Read Online A Question of Love by Gwen Kirkwood - Free Book Online Page B

There’s fruit and coffee to finish. Will that do?’ she asked.
    ` This is delicious soup,’ Euan said. `I doubt if I’ll have room for the fruit. Maybe we can take an apple in our pockets and find a pleasant spot to sit and eat it when we’re walking round the boundaries?’
    ` Good idea. You still feel up to it then? It’s quite a long walk all the way round. We could take the Land Rover if you prefer?’
    ` No, a walk will be good for us, especially if we’re to eat that steak pie and all those vegetables you bought when we return.’
    ` That was the idea,’ Roseanne said with a grin, enjoying his company more than she had thought possible. She believed in first impressions but now she wondered if she had allowed prejudice to cloud her judgement when they first met.
    It was a pleasant afternoon for a leisurely walk and Roseanne was pleased at the interest Euan was taking in the countryside and the farm, as well as the general flora and fauna.
    ` I suppose I should have all sorts of questions if I visited Australia,’ she said.
    ` Am I asking too many questions?’ Euan asked seriously. `So many things are new to me and seeing everything so lusciously green is wonderful.’
    ` I’m pleased you’re interested. You were asking what the line of hills were to the west. They are the Galloway Hills and the highest one is Criffell. We use that as a guide to the weather. There’s no mist on the top today so we can be pretty sure there’ll be no rain before morning. Sometimes you can’t see it for mist then rain usually follows. When we get to the top of the rising ground that’s the highest point on Ashburn. On a clear day like today we should be able to get a glimpse of the Solway Firth.’
    ` Is that the sea? Maybe we could go there one day?’
    ` I suppose it is the sea in that it is salt water and tidal but the tide goes a long way out, then there’s a large stretch of sand. It’s not the same as the ocean. It can be quite dangerous for swimmers when the tide comes in. There was a lot of smuggling at one time.’
    They walked in friendly silence until they came to a narrow wood.
    ` Ashburn boundary is this side of the trees,’ she said, `but if we go through the wood we can look down on Ferniebrae, the house where my grandparents lived.’
    He had no difficulty loping over the fence with his long legs but the fence had been renewed since she last walked the boundary and she needed to climb up the squares of netting. She felt her heart beat quicken when he turned and scooped her up in his arms and set her down on the other side.
    ` Goodness, you’re stronger than you look!’ she gasped, wishing she was not so aware of his male attractions. He didn’t release her immediately, but stood smiling down at her pink cheeks.
    ` You’re light as a feather. Come on I’ll keep hold of your hand until we get through the wood. I assume you don’t come this way often when there’s so many brambles?’
    ` I haven’t been for a long while. It’s rougher than I remember. Would you rather turn back? I’d hate you to tear your clothes.’
    ` I can manage so long as you’re all right?’
    ` Yes, I’m fine.’ She liked the way he tried to trample down or hold back the brambles and nettles to make a safe passage for her. He swore fluently when a long bramble flew back and scratched his hand but he sucked it and continued to make a pathway.
    ` We’re nearly through the wood. Do we have to come back this way?’
    ` No. The owners will not mind if we go along the edge of the paddock on the other side of the fence. It’s a bit further but it will bring us out at an old track and there’s still a gate where we can get back into our own fields.’
    There were two elderly ponies in the paddock. They waited until they had climbed over the fence then they ambled slowly towards them.
    ` They’re looking for titbits,’ Roseanne smiled. `They belonged to the children of the couple who bought the house but they will have