The Gamekeeper's Wife by Clare Flynn

Author:Clare Flynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cranbrook Press

Chapter 16

Christopher drove back to Newlands in a state of grief and despair. Deep inside, he knew Martha would not budge in her determination to end their relationship, but try as he might, he couldn’t understand why. There had to be a way for them to be together. But after tossing ideas around in his head on the long drive home, he had to acknowledge that he could find no alternative to move her away from the course she had set.

He glanced at the clock in the hall as he entered the house. He had forty minutes to get ready before his mother would be taking her customary pre-dinner drink in the drawing room. He’d hardly seen her these past weeks, while he’d been pursuing his search for Martha. He could put off the moment no longer.

When he entered the drawing room, she was standing in front of the glowing fire, where one of her spaniels was sleeping, while the other was chewing at the edge of the rug. Edwina was wearing a black gown with an over-blouse, studded in tiny glass beads that shimmered in the firelight. His mother was still a beautiful woman.

In an effort to be conciliatory, Christopher accepted the drink she pressed into his hands and was met with a beaming smile.

‘It’s so lovely to see you home again, darling. I’ve barely seen you in weeks – you’ve been away more than you’ve been home.’

‘You know why, Mother.’

‘No, I don’t but I imagine it has something to do with that woman?’

‘The woman I am in love with and would dearly love to marry. The woman you threw out of house and home and so casually told about the most traumatic experience of her life. Do you have any idea how much damage you could have caused?’

‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘I’m talking about you bluntly telling her she has a daughter, fathered by my father.’

‘Don’t be silly. That can’t have been news to her. She was there, after all. Committing adultery with one’s employer and giving birth to his child is not something one forgets about.’

Christopher turned away and went to sit down in one of the big leather chairs that stood either side of the fireplace. ‘You have no idea, do you? Martha was so traumatised by what happened to her that she buried the memory. She had no idea her child was alive. They told her her daughter was born dead. And she’d been through so much pain. My father brutally raped her. She was forced to marry a man she despised, a man who beat her. Then she almost died in a long and painful labour. And she was a child! No wonder she wiped it from her memory.’

His mother burst out laughing. ‘Christopher, oh, Christopher. You are so gullible. Speaking as someone who went through childbirth twice, I can assure you that’s not something you can ever forget!’

He felt an animosity towards her, akin to hatred.

Before he could respond, she spoke again, ‘I mean, really, darling.

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