Free Pearls by Colin Falconer Page B

talk about it.'
    George drew on his cigarette. he threw back his head and blew out the smoke in a long, silken stream. 'All right.'
    'Father said you wanted to see me.'
    'I think we have a lot to talk about, don't you?'
    Kate crossed her arms and leaned back against the veranda posts. 'Well?'
    'You're going to have Cameron McKenzie's baby.'
    Kate found her eyes were brimming with tears. She fought them back. 'Everyone in town knows that by now.'
    'What are you going to do?'
    'What can I do? The outcome of Nature is inevitable. I cannot stop it now.'
    'Your father says you are planning on leaving Broome.'
    'He sees no other way.'
    'And you?'
    Kate left the question unanswered.
    'What would you say if I told you that I still wanted to marry you?'
    'I would say that you had probably had a little too much sun.'
    George slipped into his prepared speech. 'I don't deny that when I first found out about ... about this ... that I was shocked. However, if you can promise me that you no longer love this man, that you have no intention of ever seeing him again, then I am prepared still to offer you marriage. I do not believe that one tragic error should cost someone their whole life. My mother and father stand against me on this, of course, but I believe they might yet be persuaded, once they see I am determined.' He paused and looked at her, thoughtfully. 'Of course, we would have to marry immediately. Well?'
    The humiliation burned in her throat. As much as he had practised his speech, she had practised hers. She had to do it, for her father, and for her unborn child. She was drowning and he was offering her a lifeline. It didn't matter to her any more who was on the end of it.
    'Yes.'
    'You accept?'
    Kate nodded, not trusting her voice. George swept forward and took her in his arms and kissed her. It was the first time he had ever kissed her on the lips. When he released her, his eyes were shining.
    'I always vowed that one day I would make you mine,' he whispered. 'Let's tell your father the good news.'
     
    ***
     
    The house looked the same; heavy purple blossoms of bougainvillea draped across the veranda roof, Flynn's hammock strung between two of the posts. But there were odd little things that were out of kilter; the empty bottles of square face gin uncollected by the steps, all the window shutters closed.
    He went up the shell grit path, dread settled in his guts like cold fat. There was no answer to his knock. He went to the back of the house. Liddy peered out at him from the servant's quarters at the bottom of the garden.
    'I've come to see Miss Flynn,' Cameron said.
    Liddy's sulky expression changed when she recognised him. A sly smile formed on her lips. 'Missy not here,' she said.
    'I want to see her.'
    'Not here,' Liddy repeated.
    Cameron tried the back door. It was unlocked. He pushed it open and went inside. 'Kate!'
    Liddy followed him inside. 'You can't come along here! Missy not belong here no more!'
    'Kate!' Cameron went through the house, Liddy fussing behind him like an old hen trying to protect her eggs.
    'Miss Flynn she not belong here!'
    'Where is she?'
    'I tell you! She not belong here no more! She b'long Missa Nylan now! All same marry 'im!'
    'Marry? She married George Niland?'
    Liddy appeared triumphant. 'Father Murphy he say it all same sin. But she go longa white dress anyway. She go debil-debil one day!'
    Cameron slumped into a cane chair.
    'Hey! You can't sit there! That chair b'long Missa Flynn!'
    'Damn you,' Cameron muttered. He got up, spilling the chair behind him and stamped out of the door.
    Liddy picked up the chair, cursing white man's manners and got on with her work, feeling much better in herself for having seen sinners duly punished. Like Father Murphy said, God worked in mysterious ways.
     
     
     

Chapter 16
     
    Kate was sitting on the veranda of the Niland house with Elizabeth, George's sister. A jug of lemon squash lay on the wicker table between them. They were crocheting a baby's