so was she. Duncan had gone to Scotland for an extended Christmas break, and although she’d relished the quiet house at first, she was, incredibly, beginning to miss him. Especially today. She could have done with someone there to break the silence; distract her from her own thoughts. She walked into the sitting-room, feeling rather discouraged, and sank into a chair, still with her coat on. She looked at her watch. Only a quarter past nine. The audition wasn’t until after lunch. An entire empty morning stretched ahead of her before Piers would even ring. Let alone before they’d hear the result. Oh God. The result. A pang of excitement shot through her, and she got to her feet impatiently. She couldn’t stand a whole morning in the house on her own, waiting for the phone to ring. She needed stimulation, distraction, people, light and warmth. She needed office banter. Anything, anything at all, but her own obsessive thoughts.
Marcus arrived at work at about eleven, to find Ginny sitting on the floor of his outer office, leafing through a heap of client files. Suzy, his secretary, was sitting watching her and filing her nails at the same time, and a cafetière full of coffee sat snugly on the floor between them.
‘Hello, Marcus!’ Ginny exclaimed, jumping up and scattering a pile of photographic prints. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine, thank you, Ginny,’ said Marcus, smiling guardedly back at her. Since the day at Panning Hall, he had deliberately seen very little of Ginny. After a few fraught days of jumping every time the phone rang, he had become gradually reassured that she hadn’t picked up on what he was doing that day. Now he smiled to himself at the idea. She was a bit of a bimbo, really, he thought, looking at her bright red miniskirt, that would have been indecent if her black tights weren’t so utterly opaque. She obviously hadn’t cottoned on to anything. Her face was totally unsuspicious, her eyes were sparkling, and she seemed even more lively than usual.
‘Don’t mind me,’ she said. ‘I’m not here to quiz you. I just thought I’d get some stuff together for general press releases.’
‘Good idea,’ said Marcus heartily. ‘Let me know if you need any more information.’
‘Oh, I will,’ said Ginny. ‘Don’t worry.’
As she sat down and picked up another file, she remembered the conviction she’d once had that Marcus and Alice’s mother were having an affair. Could it have been true? She glanced at Marcus, walking towards his own office, and tried to imagine him in bed with Liz Chambers. But even as she conjured the image up, it floated out of her mind, to be replaced by an image of Piers, who would be off the train by now, perhaps already in a taxi to the television studios. Perhaps already at the television studios. Oh God . . . Ginny’s stomach twinged with painful nerves, and she forced her attention down to the file in front of her.
Marcus made his way into his office, sat down at his desk, and pressed his intercom in order to remind Suzy, humorously, that he would like some coffee too, please. Then his eye was caught by the open drawer of his filing cabinet. He released the intercom, and walked quickly over to it. The drawer was empty. The drawer of client files.
A small exclamation came from the outer office and Marcus went swiftly to the door. His heart began to thump. Ginny was holding the Panning Hall estate details. She looked up and beamed at Marcus.
‘This is a good story!’ she exclaimed. ‘Just right for the New Year.’
‘What’s that?’ said Marcus, adopting a falsely jovial manner. He felt a rather sick smile cross his face.
‘A chance to buy a property on a country estate!’ said Ginny. ‘Or even the manor house itself!’ She beamed at Marcus. ‘I’ll do a load of separate press releases. The weekend sections will love it.’ She looked down again. ‘And look at these lovely low prices! I always thought anything in Panning cost the earth.’
‘It’s a very realistic valuation,’ snapped Marcus before he could stop himself.
‘Is it?’ Ginny looked once more at the details. ‘I’m amazed. I mean, Panning is such a pretty village. I’d love to buy somewhere there myself.’ She flipped idly through the papers again, and Marcus felt a sudden urge to whip them from her grasp. The door of the office was open; Ginny’s voice was loud and insistent; anyone might wander in. Tiny