Revenge By Seduction. Alex Ryder

still a virgin at twenty-one. You’re too principled to indulge in sex for mere pleasure. You would have to be in love with the man first. And of course you would have to believe that he was in love with you.’

      Catriona felt too choked with embarrassment and anger to answer and Madge nodded in commiseration. ‘I’m afraid that your Mr Hind is every bit as black as he’s painted. There’s hardly a social event in this city where you won’t find him with some ravishing young beauty clinging to his arm. Never the same one two nights running, mind you. And even then I’ve been told you can almost see those shark-grey eyes of his searching out his next victim. The man is a womaniser of the worst kind. An absolute rake.’ She studied Catriona’s reaction in silence, then shrugged and muttered, ‘I’m only sorry that I wasn’t here to warn you about him.’

      Catriona shook her head. ‘You needed that short holiday in the sun. I should have been able to look after myself.’

      ‘Oh, well, don’t blame yourself too much,’ Madge consoled. ‘I’d have probably been taken in by his lies myself at your age. He might be the worst thing to hit London since the Great Plague, but I must admit that he’s a handsome-looking devil.’

      She studied the end of her cigarette for a moment, then said disparagingly, ‘They call him The Golden Hind. And it isn’t just because of his ability to make money. The Golden Hind was Sir Francis Drake’s ship, and we all know what a freebooting pirate he was.’

      She took another draw at her cigarette and drawled, ‘The word around the West End these days is that he’s either doing it for a bet or he simply wants to see how many women he can seduce in a year. Trying to break some sort of record, I suppose. Personally I think he should be painlessly neutered so that women can go about in safety.’

      ‘Well, he made a mistake when he put me on his list,’ muttered Catriona darkly. She retrieved the paper and looked at the picture again. The anger burned in her throat at the sight of him and she said bitterly, ‘Cardini’s! That’s where he took me on the night it…the night it happened.’

      ‘He takes all his victims there,’ Madge said casually. ‘It’s his favourite restaurant. He has a table permanently booked there and Humphrey the head waiter has orders to shoot any uninvited guests on sight.’

      Catriona studied the picture of the girl by his side. She was a slim blonde hanging onto his arm and gazing up at him in obvious adoration. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen this girl before,’ she said. ‘Her face is vaguely familiar.’

      ‘It should be. She’s one of the current “Chelsea set,”’ Madge said disdainfully. ‘They’ve all been in the shop at one time or another. Tailored suits and chiffon scarves. They go for the trendy female executive look, although I doubt if any of them has enough intelligence to hold down a job. When the Golden Hind dumps her, I for one won’t feel sorry.’

      ‘Well, I will,’ Catriona disagreed. ‘No girl deserves to be treated that way. We’ve all got feelings, haven’t we? We are not just put here as playthings to satisfy that man’s lust. He’s nothing but a moral degenerate who deserves to be smitten by the hand of vengeance, and I’ll be that hand if I only get half a chance.’

      Madge raised delicate eyebrows. ‘Hmm… Very biblical language you Scots indulge in.’

      Catriona felt a little sheepish after her outburst and she gave an embarrassed smile. ‘Aye. It comes from going to the kirk every Sunday and listening to the Reverend McPhee preaching fire and damnation from the pulpit. If he knew about me now he’d have me in sackcloth and ashes.’

      ‘I was never bothered by a conscience myself,’ Madge said brightly. ‘No doubt there’s a special place waiting for sinners like me, but in the meanwhile…’ She waved a negligent hand around the room. ‘I’ve been wise enough during my dissolute years to acquire this charming flat, a successful boutique in Chelsea and a nice little portfolio of shares for my old age. I never, ever met a man with whom I’d want to spend the rest of my life, but that never stopped me from using them for my own ends. Mind you, I never knowingly made an enemy, and most of those men and I are still good friends. I still manage to get invited to all the right places.’

      Catriona regarded her with genuine affection. ‘I don’t care what kind of life you’ve led, Madge. To me you’ll always be an angel. Until I met you I was desperate and ready to slink back home with my tail between my legs. Then it all changed. You gave me a decent job and even a place to live. I’ll be eternally grateful to you.’

      ‘Well, you had such an honest face,’ Madge said with a grin. ‘You don’t see many faces like yours in London these days. In this day and age you have to learn to spot a fake at fifty yards or you get taken to the cleaners.’

      ‘Aye…’ muttered Catriona. ‘Just like I did.’

      ‘Oh, cheer up, girl! It isn’t the end of the world. You’ve got a broken heart and the world seems empty. But you’ll get over it. You’re young, but you’re a quick learner, and if you take my advice you’ll put this behind you and get on with your life.’

      Catriona lowered her eyes. She didn’t want to hurt Madge’s feelings but Madge just didn’t understand. Where she came from such things were a matter of family honour, not to mention pride and self-respect. Ryan Hind had trampled that into the mud and one way or another he was going to pay. She didn’t yet know how she was going to go about it, but she’d find a way to make that man wish he’d never laid eyes let alone a hand on her.

      Seeing Madge reach for the aspirin bottle again, she eased back her chair and got to her feet. ‘You were late home from that party last night and you’re still a bit under the weather. I know we were going to take stock in the shop today but I can quite easily do that on my own. Why don’t you just take it easy and have a day in bed?’

      Madge looked at her gratefully. ‘That’s kind of you, dear. I’m afraid I can’t handle late nights like I used to. I’ll spend the day resting. But make no mistake, once my batteries are recharged I intend growing old disgracefully, so don’t order a Zimmer frame yet.’

      Catriona cleaned up the breakfast things first, then tidied the lounge. Satisfied with her handiwork, she took a final look round, then smiled. When Madge had offered her a spare room in her flat at a nominal rent she’d never expected anything as grand as this!

      Madge had taste and style. Period furniture and luxurious carpeting throughout, and double-glazed sliding doors led from the lounge onto a balcony offering a fine view over the river.

      For a moment as she gazed out towards Chelsea Bridge she felt a brief tug of nostalgia for the wild seascapes and the rugged grandeur of the mountains surrounding Kindarroch, then she took a deep breath. Only losers allowed themselves to wallow in self-pity and homesickness.

      She’d almost succumbed. Her first few weeks in London had been a heartbreaking round of menial, poorly paid jobs and a hunt for half-decent accommodation, and she’d been rapidly running out of money. It had only been because of Morag’s prediction that she’d meet someone who’d become a good friend that she’d stuck it out.

      Of course, Morag had also said that she’d meet a rich, handsome man, but she’d neglected to tell her that he’d turn out to be a lying lecherous swine. But then perhaps she shouldn’t have taken Morag too seriously in the first place. It all seemed so long ago now, and yet it was only a couple of months or so since the day she’d decided to leave Kindarroch.

      There were people in Kindarroch who’d have sooner walked barefoot over broken glass than cross the threshold of Morag’s cottage up on the hill, but Catriona wasn’t the least bit nervous.

      The older generation, even her own mother, always spoke about Morag in whispers, after looking over their shoulders to see that she was nowhere around. Morag was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, so no one was surprised that she had the ‘gift’. She was a seer who had visions of the future. Well, that was quite acceptable in a culture where romantic myth and legend lived comfortably alongside satellite television and microwave ovens, but it was whispered that