was not only frustrated but worried. And on the verge of becoming really angry. For the past few days she had been unable to reach Larry. Quite simply, he wasn’t responding to her messages or returning her calls, and she couldn’t imagine why. She just didn’t understand what was going on with him.

She sat on her bed in her room at Geo’s, staring into space, her mind racing, her mobile in her hand. And then she checked her watch for the umpteenth time. It was just eight thirty on Saturday morning. Five minutes ago she had tried to get him on his mobile, but it was turned off. A moment later she had dialled the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto and asked to be put through to Mr Laurence Vaughan’s room. The phone had just rung and rung, and she had finally ended the call in exasperation.

She bit her lip, wondering what to do, and then realized there was nothing she could do. Anyway, he was coming back to New York later today, after two weeks in Toronto with his father.

Edward, unfortunately, had arrived a week ago, sooner than expected, and the mere idea of this troubled her. No wonder we kept playing telephone tag on Monday, she now thought. Edward is probably giving Larry a hard time, taking it out on him, because he was forced to fly to Canada by their mother so that Larry could leave. Seemingly, Edward usually had better fish to fry when it came to being a good son.

So why had he arrived sooner than expected? Don’t even go there, she told herself. She stood up, pushed her phone into the pocket of her jeans and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Her mind remained focused on Larry as she made coffee. The first week he had been in Toronto they had spoken twice a day, but since last weekend they had been out of touch. Perhaps Larry wasn’t responding because there were problems with his father after all. She considered this for a moment and dismissed it, chided herself for being stupid. Larry had told her that his father was in good shape and perfectly normal, so his sudden silence was much more likely to have something to do with the arrival of his brother.

The thought of Larry exposed to Edward filled her with dismay. But he was due back this afternoon, and she would soon know everything, and things would normalize. In the meantime, she would just have to be patient. And she wasn’t going to phone him again either, because she didn’t want to be perceived as a nuisance. She knew she would hear from him the minute he arrived at the Beekman Place apartment, there was no doubt in her mind about that.

Taking her mug of coffee over to the table near the window, M sat drinking it, acknowledging to herself that she was a little disappointed she hadn’t been able to share all of her good news with her fiancé. Fiancé. Yes, that’s exactly what he was, and soon he would be her husband. Her thoughts turned to their marriage; she was well aware she would have to tell him who she really was before they went to City Hall to ‘tie the knot’, as he called it. If she married him under an assumed name it would not be legal. She wondered what he would say when she told him her name wasn’t Marie Marsden…

‘Hi, hi, hi!’ Geo exclaimed from the doorway in a cheerful voice, and came bouncing into the room full of energy and vitality, a bright smile on her face.

‘Good morning—you’re in good spirits,’ M answered, smiling back. ‘I just made coffee a few minutes ago, so it’s nice and fresh.’

Geo nodded. ‘I’ll come and join you…Incidentally, James stayed over last night, so don’t be surprised if he comes wandering in shortly.’

‘It’ll be nice to see him,’ M replied, meaning this.

As she poured herself a mug of coffee, Geo announced, ‘I have some great news.’

‘You’re engaged to James,’ M asserted, hoping this was true.

‘No, not yet.’ Geo sat down opposite M, leaned over the table and added, ‘But if he asks I’m going to say yes.’

‘I’m delighted to hear it, and I’d kill you if you didn’t. And so what is your news?’

‘I got a call last night from Annette Lazenby. She’s alive and kicking. And in Rome! What a relief it was to finally hear from her.’

‘I bet it was, and did she fill you in? Tell you why there has been such a long silence?’ M asked, suddenly riddled with curiosity about a woman she barely knew.

‘She did. She said she’d had a bad case of bronchitis, and was really sick. I think it was only because of James’s intervention that she got out safely.’

‘I didn’t know he’d intervened,’ M said, looking surprised, the expression in her eyes puzzled.

‘Sort of…he called someone he knows, who’s now based in Pakistan, and asked him to do a bit of checking.’ Geo shrugged, rolled her eyes. ‘That’s all I know. James didn’t tell me anything else.’

‘Well, he wouldn’t, would he? And I bet he’s a good man to have in a crisis. I think men like James usually operate on the premise that the less one knows about something problematical, the better off one is. Don’t you agree?’

‘I do, yes.’ Clearing her throat, changing the subject, Geo said, ‘So, from the few little tidbits you’ve thrown my way, I think you really did get your first break, didn’t you, M? It’s a big break, isn’t it?’

M grinned. ‘I’m happy to tell you that it is, and I’m thrilled. Thanks to Luke and his photographs I’m going to be under contract to Jean-Louis Tremont. I’ll be doing the January and February shows for him in Paris.’

‘Congratulations!’ Geo exclaimed; she instantly jumped up, went around the table and hugged M. ‘I’m very happy for you, I really am. You deserve this chance.’

‘Geo…there’s something I have to tell you…I’ll be giving up my room in December. I’m going to be living in Paris…’ Her voice trailed off a little sadly, and she stared across the table at Geo, then sighed. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘But it’s all right, honestly it is,’ Geo assured her. ‘I’ll miss you, of course. But I have a feeling I’m going to be with James permanently, whether we marry or not, and I believe he’ll want to live here with me. Alone. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think I’m going to be a landlady any more, not after you leave.’

‘But what about Annette?’ M asked, a brow lifting.

‘She indicated she may be going to live in Rome, although she didn’t explain why. I’m just glad she’s safe.’

Changing the subject again, Geo now said, ‘Tell me, how has Larry taken the news?’

‘He’s happy for me. As pleased as punch, and he’s going to come with me to Paris in December,’ M confided, without elaborating too much, never one to discuss private matters.

Geo grinned at her. ‘Hey, I have a great idea! Why don’t you get married before you fly away to a new life in Paris? Isn’t that a fabulous thought?’

‘It is, yes—I’ll think about it.’

Geo had gone upstairs to look in on James, wondering aloud, as she left the kitchen, if he was still sleeping. And M sat alone at the kitchen table, finishing her mug of coffee, lost in her thoughts.

Oddly, she was thinking about Annette Lazenby, whom she didn’t really know at all, and discovered she was filled with relief that the journalist was going to move out and live in Rome. Annette had proved to be a worry to Geo in the long run, especially after Annette’s distraught mother had kept phoning relentlessly and always in tearful desperation, begging Geo to help.

‘None of us are our sisters’ keepers,’ M had pointed out to Geo recently, and Geo had quickly agreed she was right. Nonetheless, Geo had been compassionate enough to want to help and had dragged James into the equation.

M knew him, and knew him without benefit of time; her deepest instincts told her that he was a decent man with a conscience. Apparently he was able to intervene. As a former agent with MI6, operating out of England, he obviously had a wealth of knowledge and contacts, and so he had done what he could. And more than likely discreetly, and he had made this effort because of Georgiana. She admired him for that; she was also happy that these two had found each other, and that they were soul mates.

As for Annette Lazenby, M decided she had behaved recklessly by going to Afghanistan when the country was in turmoil. But then that was what she did as an investigative journalist. She went to get the facts. M sighed under her breath, stood up, went out of the kitchen, down the corridor, and crossed Geo’s studio, making for the little garden at the back.

Who am I to criticize her? she asked herself, sitting down in the metal chair on the patio. I have also been reckless; I threw myself into Laurence Vaughan’s arms, and he doesn’t even know my real name; I’ve lied to him by omission without thinking anything through. I gave myself to him in every way. I’m in love with a man who has many troubling issues with his family, which must impact on our relationship—yet he becomes embroiled with them at the drop of a hat.

M was well aware that Larry lived in New York because he loved it, but she also realized he wanted to keep his daunting family at arm’s length. To her, Edward Vaughan spelled danger, and she hoped and prayed there had been no quarrels in Toronto.

The problem was that Larry believed he was not as good as those of his siblings who were actors. Miranda, who was a set designer, was the only sibling who did not come into the equation. M had found herself arguing with him just before he had gone off to Canada, pointing out, and somewhat forcefully, that he was, in fact, better than them; even better than his father, who she thought had become a bit pretentious—even pompous—in his acting. He was considered one of the great actor knights—Sir Nicholas Vaughan, knighted by the Queen, and standing alongside the likes of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Michael Caine and Sir Sean Connery, to mention only a few of that illustrious circle, all of the same generation.

Larry’s the best, she thought. No, he’s not the best: he’s better than the best. Only his mother ranks alongside him when it comes to talent. Why didn’t he see it? Why was he so vulnerable to them? So open to hurt?

And he remained bloody loyal. Oh, God, who was she to talk? There was no one more loyal than she herself. She was totally loyal to her lot, no matter what…Come hell or high water, she would stand up for them, fight for them, protect them, die for them, if needs be. And this despite anything they might have done to her in the past, any pain they might have caused, which was always unintentional. She was one of five, just as Larry was one of six. She closed her eyes, shutting out the memories, but they would not go away, lingered.

A slight wind suddenly blew up, ruffling through her hair, wafting across her face, and she opened her eyes, sat up, blinking in the brightness of the morning. It was a pretty day with a pale blue sky and golden sunshine; although it was already the end of October, it was more like September, not cold at all, a brilliant day…an Indian summer kind of day. Immediately she thought of her mother, who basked in delight whenever it was a day like…a summer’s day in autumn: that was the way her mother always put it.

At that moment M saw her mother clearly in her head, and her father as well. And alongside were her two sisters and her brothers. Each of them sharply and precisely defined. She suddenly laughed out loud, thinking of how shocked they would be when she told them about Larry. Her siblings had teased her mercilessly when she had been ten because of her crush on him, after she had seen his memorable Hamlet. They would be really surprised, she decided, and laughed again.

In a sense she was sad she couldn’t confide in her sisters, and her mother. Once she and Larry were married she would tell them before they found out. That was the only fair thing to do. It was bound to leak, wasn’t it? Yes, she was positive it would. Still, once they were married it wouldn’t matter that her family knew. Certainly they couldn’t give her a big wedding, which was a relief.

M was certain they would like Larry, and take him to their hearts. He was very engaging, and it was that which would impress them—not his fame, nor his looks. Neither would matter to them. After all, they were all famous and good looking themselves.

She zeroed in on Larry, her mind racing. Where are you? Why aren’t you calling me? Are you avoiding me? What’s going on? She had no answers for herself, and her frustration and disappointment spiralled into exasperation.

And many months later, when she looked back, she realized that this was the day her troubles began.