point of view it was successful, and if I’d been almost anything but a ballet dancer it wouldn’t have mattered, but…’
‘Tragic. Wasn’t that what the critics said? “A young and startling talent lost”,’ he quoted accurately from a clipping he’d just read.
‘I’d reserve tragedy for death, disaster and famine,’ she assured him stoically. ‘In the great design of things I don’t think dancing is that important. Critics are prone to exaggeration.’
‘When they sang your praises?’
‘I was good,’ she said prosaically. ‘But we’ll never know how good now. Lots of people who promise talent don’t deliver. It’s ironic that the more finely trained your body is, the more vulnerable you are.’
‘It hasn’t left you bitter?’ His eyes raked her face as if he couldn’t credit she was as well adjusted to her personal tragedy as she appeared. The newspaper clippings hinted at a glittering future. It would take an exceptional person to come to terms with losing something you’d spent half your life aiming for.
‘It could have,’ she told him, thinking back over her formative years spent with one goal in mind. She’d had a tantalising glimpse of that goal. From solo roles she’d progressed to a senior position in a touring company, and there had been talk of a new star in the ascendant. She ignored the familiar empty feeling of loss and squared her shoulders. She could do without Adam’s forays into amateur psychology.
‘Are you trying to tell me you are philosophical about it? You don’t feel cheated?’
He really couldn’t take a hint! She shrugged her slender shoulders fractionally, looking absurdly small and fragile in the oversized robe. But she wasn’t fragile. Years of discipline had made her body supple and strong; that much she hadn’t lost.
‘I felt my share of anger and self-pity, but that passed. I decided to get on with life. I hate wasting time. I have no intention of being one of those pathetic people who prate on about their golden years when they’ve still most of their life in front of them. The fact is I can never dance professionally, at least not at the level I wanted to. But it doesn’t stop me enjoying music.’
‘I remember.’
The reminiscent gleam in his eyes made her shift uncomfortably and clutch her mementoes tighter to her bosom. ‘You didn’t approve,’ she reminded him stiffly.
‘From a distance I enjoyed it.’ The corners of his mouth lifted in a reluctant smile.
‘Why from a distance?’ She was excited by this confession and fascinated by the smile. For a moment she forgot he’d broken her sister’s heart.
‘You’re too…unsettling close to.’ The husky admission emerged almost against his will.
‘Perhaps you need a challenge.’
She was pleased he found her unsettling. Considering the traumatic effect his intrusion into her life had had it seemed only fair he should suffer some of the discomfort.
Not that she fooled herself he was anything like as confused and miserable as she was. He had his life neatly planned out and there was no place in it for her. He’d made that very plain.
‘What are you trying to goad me into doing?’ His scornful look made her squirm. He must think she was quite shameless. She was quite shameless where he was concerned, it seemed.
‘Just making conversation.’ She produced an unpicturesque handkerchief and lifted it to her reddened nose.
‘Just as well; you’re not dressed for seduction.’
‘Thanks a lot! I really needed reminding that I look like hell.’
‘I can’t fight with you when you’re like this,’ he commented half-regretfully. ‘It feels like kicking a kitten.’
‘Oh, Doctor, you’re all consideration,’ she purred rattily. ‘I’m sure Freud would have had a field day with all your feline references, but don’t worry about me. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.’
‘I never doubted it.’
Beth Lacey bustled in with a good-natured smile on her
‘Tragic. Wasn’t that what the critics said? “A young and startling talent lost”,’ he quoted accurately from a clipping he’d just read.
‘I’d reserve tragedy for death, disaster and famine,’ she assured him stoically. ‘In the great design of things I don’t think dancing is that important. Critics are prone to exaggeration.’
‘When they sang your praises?’
‘I was good,’ she said prosaically. ‘But we’ll never know how good now. Lots of people who promise talent don’t deliver. It’s ironic that the more finely trained your body is, the more vulnerable you are.’
‘It hasn’t left you bitter?’ His eyes raked her face as if he couldn’t credit she was as well adjusted to her personal tragedy as she appeared. The newspaper clippings hinted at a glittering future. It would take an exceptional person to come to terms with losing something you’d spent half your life aiming for.
‘It could have,’ she told him, thinking back over her formative years spent with one goal in mind. She’d had a tantalising glimpse of that goal. From solo roles she’d progressed to a senior position in a touring company, and there had been talk of a new star in the ascendant. She ignored the familiar empty feeling of loss and squared her shoulders. She could do without Adam’s forays into amateur psychology.
‘Are you trying to tell me you are philosophical about it? You don’t feel cheated?’
He really couldn’t take a hint! She shrugged her slender shoulders fractionally, looking absurdly small and fragile in the oversized robe. But she wasn’t fragile. Years of discipline had made her body supple and strong; that much she hadn’t lost.
‘I felt my share of anger and self-pity, but that passed. I decided to get on with life. I hate wasting time. I have no intention of being one of those pathetic people who prate on about their golden years when they’ve still most of their life in front of them. The fact is I can never dance professionally, at least not at the level I wanted to. But it doesn’t stop me enjoying music.’
‘I remember.’
The reminiscent gleam in his eyes made her shift uncomfortably and clutch her mementoes tighter to her bosom. ‘You didn’t approve,’ she reminded him stiffly.
‘From a distance I enjoyed it.’ The corners of his mouth lifted in a reluctant smile.
‘Why from a distance?’ She was excited by this confession and fascinated by the smile. For a moment she forgot he’d broken her sister’s heart.
‘You’re too…unsettling close to.’ The husky admission emerged almost against his will.
‘Perhaps you need a challenge.’
She was pleased he found her unsettling. Considering the traumatic effect his intrusion into her life had had it seemed only fair he should suffer some of the discomfort.
Not that she fooled herself he was anything like as confused and miserable as she was. He had his life neatly planned out and there was no place in it for her. He’d made that very plain.
‘What are you trying to goad me into doing?’ His scornful look made her squirm. He must think she was quite shameless. She was quite shameless where he was concerned, it seemed.
‘Just making conversation.’ She produced an unpicturesque handkerchief and lifted it to her reddened nose.
‘Just as well; you’re not dressed for seduction.’
‘Thanks a lot! I really needed reminding that I look like hell.’
‘I can’t fight with you when you’re like this,’ he commented half-regretfully. ‘It feels like kicking a kitten.’
‘Oh, Doctor, you’re all consideration,’ she purred rattily. ‘I’m sure Freud would have had a field day with all your feline references, but don’t worry about me. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.’
‘I never doubted it.’
Beth Lacey bustled in with a good-natured smile on her
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