Read Online Dorothy Eden by Sinister Weddings - Free Book Online Page A

her wedding dress hanging in the dark wardrobe, a snow thing like the mountain tops. In it she would feel as cold as snow. As cold as Georgina would be when for the last time she wore the dress she was afraid the moths would ruin.…
    “Paul!” she whispered pleadingly.
    Then the queer dark feeling passed and she was laughing at her fancies. Paul, growing more and more irritable with his helplessness, was in the house waiting for her. She would ask for a fire to be lit in the library, and some comfortable chairs to be taken in. She and Paul could spend their evening there, cosy and undisturbed. The snow mountains could be shut out.
    She turned eagerly back to the house.
    Paul was in the library with its rows of books that looked as if they hadn’t been touched for half a century. He was not alone. Kate was there, too, and Julia had the instant impression that she had interrupted them in a serious conversation. Just for one moment they stared at her wordlessly. Then Kate sprang up.
    “Ah, my dear, you’ve been out in the cold wind. Come and get warm. Paul and I have just been discussing things.”
    “What things?” Julia enquired politely.
    “Oh, the farm. Re-stocking it, it’s terribly neglected, as Davey tells us every day. What to do with the house—”
    “You,” said Paul, his mouth tilted in his silent laughter.
    “Me?” The gentle emphasis in Paul’s voice made her flush with pleasure.
    “And why not, indeed?” said Kate. “You are the most important person at the moment. You have those lovely lovely clothes and they must be shown off. Besides, we have to bring Heriot Hills back to the way it used to be. The Blaines were quite the most important people in this part of the country. But my poor husband died, and I got so lonely here I couldn’t stand it. Besides, the boys had to go to school, and then there was the war. And Granny was getting too old to see that the place was managed properly. She had those dreadful Bates people here, as I told you. But now it’s all going to be quite different. Paul will have the sweetest little bride, and of course she must have the right setting.”
    It was clear that Kate was suddenly tremendously enthusiastic and excited about the prospect of restoring Heriot Hills to its correct standing in the country. But why hadn’t she been excited yesterday or a week ago, or three months ago when Paul had decided to marry?
    “It looks as if I have been on trial,” she said lightly.
    Kate looked momentarily confused. Then she laughed, her little plump mouth opening vertically.
    “I admit I was a nervous mother-in-law. Paul tried to describe you—”
    “Mother, stop talking,” Paul said lazily. “I’ll convince Julia about this.”
    Kate sprang to her feet playfully. “Ah, I can see you want to get rid of me. Very well, I can take a hint. But don’t forget to fix your wedding date, because there’s the minister to see and the invitations to get out—oh, all right, I’m going.”
    She pattered out, her little plump feet very light in her high-heeled shoes. Paul beckoned to Julia and held out his arms.
    “Do you want to talk, my sweet? Or just kiss me?”
    His eyes had the bright reckless look that both puzzled and pleased her.
    “I was a gamble,” she said intuitively.
    “Stop talking nonsense.” He drew her down to him. She felt the softness of his little golden moustache brush her cheek. “When will you marry me?”
    She persisted. “But if I was a gamble why did you want to marry me in Wellington the moment I came off the ship?”
    “You were only a gamble as far as this place was concerned. We thought you might hate it here. Are you going to hate it?”
    His lips pressed on hers. She could only vaguely shake her head, forgetting the wind from the high lonely mountains, the shivering desolation that had filled her.
    “Then I’ll go to town in a day or two as soon as I can get about on this infernal ankle, and arrange about stock, and then we’ll be