Read Unknown for Free Online Page B

nothing by the evening.’
    Davina laughed as she straightened up. ‘Don’t you believe it, Mum! Gran’s loving every minute and I’ll bet she’s got more staying power than the rest of us put together. My feet haven’t touched the ground since breakfast and I feel as it I’ve been through a mincer. I suppose there wouldn’t be time for a quick dip in the pool before lunch?’
    ‘Certainly not!’ Helen Williams’s reply was prompt and definite. ‘Wash your hands and come along. The caterers are due at three and I want lunch eaten and cleared away before they get here.’
    Following the rest of the family out of the dining room when the midday meal was over, Davina was taken by surprise as a hand reached out to bring her to a halt. She looked from the long brown fingers encircling her bare arm and up to meet Rex’s eyes.
    ‘I hired a car when I arrived in Lucerne, and as your mother assures me she has no need of your services this afternoon, how about coming for a nm? You look to me as if some fresh air wouldn’t do you any harm.’
    ‘Hardly flattering, but I know after this morning I must look a mess. There wasn’t time to freshen up properly before lunch,’ Davina ended apologetically, for she was well aware that her make-up had long since rubbed off and during lunch her cousin Miranda’s bandbox appearance had made her feel even more untidy than she really was.
    ‘Would there be time for me to shower and change? This dress is ready for the laundry,' and as Rex nodded she asked, ‘But what about the others? Maybe I ought to see what they want to do,’ Davina ended, for it had not escaped her notice that during lunch Miranda had hardly taken her eyes off the visitor from Australia, and Miranda was unlikely to enjoy the snub of having her wishes ignored out of hand.
    ‘Are you trying to tell me you’re the kind of girl who needs her family’s permission before she goes out for a drive?’ Rex challenged, and there was scepticism as well as disbelief in his voice.
    Davina got as far as a swift denial. ‘Of course not, it’s just that...’ when Rex broke in.
    ‘If you’ve better things to do, just say so. I’ll wait in the car fifteen minutes, no longer. If you’re not down then I shall go on a sightseeing tour on my own,’ and releasing her arm he strode out of the dining room.
    Davina looked down at the faint marks left by his grasp on her arm and smiled ruefully at the ‘take it or leave it’ ultimatum. In a way it appealed to her, and the chance to get right away for a couple of hours was very tempting. Deciding to risk any possible repercussions, she ran up to the bedroom and in record time had showered, dried and dressed in halter-neck cotton top and thin coffee-coloured denim trousers. She slipped cosmetics and a comb into her voluminous shoulder bag and as an afterthought a bikini and a towel. She was back downstairs well within the stipulated fifteen minutes to find Rex Fitzpaine sitting reading behind the wheel of a large cream-coloured Mercedes.
    Without getting out he reached across and opened the passenger door so Davina could get in. He made no comment as he switched on the ignition and put the car into gear. Trust him to select such a big car! Davina thought as the silence lengthened, then chided herself as she imagined Rex trying to squeeze his bulk into a Mini or one of the baby Fiats or Volkswagens. Determined not to reveal her thoughts or give him an opportunity to snub her by asking where they were headed, she turned her head to look out of the window.
    But she was not a girl to remain silent indefinitely and as the village was left behind and the car gathered speed she said impulsively, ‘I feel exactly as if I’m playing truant.’
    Rex glanced sideways before his eyes returned to the road ahead. ‘If you do, it doesn’t appear to be bothering you. Did you often skive off as a child?’
    ‘With a headmaster for a father? You must be joking,’ Davina replied, then