Daniel and Daughter

'Certainly you did. When she feels you're on her side things will come right between you again.'

He hugged her. 'Thank you, darling. I've been feeling completely cast adrift, but with your help I'll find the far shore.' He added wryly, 'Although what it will look like I can't imagine.'

'The important thing is that Phoebe will be there too.'

'And you?' he asked, suddenly intense. 'Will you be there?'

'Maybe. Who knows what the future holds?'

'Say yes, Lee. Marry me. I need you.'

'Don't press me, Daniel. Wait and see how things work out.'

He smiled and conceded, but a light had gone out inside him. Lee felt distracted. She loved Daniel, but she was further than ever from marrying him. Now every casual chat was a minefield. Their old, easy, happy association seemed only a memory. Love held them together-just-but the gap was always there, growing inexorably wider. How long would it be, she wondered, before it was too wide for them to reach across, or even to see each other?

* * *

A week later Daniel made a date with her, but beyond telling her to dress up to the nines-'And I really mean the nines.'-he refused even to hint at their destination. Lee called Carol Halden, a fashion editor she was friendly with, to ask advice. The result was the loan of a black slinky dress that brought out a femme fatale side she hadn't known she possessed.

'Wow!' Sonya said when she saw it. 'It really suits you, Mum.'

'Thank you, darling. Will you be all right here this evening?'

'Course I will. I won't be alone-unfortunately. My uncle will be here.'

'Why have you suddenly started calling Mark uncle? I know he is, but why suddenly now?'

'The other day he actually dared to say I ought to show him some respect. I ask you! Five years older than me, and he tries to come the heavy uncle.'

'So now you're making him regret he ever mentioned it?'

'Of course.' Sonya giggled. 'It makes him so mad.'

'I wish you two could get on better.'

'No one could get on with Mark in his present mood. He goes around looking mournful so that everyone knows his heart has been broken by a cruel goddess.'

'Has he finally broken up with Phoebe?'

'We-ell, hard to say if it's final. He saw her being driven by a young man in a Mercedes. Phoebe said he was only a photographer driving her to the location of a shoot.'

'How silly of Mark to make a fuss about it.'

'Apparently the car stopped at traffic lights and

Mark crossed in front and got a grandstand view of them laughing together. Phoebe looked up and there was Mark glowering at her through the windscreen, very much the student: jeans, trainers and a day's growth of beard. Of course, she looked as if she'd stepped out of a bandbox. Mark just stood there while the lights changed, and the man had to toot his horn to make him move.'

'Oh, dear,' Lee said sympathetically. 'At his age that kind of thing feels like a real tragedy.'

'They were supposed to have a date that night.'

'She didn't forget again, did she?'

'No, but she was late. It wasn't her fault. The shoot overran and the photographer actually drove her to meet Mark-in his Mercedes. Of course, Mark threw a wobbly. Now he's waiting for her to apologise. He's been waiting for a week.'

'How do you know all this? Don't tell me Mark confides in you?'

'Not exactly confides. He just moans incessantly while I'm in earshot. I wish he wouldn't. It's dead boring.'

'Poor Mark.'

'He'll survive,' Sonya said cheerfully.

It was probably for the best, Lee decided. At Mark's age romances came and went. Then she forgot about him in thinking ahead to the evening with Daniel.

He whistled when he saw her, and nodded in satisfaction. 'Just perfect for this,' he said, producing a long, flat box and raising the lid. Inside, a diamond pendant and matching earrings glittered against black velvet. Lee caught her breath.

Daniel fixed the pendant about her neck and the earrings to her ears, then turned her so that she could see herself in the mirror. She could hardly believe that the glamorous creature looking back was herself. This woman was poised, sophisticated, and she matched the man beside her, dressed in a dinner jacket and bow tie. She gave a little pleasurable shiver.

'Darling, I-'

He kissed her. 'Don't say anything. I'd like to spend my whole life giving you things.' Before she could reply he added, 'The taxi's here. No driving for me tonight. We're having gallons of champagne and I want to be able to enjoy it.'

The 'taxi' turned out to be a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce. Lee began to feel as though she was moving in a dream.

'Where are we going?' Lee asked as the car moved off.

'Miranda's,' he replied simply.

Lee gasped. Miranda's was a nightclub that had opened a couple of months earlier and had fast acquired a reputation as the place to party. Being seen there was a sign that you were 'in'. Surely, Lee thought, Daniel was indifferent to that sort of trend? But maybe a television celebrity had to nod in its direction once in a while.

'Is it a special occasion?' she asked.

'Sort of. I've arranged a surprise for you.'

When they entered, heads turned at the sight of the famous Daniel Raife with a mystery companion. Everywhere she looked Lee saw well-known show business people. They all greeted Daniel and shook hands with Lee.

She noticed some friends-a model, a fashion editor, a photographer. They greeted her in her own right and this time it was she who made the introductions. She began to feel more at home, and by the time they sat down to eat she was at ease.

'Is this the surprise?' she asked as Daniel refilled her champagne glass.

'No, that's still to come. Wait and see.' He lifted his glass. 'Here's to you. And thank you.'

'For what?' she asked, clinking her glass against his.

'For the cookbook. It's a great success. Phoebe was thrilled that I was helping her.'

The next moment Jon Harriman, a gossip columnist, joined them. 'Daniel, introduce me,' he said jovially, his eyes flickering appraisingly over Lee.

'Lee, this is Jon Harriman, whose column you read avidly every day,' Daniel said.

'Do I? I mean, yes, of course I do.'

Harriman chuckled amiably. He was a big man with a jolly face, and Lee found herself liking him. Daniel completed the introductions.

'Jon, this is Lee Meredith, the well-known fashion photographer.'

To Lee's surprise Harriman instantly said, 'Loved that stuff you had in Vogue last month. I know all the fashion editors, and they speak highly of you.'

He mentioned other things she'd done, proving that he really did know her work. Lee couldn't help being flattered, and then she realised that this was a golden opportunity to raise her profile. With a little encouragement from Jon Harriman she began to talk about herself. He was a good listener, drawing her out and seeming to be really interested.

Daniel claimed her for a dance. The lights were low and the music sweet. As he held her close Lee wished they could always be like this, cocooned in their own world, with problems far away. Tonight she could forget the uneasiness that was always there, just below the surface of their relationship, and think only of the fact that she loved him. If only love alone could be enough.

She looked up and saw him watching her, his lips close to hers. He dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. There was a sudden flash of light and Lee blinked.

'Just one more,' said a man's voice, and when she looked he clicked the camera again.

'Do people always take your picture when you come to nightclubs?' she asked Daniel.

'Sometimes, which is why I hardly ever come.'

'But Daniel, that man-'

'Forget it,' he said, swinging her around until her head whirled. 'Let's dance, sweetheart. The night is young yet.'

She slept later than usual next morning and came downstairs in her dressing gown. She'd drunk only moderately at Miranda's, but it had been five a.m. before she slid into her bed, and her whole body was protesting that it needed to finish its sleep. Her eyes, in particular, didn't want to open, and she almost groped her way into the kitchen. Sonya guided her the rest of the way, sat her at the table and set a cup of tea in front of her.