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that’s by the by, I just don’t feel I could commit to having only one child.’
    Marcus looked at her, reassessing what he saw. ‘And I wouldn’t ask you to. You can have as many babies as you want, Lucy. I should like a son but if you have a gaggle of girls that’s fine. I think I could dote on daughters and there’s sure to be a business brain among them.’
    How very strange to be planning a family with a man I scarcely know, she thought.
    ‘Just two more questions.’ She had a mischievous grin on her face. ‘You are a millionaire, aren’t you?
    ‘ Multi actually.’ He was amused at the question.
    ‘ Excellent. Amy thinks I will be prostituting myself and if that’s the case then I do feel I owe it to myself to go for top dollar. Don’t you agree?’
    ‘ Absolutely. And the second question, God help me?’
    ‘ Are your eyes really that green?’
    Later , as Saule drove her home, Lucy mulled over the evening. It had been a little bizarre of course but she had enjoyed herself. And except for the after-shave moment she hadn’t thought of Laurent once.
    It was then that something odd occurred to her. She was quite certain that the only time she had ever mentioned Laurent, when they first met at the airport, she had not told Marcus his name. So how did he know it?
     
    ~
     
    At breakfast the next morning Amy was still in a huff. There was a lot of plate banging and flouncing around the kitchen. Lucy chose to ignore it and behave as if nothing had happened.
    Pouring milk onto her bowl of muesli, she asked brightly, ‘So, did you have a good evening with Alex?’
    Feeling slightly wrong-footed by this approach Amy replied, ‘Yes, it was nice. He was a bit jet-lagged so we just got a takeaway and vegged out in front of the telly.’ With more of an edge to her voice she continued, ‘Mind you, I seemed to spend most of the time taking phone calls for you. Both your parents rang and I told them what you were up to.’
    She enjoyed Lucy’s stricken expressi on for a moment before going on.
    ‘ Don’t worry, I just said you were seeing Marcus, not that you were negotiating the renting out of your womb.’
    This sounded so ridiculous, even to her own ears, that Amy’s lips twitched. She caught Lucy’s eye and they broke into gales of laughter. Peace was restored, but not for long.
    ‘ You also had a call from a journalist called Martin Culver. He said he’d try you again today.’
    ‘ Oh dear. Catherine said he’d find me but I didn’t think it would be this quickly.’
    ‘ If you are going to consort with people in the public eye you will have to get used to this sort of thing,’ retorted Amy tartly.
    Lucy said nothing , appearing to be engrossed in her muesli.
    ‘ Well, are you going to be seeing more of him?’ Amy demanded.
    Lucy answered serenely, ‘Yes, I think I’m going to be seeing quite a lot more of him actually.’
    Amy left the room without further comment.
     
    ~
     
    Channelling her anger into physical energy Amy strode along the pavement towards the bus stop in the High Street. Overtaking other pedestrians who were walking at a less frenzied pace , she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to acknowledge the greetings of the neighbours and fellow travellers she saw every morning.
    Lucy had changed, and not for the better in her opinion. She preferred the old Lucy who had always sought and taken her advice. Over the years she had steered her friend through the constant crises, big and small, in her life. It was she, by far the more mature of the two, who had made Lucy’s most important decisions. Until now.
    That she had left Laurent and returned to England without their having discussed it had been the first surprise. But far more serious was Lucy’s refusal to heed her warnings about becoming involved with Delacroix. This had never happened before; Lucy always did as she was told. It was so unlike her to be stubborn and refuse to see sense. It would end in tears, and it wasn’t