The Arrogance Of Love. Anne Mather

to the door.

      ‘We must go. Good night, Mr. Halstad. Good night, Amanda.'

      Outside the air was freezing, and Susan shivered. ‘Central heating certainly makes you more vulnerable to the elements,’ she said. ‘Hurry up and let's get home, David.'

      David put her into the car and then went to start it, but to Susan's dismay it would not start.

      ‘Oh, lord,’ muttered David. ‘What a thing to happen on a night like this! It must be the cold air. It seems to have knocked all the life out of the battery.'

      Susan saw the funny side and giggled. ‘Well, shall I push, or will you?'

      ‘Don't be ridiculous,’ snapped David, unable to see anything amusing in their predicament.

      ‘All right, all right. I was only trying to cheer you up.’ Susan hunched her shoulders, and waited while David cranked the engine furiously.

      ‘Shall I try and catch it on the accelerator?’ she ventured, a few moments later.

      ‘No.'

      David was fuming, and Susan sighed. This would have to happen. Just when David was seeming a little more human, this occurred, and now he was sure to find it Amanda's fault in some way.

      ‘If we hadn't spent so long in there, the damn car wouldn't have frozen like this,’ he muttered, and Susan sighed again. Here it came! The same old story of recriminations. Anything but the real reason the car had defaulted.

      Suddenly, the swing doors of the apartment building opened again, and a tall figure emerged, dressed in a thick fur-collared overcoat. It was Dominic Halstad, and Susan groaned inwardly. This would really settle things. David hated seeming at a disadvantage.

      Dominic merely nodded to them and walked across to a dark-green Mercedes saloon that was parked just ahead of them.

      David straightened up and looked at Susan. ‘Shall I ask him if he will give you a lift?’ he asked abruptly.

      ‘No, of course not. I'll wait and go with you. We'll get away soon.'

      David looked relieved. ‘I'm sorry I bellowed at you,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I'm a bad-tempered cuss.'

      ‘Don't be silly,’ said Susan, smiling. ‘Just hurry up and let's get going.'

      Dominic Halstad had now opened the boot of his car and was producing a coil of plastic-covered rope which he brought to David, saying casually:

      ‘Would a tow be of any use?'

      David lifted his head. ‘Why … yes, it would. It's just the battery, I think. It's a bit flat.

      ‘Okay. You fasten your end and I'll fasten mine. Give me a blast on your horn when you start up, right?'

      ‘Right.'

      David hastily tied the tope to his car, while Dominic connected the other end, and nodded briefly at Susan before sliding into the driving seat and starting up.

      It only took a couple of hundred yards before David's engine fired and he tooted his horn to tell Dominic Halstad that he could continue under his own power.

      The cars halted, the rope was put away and Dominic raised his hand in farewell, before re-entering his car and driving away.

      ‘Good chap!’ remarked David warmly. ‘Not many men in his position would have been so helpful.'

      ‘No,’ agreed Susan. ‘He didn't waste any time either.'

      David nodded, and putting the car into gear they drove on to Susan's flat.

      After arranging to spend the following day with David, Susan left him to enter the flat, which seemed very lonely tonight, knowing that Delia would not be returning.

      She made herself a cup of cocoa, and carried it into the bedroom to drink while she undressed. But once in bed sleep was far from soon in coming. Her thoughts were too chaotic to allow her any peaceful rest, and restlessly she switched on the light again and reached for a half-finished novel she was réading.

      As she read the words, however, they meant little to her. She found her mind drifting off at a tangent, and she found herself wondering again where Dominic Halstad's wife could be. He had not mentioned her and neither had Amanda.

      Amanda had mentioned the life Dominic led as being unsuitable for a child and that could only mean one thing, surely! It was very puzzling.

      Susan felt suddenly angry. It was not like her to indulge in idle speculation about anybody, least of all a man who could not possibly be of any importance in her life.