‘So, what do you propose we do?’ Madeline said. ‘Keep avoiding each other like the plague just because of a silly rift that should not have been allowed to develop in the first place?’
‘I told you my solution last night,’ he snapped.
‘Yes, and I told you what I thought of it!’
‘Last night?’ Vicky put in sharply. ‘You two saw each other last night?’
‘Swine,’ Madeline muttered at Dominic, going red.
‘Then this isn’t the first time you’ve met since that time at the bank last week?’
‘You asked for it,’ Dom said, unrepentant.
‘How many other times have you met?’ Vicky demanded suspiciously.
‘Once was enough!’ Madeline said bitterly.
‘Twice,’ Dominic corrected silkily. ‘Remember the time down by the river?’
‘My God, you sneaky pair of devils!’ Vicky gasped.
‘This food is cold,’ Madeline sighed, sitting back in her seat.
‘Does anyone else know you’ve been meeting in secret?’ Vicky was like a dog gnawing at a bone, asking questions, forming her own answers while the other two fought a battle of their own. ‘What about Perry Linburgh?’ she wanted to know. ‘Or Diane Felton, come to that?’
Madeline’s attention was suddenly caught, and she lanced Dominic with a look. ‘And who,’ she demanded silkily, ‘is Diane Felton?’
‘You’ll be able to meet her on Saturday night.’ Dominic smiled an acid smile. ‘I shall personally introduce you both—when I bring her to dinner at your home!’
‘Oh, you won’t like her, Maddie,’ Vicky put in absently, still trying to grappling with her new-found knowledge. ‘She’s one of those really sophisticated bitches he favours these days. She—’
‘Watch it, half-pint,’ her brother warned, then added deridingly to Madeline, ‘You know the type, darling. Not very different from the new you.’
* * *
‘I won’t have it.’ Edward Gilburn huffed. ‘I won’t have that Stanton man in my house!’ Madeline sighed impatiently, and he glowered at her for it. ‘And quite honestly, Madeline,’ he went on haughtily, ‘I am amazed at you for inviting him after what he did!’ He shook his silvered head in disgust. ‘I thought you’d learned your lesson about him the first time around.’
‘Edward!’ Louise snapped, and it was so unusual for her to shout at her husband that he almost sat down in surprise. ‘Perhaps you should try considering Madeline’s difficult position in all of this! She didn’t ask you to fall out with the Stantons.’
‘Us, Louise, us!’ he corrected forcefully.
‘You, Edward,’ Louise insisted. ‘It was you and James Stanton who had the fall-out; Beth Stanton and I just got carried along on the tide, while poor Vicky and Nina got trapped right in the middle! How do you think it feels to Madeline to know her childhood friend is not welcome in her own home?’
‘Did I make a single protest about Vicky?’ he countered. ‘Vicky is welcome here any time she wishes!’ he e
xclaimed. ‘But her brother is another kettle of fish entirely. He hurt my baby, and…’
‘They hurt each other, Edward. Please remember that. And Madeline is right. It’s time it was all forgotten.’
Madeline was beginning to rue the moment she’d had her brainwave this lunchtime, when a soft, gentle voice from across the room piped in, ‘I have an idea.’ And all faces turned in surprise in Nina’s direction, and she smiled uncertainly. ‘The way I see it,’ she said tentatively, ‘is that Madeline has as much right as any of us to invite whom she pleases into her own home. But, on the other hand, I don’t think she should expect Daddy to calmly sit down to dinner with a man he hasn’t spoken to in four years—’
‘Thank you, angel,’ Edward Gilburn said stiffly, puffing up because Nina was giving him her support.
‘So,’ Nina took a deep breath. ‘I think we should let Madeline have her dinner party—in private,’ she suggested. ‘And, so no offence is taken on the Stanton side, we’ll let everyone believe that we have another engagement—to dine with Charles at his home. That way nobody is made uncomfortable, are they?’
* * *
Madeline dressed with a deliberate intention of making an impact in an exquisite gown of dark red velvet with off-the-shoulder little sleeves and a plunging neckline. The skirt was short and tight, with a simple slit at the back which gave glimpses of her silken thighs when she moved.