wild pastures Celine conway

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alone, and for some reason they had gone for a stroll. They
had found the child in a dangerous spot, and Dinah's true
nature that elusive thing she kept locked away had
asserted itself. Because children were unpredictable poor
Rex had to watch in agony while Dinah'performed the
rescue. After it? Well, afterwards he had probably felt ten
thousand times more humble than his mother had half an
hour ago. And that had been the end. No, the beginning.
Was it a good thing, Rex's having been forced to give in?
There must have been more to it than that. Perhaps Dinah
had felt his helplessness and anguish far more than she had
felt her own fear. Or it might have been the presence of the
child. Something, definitely, had made the decision for
them brought them so close that the decision had been
inevitable.
It was easy now, to understand Dinah's mood of
relieved gaiety yesterday afternoon. There had been no
regrets because there was nothing to regret! Dinah had
been getting what she wanted: in any case, Rex had not
capitulated for the sake of her favors but because her
action had made him realize that the light, shining girl
he loved had undreamed-of-depths. Bravo, Dinah!
Of course, Lucie could have been let into the secret,
but had Dinah been open about it, it would have been out
of character. There were to be no arguments, she had
decided, no pointing out that an elopement was unfair to
Rex's parents. Dinah wanted him, and as a last fling she
also wanted her little revenge. She had accomplished
both, though it would have vexed her to know that Mrs.
Torrance's unhappiness had been short-lived. No doubt
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about it, the Torrance family were acquiring an unusual
daughter-in-law.
The rest of the day passed slowly for Lucie. In the late
afternoon the heat went out of the day and a dampness
fell. She took the chicken pie down to some campers near
the lakeside and stayed with them for an hour, and at
dusk she returned to the shack for the evening. She lit the
two lamps, filled the kettle and brought in enough wood
for the living-room fire. The doors had been barred about
ten minutes when someone knocked at the back. She lifted
the bar, opened the top half of the door and was a little
astonished to see the face and old curled hat of a cow-
hand; nearby, a horse whinnied.
"Reporting, jest in case you wondered, miss. The boss
sent me here for the night. You may hear me around; but
don't worry."
"Mr. Leverson? But I don't need a guard."
"He figured you'd say that." A grin. "I won't trouble
you none. I'll make a fire when I need one, and I've got
my own food and blanket. I'll be around all night and
away at dawn."
"He thinks of everything, doesn't he? If you should need
anything knock me up."
By the time Lucie was up and about next morning the
guard had gone. She looked out at the thick white mist,
listened for a moment and heard the cold drip-drip from
the birch trees. She was reminded of the day she had gone
for the trip to Vancouver with Rex, the homecoming to
the fruit farm and Dinah's cool and brittle denunciation
of Lucie Dawes.
The car from the ranch arrived at ten o'clock. If was
driven by one of the ranch hands, who gave her an im-
personal note which reminded her to bring all the
necessary documents. They drove slowly, but on a Monday
morning there was little danger of meeting other traffic
and the road was good. The driver had no doubt been
chosen for his extreme care. They actually arrived at the
ranch house without Lucie's knowing they had passed
between the entrance posts.
Today, the house was closed up, but Lucie crossed to
the porch door opened, and Matt said, "Come on in.
Are you cold?"
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She shook her head, put her bulky handbag on the table
and turned to greet the dapper man who stood near the
blazing log fire. He was middle-aged and wore a flannel
suit and a bright sports shirt, and was introduced as Mr.
Garrett, Carry to his familiars. The. man got back from
her and stared.
"This is your cue to get out the photograph," she said.
"You're better looking than you were at seventeen,"
he" told her.
Mart's mouth dented at one corner, mockingly. "Physi-
cally, they come in types," he said. "This is the sort that
wears well."
"And matures delightfully," added the lawyer gallantly.
"Come and talk to me, Miss Denman. Matt, shall we go
through to the other room?"
"Might as well wait here for Firland. With this mist
around he may be late."
Matt went out of the room, and Lucie found herself
answering several shrewd questions from Mr. Garrett.
Even while she was speaking she realized that they were
framed to verify his own impressions. Mrs. Malloy brought
coffee and biscuits, and at about a quarter past eleven
Norman Firland arrived.
Norman looked rather more attractive than Lucie re-
membered him. It Was actually less than a week since
she had left the farm, but he came almost as a surprise, a
pleasant one. He wore a blue suit, and his hair waved
back from a brow which was young and unlined. The
narrow face had a slight charming smile, and he spoke
with an effortlessness that testified to his lack of nerves.
Norman, it seemed, had accepted the inevitable with.
grace.
He had coffee, Matt came in, and they all went into
the next room. Lucie looked about her at the gay angular
patterns of the curtains and cushions, the carved mahog-
any tables and writing desk, the_.deep chairs. Someone
moved the bowl of asters from the desk, Matt opened it
and they sat grouped around it.
"First," said Mr. Garrett, "I would like Miss Denman
to write her signature on this envelope."
Lucie complied. Mr. Garrett pulled her only letter to
him from his brief-case and compared the signatures. He
163
nodded, asked for her birth certificate and might he look
at her passport? She had to swear to her identity under
oath, and the preliminaries were disposed of.
The rest of the business did not take long. Without any
comment or question, Norman signed where he was told.
Lueie added her signature, and the witnesses two of
Mart's staff appended theirs. The papers were put away
in the brief-case, Lucie and Norman were given their [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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