Wildest Dreams. Carole Mortimer

Palfrey anyway.’

      His mouth twisted impatiently. ‘I’m sure you would, Arabella, but, as I’m sure you must realise only too well, I don’t discuss my work with anyone.’

      Being his editor for the last five years had certainly not involved too much work on her part; Robert Merlin had just periodically submitted manuscripts to her, never asking her for advice or guidance on the storylines as some authors did, and rarely did any actual editing need doing either: the manuscripts were always perfectly presented and written.

      ‘Except Emma, apparently,’ she pointed out lightly, still deep in thought as to how she could actually get this man to listen to reason over such drastic action where his hero was concerned. Arabella, for one, would be very upset if Palfrey were to die, and that wasn’t just from a professional point of view.

      ‘Not even with Emma.’ He shook his head. ‘She happens to have taken a computer course at school during the last year,’ he explained at Arabella’s puzzled frown, ‘and now insists on putting all my work on disk. I write in longhand, Arabella,’ he elaborated dryly. ‘I had someone come in to type up my manuscripts for me before Emma decided she could do it on her computer.’

      That explained the lack of a wordprocessor or typewriter in this room. She had had no idea that Merlin wrote his manuscripts out by hand, still really knew nothing about him. Except that he was going to kill off Palfrey!

      She frowned. ‘What are your reasons for killing off Palfrey?’

      He shrugged dismissively. ‘It’s time.’

      Time for what? How could she, and millions of other readers, not have the publishing of the Palfrey books to look forward to? ‘I don’t agree.’ She shook her head decisively. ‘In what way is it time?’

      ‘He’s outlived himself.’ Robert Merlin’s tone was implacable. ‘It’s time to move on to something else.’

      Incredible. Palfrey wasn’t just a character in a book for her, he was real, and she was sure that millions of other people felt the same way.

      But she was, after all, Merlin’s editor. ‘Do you have another series of books in mind?’ She kept her tone businesslike.

      ‘Possibly,’ he returned noncommittally.

      Arabella bit back her increasing frustration at his lack of cooperation. ‘It’s going to be very difficult to follow a series as popular as Palfrey’s—’