Read Where Love Has Gone for Free Online

phone.”
    “Tell her I’ll call her back in a few minutes, Charles. And bring me some aspirin and coffee.” “Yes, mum.” The interphone clicked off, then a moment later clicked on again. “Miss Hayden?” “Yes?”
    “Your mother says it’s very important that she speak with you immediately.”
    “Oh, all right,” she said truculently. She reached for the telephone. “And, Charles, hurry with the aspirin and coffee. I have the most frightful headache.” Then, into the telephone: “Yes, Mother.”
    “Nora, are you awake?” Her mother’s voice was bright and penetrating.
    “I am now,” she answered resentfully. She didn’t know how her mother did it. She was well over seventy and her voice sounded as if she’d been awake for hours.
    “It’s half-past six, Nora. And we expect you at seven. Mr. Gordon is already here.” “Is Luke there yet?”
    “No. But he’ll be here.”
    “You’re so sure,” Nora said. “How do you know? Have you heard from him?” “No.”
    “Maybe he didn’t come.”
    “He’ll be here,” her mother said definitely. “He said he would.”
    “You always believed him rather than me, didn’t you?” Her voice filled with resentment. “That doesn’t matter. You’re my daughter.”
    “And that’s all that matters,” Nora added bitterly.
    “That’s right,” her mother said with crisp finality. “And if you haven’t learned that by now, you’ll never learn.”
    There was a subdued knock, then the door opened and Charles came in. He was carrying a small silver service tray.
    “Mr. Gordon wants you to wear a simple suit and a cloth coat, Nora. And no makeup, only pale lipstick.”
    “Mr. Gordon thinks of everything.”
    Charles put the tray down on a small table next to the bed. He filled a cup with coffee and handed it to her, along with three aspirins on a small plate.
    “You can thank God we’ve got him,” her mother said.
    “Do I have to come? I feel terrible this morning. I’ve got a frightful headache …” “Nora!” Her mother’s voice was shocked.
    “What good can I do? I couldn’t stand those questions again this morning. And the reporters will be there—”
    Her mother’s voice went cold and hard. “You’ll go to Juvenile Hall with your daughter this morning. This is one thing I can’t do for you. Her father will be there and you’ll be there, like it or not.”
    She felt the vise of the headache tighten on her temples. “All right, I’ll be there.”
    She put down the telephone and picked up the aspirin. She placed all three on her tongue and washed them down with a swallow of coffee.
    “And how is Miss Danielle?” Charles asked softly, an inquiring look on his shining round face.
    She looked up at the butler with a kind of surprise. She hadn’t asked. But then there’d been no real reason to. If anything had been wrong with Danielle her mother would have told her. “Fine,” she answered automatically.
    Charles waited for her to go on.
    “My mother said she was still asleep,” she added, lying. Then she was angry with herself. She owed no explanations. Charles was nothing but a servant. No matter how long he had been with her.
    “Tell Violet to draw my bath,” she said sharply. “I’ll send her right up, mum.”
    The door closed behind him and she finished her cup of coffee. She got out of bed and poured herself another. As she turned, she caught her reflection in the large mirror over the dresser. Still holding the cup in her hand, she walked toward it.
    She studied herself carefully. She didn’t look her thirty-eight years. She was still slim, still straight. There was no fat on her lips, and her breasts, though never large, were still round and firm.
    She sipped at the coffee, still looking at herself. She liked the way her flesh shone through the sheer white silk and lace of her gown. She leaned closer to the mirror, peering at her face. There were faint blue hollows under her eyes but other than that there were no