Read Online We'll Meet Again by Lily Baxter - Free Book Online

stepped forward and clutched David’s arm. ‘Come on, old chap. This isn’t the time or place. I think we should get the girls home and sort everything out in the morning.’
    ‘Quite right,’ Frank said quietly. ‘There’s no real harm done, David.’
    He shook off Walter’s restraining hand. ‘No real harm?’ he repeated angrily. ‘My sister has been gallivanting about alone with him.’ He rounded onRayner, clenching his fists. ‘I thought you were a better man than this.’
    To Meg’s horror he swung a punch at Rayner but due to his unsteady state the blow missed its mark and David fell against the bonnet of the Rolls. Frank rushed forward to hold him back as he staggered to his feet. ‘That’s enough. This sort of behaviour won’t help anyone.’
    Rayner held out his hand. ‘I’m sorry, David. I was in the wrong and I apologise.’
    But Meg could see that her brother was too far gone in drink to be reasonable. He was struggling to free himself from Frank’s grasp when a warning from Walter came too late.
    ‘My God, it’s the Dean. He’s coming this way. Now we really are in trouble.’
    Meg finished her packing with a sigh. Her punishment for risking life and limb, not to mention the possibility of damaging an extremely expensive motor car, was the curtailment of her holiday in Oxford. The matter might have been hushed up but for the untimely appearance of the Dean, who had threatened to send both David and Rayner down for brawling in public. He had not carried out that threat, but next morning had reported the sorry affair to Paul Shelmerdine. Meg was shocked to discover that this was not the first time her brother had been reprimanded for his misdemeanours, which included missing lectures and failing his exams. UnclePaul had not been amused, particularly as the Dean was an old friend, and David’s indiscretions reflected badly on the family. Then, of course, the finger of blame had been pointed at Meg herself, and their uncle had decided that she was as much at fault as her brother. Unfortunately, and Meg thought unfairly, Adele was to accompany her on the journey back to the island, and of course she was extremely upset.
    Meg shot a wary glance at her sister who was flinging clothes into her battered leather suitcase without bothering to fold them. This in itself was a bad sign, as normally Adele was obsessively neat and tidy. Eventually the heavy silence became too much for Meg. ‘Look, Addie. How many more times have I got to say sorry for what I did? There’s no need for you to cut your holiday short because of me.’
    ‘Uncle Paul doesn’t trust you to travel on your own. There’s no chance that he’ll let me stay.’ She tossed her best silk dress on top of the jumble in her case. ‘Frank and I were getting on so well. Everything was unutterably wonderful.’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘And now we’ve got to go home tomorrow and I’ll probably never see him again.’
    ‘If he’s half the man I think he is he won’t let something like that put him off.’
    Adele sank onto the bed, covering her face with her hands. ‘I – I think I love him, Meg. What am I going to do?’
    Stricken with remorse, Meg struggled to findwords of comfort. ‘I didn’t mean it to end like this. I’m truly sorry for what I did. I didn’t think …’
    Adele dropped her hands to her lap. ‘No, that’s your trouble. You don’t think before you do things. You’ve ruined my life, Meg.’ She bent her head and her shoulders shook.
    Meg gazed at her helplessly. She had apologised until her throat was sore and her head ached. She knew that she had behaved foolishly and she did not blame them all for being angry, but she was at a loss to know how to make things right.
    The sound of the doorbell echoing round the entrance hall brought her back to the present, and she hurried from the room. Perhaps, she thought wistfully, it might be Rayner arriving like a knight in shining armour to carry her off on a