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contact of his hard frame did things to her; she thought of Gilbert and was
filled with wonderment that he had never made her feel quite like this no,
not even in their most intimate moments.
Presently the darkness was relieved again as they came from the shadows of
the shrubbery on to the path skirting one of the wide lawns. Across this great
width of grassland the moon's light glowed, and the various specimen trees
rose gauntly, eerily, like giants of nebulous but fearsome shape ... so silent,
with not even the zephyr of a breeze to stir anything to movement. But
suddenly there rang out the cry of a night-owl, piercing the quiet and sending
a shudder through Lorna's body. Craig gave a short laugh and without
warning his arm came about her waist, bringing her closer still, as if
involuntarily wishing to com- for her.
'It's nothing to be afraid of,' he said.
'I know; I've heard the owls before. It was just the shock I didn't expect it.'
She glanced around, feeling poised in total isolation as if she and Craig
were the only inhabitants of the world.
And when again they reached a shadowed place it seemed the most natural
thing for him to stop, to turn her round to face him ... to bend his dark head
and kiss her.
She lay in bed, watching the sun come up, its light filtering the space where
she had not quite closed the heavy-velvet drapes. Her mind was drugged
with thoughts of last night. Craig had not only kissed her, but had whispered
those kind of things that could mean only one thing: that he was beginning to
find her attractive.
She allowed her thoughts to switch to Gilbert. It was only a few weeks since
she had been madly in love with him. But he had acted so callously that he
had killed her love completely. She felt nothing now, no hurt, no regrets.
How right he had been when he said it was better to discover the truth now
than later!
Getting out of bed, Lorna drew on a negligee and went over to the window,
drawing back the curtains to let in the amber glow that came over the ridge
of the mountains. The soft still peace and harmony of dawn lay over
everything; the hillsides were sepia, the fields ochre-coloured but changing
slowly, with the rise of the sun, to subtle colours of grey and blue and
dappled pink. What peace! How far away was the hospital with its early
morning bustle! the hurry and scurry of toileting the patients, of making
their beds, preparing their breakfasts, listening to their complaints and yet
managing to smile.
Would she ever go back to that kind of work? By a natural process her mind
became absorbed with Craig,, and the way he was last night. The kisses, and
especially the final one& Colour fused her face as she thought of it, of the
ardour, the mastery, the complete confidence of the man she had so recently
disliked. Surely he would not act like that unless he was intending to ask her
to marry him? He was certainly not the man to indulge in a light flirtation
with one of his grandmother's employees. But what about this girl-friend
Jeff had mentioned? She was away but returning in a few weeks' time. Lorna
dismissed her as unimportant and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
The scene outside was too tempting for her to linger here in the bedroom;
she wanted to be in the open, enjoying the delights of nature.
She was rambling over the moors when she became aware of movement on
the other side of the burn, where trees grew thickly along its bank. Craig!
Her heart gave a jerk and a swift smile came to her lips. He was walking
briskly, his head held high; she could imagine him taking in the air in great
gulps, and exhaling slowly exercising his lungs with the aid of the clear
pure air of the heather moors. He spotted her and stopped a second before
coming on towards the bridge, a smile touching the hard outline of his
mouth. He was glad to see her! A warm glow fused her whole being. This
was living being in a state of mind like this ... almost in love...? Fear
touched her heart with icy fingers. Supposing she were wrong? Jeff had said
he did not trust Craig
'Hello!' he called from a distance, his voice clear and firm as it came over the
air. 'Couldn't you sleep?'
She laughed; she was happy, warm again, for his tone had dispelled all her
fears.
"The morning was too tempting.' She was moving automatically to meet
him. He held out his hands and she slipped hers into them. Lightly he kissed
her.
'You look wonderful,' he said. 'What time were you up?'
'Very early I didn't look at the time. The sun was coming over the
mountains and it was all too wonderful. I had to come out.'
'You'd make a country girl,' he said, and it did seem that he was in a
considering mood. 'I find it a little surprising, seeing that you've always
lived in a city.'
'I've always loved the country, though.' She fell into step beside him,
noticing that he slackened his pace to fit hers.
'See the hooded crows tormenting the deer?' Craig pointed, an angry note in
his voice. The hateful creatures were swooping down over the heads of the
lovely roe-deer, who were grazing peacefully until the hooded crows came
along a great flock appearing out of nowhere. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]