South of Capricorn Page 10

  ‘Where were you this afternoon?’

  ‘At school, of course,’ came the immediate and innocent reply. Kane’s eyes narrowed, but Leta looked up at him with that expression of defiant unconcern which had always been so familiar to Gail and, indeed, to all who had known the child. Undoubtedly she had a strong, forceful character - just like her father, thought Gail, looking from one to the other and trying to find some physical likeness, as she had done several times before. She found none ... not one line or feature that could be said was peculiar to both father and daughter.

  ‘I said this afternoon, not this morning.’

  ‘I was at school all day. Ask Miss MacKay.’ So bland her manner, and Gail could scarcely believe she was telling a lie.

  ‘Very well, we shall do just that.’ Keenly he watched his daughter’s face. Gail saw no change in her expression, but Kane obviously did, which said much for his powers of observation. ‘Come with me; we’ll go over to her bungalow.’ That he had no intention of doing so was without doubt. It was a long way to the bungalows, and Kane was already tired and dirty from his work outdoors, work that had to be done though the heat had shimmered over the plains like a haze to white-hot vapour.

  ‘Well...’ began Leta, screwing up her face as if the prospect of seeing her teacher was highly distasteful to her. ‘I did come home early, Daddy, because I had a headache.’ The last words came brightly and it was plain that the excuse had come to her unexpectedly.

  Kane said nothing; he was obviously saving any reprimand for later, when his stepmother was not present.

  ‘Very well, Leta. And now you can go to bed.’

  ‘You’re allowing her to get away with it!’ gasped Mrs. Farrell. ‘And what about her rudeness to me?’

  ‘I wasn’t rude! I only said you looked like an ape, and that was the truth, so how can it be rude?’

  ‘Leta!’ Gail could not allow that to pass. Horrified, she took a step towards Leta, intending to give her a shake. But Kane’s finger was lifted and Gail stopped in her tracks.

  ‘Normal child development,’ he said. ‘If Rachel can’t understand this then it’s entirely her own fault. I am not willing to put a rein on what is natural.’ So cool. . . but Gail was staring perceptively at him. Mrs. Farrell also knew what he was doing, as her next words revealed.

  ‘You’ll get tired before I do, Kane. Don’t forget - I know you well enough to be able to predict a speedy end to your daughter’s disgraceful conduct. For you’re the very last one to tolerate such disregard for politeness -and authority.’

  Undoubtedly this was true, and as he was not willing to deny it Kane changed the subject and with a return to his customary calm and languid drawl he told Leta to go to bed.

  ‘I’m not tired; I’ve said it once.’ She sat down on a chair and swung her legs. ‘Why doesn’t Mrs. Farrell keep her back straight? My teacher at play-school said that all people should keep their backs straight because you get a hump if you don’t. That’s why you look like an ape—’

  ‘Leta, that’s enough!’ It was Gail who spoke and she was deliberately avoiding Kane’s eyes. ‘You’ve gone too far! Now, apologize to Mrs. Farrell and then off you go to bed! I’ve had quite sufficient of you for one evening!’

  Silence. Although sensing his anger Gail still refused to look at Kane. And she was not allowing Leta to have any more of her own way. If Kane should decide to allow her to stay up for dinner then she, Gail, would oppose him.

  ‘You mean, say I’m sorry?’

  ‘That’s exactly what I mean.’

  ‘I never say I’m sorry, because I’m not sorry!’

  Still Kane remained impassive, an interested onlooker, nothing more. Surprised, but too occupied with Leta to waste time finding a reason for his conduct, Gail told Leta once again to apologize. There was a battle, Leta giving cheek, as Gail knew she would. But she was quite determined to make her go to bed, and as once again it looked as if Leta would win Gail turned in desperation to Kane. He nodded instantly in answer to her unspoken plea and, lifting Leta bodily, he carried her, kicking and screaming, from the room.

  Gail was ready for bed when she heard the gentle knock on the door connecting her room with that of Kane. Snatching a pretty - but not very practical — neglige she flung it on and opened the door.

  ‘May I come in?’ Amusement lit the grey eyes as the colour mounted Gail’s cheeks. She was fidgeting nervously with the tie at the waist of the neglige; it was a wide ribbon and in her haste to fasten it she had managed to get it knotted.

  ‘Yes, of course.’ He was in anyway, she thought, already behind him as he stopped in the centre of the room. ‘Is it something important?’

  He was fully dressed, attractive in a tropical suit and light green shirt. She had seen Ertha, at dinner, sending him glance after glance, and Gail could not but be a little sorry for her, as she must be dreadfully put out by the appearance of his wife.

  ‘I just wanted to put your mind at rest regarding what happened before dinner. You seemed anxious that I’d be annoyed at your interference?’

  ‘I was anxious,’ she admitted freely, her hands still occupied with the knot. ‘But on the other hand, I was determined not to allow Leta to go to any further lengths than she already had.’ Gail was angry at his coolness, at the way he turned a blind eye to all of his daughter’s disgraceful behaviour. And her anger, as always, lent her courage. ‘While on the one hand I understand your reasons for neglecting to chastise Leta, I feel that there should be limits beyond which she ought not to be allowed to go - this for her own good as much as for the comfort of others in the house. She flaunts every single rule of courtesy and respect - and you ignore it! She knows that there’s some reason for it, since she’s so highly intelligent.’ He made to interrupt, but she continued swiftly, ‘Sandra did at least try, but you’re just making the child worse!’ Anger had always enhanced her eyes, so her mother had said, and now Kane was looking down at her with an odd expression on his face. He was absorbed, it would appear, and she did wonder if he had taken in all she had been saying. She was soon to know, for, having brought his attention from her eyes, he looked her up and down and said,

  ‘I believe I’ve already warned you about your lack of respect when talking to me.’

  ‘And I reminded you that you are not my husband.’ She spoke sharply but quietly, this time remembering his warning about people listening at doors. ‘You can’t dictate to me, Kane, and the sooner you accept that the better.’ She was pale now, and her hands had dropped to her sides. For some strange unfathomable reason this strained unfriendly atmosphere troubled her. It almost hurt, in fact, in some way that both disturbed and angered her. Why was harmony so important? She was doing a job - no more than that. And when it was completed she would leave Vernay Downs behind her for ever, and Leta too. Kane Farrell’s face would fade from her memory; the day would come when all this was vague and indistinct - an image in the distant past that would reappear only at intervals, when something happened to remind her of it

  Kane said, deliberately and very softly,

  ‘I hate to remind you, Gail, that I was not married to Leta’s mother—’

  ‘What has that to do with it!’

  ‘Allow me to finish!’ he snapped. ‘What I was going to say was that I have no need to keep her here with me.’

  ‘I see...’ She spoke after a long silence. ‘So you’re holding over my head the fact that you could, at any time you like, send Leta away?’

  ‘I could order you to take her away.’

  Subdued yet furious, Gail lowered her eyes, and automatically began fidgeting with the knot again. What must she do? Her pride urged her to adopt a careless attitude, to treat with contempt his threat. But what about Leta? She would feel the wrench were she to be taken from here now. By some miracle she had managed — for the first time in her life - to get along with other children, having made friends with Marion, the five-year-old daughter of one of the stockmen, and Gerald, the son of one of
the rouseabouts. Also, she was extremely fond of Kane, despite her tantrums of this evening when he had carried her forcibly to her room, and kept her there by the simple means of locking her door. She liked Dave - and not only because he was teaching her to ride a horse; she got on tolerably well with the three lubras, and Daisybell went so far as to make her biscuits twice a week, cutting them into the shapes of animals and birds.

  ‘I promised Sandra I’d bring her to you,’ said Gail at last, her voice low and devoid of any hint of anger. ‘I’ve kept the promise, but — but if you send Leta away again...’ Distressed now, she looked up at him, into those hard grey eyes, eyes which seemed to be measuring her darkly as they moved, with a sort of slow precision, to the hands that were occupied with the knotted ribbon.

  ‘Let me help you.’ The offer came spontaneously, and judging by his expression it surprised Kane as much as it surprised her. ‘You’ve been struggling ever since I came in here.’

  ‘It - it doesn’t matter...’ Why should she be so close to tears? Could it be for the most absurd reason that he had said something to ease the tension? ‘I c-can manage it.’

  ‘But I’ll manage it far easier from here.’ And, bending down, he took her hands away and proceeded to unfasten the knot. She watched his bent head, noting the thick and healthy hair, the strength of the neck, the broadness of the shoulders. But what she was profoundly conscious of was the presence of his hands, so close to her that she could feel their warmth. A sense of breathlessness, of inexplicable excitement pervaded her body and she was aware also of a curious constriction of her throat. Her mind, too, seemed to be affected, with thoughts refusing to be marshalled. And when at length Kane straightened up she was blushing adorably, and her eyes were oddly bewildered as they met his half puzzled, half amused stare. ‘There,’ he said, leaving her to tie the bow, ‘it’s done!’

  ‘Thank you,’ she murmured, her lashes coming down, for his amusement appeared to be growing with every second that passed. It embarrassed her and in a sort of defensive move she mentioned the reason for his coming into her room.

  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘it was merely to tell you that your attitude was the correct one. As Leta’s mother you must at times assert your authority.’

  She stared at him in surprise.

  ‘I fully expected you’d resent my interference,’ she told him. ‘After all, I’m not her mother - but you are her father, so it would have been natural if you’d resented it ...’ Slowly her words tapered off to silence, because of the odd expression that had entered his eyes, and because of the inexplicable twitching of his lips and the slight shaking of his head which, she decided, was mechanical, a gesture of which he himself was scar-cely aware. ‘Have I said something to amuse you?’ she asked, totally fascinated by his manner, ‘You’re laughing at me?’ she added accusingly.

  Kane shook his head.

  ‘Not at you, my dear ... at something you said, though. However, do continue with what you were telling me.’

  ‘Won’t you say what it was that amused you?’

  Again he shook his head, this time a little more firmly.

  ‘Carry on with what you were saying,’ he invited again, and Gail with a shrug of her shoulders went on to say that, having always regarded herself as Leta’s aunt rather than her second cousin, she felt she had a certain right to assert some authority, but repeated that she would have understood had Kane resented her interference.

  ‘When the time comes for me to take her in hand,’ he said reflectively, ‘I shall not require your help, nor will I be happy if you should interfere. However, the time is not yet; we are acting parts, you and I, and we must remember this - all the time. Had you not asserted your authority it would have looked very strange indeed. My stepmother is no fool; in fact, she’s as astute a woman as I’ve ever met,’ he added with a grim note to his voice.

  ‘She knows what you’re about, that’s for sure.’

  ‘And to be expected. As she said, I’m the last one to tolerate a disregard for authority - especially my authority,’ he added, and his expression was such that a slight shudder passed down Gail’s spine.

  ‘She also predicted that you’d become tired before she would.’

  At this his lips curved in a sneer.

  ‘We shall see about that. I have a great capacity for patience—’

  ‘You have?’ she broke in without a moment’s thought. ‘I wouldn’t have thought so—’ And then she stopped, aghast at what she had said.

  ‘Isn’t it a little early for you to make an assessment of my character?’ he inquired dryly. ‘After all, I estimate that we’ve spent no more than three hours a day in one another’s company — that’s an average, of course.’

  ‘It has never struck me how little time we’ve had on our own,’ she returned, aware only after the words had been uttered that this was perhaps not the right way of putting it. However, he made no sign that she had either amused or surprised him and she continued by adding, as tactfully as she could, that he had not struck her as a very patient man.

  ‘I don’t suffer fools gladly, if that’s what you mean,’ he said. ‘However, I believe you misunderstood my meaning. When I implied that I had patience I really meant that if it’s to be a waiting game then I’ll have more staying power than Rachel.’

  ‘I see.’ Gail nodded her head. ‘I did misunderstand you. But in any case,’ she went on with a sudden smile, ‘I spoke impulsively, didn’t I?’

  He made no answer to this, appearing to have become rather more than a little interested in her expression. Her lips were still parted slightly, her eyes still bright from the tears that had come so close to falling. Her lovely hair, gleaming from the brushing it had just received, shone in the shaded light from the bedside lamp; her slender body was swaying very slightly, so that the neglige, its tie forgotten, swung open to reveal alluring curves tantalizingly veiled by the folds of a diaphanous white nylon nightdress.

  His eyes gave away the fact that he was admiring the picture she made and with a swift movement she snatched together the edges of the neglige, her colour rising in the most enchanting way, and her long thick eyelashes fluttering down as, in her embarrassment, she avoided his gaze. Kane laughed softly and unexpectedly and she glanced up. His mouth was now lifting at the comers, portraying his amusement. She caught her breath, in a curious manner which produced an access of suffocation ... and a feeling of expectancy. A little dazed by these sensations, she could only wonder vaguely at them, the only explanation emerging being that when he smiled like that the attraction was such that she was unable to ignore it.

  Gail continued to stare; Kane remained motionless in the centre of the room, his back to the window. It was a moment of profound tension with the very air vibrating around them. Behind Kane the moon was visible through the uncurtained window, an enormous moon, full, and shining like polished silver. It had risen behind the mountains, but now its light fell upon the foothills leaving the high hollows bathed in shadow. The night was soft in its gentle beams; the plains drowsed lazily in their splendid solitude. Vast land! - immense, lonely and withdrawn as some mighty god on his golden throne.

  Yet there was magic in the aspect of moonlit plains, in the optical illusion of a tilted sky, in the stars of the southern hemisphere, in the secrecy that lay tantalizingly beyond the range of vision.

  ‘I th-think you’d better go,’ she stammered at last, quite unable to think of anything else to say. ‘It’s getting l-late.’

  He glanced at his watch and said,

  ‘You’re quite right, Gail, it’s getting late. Good night ... my dear.’

  Why the hesitation? She thought about it and suddenly she knew that he had almost left out the ‘my’, saying only, ‘dear’.

  Dear ... She swallowed hard. His manner thrilled her in some delicious kind of way; it seemed to tempt, to beckon, to entice ...

  What madness was this? With determination she gave herself a mental shake, but at that moment Kane smiled..


  ‘You must go,’ she repeated, and this time there was an urgency in her tone of which she was oddly ashamed. It should not be there simply because there should be no need for it! Need ... She swallowed again and turned her face away from him, afraid of what he might see there. She did not know herself, but she was still afraid, for every nerve in her body was tingling, affected by her desire to draw closer to him. Her heart throbbed wildly so that she felt an almost physical discomfort within her.

  ‘It’s almost midnight,’ she told him in a high-pitched tone of voice. ‘I’m tired - and - and I’m s-sure you are too!’

  A twitching of his lips; a glance that took in the bright eyes, the quivering mouth, the little clenched fists and the slight heaving of her breasts.

  ‘Yes, Gail,’ he returned softly, ‘I am rather tired.’ He said good night again and then he was gone, and she was staring with a fascinated gaze at the closed door, half expecting it to open again and for Kane to come back into her room.

  There was no lock. Up till now this had not troubled her, but suddenly it was a thing of importance ... it was a danger. Tomorrow she would see him about having the door locked. It was just that the key was missing — or perhaps it was on his side.

  ‘It must be on my side! I shall insist! In any case, an unlocked door between us isn’t the thing at all, and I should have done something about it right at the beginning.’

  Even after she got into bed she was staring at the door, afraid to put out the light. But inevitably sleep claimed her and, drowsy and on the very borders of slumber, she extinguished the light.

  The following morning she missed him and as the first opportunity was in the evening after she had washed and changed, she knocked on his door, after hearing him moving about in his room.

  ‘Come in,’ he called, but she merely opened the door and stood looking in at him. ‘Something I can do for you?’ He seemed flippant, she thought, eyeing him with some suspicion. All day she had been thinking about what he had done to Sandra; all day she had been admitting that there was something so incredibly attractive about him that there was every excuse for her cousin. And in between these thoughts and conclusions had intruded the fact that she herself might be in danger. Never had she dreamed that a man could affect her in the way Kane had affected her last night, but it was there and she was honest enough to admit that it was there. Temptation ... and a man who had already let one girl down,