Frontier Wife (22 page)

“It's all right.” He patted her hand. “You've sacrificed enough already, I can't let you do any more.”

As the days passed, their position worsened until it became critical.

“The well is drying up.” David strode to where his rifle hung on the wall bracket.

“What are you going to do?” She dashed over, trying to get between him and the gun.

“We can't spare any water for the horses, I’ve practically no feed; there's only one thing left now.” He stepped around her and took a handful of cartridges from the dresser drawer and stuffed them in his pocket.

“You're not going to shoot them are you?” Her hands flew to her mouth in horror.

“What else can I do? Munro has won, he can have the Godforsaken place,” he said bitterly. “I should have realized we couldn't fight a powerful man like him. We have no money to buy anything with; we can't even get credit. We're finished.”

“No.” She clutched his arm. “I'll see Adam. If I marry him everything will be all right.”

“Don't be ridiculous. My sister doesn't sell herself to a man for a few bales of hay. We’ll move to Melbourne, I’ll find a job.”

“I've made up my mind.” She stamped her foot. “Shoot your horses if you want to, go to Melbourne, but I'm still going over to see him. He offered to buy me clothes, take me to England and give me anything I want. I'm sick of scrimping and saving. He's fond of Jamie and is happy for him to come with me.”

“Tommy!” David’s jaw dropped.

“He's prepared to pay for Jamie to attend Eton later on. With Adam Munro as your brother-in-law you'll have so many people wanting Warrior, you'll have to put them on a waiting list.” She forced a laugh through stiff lips, hating herself for telling such blatant lies. For acting like a greedy woman, prepared to marry a man for his money and what it could buy.

“Are you serious?” Hope and disbelief vied with each other on her brother’s face.

“He's a very presentable man, the most eligible bachelor in the district. I do want to marry him.” She would have walked barefoot over hot coals to be with Adam if he loved her.

David wanted to believe her; she read the desperate hope in his eyes.

“You know me. He annoyed me so I refused him at first to teach him a lesson. I meant to accept his proposal all along.”

“You did?”

“Yes, he's fond of me.” If only he was. A little fondness would have done for a start. Love could grow if it was nurtured, but Adam didn’t want love in his life.

“He's got an eye for a pretty young woman and a man would be blind not to see how beautiful you are. I did see him staring at you a few times.”

She swung her head away to hide her bitterness. He had been staring at her all right, coldly assessing her breeding potential. “I'll ride over to see him now. You saddle my horse while I change.”

“Are you sure, I mean—”

“I'm sure. Jamie can come with me.” She left the room on the pretext of getting changed. Her eyes filled with bitter tears. She forced them not to fall.

I'm doing this for David and Jamie
. Adam had won. They could fight him no longer. If they left the farm where could they go? What kind of job could David get in Melbourne? They would be friendless and penniless in a strange land. Mary and Jim, their only friends, were in dire circumstances with a baby to provide for, and would be unable to help.

The Lindsays had always been proud. She could not stand by and see David humiliated and Jamie facing years of poverty. The promise she made her mother to look after him when her baby brother—a mere scrap of humanity—had been placed in her arms echoed in her ears.

Jamie liked staying at Adam’s home. Life would not be too bad with Adam, as long as she didn’t let him know her true feelings. The humiliation of his gloating victory. But he wouldn’t find out if she kept her wits about her.

She had no decent summer riding habit, so she put on a blue muslin gown with white ribbon bows around the flounces. A wide brimmed straw hat trimmed with blue feathers completed her outfit. Pulling on a pair of white gloves, she surveyed herself in the mirror. Her eyes stood out, azure beacons in her pale face. She pinched her cheeks to give them some color, and with a smile fixed on her face, walked out of the bedroom.

David had saddled both their horses. Jamie already mounted, waited for her, anxious to be off.

“You are sure this is what you want to do?” David chewed at his lip as he helped her mount.

“Completely. I feel quite excited about it.”

He didn’t notice the tremor in her hands or the huskiness of her voice, thank goodness. They set off at a slow trot.

“Come on, hurry up.” Jamie kept badgering her. It was so hot she wanted to conserve their horses as much as possible.

He chatted away, telling her once more about his stay at the Munro homestead. If he mentioned again how much he liked Adam, she would scream. He was suffering from a severe dose of hero worship.

It took them over an hour to reach Adam's property, another fifteen minutes to get to the homestead. It stretched out like a small town with twenty or more outbuildings. The homestead, a U-shaped building of sheeted horizontal weatherboards, had a verandah stretching around three sides. The front verandah profusely covered with vines and various creepers shaded a centrally placed door.

They dismounted in the front yard. After tethering their horses to the cast iron hitching post they stepped onto the flagged sandstone verandah. Tommy knocked on the door and waited until a middle-aged woman opened it for them.

“How are you, Master Jamie?”

Jamie grinned. “Good, thank you. Where’s Adam?”

The housekeeper glanced enquiringly at Tommy. “I’m Mrs. Rogers, may I help you?”

“Mrs. Rogers, so nice to meet you. I'm Tommy Lindsay. Jamie told me how kind you’ve been to him.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lindsay.” Smiling, she ushered them inside.

The cool ambience of the oak lined hallway hit her straight away. A patterned carpet runner covered the highly-polished wood floors. Before she had time to take in anything else they followed the housekeeper into the drawing room. It was beautiful, painted in duck-egg blue with pretty circular rose cornices. An eye-catching central ceiling rose in shades of cream and blue with gold-leaf trim, dominated the room.

Tommy’s feet seemed to sink into the thick carpet. At the end of the room she spied a curtained portal which would probably lead out to a conservatory.

“I’d like to see Mr. Munro please.” She clasped and unclasped her hands behind her back, trying to hide her turmoil.

“Mr. Munro is down at the stockyards. Could I bring you a cool drink?”

“Yes, thank you.” Tommy sat on a carved walnut-framed couch.

“I don't want a drink. I can tell Adam you're here.” Before she could restrain him, Jamie charged out of the room, followed by the housekeeper.

The tastefully furnished room had chairs arranged in clusters. Over the white marble fireplace hung a large gilt mirror, and on the mantel shelf stood a French clock with a pink porcelain face. An upright cabinet piano made of rosewood had a matching revolving chair.

Mrs. Rogers returned with a glass of orange juice, and Tommy sipped it gratefully before placing the glass on a small side table. She wandered over to the piano and ran her fingers across the keyboard. Music had been one of her great loves in England, even though she didn’t have a natural gift for it. She picked up a music book and flipped through the pages.

“You wanted to see me?”

She swung around to face Adam. He had been working, his pants and boots covered in dust, his blue shirt clinging damply to his back.

“Yes, I…”

He stared straight into her face and his eyes narrowed.

She swallowed nervously. “Where's Jamie?”

“I left him down at the stockyards.” He thrust his thumbs in his belt and rocked back on his heels. “You baby the boy too much. One of my men is keeping an eye on him.”

“Is your offer still open?”

“My offer?” He wouldn't make this easy for her.

“If you still want me, I'll marry you.” It came out in a breathy rush.

He didn't answer for a moment and time stood still as she waited. What would become of them if he refused her now?

“It's been two weeks, long enough for me to change my mind.”

Her hand flew to her mouth to hide her trembling lips. Her heart constricted, squeezing her lungs so hard she could scarcely breathe. “You've changed your mind?” Her voice wobbled much to her dismay.

“Do you want to marry me?” He toyed with her, like a cat playing with a cornered mouse.

She nodded.

“Say it.”

“I want to marry you. Please, Adam, if you have changed your mind, tell me.”

“Come here.”

She edged towards him.

“Closer.”

She stopped about a foot away from him. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“Have you changed your mind?” She stared over his shoulder so he wouldn’t read the turmoil in her eyes.

“No.”

She sagged with relief.

“You took longer than I thought to come to heel.”

“Do you want me to beg? Lick your boots, perhaps? Is that it?”

“You understand what marriage to me means?”

She just stared at him.

“My sole reason in marrying you is to beget an heir. Are you prepared to share my bed, and all that it entails?”

“Yes.”

“All right, I'll make the arrangement as soon as I can.”

“What about David? He needs water and feed for the horses, you promised to help.” Her lips trembled.

“I'll do what I can.”

“But you promised.”

“I'll do what I can.” He ran his hands through his hair in a weary gesture that smote her heart. Rich and powerful, but like everyone else, he couldn’t win the fight against a determined mother nature. “We’re in the middle of the worst drought in living memory. It's a battle trying to keep my own stock alive.”

“David's getting ready to shoot our horses.”

“So, to save her brother, the little English rose will sacrifice herself to the big bad frontier man?”

“Yes, I'll do anything to help David. You know what those horses mean to him. We're almost out of feed and water. Thanks to you no one will give us credit. We can’t even mortgage the farm.” Her eyes filled with impassioned tears. “I won't let him lose everything. They brought him back from Africa to die. He had such high hopes. I'd sell myself in the street before I let him lose everything.”

His teeth snapped together, his eyes burned with such ferocity she could almost believe he cared. “You're becoming hysterical. We'll be married as soon as I can arrange it, and Tommy,” his voice dropped to a low menacing growl, “I won't take another man's leavings.”

She lashed out at his face with her hand. “You—you—”

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “Don't get angry, little English rose. I was testing you out, and you reacted just as I hoped.” She tried to pull away from him. “You're mine, what I have I keep. Remember this. I'll kill you and any man who touches you.” He let her go so suddenly she almost fell.