Gloria Bevan by Fringe of Heaven

Author:Fringe of Heaven [HR-2224, MB-1436] (v0.9) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lying sleepless in bed that night, Christine tried in vain to keep her thoughts from straying endlessly back to Kevin. It was no use; the dark intelligent face rose before her mental vision, eyes cool and alert—and definitely accusing. How could she have fallen in love, blindly, hopelessly, with a man who regarded her as a usurper, and as if that weren't enough, a man who was to marry someone else! Forget him, put him out of your mind, she told herself, keep busy.

Busy doing what? Ella, although inclined to be friendly towards her, didn't welcome help in her kitchen, except of course when there was a special load of work to be got through, such as on the day of the Hunt breakfast. How about outside tasks, then? There must be something she could do, like checking the boundaries looking for a break in the long line of eight-barred sheep fences. Perhaps Laurie might even agree to letting her help to draft the cattle. She liked riding Brownie, well as much as one could enjoy riding such a phlegmatic mount. Not to be compared with her earlier horse-riding activities, of course, but it was something to do. Maybe it wouldn't be long before she got her nerve back to ride a mount like Trooper, to take the high jumps once again with the old careless exhilaration.

Once again Kevin's mocking face flashed across the screen of her mind. She could almost hear the quiet sardonic tones, 'But you don't ride!' One day she would prove him wrong, one day. Dreams ... for deep down she knew there was still the grey area, the mental block in her mind which she couldn't seem to conquer. But I'm making progress with the people here, she comforted herself. Fred has been good to me from the start and Ella is coming around slowly, but I'll make her like me yet. She's rather nice once you get past her off-putting manner. Then there's Jan.

Unconsciously she sighed. Jan and Kevin, she thought bitterly, should get together. They both have the mistaken notion that merely because I happen to have been born not bad-looking I inveigled Laurie into staying on to work for me at Glendene. Jan tries not to let me see she's wildly jealous, but she gives herself away every time, insisting on following us everywhere we go even if Laurie is only showing me a fleece in the woolshed or telling me where to put the bridle away in the stables. If only Jan knew how wrong she is in her suspicions! I'm sure she never used to come over here so often before I came here. Luckily Laurie doesn't seem to realise how she feels about me.

The next day she put a suggestion of riding around the boundary fences to Laurie, and to her surprise he seemed grateful for the offer.

'I would enjoy the ride,' she told him, but deep down she knew that today she would grasp at any opportunity

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.