Destiny's Path (10 page)

‘This is our housekeeper, Xanthe.’

He smiled at her, and Xanthe felt a tingle run through her. She’d heard of dazzling smiles before but never seen one. Heard how people could be attracted to one another on sight, but had never expected it to happen to her. As she was fumbling for words, something unusual for her, he spoke again.

‘You must be Pandora’s sister. There’s a strong family resemblance. Doesn’t Maia live here too?’

‘Yes. She’s my personal maid,’ Mrs Largan said. When neither of them spoke, she looked at them in surprise. They didn’t even seem aware of her. Instead, they were staring at one another with a look of – well, she could only call it recognition, as if they knew each other, which they didn’t. Her heart sank. That could only mean one thing. Wasn’t it bad enough that her son had fallen in love with Maia? Now Ronan had taken one look at Xanthe and forgotten the rest of the world. What was there about these Blake sisters that attracted men so quickly? Thank goodness they weren’t immoral and didn’t encourage men’s attentions.

Xanthe looked at Ronan eagerly. ‘You’ve seen Pandora?’ At his nod, she asked, ‘How is she? We all miss her so and—’

A harsh voice interrupted them. ‘I’d not have thought a maid’s gossiping took precedence over greeting a guest.’

Mrs Largan drew herself up and stared coldly as her daughter-in-law walked towards them. ‘Or that a guest would take it upon herself to speak so rudely to her hostess.’

‘If this is Conn’s house, then it’s I who will be mistress here from now on. I’m still his wife.’

‘A wife who abandoned him in his hour of need.’

‘Papa Largan said he was a traitor and we should all cut him out of our lives.’

Mrs Largan let out a sound that was so anguished Xanthe wanted to put an arm round her for comfort.

‘I can’t believe a father could treat his son so badly.’

‘He said Conn deserved it.’

Xanthe watched the newcomer’s hands clench into fists. What a way to start a visit, by being rude to an older woman who was not only her hostess but her mother-in-law! And what a gargoyle of a face she had! The woman could never have been pretty, even when she was younger, but now lines of discontent were scored across her forehead and down her cheeks. She must be years older than Conn, surely?

No wonder he’d found gentle Maia attractive.

But her sister could hardly stay here, because if ever trouble was brewing it was now.

Conn heard Kathleen’s remarks as he was walking quietly through the house and his step faltered for a moment. He felt almost physically sick at the thought of seeing her again, but he wasn’t going to let her insult his mother – or anyone else. ‘You’re not mistress here, Kathleen, and never will be,’ he said as he stepped out on to the veranda.

She spun round to stare at her husband, her mouth pinched as if she’d just tasted something sour and spots of red flying across her cheeks. ‘You’ve not changed, Conn Largan. You still have no sense of what’s right. I’d expected them to have taught you a few manners in prison. Your father said they would.’

She waited but no one spoke. It was as if they were all frozen, not knowing what to do next.

She moved forward. ‘Well, since you’ve not seen fit to invite me to sit down, I’ll take a seat anyway. The roads in this benighted place leave a lot to be desired. And I’d not mind a cup of tea. Surely that housekeeper of yours can provide some?’

Conn took his wife’s arm before she could sit down. ‘I think you and I have some talking to do first. On our own.’

She tried to pull away from him, but he held on tightly because he wanted to get her away from his mother as quickly as possible. As he forced her to walk with him into the house, he remembered other times when she’d fought him and won by using her nails and feet. She had refused point-blank to let him into her bed when he visited her room on their wedding night. The only thing he’d really wanted from her had been children, so he’d tried to persuade her – not force, persuade – but she’d still gouged deep marks down his cheeks and screamed for help at the top of her voice.

After that, if he so much as entered the bedroom that had always been his before she’d begin to scream and throw things at him.

She’d quickly revealed her true nature in other ways, the utter disregard for other people’s wishes or needs, the viciousness when someone offended her. Soon he’d been glad the marriage was unconsummated and had spoken to his father about getting it annulled on those grounds. But his father had refused to countenance the idea, saying the family would lose too much if they had to pay back the dowry. Conn wasn’t the heir so it didn’t matter if they never had children. He could always find a village girl to satisfy his needs.

But Conn couldn’t face a life with Kathleen and made enquiries about arranging an annulment. That caused the greatest row ever with his father, after which he left the family home – without taking his wife. Clearly Kathleen’s parents must have paid James Largan a hell of a lot of money to marry her off to his son. Money was his father’s god, always had been.

Conn stopped walking as he realised suddenly it was only a few weeks after that final row that he’d been arrested and imprisoned. He’d never connected the two things before but now he had to wonder. No, it couldn’t be. Surely a man wouldn’t do that to his own son?

But someone had planted false evidence. He didn’t think his cousin Michael was clever enough to do that. And Kathleen had continued to live at Shilmara with his father.

As he frog-marched his wife into the house, Conn realised he was much stronger than her nowadays – and mentally stronger, too. He’d been far too easy-going before.

But was he strong enough to get rid of her? He had to be. He wasn’t going to live with her again or impose the misery of her presence on his mother. As well live with the devil. In fact, he’d rather live with the devil.

They met Maia coming along the hall and Kathleen stopped to stare at her in surprise. ‘Didn’t we just leave you outside on the veranda, girl?’

‘That was my twin, ma’am. I’m Mrs Largan’s personal maid, Maia; Xanthe’s the housekeeper.’ Maia’s voice was cool, her expression giving nothing away.

‘I’ve never seen a matching pair of maids before. Are you convicts too?’

‘No, ma’am. We’re free settlers.’

‘Excuse us, please, Maia. My wife and I need to talk.’ Taking Kathleen’s arm again, Conn forced her to move into the room he called his library, sparsely furnished as it was with books at the moment.

He let go of her wrist and shut the door. ‘What the hell do you mean by coming to Australia?’

‘I had nowhere else to go and you’re still my husband, after all, so you have a duty to support me.’

‘My father gave you a home. Why have you left it?’

‘Your father’s dead and your brother threw me out of the house.’

‘Father’s dead? How? When? Have you told Mother?’

She rubbed her wrist. ‘Not yet. You didn’t give me the chance.’

‘That still doesn’t explain why you’re here. I’m sure Kieran offered you somewhere else to live, even if he didn’t want you at Shilmara, and arranged an allowance too.’

Her lips curled in that scornful way he remembered so well. ‘A six-room hovel in Dublin! I’m not lowering myself to that, whatever
you
may have done. You need a bigger house than this.’

‘No, I don’t. And never mind that. Why did you really come here, Kathleen? You must have some reason and I’m sure it wasn’t me.’

‘I thought to ask your mother to come back and live in Ireland with me, but I can see she won’t make old bones. She’d probably die on the voyage like Ronan’s mother did, then I’d be back where I started, having to live on my own. No one would come to call and—’

He stared at her aghast. ‘Ronan’s mother died on the voyage?’

‘I just told you that. It made things very difficult for me. None of the other ladies would speak to me when they found out I was a convict’s wife.’ She looked round. ‘This place could be made into a gentleman’s house if you built a new wing and doubled its size. And you’ll have to hire more servants while I’m here.’

She’d grown even more selfish over the years, he realised. No, it was more than selfish. He’d soon realised that there was something wrong with her mind which affected the way she thought. She could only see how things concerned herself, had no thought for others. ‘I don’t have the money to make the house bigger, besides which we don’t need the space. And it’s nearly impossible to find servants here, so even managing a place this size is difficult.’

‘You can’t possibly run a house with two maids.’

‘We can and do, with a little help from a local woman who scrubs floors and helps with the washing. But I’ll tell you now, Kathleen,
you
won’t be staying here for long, so that won’t matter.’ Not an hour longer than necessary, he promised himself, even if he had to drag her away tied hand and foot. He resisted the temptation to say that, trying to retain some semblance of civility between them.

‘I’ve nowhere else to go and once the men have taken away the carts, no means of travelling. And I don’t have much money left, either. I don’t know how I’ll get my next quarter’s allowance from here.’ She rubbed her wrist where his finger marks were still visible. ‘Is that an example of your new convict manners?’

‘I’ll pay your fare back to Ireland and give you something to manage on till my brother can provide you with a house. You’ll have to go back to Shilmara – or to your parents’ house – yes, that’d be best. Your parents will help you.’

‘I’ve nothing to go back to. My parents are both dead, too. My brother has their house and he’s worse than
your
brother, won’t even let me visit them since you were arrested. You
ruined
my life!’

‘I was innocent. How did I do anything?’

‘Your father said you were guilty. He looked after me. Now you must look after me.’

Conn didn’t bother to argue the point or say that being transported had affected him a lot more than it had her. ‘Look, if Kieran offered you a house of your own before, I’m sure he’ll still find one for you. He won’t see you homeless. And surely your parents left you
some
money?’

She shrugged. ‘Yes. But what use is money if I only get a little bit of it every quarter? That soon gets used up. And besides, without your father beside me, no one will even talk to me.’

‘You’ll make new friends if you live in Dublin. No, don’t start arguing. We can discuss the practicalities of your going back later, but go back you will. There was never a question of my mother returning, as you’d have found out if you’d written. Her health is better here, but still not good, so—’

She raised her voice to a near scream. ‘I won’t go back on my own. I won’t! And you can’t make me!’

‘Then I’ll find you somewhere to live in Perth.’

‘Without a husband – even one as bad as you – to give me some shadow of respectability? No, thank you! Besides, what would I do in a city? It’d be as bad as Dublin. You can’t ride horses properly there.’ She fell silent for a moment or two, frowning in thought.

He watched her, trying to work out what to do.

‘If your mother can’t come back with me I’ll have to stay here. Ronan says you breed horses so at least I’ll be able to ride. And I’ll have the protection of your presence. I’m
not
living anywhere on my own.’ Another pause, then she added more quietly, ‘Anyway, I can’t do it. I’m not good at managing a house.’

Unfortunately he agreed. Even in the short time they’d been together he’d seen how useless she was at handling money. He abandoned the argument for a moment to ask, ‘How did my father die? And when? I thought only the good died young. He was barely sixty.’

‘He died of a seizure. It was very sudden. His face turned red and he fell down.’

She didn’t sound in the least upset about that, and yet she’d been living with his father for over two years. ‘I must go and tell my mother. Stay here.’

‘I’ve no intention of sitting here, thirsty and in need of a wash. Does that so-called housekeeper of yours do any work round the place, or is she just here to warm your bed?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve not taken anyone to bed since I was thrown in prison, let alone one of my own servants. I’ll send Xanthe to you. You have my assurance that she’s the housekeeper and that’s all! She’ll show you to a bedroom where you can wash and she’ll bring you some refreshments.’

‘Xanthe? Fine name that is for a maid! No wonder these people get above themselves. You should call her by a maid’s name. Susan would be better. It sounds close to Xanthe so I shall call her that.’

‘I doubt she’ll answer to it, since it’s not her real name. A word of warning. You’ll get no subservience here, Kathleen, and I don’t want it. Your requests for service should be made politely and through my mother, who is and will remain the mistress of Galway House.’

‘I’m your
wife
! Now that I’m here, the servants must answer to me.’

How many times did he have to say it to her? ‘You’ve never been a wife to me. Never. Marrying you was my penance for every wrong I’ve ever done, and for every sin I may ever commit in the future.’ He watched her, but her expression didn’t change. Did she even understand how he was insulting her? He doubted it. Her comprehension was very limited.