Free Dorothy Eden by Never Call It Loving Page B

apparently cherished wife? She toyed with the thought of putting on her least attractive gown and coming down looking crushed and colourless.
    Vanity won. She spent a long time brushing her hair and coiling it round her head. She put on a low-necked dress that showed her shoulders to best advantage. She was very pale, but her eyes were bright with tension and excitement. She patted a little rice powder on her nose, and sprinkled a few drops of perfume on her handkerchief.
    When she heard the wheels of the cab, she flew to the window to draw back the curtain and peer down.
    There he was stepping out of the cab. The sight of his tall figure, so immediately familiar as if it had never for a moment been out of her sight, made tears spring to her eyes. She clenched her hands, resisting an impulse to go running down the stairs, and flinging open the door to welcome him.
    She had firmly decided not to do this. Willie was to greet Charles (she must guard her tongue so she did not call him by his first name, publicly) and take him to his room. This would give him a chance to adjust himself to the house and the circumstances before meeting her. Not that she wasn’t absolutely sure he would carry off any situation with complete aplomb.
    She lingered in her room, giving Charles time to change. Willie would have told him that dinner was at seven.
    She went down precisely at that hour, and found Miss Glennister bringing her charges down at the same time. So the greetings were easy after all. Willie was exuberantly showing off his daughters, and Mr. Parnell was courteously giving them all his attention. When he turned to Katharine, it was with the greatest ease and simplicity.
    “Mrs. O’Shea. Forgive me for being quite absorbed in your little girls. I see they have your husband’s eyes, but your smile.”
    Katharine bent swiftly over the children, kissing them on their rosy cheeks.
    “To bed now, angels. Kiss Papa goodnight.”
    In the resulting small flurry she had regained her poise and was able to say without a tremor: “How good of you to spare time to come down to us, Mr. Parnell. You have been working much too hard, my husband tells me.”
    He gave her his grave considering gaze. He was very thin, with deep lines engraved on his cheeks. He looked as if he needed weeks of rest. No sounds would disturb him in the bedroom overlooking the garden except the early cawing of rooks, or the wind in the trees. He could rest or work as he pleased.
    “If you find it comfortable here, we hope you will come again.”
    Willie didn’t see the light leap in Mr. Parnell’s eyes for he had his back turned, pouring sherry.
    “Yes, I’ve an idea you might find it useful to make this place your headquarters, Parnell. It must be inconvenient moving about so much. How does your mail ever catch up with you, for instance? And how do you snatch a bit of rest without being besieged by all and sundry? But we’ll talk of that later. Kate and I are eager to hear all about the latest developments in Ireland. Aren’t we, Kate? My wife is developing quite a taste for politics.”
    “Yes, we do want to hear everything,” Katharine said calmly. “But after dinner, Willie. Mr. Parnell must be hungry as well as tired. Shall we go in straight away?”
    And that was almost the only remark she made to him for the entire evening. Willie began to talk politics before they had finished their soup, and the discussion went on, growing more and more absorbing to the two men, until Katharine excused herself, saying that she would like to go on talking but not, she begged, until the small hours.
    They both sprang up. Charles contrite, Willie perfunctory. Willie kissed her on the cheek, saying, “Sorry, my love. This is pretty boring for you.”
    “Yes, you’ve been very patient with us, Mrs. O’Shea. As you see, I get carried away with my schemes. But this idea of preparing test cases to prove the value of the Land Act, when it goes through, is the only way to be