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Chapter 28
You see , I had Mr Tredego to look after me , she added . Margaret started to pour out the tea , Donald fetched Lucy a cup , and handed her a plate of anaemic - looking cakes then he sat beside her and began to talk about the storm which had raged for three days last week , completely cutting off the island and making it impossible for any boat to put out or come in . Does that often happen ? ' she asked .
Too often to be pleasant , he replied . ' Fortunately we are well provisioned , but it would be a bit awkward if anyone were very ill and required medical attention immediately . ' Is there no doctor on the island ? ' she cried . No , and the man at Oncar is one of the old - fashioned family type he certainly basn't moved with the times . Fortunately both my father and I have a certain medical knowledge , so don't think you'd die here for want of attention .
Lucy sipped her tea and tried to visualize her future life in such surroundings , but she could not ; her th
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In Love With A Stranger Chapter 29
you're doing splendidly . You have nothing to worry about ? - and her heart steadied down and she was able to answer the questions her uncle and cousins put to her with some degree of rationality . And now I think Margaret had better take you up to your room , ' said Sir Archibe. Lucy was glad to go , though she felt a little nervous in Margaret's company . The latter took her across the hall and up the broad ornamental staircase ; at the top she turned to the right and along a passage , then to the right again . It seemed bewildering to Joan , who tried to mem orize the turnings ' I am sure I shall never be able to find my way about , she cried . ' It will come in time , ' said Margaret . ' Of course , you have been used to a little house , haven't you ? ' It had never occurred to Lucy to regard Aunt Lilian's house as little ; she had thought it a big rambling place , especially when she had to do all the work of it , but she realized that compared with Kilrossan stan
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 30
Across the intervening heaving restless water to the mainland . She could just make out the little jetty on which she had stood , waiting for the boat to come and take her to the island . The mist was clearing a little , and she could glimpse the sky reddening as the sun went down . " I hope the noise of the sea won't disturb you , Margaret was saying . ' It beats against the rocks and some people don't like it , but I suppose after the Sevila traffic it won't worry you . " Lucy felt a terrible nostalgia grip her . She would have given anything just then to hear the familiar hoot of a bus ; the honking of taxis ; the voices of newsboys crying the latest news ; the tramping of feet on wet pavements - all the old familiar things . To her disgust she felt tears welling into her eyes and a lump forming in her throat , but she would not give way to this emotion of self - pity . Resolutely she turned to Margaret . I shan't mind the noise , ' she said . ' In fact , I think
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 31
Margaret swung round from the large wardrobe which she had been opening . I hope you will , she said . ' Or else what is the object in coming here ? But according to the terms of our uncle's will , both your brothers are eligible as - as a husband for me , ' Lucy pointed out Margaret shrugged . " No one knows where Jerry is . ' " But Mr Tredego said that he will find him . " Perhaps he will , but if I were you I'd not reckon on Jerry . He always has been a trial to us . Much better make up your mind to settle with Donald , who will make a very good husband . You can't be sure that he wants to settle down with me , Lucy protested Margaret gave a faint superior smile , as she replied . ' Donald has a strong sense of family responsibility ; he has always been a dutiful son . You can be quite sure that he will do what he considers best for the McGurtries . ' Lucy drew a hard indignant breath , was about to retort and then thought better of it . What on earth made Peter McGurtrie
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 32
Now you are a great heiress ; you are about to marry into one of the oldest families in Scotland ; you have a beautiful home , and you are not tied here for good ; you can go where you like for the other six months of the year . Any woman would be glad to marry Donald , even if there was not a fortune involved . I think you are lucky . Yes , reflected Lucy , she supposed she was . And she ought to feel thrilled at the prospect of marriage with her cousin and being mistress of this old castle . Donald had been kind and had tried his best to put her at her ease ; he had shown that he would be a considerate husband , but for all that he had entirely failed to make an impression on her . He had seemed nebulous , characterless . She supposed that she was suffering from anti - climax ; that she needed a good rest . Tomorrow or the next day she would be better able to judge both her surroundings and her new relations , and until then she would reserve her opinion .
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 33
Early the next morning Margaret McGurtrie slipped ou of the castle and made her way across the rocks to the other side of the little island . On a fertile spot where clumps of pine trees grew , at the head of a tiny creek she met Maurice Tredego , who was standing idly throwing stones into the water and watching the widening circles they caused ' I thought you were never coming ! he exclaimed as she ran towards him . ' I overslept , ' she excused herself . ' I lay awake for hours and didn't get off till about two o'clock this morning Maurice , I feel utterly wretched ! She clung to him and raised her face to his , and after a moment's hesitation glancing round to make sure that they were quite unob served , he caught her close , and his mouth fastened down on hers . She hung limp in his grasp , utterly oblivious of everything and everyone save the man who was kissing her , as she had dreamed for weeks of being kissed . Then as the tension between them relaxed she opened her
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 34
My dear foolish Margaret , you don't know what you are talking about , ' he retorted . ' Managing up here means very little difference in your mode of life just going without a few things you fancy , that is all ; but managing in Sevila is a vastly different matter . We should have to get a house or a flat , and anything in a decent neighbour hood is wickedly expensive ; then you would be obliged to dress differently . These tweeds are all right in the country but they would never do for town . I should be expected to entertain it would be essential to know the right people . I make very little out of my profession nowadays , the public cannot afford to go to law , and my private income has shrunk . When the Exchequer has had its whack out of it there's precious little left , I can assure you . ' I wouldn't mind being poor with you . ' ' Oh , Meg , don't let us go over that again . He put her from him , and stooping picked up another stone and flung it into the water . We've
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 35
I shall be able to make a bargain with her , I think she can be to settle a decent sum on you , so be friendly with her Meg , and don't let her see that you resent her . ' Margaret's eyes filled with tears . I do resent her , ' she cried . Of course I do , I should not be human if I didn't . Uncle Peter ought to have left the money to Donald and me . I can't think why he didn't ' Probably just to cause trouble he was that kind of man , you know . But it's no good reviling him . We should be thankful that little Lucy is easy to manage - she might have been one of those precocious cockneys , with a very high opinion of herself , and then both you and Donald would have been pitied . As it is moulded into any form you wish . ' ' It's rotten for Donald , having to marry her . ' ' He might have had to marry someone worse , let me give you a tip , Meg , my sweet . If you are kind to the child , let her think that she is wanted , you'll be able to do anything you please with her . '
In Love With A Stranger Chapter 36
that would be a different matter altogether . The only way he could see her getting money was througn her little cousin . He had first started to make love to Margaret one week - end when he'd had to come to the castle on business connected with Sir Archibe's involved affairs ; he had been a very junior member of the firm then , and it had flattered him when he was asked to Kilrossan Castle and found that he was treated as a valued friend . His first impression of Margaret was of a great clumsy hoyden , ungainly in figure and in gait . Then that first evening she had come down in a gown with a long full skirt , hiding her feet and ankles , and giving her grace . He had looked into her lovely eyes , decided that there were possibilities about her ; and when she had suggested a stroll down by the creek he had taken it as a distinct invitation to make love to her After that it had been easy Margaret was avid for love ; she lived a very lonely retired life , since her father cou
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