“Oh, my God!” she burst out, staring at him in unmistakable horror. “She’s done it to you, too.”
“Done what?”
“All Delia Stratham has to do is crook her little finger and men everywhere come running. But you? Really, Simon,” she added as he opened his mouth to reply, “I thought you had more sense than to be taken in by that schemer!”
“I’m not taken in by her,” he said, but even as he spoke, he remembered the taste of her mouth and the feel of her in his arms, and he was forced to admit, much to his own chagrin, that Helen’s accusation had a degree of validity.
“I warned you about her,” Helen went on, oblivious to his denial. “I told you what she’s like. But I see that my warning was in vain. You’ve fallen under her spell, just like every other man in London. My God, that you could be such a fool!”
Helen made a sound of exasperation and looked away, shaking her head, and he decided perhaps he ought to try to handle this matter in a way she was more likely to appreciate.
“I have to work with her, Helen, at least for the time being.”
“But you don’t have to go to the opera with her!”
That was a point he could not refute. “No,” he agreed mildly. “But it seemed harmless enough.”
“Harmless? Delia Stratham is not harmless.”
The venom in her voice was unmistakable, and he tilted his head, studying her thoughtfully, his curiosity piqued. “Why do you dislike her so much?”
“Why?” she echoed, staring back at him in disbelief. “Because she’s dishonest!”
“So you’ve found proof of that since our last conversation?”
“No, but as we discussed that day, the indications are clear. Her secretary, the florist—”
“Those indications are slim enough to border on absurd.”
Her eyes narrowed, warning him she didn’t appreciate having her opinion called absurd. “I was right, then,” she said flatly. “That day at lunch, you were defending her. You still are. You’ve taken her side.”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” he shot back, feeling defensive and hating the feeling. “I’m working damned hard not to do so.”
“Why should it be such a battle?”
That was a question he’d been asking himself for days now, but he’d be damned before he’d admit that to Helen, of all people. “I appreciate your concerns, Helen. I do. But if her innocence were proved beyond any doubt, I have the distinct impression you would still dislike her. Why? Is it because of her friendship with Ritz? You’ve never liked him, I know, but is it really fair to condemn someone else so wholeheartedly because of that?”
“Fair?” Helen cried. “You wish to talk about what’s fair? That woman has always been able to do whatever she wants and never suffers any consequences for it. She’s feckless and careless and she spends money like water, and everyone loves her for it. While I—”
She broke off, her face twisting with pain, and she looked away.
Simon studied her bent head with both compassion and understanding, appreciating that jealousy lay at the heart of her resentment. “While you, on the other hand, are sensible, responsible, and suffering,” he said.
“And universally disliked,” she added with a humorless laugh. “Don’t forget that. The staff loathes me.”
“I doubt that. And you know as well as I do that anyone with power over their livelihoods is going to earn the resentment of some among the staff. I have felt it, too. But there’s another side to that coin. Ritz is loved, but he has enemies as well. If that were not so, you never would have received that anonymous letter. And Helen,” he added as gently as he could, “it’s not as if Lady Stratham has not suffered, too. Losing one husband is tragic enough, but three? Her life has hardly been perfect.”
With a sound of impatience, Helen lifted her head. “I see that my warnings are useless,” she said coldly, making it clear she was in no frame of mind to sympathize with someone she disliked and distrusted. “But there is one thing I must ask you, and I expect an honest answer.”
He stiffened, offended by the implication that he would offer her any other. “Of course. What do you want to know?”
“We’re nearly done investigating Ritz, then we will be doing the same with Lady Stratham. Once the evidence against that woman is presented to you, how will you vote?”
“If there is such evidence, I will vote to have her dismissed, along with all the rest. How can you doubt it?”
“You’re a man, that’s how.” She turned away abruptly. “But for the sake of our friendship, I hope you mean what you say.”
He watched her as she walked out of his office. “I hope so, too, Helen,” he said under his breath. But he had the uneasy feeling that his choice, when it came, was not going to be so simple.
