As she did so, she suddenly froze with shock at the unexpected sight of Richard Field, watching her with cold-eyed contempt less than a couple of yards away.
To her annoyance, Livvy knew she had started to flush. The owner of the plumbers’ merchants had disappeared and she was alone in the narrow street with Richard Field.
‘So much for this morning’s protests,’ he told her as he drew level with her. ‘It seems my initial judgement of you was accurate after all.’
Livvy gritted her teeth. Of course, after having seen her at the auberge that first night, he would jump to that conclusion. He really had the most fervid and judgemental nature she had ever come across if he could genuinely misinterpret the totally innocent exchange he had just witnessed as some kind of passionate sexual liaison.
‘If you must know, I hardly know the man,’ Livvy told him crossly. ‘He…’
She wasn’t given any opportunity to continue or explain.
‘Since when did knowing your partner matter to a woman like you? It’s the conquest that excites your type, the thrill and danger of the risks you take.’
As she listened to him and compared her cautious and conventional personality to the picture he was drawing, Livvy was almost tempted to laugh, but the anger she could see in his face stopped her.
She could almost feel the tension emanating from him, reaching out to engulf her in its dangerous grip. Instinctively she stepped back from him, tiny thrills of nervous alarm feathering along her sensitive skin.
For some reason her action seemed to increase his anger.
‘It’s a bit too late for the coy virgin act,’ he told her contemptuously. ‘It’s obvious that it’s a role for which you’d be seriously and laughably miscast.’
‘That’s the only way you can see women, isn’t it?’ Livvy retorted suddenly, as angry with him as he was with her. ‘We’re either sexual adventuresses or virgins, bad or good…’ Her eyes flashed, her mouth curling with disdain as she gave full rein to her emotions.
‘I feel really sorry for you. It must be hard work cling
ing on to such antediluvian views. You’re the kind of man who if he marries will insist on his wife’s being timid and totally inexperienced because you can’t stand the thought of her comparing you to anyone else. You’ll be terrified of her growing up and maturing into a real woman because if she does she’ll discover that she hasn’t married a real man. Why am I saying I feel sorry for you? She’s the one I really feel sorry for.’
Livvy’s eyes flashed again as her indignation and anger grew.
‘You know nothing about me or my marriage…’
It wasn’t just the raw fury in his voice that silenced her, Livvy acknowledged, as a peculiar leaden feeling developed in the pit of her stomach and her mouth suddenly went very dry.
‘You’re married…’
Her voice sounded squeaky and slightly shocked.
‘I was,’ he told her harshly, ‘I’m not now.’
It must be the heat and the fact that she wasn’t used to giving way so freely to her emotions that was making her feel so light-headed, Livvy reflected. Giving way to them… She wasn’t even used to experiencing them…
She felt very shaky and sick all of a sudden. All the fight seemed to have gone out of her and she felt as though she wanted to crawl away somewhere quiet and safe.
‘I…I must go. I’ve got some shopping to do…’ Why did her voice sound so weak and hesitant, so emotional almost?
When he made no attempt to stop her, Livvy hurried past him, aware that he was walking in the opposite direction and into the building next to the plumbers’ merchants which advertised office, secretarial and fax services.
Her heart thumping heavily, Livvy paused and turned round, frowning, as she stared at the building. Why had he gone in there? To contact George, perhaps, and alert him to what was happening?
If he knew where George was, he would be acting more in his interests if he persuaded him to get in touch with Gale so that they could sort out their differences, rather than adding further fuel to the dispute between them.
But then a man with his attitude towards women, towards marriage, was hardly likely to advocate reconciliation.
* * *
Her altercation with Richard Field, combined with the length of time she had spent in the plumbers’ merchants, had taken up more time than Livvy had anticipated.
By the time she had completed her shopping, it was midday and too hot to countenance driving around in her car.