Read Online Black Diamond by Rachel Ingalls - Free Book Online Page B

left on her mother’s side of the family, either; it was as if her parents had each been the last surviving member of a tribe, or a country, or a race.
    Over the next few years the Schuylers too were on the move: to England, and afterwards to America, while Beatrice travelledwith her father’s expeditions. In his opinion she’d had enough of school; she was ready to do serious work.
    They went to Afghanistan, Turkey, Mesopotamia. She kept the accounts, wrote up the day’s findings and listened to her father’s theories and stories.
    When she was eighteen, she and her father joined a large expedition. At the base camp there were two wives and a woman described as a niece. There were difficulties with language, clashes over customs and habits and, above all, fights about who had the authority to do what. The general atmosphere of quarrel and intrigue was further complicated for Beatrice when she fell in love with a Canadian student named Paul, who had come out with the American team. He asked her to marry him. She was still pretending to think over her answer when one of the wives spoke to her father about him.
    â€˜I don’t know what business it is of theirs,’ Beatrice said.
    â€˜I think they probably have your interest at heart. You’re so young.’
    â€˜They want to stop me having any romance in my life, just because they never had any.’
    â€˜I don’t think it’s that. Anyone can have romance, if he wants it. They may feel it’s their duty, because you have no mother. For a woman, there’s always the question of –’
    â€˜Morality? That’s what they kept talking about in school. They nearly turned me into a religious fanatic.’
    â€˜Of pregnancy,’ her father said. ‘Of course, he’s in the same field – you’d be able to help him with his studies for a while. When you had children, perhaps you’d leave them at home with someone. I was able to take you along with me because you were an only child, but it wasn’t easy. If there’d been anyone to look after you, it would have been safer to leave you behind. And,’ he added, ‘you’re a better archaeologist than he is. He’s superficial. He doesn’t know what to look for. He has no flair for the job.’
    Beatrice’s need for a romantic alliance with a man of her own age was so strong that if her father had been talking about a young man’s character, she wouldn’t have taken his word, but the indictment of his professional abilities made her questionPaul’s integrity. Her father had a reputation. Paul was a newcomer . Her father was undoubtedly right. As for the rest, she recalled that among the stories circulating through the camp there was one about a girl back in Canada. And she knew for certain that Paul was writing to three women addressed as Miss: she’d seen the envelopes. She told him the next day, ‘I’ve thought about what you asked me and I think we should get to know each other better.’
    â€˜But you love me, don’t you?’ he asked.
    â€˜Of course,’ she said.
    â€˜Well, that’s the main thing, isn’t it?’
    â€˜I think we’d have a good start, because I’ve been trained for the same job. I could help you, even if we had a large family. But …’ She thought she really ought to admit that despite her love, she didn’t trust him. She trusted her father and Claudia and everyone in Claudia’s family: if she were in trouble or ill or needed advice, she knew that they would help her, no matter what they had to sacrifice. But how long would Paul be patient or understanding? She had no idea; nor was she sure how long she’d be able to put him first if he didn’t seem to be taking her wishes into consideration.
    â€˜I just think,’ she repeated, ‘that we should get to know each other better.’
    â€˜How long will that