The Pearl Sister (The Seven Sisters Book 4), page 15
Yet . . . the way that her body had dissolved when Drummond kissed her. When Andrew had taken her hand and kissed it, it hadn’t been unpleasant, but . . .
Finally, completely exhausted from equivocating with herself, Kitty decided to go to Mrs McCrombie. Biased though she may be, she was the nearest thing Kitty had to family here.
She chose a moment when Edith had gone out to pay some house calls. They took tea together and Mrs McCrombie listened while Kitty poured out her mind’s machinations.
‘Well, well.’ Mrs McCrombie raised an eyebrow, to Kitty’s surprise showing neither pleasure nor distaste. ‘You already know that I expected this to happen, but, my dear, I do feel for you. Neither of us can be as naive as to believe that your decision won’t have an irrevocable effect on the rest of your life.’
‘Yes.’
‘How much have you missed Edinburgh since you’ve been here?’
‘I’ve missed my family.’
‘But not the place itself?’
‘When the sun burns down, I long for the chill, but I like what I have seen of Australia so far. It’s a land of possibility where anything might happen.’
‘For better or worse,’ Mrs McCrombie interjected. ‘Young lady, from my perspective, I will repeat what I said on New Year’s Eve. I can only say that you have blossomed since you have been here. I do believe Australia suits you and you suit it.’
‘I have definitely felt more free here, yes,’ Kitty ventured.
‘However, if you marry Andrew, you must resign yourself to not seeing your family again for perhaps many years. Although, my dear, no doubt you will start a family of your own. It is a natural progression, whether it be in Edinburgh or Australia. One way or another, once a woman marries, her life changes. And Andrew himself? Do you like him?’
‘Very much indeed. He is thoughtful, kind and clever. And from what he has told me, hard-working too.’
‘He is that indeed,’ Mrs McCrombie acknowledged. ‘However it may look to an outsider, being the son of an extraordinarily rich father has its drawbacks. He must prove to both Stefan and himself that he can be just as successful. Unlike Drummond, who by accident of birth does not carry that same sense of responsibility. The heir and the spare to the Mercer throne,’ Mrs McCrombie chuckled. ‘May I ask you, Kitty, did Drummond . . . speak to you before he left for Europe?’
‘Yes.’ Kitty decided it was no time to spare her blushes. ‘He asked me to wait for him.’
‘I thought as much. He could hardly take his eyes off you from the first moment he met you. All that silly teasing . . . a juvenile way of seeking your attention. And what did you say to him?’
‘I said . . . nothing. He left then and I didn’t see him again before he got on the boat to Europe.’
‘How very dramatic. Well, I don’t wish to patronise you by pointing out the advantages of each of my nephews, but, Kitty my dear, what I can tell you is that when a young lady decides to commit herself to marriage, what she needs from her intended is very different from what she may dream of as a young girl. By that I mean security, safety – especially in a country such as this; a steady, reliable type, whom one can depend upon for protection. Someone you respect, and yes, before you ask, love does grow. And I have no doubt that Andrew loves you already.’
‘Thank you, Mrs McCrombie, for your very wise counsel. I shall think on what you have said. And I must do so quickly, as I know we have so little time.’
‘It’s my pleasure, Kitty. As I’m sure you are aware, I would like nothing better than to become officially related to you, but the decision is yours to make. Just remember, Andrew is not only offering you his love, but an entire new life, which you alone can make of what you will.’
* * *
Later that day, when she saw Andrew arrive home on the pony and trap, she walked swiftly downstairs to meet him at the door and tell him of her decision before she changed her mind.
‘Andrew, may I speak with you?’
He turned towards her, and she knew he was studying her face to see if he could discover the answer in her eyes.
‘Of course. Let us go through to the drawing room.’
Kitty noted the tension in his body as they entered the room and sat down.
‘Andrew, forgive me for taking some time to think about your proposal. As you know, it is a momentous decision for me. However, I have decided, and I would be honoured to become your wife, on the understanding that my father agrees to the match.’ Kitty fell silent, breathless from saying the words, and looked at Andrew. He did not look as happy as she thought he might.
‘Andrew, have you changed your mind?’
‘I . . . no. That is . . . are you absolutely sure?’
‘I am absolutely sure.’
‘And no one has pressured you into this?’
‘No!’ Having given him the answer, he now seemed to be grilling her on the reasons for her assent to his request.
‘I . . . well, I believed that you were steeling yourself to refuse me. That perhaps there was someone else. I . . .’
‘I swear, there is no one.’
‘Right, well, so . . .’
Kitty watched as the clouds visibly lifted from Andrew’s eyes.
‘Good grief! That makes me the happiest man in the world! I must write immediately to your father to request his permission, but . . . would you take exception to me doing so by telegram? As you know, letters take so long to arrive and time is of the essence. And of course, I shall send one to Father too, asking him to make haste to your parents’ front door while he is in Europe.’ The words were tumbling out of Andrew as he paced exultantly up and down the drawing room. ‘I hope that your father will be prepared to entrust his beloved daughter to me. He knows of our family through my aunt, of course.’ Andrew paused in his pacing to take her hands in his. ‘I swear to you now, Katherine McBride, that I will love you and give you the best of everything for the rest of your life.’
Kitty nodded and closed her eyes as he kissed her lightly on the lips.
* * *
Two days later, Andrew showed Kitty the telegram that had just arrived.
ANDREW STOP DELIGHTED TO GIVE MY BLESSING ON YOUR MARRIAGE TO MY DAUGHTER STOP MUCH LOVE TO YOU AND KATHERINE STOP MOTHER AND FAMILY SEND CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU STOP RALPH STOP
‘The final hurdle!’ Andrew exclaimed jubilantly. ‘Now we can announce it to the world and set about preparations for the wedding. It may not be as grand an affair as you might wish for, given the time constraints, but Mother knows everyone there is to know in Adelaide and she can pull strings to make sure you have a beautiful gown at least.’
‘Really, Andrew, such things are not important to me.’
‘That might be so, but this wedding is important to Mother. So, we shall tell her and Aunt Florence this very evening.’
Kitty nodded, then turned away from him and walked upstairs, knowing her eyes were brimming with tears. When she arrived in her room, she threw herself on the bed and sobbed, because everything she had believed about her father wishing to get rid of her for good had just been proved right.
* * *
On the morning of her wedding to Andrew a month later, Kitty stood in front of the long mirror in her wedding dress. Edith had indeed pulled strings, and she was wearing a white gown fit for a princess. Her waist had been cinched into a whisper of itself, and the high neck set off her auburn hair, which Agnes had piled fetchingly on top of her head. The rich Alengon lace was bedecked in hundreds of small pearls that gleamed and sparkled with the slightest move.
‘Ye look beautiful, Miss Kitty. I’m wanting to cry . . .’ said Agnes as she straightened the tulle veil over Kitty’s shoulders.
‘Good morning, Kitty.’
Kitty saw the reflection of Edith walking into the room behind her.
‘Good morning.’
‘Doesn’t she look a picture, m’um?’ said Agnes, wiping her nose.
‘She does indeed,’ Edith replied stiffly, as if it hurt her to say the words. ‘May I have a word with Katherine alone?’
‘O’ course, m’um.’
Agnes scuttled out of the room.
‘I came to wish you good luck, Katherine,’ said Edith, walking around her daughter-in-law to be, checking the dress was perfect.
‘Thank you.’
‘I once knew your father when I was much younger. I met him at a ball in the Highlands. I believed that he was as smitten with me as I was with him. But then, your father always was a charmer, as I’m sure you’re aware.’
Kitty’s heart began to beat faster. She did not reply, knowing Edith had more to say.
‘Of course, I was wrong. It transpired that he was not only a charmer, but a chancer. A cad who enjoyed seducing women, and once he had done with them, he would move on to the next. To put it bluntly, I was left high and dry by him. I will not go into detail, but along with breaking my heart, he almost ruined my reputation. I . . . well, suffice to say that if it hadn’t been for Stefan arriving from Australia and us meeting by chance in London – and him having no knowledge of any . . . “notoriety” I had acquired – my future prospects would have been ruined.’
Deep breaths, Kitty ordered herself as she felt the heat of both embarrassment and shock prickling on the skin beneath her dress.
‘I can assure you, what I am telling you is true. I hope you can understand why I was less than pleased when my sister wrote to me telling me you were accompanying her and that I had to welcome you into my home. For of course, the truth of the matter was brushed under the carpet and my sister had no idea of what her sainted Ralph had done to me. And now . . .’ Edith came to stand in front of her. ‘You – his daughter – are to marry my eldest son, and we are to be related. The irony is not lost on me, as I’m sure it isn’t on your father.’
Kitty looked down at the yards of white lace pooling about her elegantly slippered feet. ‘Why are you telling me this?’ she whispered.
‘Because you are joining our family and I want no further secrets between us. And also to warn you that if you ever hurt my son the way your father hurt me, I will hunt you down and destroy you. Do you understand?’
‘I do.’
‘Well, that is all I have to say. I can only hope that you have your mother’s nature. My sister tells me she is such a sweet woman and very stoic. In retrospect, I have realised I had a lucky escape, for I am sure that your mother has suffered during her marriage to that man, just as I did. Him! A minister?!’ Edith chuckled hoarsely, but then, seeing Kitty’s obvious distress, regained her composure. ‘Now then, Kitty, we will never mention the subject again.’ Edith moved closer and kissed her tentatively on both cheeks. ‘You look beautiful, my dear. Welcome to the Mercer family.’
CeCe
Phra Nang Beach, Krabi, Thailand
January 2008
Aboriginal symbol
for a honey ant site
11
Ace stretched his arms wide and yawned, dropping the book onto the sofa. I sat up, mulling over the story I had just heard.
‘Wow,’ I murmured. ‘Kitty Mercer sounds amazing! Moving to the other side of the world, marrying a man she hardly knew and inheriting what sounds like a mother-in-law from hell.’
‘I suppose that’s what a lot of women did in those days, especially those who had a life they didn’t want to go back to.’ Ace looked off into the distance. ‘Like Kitty’s,’ he added eventually.
‘Yeah, her father sounds like a real jerk. Do you think she made the right choice, marrying Andrew over Drummond?’
Ace studied Kitty’s picture on the front cover. ‘Who knows? We make so many choices every single day . . .’
His face closed off then, so I didn’t push him on what decisions he’d made that had led to him hiding out here in the palace. ‘The question is,’ I said, ‘what’s she got to do with me? I don’t think we’re related – we look nothing alike.’ To illustrate the point, I held up the book to my head and tried to put on the same stern expression as her. Ace gave a chuckle then brushed a finger over my cheek.
‘You don’t have to look alike to be related. Take me – my father is European, and I’d bet you’re mixed race too. Haven’t you ever wondered?’
‘Course I have. To be honest, I always just accepted it – people would try to guess where I was from if I told them I was adopted. They’d say all sorts – South Asian, South American, African . . . It’s like everyone wants to put you in a box and stick a label on you, but I just wanted to be me.’
Ace nodded. ‘Yeah, I get that too. Here in Thailand they call us luk kreung – literally “half child”. But even though I know where my blood comes from, it doesn’t mean I understand who I am or where I belong. I feel out of place wherever I am. I wonder if you’ll feel like you belong in Australia?’
‘I . . . I don’t know.’ I was beginning to feel flushed and hot, all the questions he was asking me making my head spin. I stood up. ‘I’m going for a last swim and sunset,’ I said as I walked across the terrace to the stairs. ‘I want to take some photos.’
‘What do you mean, a “last” swim?’
‘I’m leaving tomorrow. I’m going to get my bikini.’
Arriving at the gate a few minutes later with my camera, I found Ace already hovering beside it in his swimming trunks, shades and baseball cap.
‘I’ll come with you,’ he said.
‘Okay.’ I tried not to show my surprise when he pressed the red button and I handed my camera to Po as Ace legged it at top speed towards the sea with me trailing behind him. We swam out a long way, much further than anyone else, and he held me in his arms and kissed me.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving before?’
‘To be honest, I’d lost track of the days. It was only when I looked at the plane ticket in my rucksack this morning that I realised.’
‘It’ll be strange without you, CeCe.’
‘I’m sure you’ll manage. C’mon,’ I said as we waded out, ‘I need to get my camera and take some pics of the sunset before it’s gone.’
I collected my camera from Po and went back onto the beach to capture the sunset, as Ace lurked in the foliage watching me.
‘You want photo? I take it,’ Po offered.
‘Would you mind being in it?’ I asked Ace. ‘With the sunset and stuff behind us? Just for the memory?’
‘I . . .’ There was a flicker of fear in his eyes before he reluctantly agreed.
I instructed Po on which button to press, and with our backs facing the beach, Ace put his arm around me and we posed in front of the setting sun on Phra Nang. Po snapped away eagerly until Ace put up a hand to stop him before pressing the code on the gate and disappearing through it. I followed in his wake, stopping to collect my camera.
‘Madam, I take to shop and print for you? My cousin, he run good place in Krabi town. I go there now, pictures back tomorrow morning,’ Po offered.
‘Okay, thanks,’ I agreed as I ejected the roll of film from the unit. ‘Make two sets of prints, yes?’ I gesticulated with my fingers, thinking it would be a good memento to leave for Ace.
‘No problem, madam.’ Po smiled at me. ‘My pleasure. Three hundred baht for two set?’
‘Deal.’ I walked away wondering why he was being so helpful and thought that maybe his guilty conscience was still plaguing him. Perhaps, just occasionally, human beings wanted to make up for past misdemeanours.
That evening, I wondered if it was me who was not myself, but the conversation that usually flowed over dinner was now stilted and unnatural. Ace was weirdly quiet and didn’t even laugh at my jokes, which he normally did no matter how bad they were. As soon as I put down my knife and fork, he yawned and said we should get an early night, and I agreed. In bed, he reached for me silently in the darkness and made love to me.
‘Night, CeCe,’ he said as we settled down for him to sleep and for me to lie awake.
‘Night.’
I listened for the change in breathing pattern to let me know that he was asleep, but I didn’t hear it. Eventually, I heard him sigh and a tentative hand reached out in the darkness to find me.
‘You asleep?’ he whispered.
‘You know I rarely am.’
‘Come here, I need a hug.’
He drew me to him and held me so tight that my nose was pressed against his chest and I could barely breathe.
‘I really meant what I said earlier. I’ll miss you,’ he murmured in the darkness. ‘Maybe I will come out to Australia. I’ll give you my mobile number. Promise to text me a forwarding address?’
‘Yeah, of course.’
‘We are a pair, aren’t we?’
‘Are we?’
‘Yes, both at a crossroads, not knowing where we go next.’
‘I s’pose.’
‘Well, it’s true for you at least. Sadly, I know exactly where I’ll be going. Eventually . . .’
‘Where?’
‘It doesn’t matter, but I just want to tell you, that if things were different . . .’ I felt his lips gently caress the top of my head. ‘You’re the most real person I’ve ever met, Celaeno D’Aplièse. Never change, will you?’
‘I don’t think I can.’
‘No,’ he chuckled. ‘Probably not. I just want you to promise me one more thing.’
‘What’s that?’
‘If you . . . hear things about me in the future, please try not to judge me. You know that things are never quite what they seem. And . . .’ I knew he was struggling to find the words. ‘Sometimes, you have to do stuff to protect those you love.’
‘Yeah, like I did for Star.’
‘Yes, sweetheart, like you did for Star.’
With that, he kissed me again and rolled over.
* * *
Of course, I didn’t sleep a wink that night. All sorts of emotions – some of them new – were racing around my head. I only wished I could confide in someone, ask their opinion about what Ace had said to me. But the fact was, Ace had become my ‘someone’ . . . my friend. I turned the word over in my mind. I’d never had a proper friend before who wasn’t my sister, and perhaps I didn’t know how friendship even worked. Was I his friend too? Or had he simply been using me to ease his loneliness . . . and had I been doing the same? Or were we more than just friends?
