Free The Made Marriage by Henrietta Reid Page A

round cheeks had turned pink with pleasure.
    ‘Yes, of course,’ he said shortly. ‘In spite of the soda-bread calamity, your cooking is improving. Besides, you get on with the men.’ He was deliberately cool and detached in his manner and instantly he saw the light fade from her face as though a candle had been extinguished.
    She turned and was on the point of slipping past him on her way to the kitchen when he said brusquely, ‘ Never mind the glasses! Why don’t you run upstairs and fetch your coat and come with me to Limerick? I’m taking the trailer to fetch some seed oats.’
    ‘But what about the men ? ’ she asked doubtfully.
    ‘For once they can manage by themselves. Dan’s wife has him well trained and he’ll forage about the pantry and fix a meal up for the others. It won’t be the first time they had to make do.’
    Her eyes sparkling delightedly at the prospect of a n outing . S he turned and sped lightly upstairs.
    He stood in the doorway watching her, frowning a little as he remembered his aunt’s savage treatment of the girl, yet her words had been uncomfortably near the truth. With or without Aunt Florrie’s presence at Laragh, the girl was in an invidious position. He knew only too well from experience how gossip could snowball and assume immense dimensions in a small closely-knit community. Sooner or later Kate would be subjected to the sly innuendoes, the crude jokes that were bandied about when the conventions were contravened. It was obvious, however, that this aspect of her situation had not occurred to her and he scowled as he turned and went to fetch the car.
    During the drive to Limerick she was surprisingly silent, but not, he realised, because of anything his aunt might have said. In fact he got the impression that far from recalling the wounding words, she had already wiped from her memory the episode. It was rather that each new scene filled her with wonder and delight too deep for words, and as they drove into the outskirts of Limerick she sat forward, eagerly anticipating the pleasures ahead.
    ‘Have a look around the shops,’ he said, ‘while I go about my business. And in about half an hour we can meet at that restaurant across the road.’
    She nodded. The shops appeared inviting and she was looking forward to beginning her tour when he added a little gruffly, ‘By the way, if you need some extra cash, just let me know. You may see something you’d like to buy.’
    She turned around and gazed at him directly with eyes wide with surprise. ‘Oh, but I have some money. Of course Margot was able to give me only a small salary, but I always saved it up. There was nothing much to spend it on, for I’m not dreadfully keen on clothes, you see. But it was very nice of you to think of it,’ she added, a note of wonder in her voice.
    She had not expected this kindness from her rather gruff employer.
    Her eyes, he decided, had the smoky grey colour of a pigeon’s wing. Then, swinging himself abruptly from behind the wheel, he called, ‘ Don’t get lost. My plans don’t include searching the streets for you.’
    ‘Oh no, Mr. Lawlor,’ she assured him earnestly, ‘for I’d have no place to go. After all, Laragh’s my home—I mean,’ she added hastily, ‘for the time being,’ and watched him a little wistfully as he strode away from her.
    The half-hour passed all too quickly and Kate found s he had barely time to reach the restaurant within the specified time. However, when she did arrive there was no sign of Owen and taking a table behind a pillar she kept her eyes glued on the door anxiously. Suppose she should be waiting in vain and Owen’s broad figure s hould never appear in the doorway! After all, she knew so little of the man! Perhaps he had listened more carefully to his aunt’s strictures than she had imagined. Could the whole outing be a means of jettisoning someone who had become an embarrassment? She clutched her hands together under the tablecloth, thankful