Kingdom's Dream by Iris Gower Page A

him in good stead later in life.’
    â€˜Don’t bore them with talk of railways and shares, Dafydd,’ Jayne said waspily. ‘I’m sure Aunt Llinos has no interest in such things.’
    Llinos rose. She had heard the hostility in Jayne’s voice and wanted to escape. Good thing she’d insisted on bringing her own carriage. ‘Eynon, will you come to the door with me?’ she asked, but Dafydd was already on his feet.
    â€˜I’ll see you out,’ he said decisively. ‘I’m on my way to a meeting anyway.’ He towered over her, but she kept her eyes turned away from his face.
    â€˜I’ll come too, darling.’ Jayne slipped her hand through her husband’s arm in a proprietary way. Dafydd could not hide his displeasure.
    â€˜Let’s make a party of it – I’ll come too.’ Eynon sounded disgruntled, and Dafydd glanced at him.
    â€˜There’s no need for all this fuss. You and Jayne stay here near the fire and keep warm. It’s rather cold outside for the time of year.’ He untangled his arm from Jayne’s grasp and led Llinos into the hall.
    The maid brought her coat, and Llinos slipped her arms into the sleeves. Dafydd opened the door and stepped out into the pale sunlight of early winter. He looked so virile, so alive . . . so dear.
    â€˜That was foolish,’ she said, as he led her to her carriage. ‘You’ll give yourself away if you keep acting like that.’
    He smiled. ‘I’m merely seeing a guest out. No harm in that, is there?’ He took her arm to help her in. Llinos felt the warmth of his fingers and shivered – she wanted him so much. Even now, with grey hairs appearing, she still felt the urge to lie with Dafydd, experience his vigour, his love.
    â€˜I want you so much,’ Dafydd said. ‘I want to take you to bed, to make love to you until we’re both exhausted. Will I never stop wanting you, Llinos?’
    â€˜It’s torture, I know.’ She averted her eyes. ‘I want you just as much but it’s impossible.’
    â€˜Nothing is impossible,’ Dafydd said. ‘Llinos, we both want this so much, why deny ourselves?’
    She struggled to find an answer. Her mind told her that Dafydd was forbidden to her, but her body had no care for honour or truth or fidelity. She looked up at the branches of the trees, stripped now by chill winds. Overhead ominous dark clouds threatened rain.
    â€˜You are married, Dafydd,’ she said slowly. ‘I can’t forget that you belong to Jayne.’ But she had made love with him when she was a married woman. She had not kept her own vows.
    Dafydd echoed her thoughts: ‘But you did not care about your vows when you came to me, Llinos, so why should mine be any different?’
    â€˜Dafydd, I can’t hurt Jayne in the way I was hurt.’ She paused, trying not to cry. ‘I felt justified in being with you because Joe had been unfaithful to me.’ She hesitated. ‘But in spite of that, I always felt the betrayal keenly, both mine and his.’
    â€˜Joe’s away. He’s chosen to go off without you, which I would never do.’ He sighed. ‘When I walked away from our love it was to give you and Joe a chance to restore your life together. Well, you are not together, are you?’
    He looked up into her face, holding her hands while the carriage rocked as the horses shifted uneasily between the shafts. ‘Please, Llinos, just say you’ll meet me tomorrow. We’ll walk in the park, if that’s what you want, but I need to be with you at least for a while.’
    She tried to draw away her hands – Eynon was probably watching from the window. ‘All right, then. Tomorrow in Victoria Park, the early afternoon. Now I must go.’
    The driveway from Caswell House seemed to stretch to infinity, and Llinos pressed herself into a corner of the carriage as though she could