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It took more strength than Julia was aware of for Georgie to strip off the armour and say
steadily, 'Yes, I do, but I'd prefer him not to know.'
'I can understand that, and I promise you he will not learn it from me. But in return for
that confidence I want to tell you something. Something very private and something I have not
spoken of before, not to anyone. But you, you I want to tell.'
Georgie stared into the beautiful face and she felt a shiver run down her spine. This had
been far from a cosy chat and she had the feeling it was about to get worse.
'When Matthew went to university he was a bright, strong boy with a zest for life that
was unquenchable and a warmth that was very much like his father's,' Julia began slowly. 'When
he graduated the brightness and strength was still there, but the zest for life had been turned into
a desire to take it by the throat and the warmth was quite gone. This ... ' Julia hesitated, her hand
moving to her throat. 'This was due to a girl.'
'Begonia.'
'He has spoken to you of Begonia?' It was sharp and Julia's face was amazed.
'No. Well, yes. At least& ' Georgie tried to pull her thoughts together. 'He said he knew
her for eighteen months and then it finished,' she said quickly.
Julia looked at her for another moment before nodding. 'It is not as simple as that, but
then knowing my son you would not have expected it to be. He was in love with Begonia and she
betrayed him,' she said flatly. 'But not in the normal sense. They were together for a year-you
know?'
Georgie nodded painfully. Yes, she knew.
'And then something dreadful happened. We received a phone call from the university to
say that Matt was missing and that the police were involved. Then came a ransom note. It stated
Matt was being held until we delivered a certain amount of money to a designated pick-up point.
We delivered. Matt was released from the tiny underground room he had been held in for five
days and left in the middle of nowhere. But my son is no fool, Georgie.
'He had taken a note of sounds and driving distances, even though he was blindfolded and
cuffed, and eventually the police found the street and then the actual cellar. Then it got worse. I
won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say he had been held by supposed friends who
needed money for their drug addiction.'
The claustrophobia. Georgie stared at Matt's mother in horror. 'Begonia was one of
them?' she whispered weakly.
Julia nodded. 'Matt did not know about her drug habit; perhaps he would have helped her
if he did. Anyway, needless to say, the abduction affected him deeply. He ... he was not the same
afterwards. He became very cynical and cold.'
Georgie nodded. She could understand that. 'And Begonia?' she asked quietly.
'Begonia and the others received a severe prison sentence. The parents of one of the boys
involved got a clever lawyer, who insisted it was just an ill-advised practical joke which had
gone wrong, but in view of the sum of money involved this argument was not acceptable. It
transpired Begonia had been sharing her favours with this boy as well as Matt.'
Georgie shook her head slowly, her hair brushing her cheeks in a shimmering veil. For a
first love to go wrong was bad enough, but in those circumstances ...
'Matt has had women companions since then, of course, but he has chosen only those
who were beautiful enough and shallow enough to fit into his lifestyle. Francisca calls them dolls
and she is right. Matt only smiles when his sister says this, but when he spoke of you ... He did
not smile. No, he did not smile.'
'Julia-' Georgie squirmed on the upholstered seat. 'He doesn't love me. Whatever he feels,
he's made it clear it's not love.'
'Then he is a fool,' Matt's mother said very softly, her eyes gentle on the lovely face in
front of her.
'That's what Matt called Glen,' Georgie said ruefully. 'My ex. He ... he let me down rather
badly.'
'And Matt called him a fool? Well, well.' Julia lay back against the plump pillows behind
her and surveyed Georgie afresh. 'Don't give up on him, Georgie. Not yet. It takes time to climb
out of the darkness into the light, especially when that darkness is the only protection you have
against a giant step that makes Neil Armstrong's look easy. I know
my son. I know what is of his father. My husband loved me utterly and absolutely, and
that is the way Matt will love when he finds the right woman.'
And if she wasn't the right woman? Where did that leave her? Georgie's green eyes were
cloudy. Matt's mother loved him and that was right and proper, but it coloured her viewpoint to
look at things for Matt's good. What about her good?
Matt could have any woman he wanted and he couldn't fail to recognise the fact by the
number which pursued him. He was handsome and wealthy and powerful, and she was an
ordinary girl from a little town in England he had happened to meet, and who didn't tell him
exactly what he wanted to hear. That had interested him, intrigued him even. But what happened
when the chase stopped and the hunter got his quarry?
'I think you're mistaken about me,' Georgie said quietly, 'about how Matt feels, but thank
you for telling me about what happened in his past anyway. It& it explains a lot.' Julia nodded. 'It
does, doesn't it?' she agreed softly. 'But as to my being mistaken... Well, time will tell, Georgie.'
Time. Would it be friend or foe? She wished she could believe for the former but cold reason
told her it would be the latter.
And then the door opened and Matt was back, and in spite of all her fears Georgie's heart
leapt as she looked at him.
They spent over an hour at the hospital and by the time they left Georgie knew she could
love Matt's mother. Julia was so sweet, so warm; she could understand what had attracted Matt's
father to his English bride after being brought up in a home which, by the sound of it, although
palatial, had been devoid of much love and laughter.
'You'll come again before you leave?' As Georgie made her goodbyes, Julia's voice was
insistent. 'If you want me to.'
'I do.'
It was very definite, and once outside in the corridor Matt took her arm, drawing her
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