Free A Strange Affair by Rosemary Smith Page A

said and without preamble pulled a high-backed chair opposite me by the fire.
    ‘I’m sorry to say that there was, and it was on that condition that I didn’t leave Rowan the day poor Annabel was found. Did you love her? Annabel I mean.’
    ‘I realise now that I never did,’ he told me honestly, so my assumption had been right.
    ‘And what of Kerensa?’ I had to ask and he paused for some seconds before answering.
    ‘I have no love for Kerensa either,’ his words astonished me after the moments I had seen them together in the past weeks.
    ‘What do you feel for her?’ I asked quietly.
    ‘Compassion,’ was his simple answer. ‘And why is that?’ I asked him gently. ‘Because she loves me and I cannot return it. She is but a child still and vents her feelings on both me and Derrick. I play games with her to keep her amused and sane,’ he told me.
    ‘Are you saying she loves Derrick also?’ I asked softly.
    ‘Yes indeed she does, but my brother will not indulge in her games, he is too serious about everything,’ he answered.
    ‘And here was me thinking that Derrick was the humorous one and you the serious one,’ I said laughing.
    ‘Beware Barbara, for first impressions can often be deceiving and lead you into danger. Beware of my brother for he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ Kieran was serious as he spoke and I thought back to the incident in the corridor a few days ago, but I would not tell my husband for fear of causing trouble.
    ‘I will heed your warning, husband,’ I said, praying all the while that he was indeed my legal spouse.
    ‘Do you like it here at Rowan Castle?’ he asked unexpectedly.
    ‘I love it and can’t wait for the spring to arrive so we can go walking in the gardens,’ I began, secretly wondering at the same time if this would ever be possible.
    ‘Your dream sounds idyllic. I must apologise for the way I have treated you since our marriage, I am very unhappy about the way Annabel ended her life, but let us talk no more of it for now at least. I sought you out to tell you something.’ Here he paused and lent forward in the chair, his hands hanging loosely between his knees and his head bowed, then he lifted his head and looked me in the eye before continuing. ‘The hearing regarding our marriage is to be held tomorrow. We are both to attend.’
    ‘And what time is this?’ I asked him and I realised that the time of reckoning was nigh.
    ‘Not until two pm. I apologise that you are to be put through this ordeal, but due to my own stupidity I have brought this situation about for which I apologise profusely.’
    ‘I accept your apology, Kieran. We shall face it together,’ I assured him, for I could see he was repentant. As Kieran left me he looked back as he stood by the open door and said, ‘I shall pray tonight for our future, little one.’
    As I lay in bed that night the sobbing started again, but to solve that mystery I would have to wait until after tomorrow and I too silently prayed that all would be well for my husband and I; for I realised even more how much I loved and adored him, and I knew in my heart nothing would change it.

 
    7
     
    After breakfast the next morning there was great excitement when my gowns arrived from the dressmakers. Megan was waiting for me when I came out of the dining-room.
    ‘Your dresses have arrived, mistress,’ she told me and I walked up the staircase with her as anxious as she to see them. When we entered my room I could see they had been laid across my bed in a profusion of colour, walking across I looked at them hardly believing they now belonged to me.
    ‘We had best hang them in the wardrobe, Megan,’ I told her my voice aquiver.
    ‘Aren’t you going to try one on, mistress?’ Megan said with disappointment in her voice.
    ‘Of course I will,’ I agreed, picking up the beautiful turquoise silk ballgown.
    ‘Let us hang this first for it is special,’ I said, all the while wondering if I would ever have cause to