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."That's quite Faustian.I hope to goodness you're not looking at me for thejob?" Jessica felt the shock break over her.He stared into her eyes."A lot of women, young, good looking women, would fight to the death tomarry Dad.Money is the perfect aphrodisiac, didn't you know?""Not for me it isn't." Jessica said emphatically."Really? That's heartening to know.So tell me, what is it you want, Jessica? Love?" His blue eyes weremelting not only her limbs but her brain."Don't you?" she parried."I thought love is what we all want.And need.Why is it every time youmention your mother I can hear the grief? Your father suffered I rum the loss, too.He'd made a powerfulemotional connection with your mother, Deborah, then she was cruelly taken away from him.A mancould become very bitter from that experience.Your father is a very rich man, but no one could describehim as at peace, much less happy.""God, no.His life has been difficult.There's no denying that.The tragedy in his childhood-the invasionof privacy the family suffered-was the start of his misery.He never got over his governess'sdisappearance.His twin, Aunt Barbara, was adversely affected, as well.Both of themm were almosttwelve before they were ready to be sent away to boarding school.My grandmother taught them herself.I went to boarding school at ten.Even then the Mokhani Mystery was still alive.I guess we'll never befree of it."Her answer came out unconsidered and of its own accord."Maybe that's about to change.""Why do you say that?" He turned on her."Just a feeling I have.""You're psychic, then? That explains it?"Tense moments ticked over."Don't you sense that, too?" she responded to the challenge.His expression was dark and brooding."All I know is, when the past intrudes on the present, there canfile:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/margaret%20wa.tback/2%20the%20cattleman%20TXT/the%20cattleman.txt (63 of 132)11/05/2010 14:37:51file:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/margaret%20way/men%20of%20the%20outback/2%20the%20cattleman%20TXT/the%20cattleman.txtbe unwanted consequences."CHAPTER NINEJessica reminded herself she had to work even on Sunday.She would have to have something fairlyimpressive to show Broderick Bannerman when he returned, so she sat at her desk working away,though with perhaps not her usual serene efficiency.Her emotions were in a kind ol'turmoil.So manythings were happening that her life had taken on new dimensions, some thrilling, some ominous andstrange.Added to that, she had discovered within herself a certain recklessness and a taste for danger.Infatuation, falling in love, was an extreme state, after all.Violent delights could have violent ends.Hadn't Shakespeare said it all? She was in daily communication with Brett, speaking to him eachmorning on the phone, then sending him reams of sketches and information by e-mail.When she wasready, she would make watercolor renderings of her proposals.She needed to take that trip into Darwinto stock up on her art supplies.She supposed she could make the two-hour journey on her own in thefour-wheel drive B.B.had put at her disposal.There were bound to be plenty of readable signs,preferably the ones not featuring a skull and crossbones.There was something very daunting about adead straight road that ran through endless uninhabited miles of shifting red sand blanketed with spinifex.Over dinner, Cyrus relaxed, his heart-melting smile much in evidence as he and Lavinia recountedstories from the family's past-mercifully without the complications of the family ghost.Molly, thehousekeeper, joined in, displaying her own puckish sense of humor.Cyrus and Lavinia treated Molly asone of the family; B.B.and Robyn treated her like a programmed robot.There was no question ofMolly's sitting down to join them either for a cup of coffee or a meall when Broderick Bannerman wasin residence.Servants had their place as far as B.B.was concerned.Afterward, Lavinia, in high spirits, brought some of her favourite CDs downstairs for the occasion,comparing this soprano against that, turning up the volume so high the station staff in their bungalowsand dormitories probably had to shout at one another to be heard.Cyrus indulged her, with only a mild"Turn it down a bit, Liwy," as criticism, but soon Lavinia was up and away, reminiscing about her career."I do believe I could have been as great as Sutherland," she told them, not for the first time."Marvelousvoice, marvelous technique, but oh, there was something about poor tragic Callas I adored.The passionin her voice! I miss that.No one else has it.I can't hear her without the tears coming to my eyes."Occasionally, she astonished Jessica, but not the others, who had probably heard these performancesmany times before, by belting out a top note along with the diva on the CD.Of course Lavinia's voicewas being supported by the voice singing with her, but Jessica realized she was hearing however briefly,little patches of what once had been a brilliant coloratura soprano.Molly, having produced another oneof her delicious meals, poured more wine.Both ladies sat sipping contentedly while Cyrus and Jessicaexcused themselves for a short stroll before turning in.That, too, proved intoxicating, though Cyrus made no move that could have been construed as romantic.Nevertheless, an exquisite tension vibrated between them as if neither knew where or when or even howthe tension would manifest itself in action.Jessica looked and listened as he pointed out the stars in thenight sky and their spiritual significance to the Aboriginal tribes of the Top End.That in itself providedan element of the romance she was starting to crave.In Aboriginal life over countless thousands ofyears, when the people slept out beneath the stars, the moon and the stars had assumed great significance.file:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/margaret%20wa.tback/2%20the%20cattleman%20TXT/the%20cattleman.txt (64 of 132)11/05/2010 14:37:51file:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/margaret%20way/men%20of%20the%20outback/2%20the%20cattleman%20TXT/the%20cattleman.txt"They know every star in the sky," Cyrus said, his tone full of appreciation."There's a legend to explainevery origin.Such beautiful myths and legends, too.No matter how many times you hear them, youdon't mind hearing Them again.I used to find them enthralling when I was a kid around the campfirelistening to a stockman-who also happened to be a tribal elder-telling them so soulfully.Aboriginal godsand goddesses are all too human.The sun is a woman-a beautiful woman who spreads light and warmth.The moon is a man.All the stars and planets were at thee time of creation, men, women and animals.They flew up to the sky when times were bad on earth.The sky was their refuge.The Gagudju people ofArnhem Land believe a shooting star is a spirit canoe transporting a soul to its new home.""You were blessed with a childhood out here," she said.He nodded."I don't know what I would do if it were taken away.Mokhani is my life."She could hear the love and pride in his voice.She thought, as she did so often these days, how difficultit must have been for him growing up without the love and support of his mother, especially given hisfather'sunyielding nature.He must have been wounded over and over in the past.Probably continued to be tothis day, though he had grown an extra skin.B.B [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]