at her slim sandalledfeet. 'Although,' she conceded slowly, 'I mustadmit you have a point there, outside events rarelyintrude upon our hallowed existencenot that I

want them to,' she added quickly, 'but it is anotherworld.'`There you are, then,' Barbara answered know-

ingly, 'and if you don't watch out, life will havepassed you by. I can see you now,' she went on

warningly, but the twinkle in her eye belied her

words, 'with that glorious hair speckled with grey,and twisted into a hideous bun.' Her eyes swept


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22 MAN WITH TWO FACES'

over Rebecca's slight figure. 'You're just right now,but you'll get plumper with all that sitting aboutyou do. You'll probably end up making history bybecoming the first woman bursar ' At thispoint she had to duck hastily to avoid the cushionRebecca hurled at her.

Before Rebecca fell asleep that night, herthoughts went back over Barbara's words. She

knew she had only been teasing her, but her light-hearted prediction had not been all that far off themark, and it had echoed Rebecca's own thoughtson the matter.There was no doubt about it, she thought

drowsily before she fell asleep. She would have to

make a move one day out of the cloying but emi-nently satisfying atmosphere of university life. Ifshe didn't, Barbara's prediction would almost cer-tainly come true.

CHAPTER TWO

THE following morning Rebecca made her not very

enthusiastic way to the Royal Victoria, a small butvery exclusive hotel in a secluded square inMayfair, and after being given a very close scrutinyby the desk clerk before he informed their cele-brated guest that a secretary had arrived, and re-questing permission to send her up, Rebecca found

herself in the lift and being borne towards her des-tination.


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Her first impression of Janus Leon was of a talland ruggedly handsome man. His brown hair made

no concession to fashion and was cut fairly short,a welcome change for Rebecca after the somewhatmixed batch of styles of the college students. But it

was his eyes that held the attention. She had neverseen eyes of such a piercing blue and that seemedto look right through her, although he had only

seemed to glance at her before striding through tothe bedroom that was being used as an office, andleaving Rebecca to follow after him feeling likesomething that had inadvertently wandered into hisdomain and must now be put to good use.

His voice was low and resonant, with a (pure

English accent, and Rebecca knew a spurt of sur-prise, for she had not unnaturally expected an

Australian accent. 'I think you'll find everythingyou need,' he said, as he nodded towards a deskplaced against the window to gain as much light as

was possible, and then subjected her to a hard briefimpersonal scrutiny, his blue gaze narrowing as hetook in her dress after she had taken her light rain-coat off in preparation to starting work. 'You doknow how to manage these machines, don't you?'he asked suspiciously, 'because if you don't, say so

nowI've wasted enough time lately on so-calledsecretarial help.'Rebecca's fine eyebrows went up at this rather

uncalled-for condemnation of Barbara's staff, andshe was in complete sympathy with those who hadfailed to come up to his exacting standards. The

wretched man had only himself to blame. Had hebeen more understanding, he would have got better


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results. Bullying tactics never worked and in-variably produced mistakes, and she wondered why

he used an agency in the first place. A man as suc-cessful as he was supposed to be ought to have aprivate secretary, only she couldn't imagine anyonetaking the job on. Good secretaries were never at aloss for work and didn't have to join the slave tradeto make a living.

All this went through her mind as her eyes methis fierce blue stare. 'I do not envisage any prob-lems,' she said quietly, in the tone of voice thatspoke of capability. 'If you would just leave thingsto me and let me get on in my own time, I thinkyou will find my work satisfactory,' she ended,

indicating plainly that she saw no reason for hispresence, particularly if he meant to take such abelligerent attitude.

The thin line of his firm lips showed Rebeccathat he had got the message and did not like it atall. He was not used to someone else taking theinitiative. 'I take it you won't mind if I occasionallylook in on you, will you?' he asked sarcastically. 'Iknow miracles sometimes happen, but you mustforgive my scepticism. You don't,' he added mean-ingly, 'look the part,' his gaze wandered over her

expensive dress, 'and if you're as capable as youapparently seem to think you are, then what thedevil are you doing in an agency? Or are you onlyworking for pin money?' His gaze went straight toher hands now resting on the top of the deskpatiently waiting to start work, and Rebecca knew

he was looking for a wedding ring. Many youngmarried women took on agency work because it


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.did not tie them to regular hours as a permanentjob did. 'Not married, or engaged, I see,' he com-

mented.Rebecca had no intention of entering upon any

personal conversation with him, and she highlyresented his insolence. She knew he was baiting her.She had annoyed him, and he was getting his ownbackit was as simple as that, but she was notg o i n g

to give him the satisfaction of knowing hehad annoyed her. She counteracted this by givinghim a sweet synthetic smile; she had had plenty ofpractice in dealing with this type of situation in thepast and it held her in good stead now. 'I under-

stood from Miss Basnett that you like two car-bons,' she said sweetly, as she selected two sheetsof copy paper and then put the carbons betweenthem, and with the same slow deliberation placedthe thicker sheet on top and put them in the type-

writer, then without even glancing at him, switched

on the dictating machine.When she next glanced up, she saw that he hadgone, but even after his departure she could stillfeel the rapier glance he had thrown her before heleft her to get on with the work. It was as well, shethought lightly, that she was competent, and that

Barbara had given her a good grounding on how itshould be set out, although she had the rest of themanuscript to use as a guide had she been in anydoubt, for there was no doubt that she had madean enemy of Janus Leon, who simply was not usedto finding himself on the wrong end of an exchangeof personalities.

It was also as well, she thought darkly, that she


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had had previous experience in preparing work forpublication, although that had consisted of various

theses submitted by the dons to further the causeof education.By the end of the morning, Rebecca was well

into the tenth chapter, and had not e'en noticedthe passing of time. A tray of coffee had beenbrought in to her around ten-thirty, by a member

of the hotel staff, and this had surprised her, forshe could not see the sarcastic Janus Leon orderingher any refreshment, but evidently someone had,and although she did not take a break at this time,she drank the coffee while she worked, a practicethat was normal to her during work at the college.Whatever else Janus Leon was, there was no

denying his skill as a writer, and Rebecca was fairenough to acknowledge this salient fact, and wassoon caught up in the story as it unfolded into the

written word on the typescript before her.

As her previous work in this field had beenpurely of a scholastic nature, she found the workeminently satisfying, and thought with a slightpang of depression that she would find her old jobeven more of a dull chore when she returned to it,but cheered herself up with the thought of at least

having a good relationship with her superiors whowere almost apologetic when giving her what were,after all was said and done, her normal duties.

She saw no more of Janus Leon that morning,and considered this a victory. It only needed a firmhand, she told herself, and the experience to deal

with that type of bullying man.When she returned from lunch, however, she


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found to her annoyance that although he had madea point of keeping his distance, he had kept a wary

eye on her work, for she found two more tapes onher desk, and a message to the effect that if anAlan Sinclair rang up she was to ask him to call onMr Leon at ten the following day.

Rebecca's lips folded in annoyance as she readthis cryptic message, noting that he had not added

a 'thank you' for doing work other than that shehad been taken on to do. Answering the telephoneand making appointments came under 'the dutiesof a private secretary, and what if this. Sinclairperson couldn't make the stated time? Was sheexpected to hunt around for his personal diary andsuggest another time? She intended to do nothingof the sort. She was there to type his novel, andcouldn't be expected to get on with her work if shehad to chase around on other duties. If the timewas unsuitable she would ask the man to ring back

again and have a word with Janus Leon.In the event the man did not ring, but severalother people did, and an annoyed Rebecca wasforced to answer each call in the expectation of itbeing Alan Sinclair. On each occasion she re-quested the caller to ring again that evening in the

hope of catching what was turning out to be herelusive boss, and it did occur to her that perhapshis absence was a deliberate act on his part to causeher annoyance, and she' would certainly have tohave a stern word with him on this point, if sheever saw him before the end of her week. It was

either that, or just' let the phone ring and get onwith the work she was supposed to be doing.


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The following day, Rebecca's hopes of a weekfree from the annoying presence of Janus Leon

took a decided setback as he was waiting for her inthe office as soon as she walked in, and her 'goodmorning,' given more in the line of protocol thanan actual cheery greeting, met with a grunt thatshe supposed was a reciprocal reply.

`Did Alan ring?' he asked abruptly, as Rebecca

took off her coat and walked over to her desk.` Mr Sinclair did not ring,' she replied coolly.

`There were several other calls. I presume they rangback last night,' she added firmly, 'I told them to,anyway.'

His black winged brows shot up at her reply andindirect meaning that he could not have failed tointerpret. His lips thinned as he said brusquely, 'SoI found out. The wretched phone kept me busy forthe better part of the evening. You are a secretarialagency, aren't you?' he shot out at her accusingly.

`I should have thought that was part of yourchores.'Rebecca gave him a cool stare. 'It depends,' she

said carefully, 'which you consider more import-antyour novel, or the secretarial work. Theamount of calls put through yesterday afternoon,

that continually ld me up, makes it necessary toget a ruling on this,' and giving a light shrug thatshowed that she had no preference in the matter

whatsoever, and that it was entirely up to him, she ,sat waiting for his reply.

That she had annoyed him was patently obvious

by the sudden blaze of fury in his startlingly blueeyes, before he gave her a slow and, to Rebecca's


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way of thinking, insolent appraisal, his gaze restingfinally on her smooth features. 'What happened to

the "service with a smile" slogan?' he queried sar-castically. 'As you're so competent, I shouldn'thave thought a few phone calls would have upsetyou.'

It was more than a few calls,' Rebecca snappedback, and immediately regretted losing her temper.

It was she now who was bringing personalities intoit. She didn't like the man, but he was an importantclient of Barbara's. 'Look,' she said quietly, willingherself not to show her feelings, 'it's not that I mindwhat I do, but if you want me to take on the sec-retarial work as well, I would have to have yourdiary, and have some idea of your movements,

wouldn't I? and as I've just said, it does hold meup on the other work.' She gave a light shrug.`Perhaps if you employed a secretary specificallyfor this work it might help,' she suggested calmly,

as she drew the typewriter towards her in prepara-tion for starting work.Àsking for the job, are you?' he queried inso-

lently.Rebecca's brows raised. What an obnoxious man

he was! 'Erno, thank you!' she replied with more

emphasis than was really necessary, and addedquickly, Àgency work suits me,' and fed paper intothe machine in an effort to prevent further discus-sion on this theme.

`That's just as well,' he replied thinly, before hestamped out of the room. Ì'd want a more flexible

type.'Rebecca glared at the door he had just closed


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,behind him. Well, at least she had got that straight!The phone could ring all morning for all she cared,

after a remark like that he could hardly expect herto oblige!As if to test her resolution, the telephone rang

shortly after this, but she worked stolidly on, com-pletely ignoring its imperative ring. A few secondslater there was silence and she presumed that Janus

Leon had answered it, and with a small nod ofsatisfaction she got on with her work.

Two days later, Rebecca gazed out of the bedroom-cum-office window and on to the street below. The

impatient hooting of a taxi as it tried to bypassanother that was just drawing up in front of thehotel went unnoticed by her. She saw only acres of-paddocks where sheep grazed, and an old home-stead built of red brick, with its kitchen gardenand immaculately lawned frontage that presided

over the surrounding buildings housing the staffthat ran the huge sheep station.Her lips softened into a smile at the thought that

she Would know the place in the story anywhere,should she ever see it. She would even recognisethe characters portrayed, for she was sure they had

been drawn from real people. The thought jerkedher out Of her reverie. What on earth was thematter with her? It was only a story after all, afigment of the author's imagination, she didn'tsuppose such a place existed, and even if it did, she

would certainly never see it, yet as she took thelast sheet of paper out of the typewriter, she had asudden presentiment that one day she would see


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the homestead, and gave a quick sigh of exaspera-tion at her foolishness. She had obviously been

overworking!As she neatly stacked the finished sheets to-gether, she became aware of Janus Leon standingby the door silently watching her, and shewondered how long he had been there, and whetherhe had witnessed her lapse of concentration as she

went into her reverie. Not that it mattered much ifhe had, she thought musingly; she had finished thetape and the story. He could have no complaints.

She watched his measured tread as he came to-wards her desk, his hard blue gaze on the sheets oftypescript that she was now assembling in numer-

ical order.Was that the last chapter?' he asked with a note

of incredulity in his voice, and at Rebecca's nod ofconfirmation he frowned, and picked up thechapter she was about to attach to the rest of the

manuscript.Rebecca's eyes followed the lines of the long leanhand that held the typescript, and from there wentto his hard 'features as he closely studied the resultof her work, giving each page minute scrutiny. She

was certain that although he had not bothered her

during the day, but had kept his distance, he hadclosely studied each day's progress and would havepounced on any mistake with the ferocity of a tiger,and thoroughly enjoyed giving her a set-down. Shesaw the way his dark brows went up, as he reachedthe end of the chapter, and then looked back at

her. 'Not bad,' he said grudgingly, and that,Rebecca knew, was as far as he would go in the


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praise line. She thought angrily that not only hadshe finished the work in half the time normally

taken, but she had made a good job of it, even ifshe did say so herself, particularly after what shehad seen of the previous chapters with their con-stant crossings out, and what must have been, from

Janus Leon's impeccable standards, inexcusablestupid typing errors, yet all he had said was, 'Not

bad'!`Disappointed, Mr Leon?' she drawled, her an-noyance getting the better of common sense, butas his hard eyes bored into hers, she immediatelyregretted her words.

`Just surprised, Miss Lindsey,' he drawled back

at her with an emphasis on the 'Miss' that plainlyput Rebecca in her place in case she was attemptingany familiarity, and making her want to slap hisarrogant face. I'm afraid your pace is too goodfor me,' he went on smoothly. 'I'm only workingon the bones of the next story as yet.'

Rebecca managed to stop herself giving a sigh ofrelief. He hadn't any more work on hand and she

was going to be told to go back to the Agency.Her lovely dark blue eyes held a look of innocent

Awry that successfully masked her thoughts, but

she was already packing for her stay at Pinehurst.`Are you still with me, Miss Lindsey?' came agentle, if sarcastic, query from Janus Leon thatbrought her back from Sir Geoffrey's country seatto the confines of the office.

`Oh, yes, absolutely!' Rebecca replied quickly. 'I

quite understand,' she gave the sardonic man nowclosely watching her a brilliant smile. 'You've no


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more work on hand at present, so I'll just finishoff the title page for you, and then I'm off,' she

ended with a rush of thankfulness.`Got something on, have you?' he asked casually,and Rebecca stared at him. What on earth did hemean by that? she wondered. He couldn't possiblyknowshe blinked as she suddenly caught hismeaning. Was there some other work she had to

do for the Agency? that was what he meant.`Oh, yes!' she said quickly, adding for Barbara'sbenefit, 'We're terribly busy, there'll be somethinglined up for me when I get back,' she lied unblush-ingly.

`That's just too bad,' he drawled, without a trace

of sympathy. 'I'm claiming your services.Whatever's waiting will have to wait.'

Rebecca stared at him with her head on one side,the glorious red tints in her hair catching the lightfrom the window behind her giving an autumn halothat framed her lovely features. 'I beg yourpardon?' she replied with a puzzled air, desperatelyhoping that she had misread his meaning, for if hemeant what she thought he meant, then she wouldlose more of her vacation.Janus Leon gave a grin that she could only de-

scribe as wolfish. 'I'm the first in the queue,' hesaid. 'Priority claim to your services, in otherwords,' and before the indignant Rebecca couldcome up with some excuse as why she had to getback to the Agency, he shot out at her, 'Have youread the manuscript right through?'

Rebecca blinked. Drat the man! Did he want tohear her enthusing about it? There was no denying


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that he was an excellent writer, but she was cer-tainly not going to add fuel to his overrated ego by

saying so! 'Erno,' she replied slowly, her eyeswary as she waited for the next question.He bent down to the desk and thrust the manu-

script towards her. 'Read it!' he commanded.`You'll no doubt see what a mess the earlier typistsmade of it. I want you to retype the worst bits.

Any questions?' he barked out at her as, speechless,she tried to calculate how long this would take her,for it meant practically re-doing the first half ofthe novel. Her lips clamped together in annoyanceas the thought occurred to her that he had onlyhimself to blame for bullying the girls; if he'd left

them to get on with the work he would have hadno complaints. There was nothing like having aBig Brother hovering in the background ready topounce on any little error and making a girl ner-

vous, it n o t o n ly destro yed con fidence , b ut a lm o stcertainly guaranteed further mistakes.

Her eyes left his narrowed gaze and rested onthe manuscript, but her brain was working over-time searching for a way out of this latest setbackto her holiday plans. 'I'm afraid I shall have to seeMiss Basnett about that,' she said carefully, keep-

ing her eyes on the desk. 'You see, that's straight-forward typing, and I'm a stenographer. We haveseveral excellent copy typists in the Agency, but

we're rather short of stenographers. Besides,' sheadded brightly, 'copy typists' rates are lower.have a word with Miss Basnett at lunch time for

you,' she said helpfully, congratulating herself onher quick thinking.


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Ìf the first three idiots Miss Basnett sent me areanything to go by, I'm not risking it,' Janus Leon

replied grimly. 'I don't remember complainingabout the rates,' he added furiously. 'That's mybusiness. By the time you've got that lot straight-ened out,' he gave a curt nod towards the manu-script, 'I'll have the first two chapters of the nextnovel ready for you. Your work is satisfactory, and

that's all I'm concerned about.'Rebecca's eyes grew round in consternation.

Next novel! She didn't like the sound of that at all.Why on earth had she to make such a good job ofthe last few chapters? Why hadn't she made a messof them? She sighed inwardly. Because she took apride in her work, that was why, and because shehadn't allowed this autocratic male to bully her!

And lastly but not least, she hadn't wanted to letBarbara down.

Ì didn't argue,' she told Barbara later that day.

Ìt wouldn't have done any good if I had. Heclaimed what he called "priority rights" on ma,'and at Barbara's amused chuckle, she added wasp-ishly, 'Well, I only hope your friend Margaretcomes up to scratch, because I'm off to Berkshireon Sunday, no matter what!'

Òf course you are, dear,' Barbara replied sooth-ingly. 'I said a week, and that's all I wanted fromyou, and I'm very grateful, especially as you'vefinished the novel. Just keep him happy for acouple more days and then Margaret can take over.I'll say you're off sick if he cuts up rough, although

once ' h e sees Margaret's work We'll have nothingto worry about.'


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CHAPTER THREE

REBECCA breathed in a sigh of pure contentment.She had certainly done the right thing in accepting

John's invitation. Not that she wanted to spend allher time being waited on and listening to Laura'shumorous, if slightly querulous, complaints abouther father's choice of house, guest during what hetermed his 'open house season'.

She moved the shoulder-strap of her sundress a

little farther along in order to get a smooth tanalong her shoulders. She could see Laura's pointof view, of course, for apart from herself and John,Laura's brother, the rest of the assembly were, asLaura had caustically put it, 'in their dotage', andalthough this was not strictly true, they werec e r t a i n l y

on the wrong side of forty.As the high-pitched, slightly girlish voice of Mrs

Carmichael floated across the pleasantly warmafternoon towards Rebecca, she gave a grin, en-visaging that lady's reaction towards that last

thought of hers. You could do a lot with beautyaids these days, but you couldn't eradicate time.Laura's scornful, 'I was at school with her daugh-ter,' soon put paid to any pretensions on thoselines, and had also put paid to Mrs Carmichael'shopes of becoming Laura's stepmother by out-

rightly declaring to her father that she couldn'tstand the woman, and advising him to take a good

36


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hard look at her before committing himself in anyway. He had taken Laura's advice'. She might be

outspoken, but she had an uncanny habit of hitting-the nail on the head with unswerving accuracy.From what Rebecca had seen of Mrs

Carmichael, she was of the opinion that Laura'scaustic comments had been perfectly justified, andthat she had saved her father from making a

ghastly mistake. Mrs Carmichael was an odiouswoman, and her fluffy, little woman act that dis-persed into resentment in a younger, attractive

woman's presence the minute the men were out ofearshot gave one no illusions as to her true charac-ter.

It had not taken Mrs Carmichael long to size upthe situation as one after another of her well-laidschemes went sadly astray; and she knew at whosedoor she could lay the blame of her misfortune,and adopted a very hostile attitude towards Laura

whenever their paths crossed. Up until now, Laurahad managed to find some good excuse for herabsence during her father's country gatheringswhich inevitably included Caroline Carmichael, forSir George and her late husband had been closefriends for years, and being a kindly man Sir

George had not had the heart to exclude her fromthese gatherings, even though her presence wasnow more of an embarrassment than a pleasure,particularly as he had taken the cure. With therose-tinted spectacles off, he continually blessed hisgood fortune in escaping the clutches of a thor-

oughly tiresome woman.Rebecca's thoughts roamed on as she heard the


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low murmur of voices in the background of herreverie. From what she could hear, Sir George was

escorting several of his guests on a tour of the gar-dens, and from her recumbent position she caughtsight of John dutifully following the small partyand escorting Mrs Layman, a prominent memberof the Cabinet, on the tour.

Her gaze turned to one of amusement as she

watched him stoop to retrieve the lady's hat thathad been dislodged from its precarious position ontop of an enormous bun of hair by a sudden breeze,and her smile widened to ,a grin as she saw the hattake off again only a few yards further down thegarden path, and was again retrieved by John.

Dear John, she thought, as the strolling figurespassed out of sight. Why couldn't she accept hislove and devotion? It would be so safe and sensibleto fall in love with him, in spite of what Laura hadsaid about the family smothering her, and how herlife would be moulded around the political scene,but Rebecca had the inward assurance a womanhas when she is certain of the extent of her hus-band's love for her, and that she would be the firstconsideration where John was concerned.

His behaviour towards her during her stay had

proved that he was a man of his word, and he hadmade no outward onslaught on her, but contentedhimself with sending her intensive looks that spokeof his undying affection for her. She drew in herbreath sharply. It was no use pretending that shecould ever feel anything more for him than friend-

ship. That she would ever feel anything for anyman, come to that, she thought shrewdly, and


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frowned at the thought. Perhaps something hadbeen left out of her make-up. She had never

suffered the pangs of first love, and indeed neverwanted to. Love, as she saw it, was something shecould do without, but friendship was different. Shehad lots of friends, but she was still free, and thatwas how she intended to keep things.

She was not alone in this outlook. There was

Barbara, who was a few years older than Rebecca,although in Barbara's case she had been in love,and was still in love as far as Rebecca 'knew, buthad been unfortunate enough to settle her affec-tions on a charming rogue who had sponged onher good nature financially until he had snared a

richer prize and promptly married a wealthywidow.

To Rebecca's way of thinking, Barbara shouldhave considered herself well rid of such a man, butshe knew with certainty that given the opportunityBarbara would have welcomed him back with openarms. She shook her head sadly. Such was theidiocy of love.

Rebecca's mind went over the men she had met,and that she had only to give some encouragementto, to receive a proposal of marriage from. She was

not stupid enough not to realise that her looks hadattracted more than the usual attention from themale fraternity. Nature had been most generous inregard to her physical features, and this had proveda handicap in her career.

She was not expected to have a career, that was

plain enough, and it had taken a long time for themessage to get through to even the most studious


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members of the College that she loved her workand ,had no plans to seek a husband to support her

at the earliest given opportunity.Endowed as she was with more than her shareof what was considered beauty, she had had ampleopportunity of observing the frailties of humannature, particularly where it concerned the oppositesex, and where age was no barrier. She had seen

older men, who should have had more sense, makefools of themselves when out of the eagle eye oftheir spouses, and all supposedly pillars of re-spectability. As for their younger counterpartsRebecca sighed. It was hardly surprising that shehad a jaundiced view of the marital state, or of the

male sex as a whole.There were exceptions, of course. Old Professor

Dawson, for instance, was a pet, and she was quitefond of the Bursar, both of whom lived solely fortheir work, but they were the only two in the wholeCollege that she could feel entirely at ease with andnot have to watch points with, or find herselfhaving to adopt an air of icy reserve against asudden gleam of speculation she would spot in apredatory male's eyes while she went about hersecretarial duties.

Rebecca turned over on to her back. She oughtto have got a job in a bank, pr an accountants'office, she thought dryly, tucked away in somedreary office with a boss whose sole target wasaimed at making more money. Or with that detest-able author, who was only concerned with his pre-

cious work, and didn't care who typed it, as longas they were competent. She could have been a


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robot for all the notice he had taken of her, shethought indignantly, and felt a spurt of pleasure at

having walked out on him. She was not used tothat kind of treatment, although she had to admitthat she preferred that approach to the apologetic,slavish one she had often encountered in the past.

She gave a grin. You certainly knew where youstood with a man like that, and it was a pity that

he couldn't have been a bit more likeable in hismanner, but she supposed fame had gone to hishead. With success in the literary field, andundoubted success in the petticoat stakes, judgingby the amount of calls he had received from husky-

voiced charmers while Rebecca was in his employ-ment, she couldn't see how he could avoid becom-ing self-opinionated, it was a natural sequence, andjust scored another point in her soured outlook asfar as men were concerned.

Is this another cure for the mumps?' asked a

voice somewhere above Rebecca that made herwonder if she was having an hallucination, for itwas the voice of the man she had just been thinkingabout.As if doubting the evidence of her ears she sat

up straight, and her startled eyes met Janus Leon's

impersonal stare. How on earth, she thought, didhe come to be at Pinehurst, and what had Barbaralet her in for?

`You've made a remarkable recovery, I see,' hewent on sarcastically. 'False alarm, was it?' heasked with a sceptical glint in his eyes.

For the want of a better reply, Rebecca said,`Eryes.' There was nothing else she could say,


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she thought, but she promised herself a few wordswith Barbara at the earliest opportunity.

Working for Sir George, are you?' Janus Leonasked conversationally, as he dropped down besideher lounger. 'I guess English titles have a lot ofsway here,' he added meaningly. 'Got yourself anice little numbe; by the look of things,' he addedsignificantly, his knowing eyes flicking over her

skimpy sunsuit.Rebecca wished she had something she couldcover herself up with, and resented not only his

tone but his cool appraisal of her figure. 'How didyou know I was here?' she asked, more forsomething to say than real curiosity, although shecould guess where his information had come from,he must have bullied Barbara for it.Janus Leon subjected her to a long cool stare.

`Don't flatter yourself,' he drawled. 'I didn't know.'His, glance rested on her hair 'If you wish to

remain incognito you should do something aboutthat hair of yours. It's like a beacon to interestedparties,' he added with a grin that had all the trim-mings of a wolf on the prowl, and Rebecca recog-nised the signs, and for some unaccountable reasonfelt he had let her down; he was just another hunter

out for a scalp.I'm not trying to hide myself!' she retorted in-dignantly. 'I happen to be one of Sir George'sguests,' she added coldly, meaning to put thiscocksure man in his place.Janus Leon's eyes narrowed as he gazed ahead

of him 'He's a widower, isn't he?' he said dryly,leaving Rebecca to draw her own conclusions on


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this comment, which she did, and wanted to slaphis face for the suggestion that she was there for

one purpose only.'He also happens to be the father of a good

friend of mine,' Rebecca got out icily, and stoodup quickly. 'You'll find Sir George down on thelower terraces,' she added firmly, showing him thatshe had better things to do than to stay bandying

words with him.'What's the hurry?' he drawled, reaching up with ,

a deceptively casual hand towards her, and as shemoved to avoid contact with him, caught her handwith a swift almost catlike sureness, forcing her tostay beside him until he chose to release her.

` Would you mind letting me go?' she askedpolitely, She had been in too many similar situ-ations in the past to lose her temper. She had seenit all before.

`As I said,' he remarked coolly, 'what's the

hurry? So we're both guests. I know your nameand you know mine, and there's no reason why weshouldn't get better acquainted with each other, isthere? You know,' he went on smoothly, 'I'm agreat believer in fate. Sure, I was riled when youskipped out on me like that. You're good at your

job, I'll say that for you,' his blue stare once againsubjected her to a cool appraisal. 'You're also easyon the eye. It's not often one finds that combina-tion. Okay, I take back what I said just now.You're here on the level as a friend of the family.I'm here as an acquaintance' of Sir George, and foran English background for a novel I've had in mindfor some time. I gather,' he went on dryly, 'that'


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there won't be too many young things around onthis' party. Sir George was worried that I might

find things a bit dull from that angle. However,' heshot her a sidelong glance, `that was before I foundyou, and so far I've no complaints,' he addedmeaningly.

Rebecca took the opportunity of removing herhand from his grasp before she answered this cool

assumption of his that she would be willing tolighten his stay at Pinehurst by indulging in a lightflirtation with him His look and his remarks weretoo pointed for her to misinterpret his meaning. 'Ishall be pleased to do anything I can to help youget the background for the novel,' she said quietly,`and I'm sure John will too,' she added meaningly.

John?' queried Janus Leon with a raise of theeyebrows.

Rebecca nodded graciously. 'Sir George's son,'she supplied a little maliciously, taking pleasure in

the narrowing of his very blue eyes as he workedout the implication of this news.`Your friend?' he asked in a silky voice. 'Well,

well!'Rebecca flushed as she caught the sarcasm in his

voice, but replied readily enough, 'Yes,' and glanc-

ing towards the gardens, remarked, 'Oh, here's SirGeorge now. I'll go and change for lunch whileI've got the opportunity,' and she walked off to-wards the house, conscious the whole time of thosehard blue eyes boring into' her back,

Before lunch, as was the custom, everybody

assembled in the green drawing room adjoining thedining room, and Rebecca, who had told Laura of


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the arrival of the novelist, but nothing else, stoodbeside John and Laura and watched the introduc-

tions being carried out to the few guests who hadnot as yet m e t the author.His arrival had caused quite a stir even among

these dedicated politicians, who, it appeared, hadall heard of him, even if they were not avid readersof his books, and Rebecca was reminded of a

remark of Barbara's on her enforced confinementin the College, and how she knew little of the worldoutside the cloisters of the College, and she had toadmit ruefully to the truth of this statement.

While she sipped her sherry and made desultoryremarks to Laura and John, her bemused eyes

watched Janus Leon receiving accolades fromseveral of the guests who had clustered round him.

That he was used to this kind of reeption wasobvious from the way that he handled the inter-ested questioning about his work.

When Mrs Carmichael pushed herself forward,exclaiming how much she had enjoyed his lastnovel, and proceeded to hog his attention, Lauragave Rebecca a knowing nudge of the elbow, andthey both watched with amused interest as shedeterminedly cut across other questions in her bid

to capture his attention.`I must admit,' murmured Laura, 'that he's a

gorgeous hunk of man. He's got brains, too,' sheadded in a half-surprised voice. Did you read

Devil's Ploy?'she asked Rebecca. 'If you haven't,you must. It's fabulous! They say there's talk ofmaking it into a film. Oh, I do wish that wretchedwoman would come away and give someone else a


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chance to talk to him,' she added crossly.Rebecca gave her an amused glance. 'Don't

worry,' she said teasingly, 'he's here for the week,remember? You'll get your chance later.'Laura pulled a face at this. 'Want to bet?' she

asked dryly. 'She'll latch on to him like a leech.Give Daddy some peace, I suppose,' she addedthoughtfully, 'although she's not entirely given up

hope in that direction yet,' she tacked on mean-ingly.

Sir George was apparently of the same mind ashis daughter where Mrs Carmichael's monopolisa-tion of the author was concerned, and with a skilfulmanoeuvre worthy of his political status managed

to tear him away and continue with the introduc-tions.

`This is Colonel Franly,' he said, introducing astout rather bucolic-looking man, whose mild voicedid not match his looks. 'Just back from theMiddle East. He could tell you a thing or two onthe latest machinations out thereeh, Franly?' andat the raising of Colonel's sandy eyebrows at thisassertion, added jovially, 'well, what's printable!'

A few minutes later Rebecca was the next in line,and not knowing of her connection with Janus

Leon, Sir George affected an introduction. OnJanus Leon's nod of acknowledgment, and hisquick, 'I'm acquainted with Miss Lindsey,'Rebecca received a jab in the side from the indig-nant Laura, who would no doubt take her up onthat later, then it was Laura's turn to be intro-

duced, since John had met their famous guestbefore the lunch assembly.


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period, Rebecca found herself the subject of JanusLeon's attention. 'Doesn't he know you're a work-

ing girl?' he asked her in a low voice, audible onlyto her.At first she could not get the connection, and

when she did, she was furious. He was hinting thatshe had somehow wormed herself into high societyfor somewhat obvious reasons. 'Of course he does!'she replied, keeping her voice just as low as his,and then turned her attention back again to John

who was asking her if she cared for a game oftennis after lunch.

What were you two whispering about?' Laura

demanded later after lunch, and the girls were ontheir way to their rooms to change for tennis.We weren't whispering,' Rebecca replied

tetchily, for she was still smarting under JanusLeon's insinuations.Well, I couldn't hear what was said,' Laura

replied pettishly. 'You're not having an affair withhim, are you?' she asked curiously.Rebecca threw her a look of high indignation.

`Certainly not!' she exclaimed in a voice that spokeof her feelings in no uncertain way.

Laura giggled. 'Well, I couldn't see it, somehow,'

she said, as they reached their rooms, and insteadof going into her room that was next to Rebecca's,followed her into her room. 'Well, what's the bigsecret, or aren't you going to tell me? You couldhave knocked me down with a feather when hesaid you'd met. Why didn't you tell me?'

Rebecca gave her an exasperated look. Shewouldn't give up until she had heard the whole


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story, so she might as well get it over with, shethought, and launched into the story, ending with,

`As for telling you, I didn't know he was invitedhere for the weekend, did I? He was only a passingacquaintance anyway. I might have mentioned ithad his name cropped up in the conversation,' shegave a light shrug, 'otherwise I wouldn't have givenit a thought.'

Laura gave her a look that showed a certainamount of scepticism, and then sighed. 'All right, Ibelieve you, thousands wouldn't, but I'll give youthe benefit of the doubt only because I know you.I suppose working with all those learned men

makes you a bit blase.' She put her head on oneside and gave Rebecca a considering look. 'Whatdid he say to you?' she asked. 'Whatever it was, itannoyed you, I saw that much,' she added, thenher eyebrows shot up. 'I say, did he make a pass atyou?' she asked hopefully. 'I hear he's a bit of a

playboy as far as the women are concerned.'Rebecca drew in an exasperated sigh. She saw

no reason for not telling the truth. 'He seemed tothink I'd gatecrashed into high society,' she saiddryly. 'Of course he'd got it in for me because I'dwalked out on him,' she added. 'I only promised

Barbara a week,. but I couldn't tell him that.Barbara needs his monetary support,' she gave asmile. 'Apparently she told him I'd got mumps.'

Laura gave a hoot of laughter. 'Barbara wasnever good at covering up, but I should havethought she could have done better than that,' shesaid, and gave Rebecca a considering look. 'Nowonder he's put out! I shouldn't imagine a thing


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like that has ever happened to him before, notwhere females are concerned anyway,' she added

in amusement.The following week proved a very trying time

for Rebecca and not anything like the peaceful timeshe had promised herself. Janus. Leon seemeddetermined to haunt her and attached himself toher small set, which comprised the younger mem-bers of the party. In a way this was understandable,but there were many occasions when he could havetaken himself off on other pursuits, particularly ashe was ostensibly there to gather material for anovel, but Rebecca was convinced he was out to

cause her as much discomfort as possible, and suc-ceeded, only she was determined not to let him seethat he had ruined the'first week of her holiday.

To say that he shamelessly presumed upon theirslight acquaintance was putting it mildly. Rebeccatried everything she knew to rebuff his attentions,

but apart from actually telling him that she wishedhim elsewhere, cold looks and equally cold repliesto his bantering conversation made not the slightesteffect on him.After four days of the chase, Rebecca's temper

was anything but sweet, and Laura's amused com-ment that Janus Leon must fancy her did nothingtor soothe her ruffled feelings, for the truth of thematter was that he was out to annoy her. He hadn'tliked being given a set-down. He was used to idol-atry, and Rebecca had broken a golden rule by not

joining the queue of his admirers.Be it tennis, or swimming in the luxurious pool?at the back of the house, Rebecca could always be


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sure of companyJohn on one side of her, andthe big game hunter on the other side. She had

ceased to think of him as an author, famous orotherwise, he was just another persistent male shehad got stuck with, and one who was proving asstubborn in his attentions as she was to repelthem.

It went without saying that she was fervently

looking forward to the end of the week when shewould be able to continue her holiday without theannoying presence of one egotistical male. As shehad expected, she had been asked to stay as longas she wished, and it was only the thought of thepeace to come that kept her from inventing someexcuse to leave the house party early.

Rebecca was not the only one looking forwardto the end of the week. John was showing signs ofrestiveness, like a volcano about to explode. AsJanus Leon was one of his father's guests he could

hardly order him off the premises, although hewould have dearly loved to. The only saving factorthat kept matters on a low key was the fact thatRebecca had not encouraged the attentions she wasreceiving from the author.As Janus Leon was Rebecca's bugbear, Mrs

Carmichael was Laura's. She had attached herselfto the younger set for obvious reasons, and madean uncomfortable fifth at tennis, which meant thatsomeone had to drop out after each game to ac-commodate her, and what made it worse was thatshe was a very mediocre player and promptlyruined any chance of a good set, for the otherswere all good players.


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Relations between Laura and CarolineCarmichael only just stopped short of open war-

fare. Out of Sir George's proximity, the gloves wereoff as far as Caroline Carmichael was concerned,and she never failed to grasp an opportunity tobelittle Laura.

11 1

Laura, however, was made of sterner stuff, andusually gave as good as she got. - It was a game of

very polite backhanders. So far the score was even,but it hardly helped to make the atmosphere acarefree one.Where Rebecca was concerned, she welcomed

the older woman's presence. Caroline was not one

to stand aside and let others take the stage, not thefemale of the species anyway, and it did giveRebecca some leeway where Janus Leon was con-cerned, and though she could sympathise withLaura, her instinct for self-preservation tookprecedence!

The row that had been simmering betweenCaroline Carmichael and Laura finally brokeduring dinner on the Thursday evening.

The conversation had centred on the evening'sentertainment when Sir George had suggested thatthe young folk might like to amuse themselves by

dancing to the radiogram in the loggia off the con-servatory, instead of taking part in the bridge setsusually made up among the guests.

This suggestion was met with consternation fromRebecca, who had dreaded such an event. So farshe had managed to keep within a comfortabledistance from Janus Leon, and had got used to themocking challenge in his vivid blue eyes whenever


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. MAN WITH TWO FACES 5 3

their glances met. It was this look of his that hadmade her determined to keep her distance. It said

all that she had suspected about himthat he wasplaying with her, and she was absolutely certainthat should she attempt any concession in her atti-tude towards him, she would meet with the kind ofset-down she had handed out to him, but forentirely different reasons. His was the evening upof a score, while hers was the simple fact that shedid not care for the man.To Rebecca's relief Laura, for reasons of her

own, not least the thought of spending the wholeevening in the detestable Caroline Carmichael's

company, for it went without saying which of theentertainments she would choose, since she was asaccomplished at bridge as she was at tennis andsorely tried whoever her unfortunate partnerturned out to be, vetoed the suggestion with a firm,`I'd rather read a book: How about you, Rebecca?'

she asked, giving her a look that pleaded for herco-operation.`Same here,' Rebecca replied quickly, not need-

ing any encouragement to support Laura.'I think a little dancing would be a splendid idea,'

Mrs Carmichael cut in firmly, giving Laura a glare.

`You can read a book any time. The trouble is,'she said, turning confidingly to Sir George, 'theseyoung people get too much leisure these days. My

Joanna's a secretary in the Admiralty, No loafingabout for her,' she tacked on spitefully, looking atLaura.

Under the table Rebecca's foot nudged Laura'sin an effort to calm her down, but the danger


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Rebecca accepted John's invitation for a walk inthe garden, and did not miss the narrowing of

Janus Leon's eyes at her quick acceptance of thesuggestion. It was an invitation she had refused theprevious evening from Janus on an excuse of tired-ness.

The evenings had been even worse for her thanthe days, as she did not play bridge, neither did

Laura, and if she had hoped for a quiet evening'schat with Laura, Janus Leon had soon disabusedher of that hope, for he elected to join the ab-stainers, solely on account of Rebecca's abstinence,she was sure, and to give him another chance ofannoying her.

John had no such excuse, and as the guests werenow down to a mere fourfive if one countedRebecca, he was needed to make up a set. CarolineCarmichael was under no such obligation, andpromptly joined the abstainers, not wanting to miss

a chance of getting Janus Leon to herself.That, however, was how it had been the previousevening, but with Mrs Carmichael flouncing off tobed declaring that she had a headache, and throw-ing Laura a look that plainly said who had causedit, the evening, from Laura's point of view anyway,

looked a more promising prospect.The walk in the garden was not a very good idea,

Rebecca soon found, for as she had suspected,John proposed to her, but as it had been a case ofany port in a storm, she could not very well com-plain, and she managed to steer the conversation

on to other channels after a gentle refusal, wishingonce again that she did feel something for him,


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because she had been plagued with a restless feelinglately that was foreign to her nature and she could

only put it down to dissatisfaction with everythingin general.Her gaze rested on a particularly lovely, white

rose climber on the trellis ahead of them. What

was the matter with her? Why should she feel sodissatisfied with everything? She had a good job,

hadn't she? Not a very exciting one, it was true,but who wanted excitement? Her fingers caressedthe white silk petals of the roses when they reachedthe trellis, one half of her listening to John tellingher how much he was looking forward to a weekof peace on Saturday when the guests would have

gone, and something about not giving up hope ofher finally accepting him, the other half trying tocome to terms with whatever ailed her.

Excitement, she thoughtwas that what waswrong with her? Had the short spell of work thatshe had done for Janus Leon aroused thesethoughts? She had admittedly enjoyed the work,particularly as he had abided by her wish to leaveher to get on with \the work and had kept out ofher way, and what a difference that had been fromthe role he was now adopting!

She sighed inwardly. She was tired of collegework, she might as well admit it. She had caught aglimpse of other more interesting occupations andit had unsettled her. Perhaps she ought to joinBarbara, she thought dryly. With the redoubtableMargaret keeping Janus Leon quiet, she could take

on other assignments.Her hand dropped suddenly away from the rose


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as she envisaged herself seated at one of the desksin the bureau office. No, that was not for her. At

least in the College she could move around. Shegave another inward sigh. She was just beingstupid. When she got back to work she would

wonder how she had ever imagined herself doingother work, she fevently hoped that this would beso; if not, she would have to look for other work,

only she had no idea what.The following morning, Rebecca found herself

accompanying Janus Leon on a tour of the gar-dens. It had all been arranged so adroitly that shehad had no chance of getting out of it.

It appeared her offer of assisting him in col-lecting data for his novel had proved a rash one,for he had taken her up on it, choosing a time

when John was otherwise engaged, being delegatedthe task of going down to the local station to collecta unique species of orchid for his father, whose

hobby was growing these exotic plants.As soon as breakfast was over, Janus Leon pres-ented her with a notebook, and remarked casuallythat he was accepting her kind offer of assistancein collecting background data for his novel.

It took Rebecca a moment or two to work out

what he was talking about, and seeing her look ofbewilderment, he said with a grin, 'You can takenotes for me on the background scenery.'

Hearing this, Laura said eagerly, 'Oh, I'm theone to help you there. There's lots of history aboutthe place Rebecca wouldn't know about.'

Not to be outdone, Mrs Carmichael also offeredher services. 'My memory goes back a lot further


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than yours. It must be accurate, you know,' sheadded maliciously as she stared at Laura.

Whatever Laura would have replied to this, andit would have been something on the lines of herlast shot in their skirmish the previous evening atdinner, was fortunately defused by Janus Leon'ssmooth query as to whether either of them couldtake dictation, which settled the matter, and he

waved aside any further offers of assistance byremarking, 'It's just my own impressions I'm after.I'm not looking for historical data,' and sweptRebecca off before Sir George, who had just joinedthem, added his offer of accompaniment.

The morning was a bright sunny one, in contrastto an overclouded one the previous day, andRebecca thought about the coming week, andhoped the weather would be as kind as it had beenthat week. In fact, she concentrated on anythingbut the fact that she had been railroaded into

spending a morning alone with the man she hadgone to great pains to keep at a respectable dis-tance. Under the circumstance

61732871 jane corrie man with two faces

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