Golden Grove — Serena Fairfax

GOLDEN GROVE

Char Pembroke sees no alternative but to accept wealthy merchant banker Guy Urquhart's job offer to become his PA when her court case against him ends in financial disaster, and she and her ailing father face ruin and homelessness. Guy knows his own mind and, unknown to Char, had decided long ago that she was the only girl for him. Char's feelings are more ambivalent and complex- her mind, instincts and heart pulling her in different directions. Why should she be prey to such poignantly violent feelings when Guy makes no secret of his relationship with Heather Manning, his attractive colleague who is married to Neville a career diplomat? Equally, why should Guy be driven to uncharacteristic anger when Char strikes up a friendship with Seth Boyd, a craftsman at the enterprise workshops that Guy's company is sponsoring?

When Guy goes to Portugal in connection with an ecological survey in the hill region of the Algarve, Char, who accompanies him, little realises the effect that the haunting fado music and idyllic surroundings will evoke. But back in London all the old tensions and problems rear their heads again, and Char at last aware that she is indeed in love with Guy finds herself in a dilemma. The business which she and Seth have set up shows promise and this coupled with an unexpected monetary development presents Char with a difficult choice. Eventually, her suspicions about Guy are removed, and she hears from him what she longed for- that he has loved her over the years and was just waiting for her to find herself.