Consequences

Part 10

Of course she had a credit card. She had a few actually. They'd been invaluable in the last ten years. For without them she would not have been able to rescue her family from the verge of bankruptcy. Working those cards effectively, while ensuring that not a whiff of the fact her family were skint escaped had allowed her family to work their way back to financial viability. So if this man thought he could swindle them he was a touch too late. They had their name. But financially they were strapped for cash!

But that state of affairs had remained a secret.

At the tender age of twenty Isabelle had dealt with her family's debts. She had ensured that her middle sister's wedding to an Australian vintner went off without a hitch two years later, and without anyone being any the wiser that the Soujour-D'Sa's were almost penniless.

She had helped support her younger sister to go to medical school. Though to be fair Marina had done most of the work there, holding down part time jobs and studying. But slowly, one bill at a time, they had cleared their debts and paid all death duties. Isabelle had set up a small consultancy firm for corporate and society parties as a front to enable her to continue investing and to continue the work she and Marina had started.

Isabelle had become very adept at reading the unlisted stocks. Her degree in accounting that she had not finished was being put to good use. All in all this man simply did not realise that she was not the socialite she appeared to be on the surface.

"So why is it impossible?" Doug demanded, and sounded as if he expected her to tell him without prevaricating. The fact that they were talking about her private finances and it was therefore a personal matter, seemed not to have registered with him.

Isabelle had no intention of furnishing this stranger with the finer details of her financial status. She looked at him cooly. "Because I haven't used it." She told him as if he was a simpleton.

She hadn't used it, because she still had to clear Clarissa's wedding costs against it, and she knew it was coming close to its limit. She was very careful about these things. She knew she would have 55 days to clear the account, and had already decided on which shares to trade in order to cover the costs. At least those decisions were no longer born of desperation. If she'd missed selling at a higher price it wouldn't make much difference, but there was a time, when even a hundredth of a cent made a crucial difference.

Doug paused. He waited. His eyes were flinty. His jaw line hammered a staccato as he tried to keep his temper under control. She seemed to think she could bamboozle him. He knew she'd paid for that announcement, even if she was trying to do her best to convince him otherwise.

With a short sigh Isabelle added, "Look, Mr Hawke, I don't understand what is happening here. I am sorry for any inconvenience. I will try to clarify the situation." This was some con, she thought, but she didn't convey her thinking as she said, "Obviously someone is having a joke at our expense." She stifled another yawn. She would get some sleep, and when her brain was functioning more alertly she would look into this ridiculous state of affairs. If he was telling the truth and someone had announced their engagement, she would find out who and why. But she would do so after she had got a decent few hours sleep and after she had a chance to read the announcement. "I will organise a retraction..."

"A retraction?" Doug snorted at that. Just what was she playing at? First she announces their engagement and then she was going to pay for a retraction? What was going on here?

"Well, yes, we can hardly say that it was a practical joke." That would make it even more news worthy and the last thing she wanted was to draw attention to the family. In any case, she was sure that he wouldn't want it known that he tried and failed to con her! She thought about making that statement public just to see his reaction. But instead with an accomplished smile that conveyed absolute conviction, she said, "We'd both look stupid if we said it was a joke. And more than likely it would cause a flurry of interest. People will try to find out who set us up."

He was starting to realize that this woman was a force to be reckoned with. He'd come here intending for her to explain and to deal with the fact she had announced their engagement, and instead he was finding that she had no explanation to offer but was still capable of dealing with the notice as if it was nothing more than a temporary blip. Did engagements not have the same currency in her social setting?

"And a retraction is less stupid?" Doug demanded with a snort of contempt and disregard. What he'd found thus far had puzzled him. She was a beautiful woman, he doubted she'd announce her engagement to someone she didn't know, who happened to be ugly to boot. But that wasn't what puzzled him the most. What puzzled him the most was the fact that he found her attractive and intriguing. He'd come expecting some spoilt, young, silly socialite and instead he had found a composed, serene, strong and articulate young woman.

"What do you suggest?" She said quietly, while the words reverberated in her mind in tired exasperation. She knew persuading the paper to print a retraction would be incredibly difficult, especially as, according to Mr Hawke, she'd put in the announcement. But then perhaps that was part of his con. Make her feel guilty. For something she hadn't done.

He was silent for all of two seconds, then he said, "We leave it as is..."