or two.’
Before he could argue with her, Xanthe pushed a tray forward. ‘Here you are.’
‘I’ll take it.’ Maia picked up the heavy wooden tray.
Conn followed her along the passageway, waiting out of sight while she took it to his mother. Kathleen was sitting staring out across the gardens, looking spent and weary now, as she often did after a tantrum.
He watched his mother pour some tea and keep up a gentle flow of conversation.
Kathleen responded briefly to her questions, ate two pieces of cake, then said, ‘I’m tired. I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.’
‘Do you remember the way to your bedroom?’
‘Yes.’
Conn slipped into a nearby room and waited till his wife had walked past, then went to sit with his mother. ‘She behaved better for you.’
‘She always did. Her mother used to whip her, you know, to teach her self-control. I speak to her gently.’
‘She didn’t show much self-control today, did she? I’ve never seen her behaving so badly.’
‘That poor girl should have led a quiet life in the country with the horses she loves. Instead her parents filled her head with foolish ideas that people should wait on her hand and foot.’
He looked over his shoulder and whispered, ‘Is she insane, do you think?’
‘I don’t know. Her aunt was very similar, you know. Strange as a girl, getting worse as she got older. They’d have had to lock her up but she drowned herself when she was twenty-two.’
‘I never heard that.’
‘Her family threatened trouble to anyone who spoke of it. Poorer people were too afraid for their livelihoods to do so. Most people of our class were too considerate to gossip about it.’
‘And yet my father insisted I marry Kathleen.’
‘For the money. I argued with him, but he threatened to disinherit you and throw us both out if I didn’t keep quiet.’
‘He threatened the same to me. He said he’d make you pay.’ He’d never told her that before, not in so many words.
‘I argued with him but he wouldn’t change his mind. You weren’t the heir so it didn’t matter to him what your children were like. I’m sorry, Conn darling. I wasn’t very good at standing up to him. He always found a way to hurt you if you defied him.’
‘And yet you risked running away from him?’
‘Oh, I planned it all very carefully, believe me. I’d not have left if I hadn’t been utterly certain I could escape. I can never thank Sean enough for the help he gave me.’ She got to her feet with painful slowness. ‘I think I’ll go and lie down too. I’m a bit tired today. We don’t need to talk about this again, do we? It’s over and done with.’
She was looking so pale and moving so slowly, he knew she was having one of her bad days, though she never complained. Even when she arrived in Australia unexpectedly, she’d not said much about his father. It was her idea of loyalty.
He rubbed his forehead, which was aching. He couldn’t seem to think straight. The only thing he was certain of was that he wasn’t going to let Kathleen stay here and make his mother’s life a misery.
7
X anthe went to check the unused bedrooms in the east wing. Only the one now occupied by Mrs Kathleen had been fitted out properly, though not lavishly. The others didn’t even have the beds set up. She decided Orla should have the room next to her mistress, and she’d have to ask if Bram was to stay in the house or the stables. The trouble was that Sean had the only proper room out there and the other lads who helped came in daily and took it in turns to sleep in a corner of the hay store in case they were needed at night.
She could only hope they had enough bedding for everyone. Conn has been more interested in building accommodation for his horses than in improving the house, and since they never had guests and Mrs Largan wasn’t able to do much, no one had bothered with the rest of the inside rooms.
She walked across to the French window of the first spare
Before he could argue with her, Xanthe pushed a tray forward. ‘Here you are.’
‘I’ll take it.’ Maia picked up the heavy wooden tray.
Conn followed her along the passageway, waiting out of sight while she took it to his mother. Kathleen was sitting staring out across the gardens, looking spent and weary now, as she often did after a tantrum.
He watched his mother pour some tea and keep up a gentle flow of conversation.
Kathleen responded briefly to her questions, ate two pieces of cake, then said, ‘I’m tired. I think I’ll go and lie down for a while.’
‘Do you remember the way to your bedroom?’
‘Yes.’
Conn slipped into a nearby room and waited till his wife had walked past, then went to sit with his mother. ‘She behaved better for you.’
‘She always did. Her mother used to whip her, you know, to teach her self-control. I speak to her gently.’
‘She didn’t show much self-control today, did she? I’ve never seen her behaving so badly.’
‘That poor girl should have led a quiet life in the country with the horses she loves. Instead her parents filled her head with foolish ideas that people should wait on her hand and foot.’
He looked over his shoulder and whispered, ‘Is she insane, do you think?’
‘I don’t know. Her aunt was very similar, you know. Strange as a girl, getting worse as she got older. They’d have had to lock her up but she drowned herself when she was twenty-two.’
‘I never heard that.’
‘Her family threatened trouble to anyone who spoke of it. Poorer people were too afraid for their livelihoods to do so. Most people of our class were too considerate to gossip about it.’
‘And yet my father insisted I marry Kathleen.’
‘For the money. I argued with him, but he threatened to disinherit you and throw us both out if I didn’t keep quiet.’
‘He threatened the same to me. He said he’d make you pay.’ He’d never told her that before, not in so many words.
‘I argued with him but he wouldn’t change his mind. You weren’t the heir so it didn’t matter to him what your children were like. I’m sorry, Conn darling. I wasn’t very good at standing up to him. He always found a way to hurt you if you defied him.’
‘And yet you risked running away from him?’
‘Oh, I planned it all very carefully, believe me. I’d not have left if I hadn’t been utterly certain I could escape. I can never thank Sean enough for the help he gave me.’ She got to her feet with painful slowness. ‘I think I’ll go and lie down too. I’m a bit tired today. We don’t need to talk about this again, do we? It’s over and done with.’
She was looking so pale and moving so slowly, he knew she was having one of her bad days, though she never complained. Even when she arrived in Australia unexpectedly, she’d not said much about his father. It was her idea of loyalty.
He rubbed his forehead, which was aching. He couldn’t seem to think straight. The only thing he was certain of was that he wasn’t going to let Kathleen stay here and make his mother’s life a misery.
7
X anthe went to check the unused bedrooms in the east wing. Only the one now occupied by Mrs Kathleen had been fitted out properly, though not lavishly. The others didn’t even have the beds set up. She decided Orla should have the room next to her mistress, and she’d have to ask if Bram was to stay in the house or the stables. The trouble was that Sean had the only proper room out there and the other lads who helped came in daily and took it in turns to sleep in a corner of the hay store in case they were needed at night.
She could only hope they had enough bedding for everyone. Conn has been more interested in building accommodation for his horses than in improving the house, and since they never had guests and Mrs Largan wasn’t able to do much, no one had bothered with the rest of the inside rooms.
She walked across to the French window of the first spare
Similar Books
