Just Rewards. Barbara Taylor Bradford

the pictures and looked through them for the umpteenth time. The interiors had all been repaired and renovated, the walls and doors painted, the floors restored and polished, the chimneys swept by the local chimneysweep, and every window had been washed by the window-cleaner.

      Beck House was ready. It awaited them. And next week, whilst they were in Yorkshire getting ready for their wedding, she and Gideon and his mother Emily were going to supervise the hanging of the draperies, the laying of the carpets and rugs, and the placement of the furniture. Many of the wood pieces, which were mostly antiques, had been gifts from Emily and Paula. Both women had hunted through their attics and come up with some really wonderful finds.

      Evan had sent computer photographs of the best pieces to her father in New York, and he had sent her an email almost immediately, telling her how good the furniture was, in his opinion. All were Georgian, he was certain of that, he had written, and he had told her he couldn’t wait to look them over when he arrived next week.

      Evan sat back, reading his latest, very loving email, relieved and happy that their relationship was back on an even keel. Her father was now warm and caring; it was as if there had never been a rift between them.

      A light knock on the door brought Evan’s head up from the photographs, but before she could utter a word, Ruth Snelling, her new secretary, poked her blonde head around the door.

      ‘Do you need anything, Evan?’ she asked in her breezy voice, with a bright smile. As usual, she was showing her concern for her boss, as solicitous of her as she had been from her first day of working at Harte’s.

      ‘I’m fine thanks, Ruth. But perhaps you could get me a bottle of water, flat not fizzy, please?’

      ‘No problem. I’ll be back in a jiffy.’

      ‘Don’t go, Ruth,’ Evan exclaimed. ‘I have something for Linnet. Do you mind dropping it off in her office?’ As she spoke Evan rose, moved slowly across the floor, picked up the manila folder and held it out.

      Still smiling, Ruth came and took it from her. ‘See you in a minute,’ she said as she disappeared, almost running out of the office, intent in her purpose.

      Evan smiled to herself. The young woman was extremely eager to please and efficient; nothing was too much trouble for her. Things had been running smoothly since her arrival a few weeks ago, and Evan kept asking herself how she had ever managed without Ruth. I was always slightly behind the eight ball, that was the problem, Evan thought now as she sat down in her chair and glanced at her computer, needing to know if she had any emails. There were none so far this morning, which pleased her. Work had begun to pall on her lately, and all she wanted now was to be settled in the peace and quiet of Pennistone Royal.

      Paula had insisted she stay there until the wedding in ten days’ time, and she was happy to do so. Evan felt at ease in that great house, where she had spent most weekends for the past year. It had been bought in the 1930s by her great-grandmother; she loved being there because she felt the presence and spirit of Emma Harte within its walls. Not only that, it was truly familiar by now and beloved by her. Everyone had made her feel at home, and Margaret, the housekeeper, never stopped fussing over her, was kind, motherly, and also protective of her these days.

      Emily hadn’t minded that she wasn’t going to stay at Allington Hall, and had insisted she had completely understood why Evan would want to be in such a familiar place as Pennistone Royal. Gideon’s mother was one of the sweetest women she had ever met, and hilariously funny at times, frequently a little bit blunt, just as Linnet was.

      When Evan had mentioned this to Paula she had laughed and nodded, her violet eyes twinkling. ‘They both take after Emma, I’m afraid. She was blunt, too, and Linnet, in particular, has inherited Emma’s penchant for genuine pithiness. My grandmother always said what she meant, and so does Linnet.’

      ‘And what you see is what you get,’ Evan had replied, and the two of them had laughed.

      Winston Harte, Gideon’s father, was just as lovely as Emily. Both of them had made her feel really special from the moment she had started going out with Gideon. Like everyone else in the family, they had welcomed her graciously, and had shown their approval of her as a wife for their son. She couldn’t have wished for nicer parents-in-law; or for a more lovely sister-in-law than Natalie, now back from Australia. She was pretty, and a charming girl, and they had taken to each other immediately.

      The only person who seemed somewhat aloof and in a sense rather removed was Gideon’s brother, Toby. Linnet had once confided to her that Toby was inordinately jealous of Gideon, in every possible way. ‘And his marriage to the actress faltered almost immediately, so I guess his nose is now out of joint because Gid’s got lovely you.’

      Not wanting to get into a long discussion about Toby, for fear of seeming disloyal to Gideon, she had merely nodded; luckily, Linnet had suddenly realized she was late for a meeting and had rushed off, much to Evan’s relief. The subject matter had never arisen again.

      Pushing herself to her feet, Evan went back to the work table where she sat down, and slowly began to look through the numerous photographs Gideon had taken of their wedding presents. Everyone had been extremely generous, had sent extraordinary gifts, which were not only costly but beautiful as well. As Gideon had said, with a chuckle, ‘We don’t have to put any of these in the attic to be forgotten. We can use everything.’ She had agreed, also laughing.

      ‘Hi there! How’re you doin’?’

      Evan sat up with a jerk, not having heard the door open. But she stared at it now, in disbelief. Standing on the threshold, larger than life, was her twenty-three-year-old sister, Angharad, completely decked out in brilliant red, from her long cashmere muffler to her high-heeled leather boots. Not only that, she had dyed her hair, was now a platinum blonde.

      Evan’s jaw dropped, so startled was she, and it took her a moment to find her voice. ‘Heavens to Betsy!’ she said at last. ‘What are you doing here? I mean, Mom told me you weren’t coming to London ‘til next week.’

      ‘I decided to come early. I wanted to mosey around London before heading north.’

      Rising, Evan went over to her sister and kissed her cheek; her expression was warm as she went on, ‘Well, goodness, don’t stand there, come in, come in.’

      Angharad did as Evan suggested, her eager and curious brown eyes glancing around the room as she sauntered across the floor. ‘This office is fab. But then you always do manage to get a nice place to work, nicer than most people.’

      Ignoring this hostile jibe, Evan murmured, ‘It’s warm in here, you’d better hang your coat and scarf in the closet behind you.’ Evan padded across her office to the work table, where she began to pick up some of the photographs spread out on it, knowing it would be wiser to put them away before Angharad saw them. She was extremely nosey. But Evan was too late; her sister was heading her way. Turning away from the table, standing in front of it, Evan said, ‘Let’s sit on the sofa over there, it’s comfortable. And would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?’

      Angharad shook her head, standing stock still in the middle of the room, staring at Evan intently. After a moment, she exclaimed, ‘I can’t believe your size! It’s unbelievable. You’re so huge.’ She began to laugh, the laughter sounding harsh, brittle, and not at all warm. ‘You look as if you’re about to give birth to baby elephants not twin boys.’

      Wincing at these words, Evan did not respond, and in a gesture that was totally involuntary she found herself putting both of her hands on her stomach, almost protectively, as if safeguarding her boys. She hadn’t appreciated Angharad’s tone; she recognized it only too well. It held that hint of envy which the younger woman had never been able to disguise, not even as a child. It was indicative of her competitiveness, her absolute need to put Evan down whenever she could. She had always been jealous.

      Taking a deep breath, Evan now said softly, ‘I suppose you’re staying at George’s hotel with Mom.’

      ‘Yes. And Mom’s coming over soon. To meet me here. We thought we could all have