Dead Man's Dinner - Una Gordon Page 0,15

she dare not tell the truth. What could she say that would sound convincing. “Well... he was a bit vague.”

“A bit vague! Huh! And you couldn't pin him down? You can handle men, you say. Get them to do anything you want, you say. Oh, bloody marvellous! He was a bit vague!”

Melissa felt her temper rising. “Yes, he was a bit vague. That's what I said and that's what I mean. I could hardly force him to make promises, could I? Damn and blast – what do you expect – miracles? I did my bloody best and he didn't come up with the goods.”

The row went on and on with the same acrimonious phrases peppering the air like rifle shots. Again and again they went up the same blind alleys, blaming each other and for what what? Money which they didn't need.

Guy eventually got into bed and as daylight transformed the room with early morning sun, he fell asleep. When he awoke several hours later Melissa's bed was empty and his head was throbbing as if each word Melissa had shouted had hit it like a hammer blow.

Guy fumbled his way out of bed towards the bathroom, searching for the painkillers. Even a headache could send Guy into a panic. He couldn't stand illness in himself or in others and each symptom which he suffered spelled doom. He was certainly a hypochondriac who died many deaths.

Melissa wasn't in the flat, but when she came back with a load of shopping in bags that revealed she had not been frequenting chain stores, it aroused Guy's suspicions that she had already had a pay-off from Derwent.. It was quite illogical for him to think this because Melissa always seemed to have access to money somehow or she could have used one of her many credit cards.

The exclusive carrier bags gave Derwent an excuse, if he needed one, to start sniping again. His headache added fuel to his vile temper. Shopping always made Melissa's adrenalin rise, so the battle was an epic one even by their standards and eventually brought a protest from one long suffering neighbour.

With short bouts for recuperation the arguing went on week after week. Guy knew that Melissa was not telling the truth and Melissa knew that he knew, but she also knew he'd be even more angry if he did know the truth. There seemed no way out.

Theirs had always been a tempestuous relationship – bloody battles interspersed with kiss and make up sessions, but this time it was total war and neither had any intention of surrendering.

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If Gary had been thinking straight or if he had been lacking that strong streak of naivety which even sophisticated men often have, it might have dawned on him that there was quite a simple way to resolve his problem. As it was, he was so sunk in misery that he even contemplated suicide, but he pulled himself together. He didn't know how he was going to face Diana. In his mind he made all sorts of excuses, some likely and some very unlikely, concerning how he could avoid going to see Diana, but he couldn't avoid it for evermore. He couldn't confront her with the accusation, she might lose the baby or he would lose her. He was heartbroken, but he still loved her and his manly pride, his macho self esteem felt as if it had been dragged out of him and trampled on the ground at his feet.

He forced himself to go to work where he made some stupid blunders, although none that were catastrophic. His colleagues presumed he was worried about his wife, so no awkward questions were asked. As the end of the working day drew near, he realised he'd have to spin Diana some story to account for his behaviour – and his appearance, he thought, as he caught sight of himself in the mirror.

In the flat he looked at himself again in the mirror. “Sorry, old girl, had rather too much to drink last night.” No, that wouldn't do – that would only worry Diana because she was always terrified he'd be involved in a road accident. “Don't feel so good – must have eaten something which didn't agree with me.” Lord, what if she thought he was worrying about her and he had been told something about her state of health which she didn't know?

He decided he just could not visit Diana that evening. He rang up and told the nurse who answered