The English Bride Read online

  It was obvious his concerns were real. “You mean you think it inevitable I’ll go back to England.”

  “You’ll leave me before I’ll ever leave you. England is your home. You have a certain position in life. It’s not outback wife. Even the heat of the sun can be killing.”

  She was nearly crying with frustration. “So Rebecca can survive it. So can Ally, so can my mother. Every other woman it seems but me.”

  He looked down at her, she was totally enchanting and anguish edged his voice. “It’s the way you look.”

  “You think I’m an ice cream that might melt.” She made a little sound of exasperation.

  “Hell I’m afraid of just that. Look, Francesca, I’m not trying to insult you—” he stroked her cheek “—or anything like that. I’m trying to decide what’s best for both of us.”

  “Which of course is as good as saying I’m stupid.” She shimmered with sudden temper.

  “Far from it.” He knew he shouldn’t but he laughed, loving the sparkle in her star-struck eyes.

  “Then why don’t you let me decide what I want,” she challenged, her blue gaze riveted to his strong handsome face.

  “Because it’s too dangerous.” He bent his head and just brushed the corner of her mouth with his lips. “You’re hell bent on a holiday romance.”

  She heard the teasing note in his voice…of course she did, yet she flinched. “Then it’s really astonishing the way you keep kissing me.”

  He grinned at her, his teeth flashing very white. “That’s what’s called turning the tables. I’m sorry, Francesca, you might have started up the saying, you’re adorable when you’re angry, but I don’t want to hurt you. You make me feel as protective as a big brother.”

  “Oh Lord!” She inhaled the jasmine-boronia filled night air. “So we don’t get to take our trip tomorrow?”

  He smiled slightly. “Hell you can’t go around disappointing me. Of course we will. I wouldn’t forego it for the world. You’re going to show me where to build my dream house.”

  “Why should I?” she questioned, turning up her face to him. Why? When he would take to it some other woman as his bride.

  “Because you’re Lady Francesca de Lyle,” he explained in a voice like dark velvet. “And it’s your gift to me.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “YOU’RE going to do what?” Fee burst out, turning from the French doors and walking back into Francesca’s bedroom.

  “You heard, Mamma,” Francesca continued, brushing her hair at the mirror. It was crackling with electricity, red, amber, rose and gold strands sparkling and flashing. “I’m going over to Opal with Grant. I’m going to help him pick out a home site.”

  “I don’t believe it.” Fee’s dramatic face wore a worried frown. She slumped into a comfortable armchair imagining she was having a nervous breakdown. “I must ask you darling, is this wise?”

  “Of course it’s wise, Mamma,” Francesca responded respectfully, firmly.

  “But you know, darling, your father has big plans for you,” Fee reminded her. “I might have embodied his biggest nightmare but you’re his dream child. He loves you. He wants to see you happy in your own setting. Married to one of your childhood friends.”

  “Like good old Jimmy, my ex-boyfriend,” Francesca asked wryly, waiting for her hair to settle so she could braid it.

  “Not Jimmy if you don’t think you could come to love him,” Fee told her, reasonably. “But there are others, darling. Roger and Sebastian to name just two.”

  “Except I don’t love them, either. Daddy didn’t ask my permission to marry Holly. He just mentioned to me he was thinking of remarrying.”

  “How extraordinary when he hated every minute of being married to me,” Fee said, gazing at her lovely daughter tenderly, maternally.

  “No, he didn’t, Mamma,” Francesca corrected, ever loyal to her father. “He loved you. He would have stayed married to you forever if you hadn’t run off.”

  “It must have been Springtime,” Fee said, her face reflective. “Actually I was terribly misled but I was always hotly desired.”

  “You won’t run away from David,” Francesca warned.

  “Darling, as if I’d want to!” Fee protested going quite pink. “At long last I’ve got it right. Best thing I’ve ever done. Anyway it’s not me we’re talking about, it’s you. Don’t think for a minute I have anything against Grant. He’s a splendid young man, so sexy, he even gives your dear Mamma a funny feeling, but he has his own vision in life. Why only last night he was telling us his plans. His commitment is here. The Australian outback.”

  “Don’t you think you’re running too far ahead?” Francesca said, making little braids of her front hair.

  Fee snorted. “Come on, darling, I know everything there is to know about love affairs. The air literally crackles around you two.”

  “Holiday affair?” Francesca asked.

  “Well if you have to get him out of your system,” Fee considered. “I don’t see you two together, my darling. I can only see heartache and separation. I know it’s not easy but one must try to be wise.”

  Francesca raised a delicate brow. “Yes, of course, Mamma, but I’m only going over to help him pick out a possible site for a new homestead. Grant doesn’t want to intrude on Rafe and Ally.”

  “Goodness how nice of him,” Fee said. “But the place is huge. Besides, why couldn’t he buy a property? Douglas would have left his sons very well provided for.”

  “I’m certain Rafe doesn’t want to lose his brother,” Francesca said. “They’re very close. Closer than most because of the sad circumstances of their life. Why buy another property when Grant could build a second homestead on Opal. Lord knows they’ve got a whole world to themselves as Brod has here.”

  “A kingdom at the very least,” Fee agreed complacently. “My friends used to find it fascinating listening to stories from my childhood on Kimbara. But don’t try to distract me. I’m doing my best to play Mamma. In short, I’m trying to warn you, my darling. You could get badly hurt. So could Grant. I should tell you, too, the Camerons are men of strong passions. And proud. Fiercely proud. You’ll have to live with that.”

  “Actually I like it,” Francesca said, her eyes going dreamy.

  Fee fell back, unable to keep the genuine worry out of her voice. “Darling, normally I wouldn’t interfere but I have a feeling this could be very serious. What have you really got on your mind? Surely as your mother I’m entitled to know?”

  Francesca found herself sinking into the armchair opposite her mother. “I’ve never felt like this before, Mamma,” she explained. “I feel like I’m lit up inside.”

  “You’re in love.” Fee nodded. “It’s just rotten luck you had to fall for Grant.”

  Instantly Francesca jumped up, outraged. “That’s not funny, Mamma.”

  Fee, too, hauled herself to her feet. “I’m not trying to be funny, darling. For heaven’s sake! I’m worried where this might lead. You have everything at home in England.”

  “Except Grant,” Francesca said with a touch of fire.

  “Maybe so.” Fee started to sound doubtful. “But this life couldn’t be more different, Fran. You’ve never seen Kimbara under drought. In times of flood. You can’t possibly know. You haven’t been around when the tragedies happen. Let’s face it, darling, do you really want this lifestyle? Can you cope with it?”

  “Rebecca is blooming,” Francesca told her.

  “Rebecca isn’t you and I expect she’ll take up her writing again. She’ll have something engrossing to do. She and Brod will start a family. Kimbara needs its heirs.”

  “What about Ally then?” Francesca challenged, feeling like everyone was against her. “Ally could have had a huge movie career. She knocked it all back for Rafe.”

  “Oh, darling.” Fee returned to her chair looking at her daughter with pity in her eyes. “Ally is that little bit older than you, and she’s had longer to consider what she really wants out of life. The
n there’s the fact, good actress that she is, Ally wasn’t really dedicated as one has to be. The theatre was everything to me. That’s the difference.” But there had been a devastation to it, Francesca thought, but was too tender-hearted to mention. Her mother had been a wonderful actress but she hadn’t been the best of mothers.

  “A career isn’t the only way to happiness and fulfilment, Mamma,” she said quietly, sitting on the edge of the four-poster bed. “It’s a big job raising a family and I want children. I’d rather find Mr. Right than be a huge success in the business world though most people would tell you I was very effective at P.R.”

  “And it didn’t hurt to have an earl for a father,” Fee pointed out dryly.

  “That doesn’t give me a warm glow, Mamma.” Francesca couldn’t help but speak a little sharply. “In many ways your view of me seems to be as a child.”

  It was true. “Ah well, you are very young, darling,” Fee sighed. “Moreover you’re the bearer of your father’s dream. You’re bright, beautiful, charming, so clearly destined for big things. You must realise, too, your son could become your father’s heir.”

  Francesca looked at her mother levelly. “Even Grant has pointed that out to me.”

  Fee nodded. “I’m sure it concerns him. Whatever his feelings for you he must be aware of the situation.”

  “What situation,” Francesca burst out in pure frustration. “Anyone would think I was a member of the Royal Family. Grant and I are equals. Come to that you always had more money than Daddy. I know you helped extensively at Ormond.”

  “You can say that again!” Fee breathed. “But I don’t feel at all bitter about it. It’s as I say, one day my grandson might occupy it. I don’t want to be disagreeable, darling. I don’t want to upset you. I know the wonderful feelings that come with thinking oneself in love but I have to help you to look steadily to your future. I feel a great affection for the Camerons, Rafe and Grant. Grant is an admirable young man. There’s no question he’s going places. He’s masterful, aggressive, assertive and very hot-headed from time to time. You may find it exciting now but as he develops I think he’ll turn into a real dynamo. Dynamos in a way are dangerous people. They’re high risk.”

  “I’m not afraid of anything about Grant, Mamma,” Francesca said very seriously, twining her arms around the polished mahogany bedpost, all rose and cream and blue sheened eyes. “I think he’d die rather than hurt me. What makes me fearful is the thought he could turn me away thinking it was for my own good.”

  Fee gave an uncomfortable little laugh. “Darling, have you considered he might be right?” Breeding showed in every line of her daughter’s petite, slender body, breeding and what Fee interpreted as a certain fragility, an inability to withstand rigours.

  Her mother’s seeming opposition was like little barbs to the heart. Francesca moved off the bed so quickly her thick braid swung against her cheek. “Except if I lost him I know I’d be sorry for the rest of my life.”

  They landed on Opal’s front lawn while the hot humming earth sent up spirals of dried grass, bleached bronze and gold leaves. When the air was still they alighted, Francesca looking with great pleasure towards the huge, rambling old homestead with its gables and verandah bays, the pedimented porch and the white wrought-iron lacework that matched the timber fret-work. Opal lacked Kimbara’s conscious grandeur but it was a fine colonial homestead by anyone’s standards. Cascading bright red bougainvillea made a glorious show falling from the slate roof of the east wing, down the white pillars to the ground, as did the deep hardy border of agapanthus with huge hyacinth and white heads right along the front of the house, but it was evident not a great deal of time had been spent on the once extensive home gardens. The lawn not shaded by a giant magnolia and a row of classic gums, was yellowed by the heat of the sun and the central three tiered fountain that once had played was now dry and dusty. Nevertheless it was an amazingly attractive building and Francesca knew Ally would have the most wonderful time bringing the homestead and its home grounds back to their former glory.

  “Come up and look around,” Grant said, taking her by her silky arm, feeling the sizzle in his fingers. “It’s very quiet with no one around. As you can see, the gardens of my mother’s day have gone, neither Rafe nor I have had the time to look after them. Not that either of us know much about gardening but we surely miss what it was like with Mum around. That wonderful feminine grace went out of everything. But Ally will bring it back.”

  Francesca looked up to smile into his face, feeling so happy it was like her blood was filled with bubbles. “And have a marvellous time doing it. I love the homestead.” Her eyes shone. “It’s extraordinarily picturesque. As a matter of fact now I look at it, it would be the ideal outback setting for Mamma’s new movie?”

  “What are you saying here?” Grant cocked a brow. “I thought the woman director was coming out to take a look at Kimbara? Surely Fee said so at dinner last night?”

  “Actually, Mamma did that without asking,” Francesca confessed. “Something she has a tendency to do. Not that Brod would refuse her and Rebecca would take pleasure in it but I’ve read the screenplay and Kimbara homestead is too…too…” She sought the right word.

  “Teetering on grand?” he suggested dryly.

  “In every way. Uncle Stewart spent a fortune on its upkeep and it shows.”

  “While the Camerons did not.” He looked her straight in the eyes, loving her sudden flush, a rosy pinkness that wasn’t there a moment ago.

  “I don’t mean that.” Francesca shook her head. “I mean Opal has a soft well lived in…”

  “Faded charm?”

  “Are you going to finish all my sentences for me?” she demanded.

  “If we want to get to the nitty gritty.” He grinned, moving her into the shade of the verandah.

  “If you read the screenplay you’d know what I mean.”

  “Francesca, I’m one up on you.” His smile mocked her. “I’ve read the book.”

  “Have you?” She sounded delighted.

  “Outback people are great readers,” he told her. “Didn’t you know?”

  “As a matter of fact I do.” Reading was a big part of entertainment. “Opal homestead is really what they’re after.”

  “Maybe, but who would need all those film people around?” He opened the front door, turning to look at her in her simple cotton shirt and jeans. Who said a redhead couldn’t wear pink? He’d never seen a pink shirt look so good.

  “You said yourself it was very lonely on your own.” Her eyes were alive with ideas. “I expect the outback scenes could be shot in a month. Riversleigh, the Sydney colonial mansion is the setting for most of the action. Anyway it’s just a thought.”

  “Then why are those blue eyes so bright and alive?” he retorted with amusement. “The last time they sparkled just like that you were doing an excellent P.R. job on Drew Forsythe from TCR.”

  “I’m always full of ideas,” Francesca said, moving into the spacious hallway and looking around.

  “I can see that,” he commented, captivated by her presence.

  “So am I allowed to discuss it with Mamma?” She twirled her small supple body. “The director and script writer will be here in a couple of days.”

  “You’re kidding?” In a way he was utterly taken aback.

  “No,” she answered simply. “It would be lovely to see Opal up on the big screen. It’s not the first time a colonial mansion has been used in an Australian movie. I think it would be brilliant! Moreover you have such enormous interest in everything you’d probably enjoy it.”

  “Well I might,” he admitted, “but, Francesca, I’m not around much during the day. I have a business.”

  “All right. So no one would bother you. There would be good company for dinner. You would want to speak to Rafe and Ally?”

  He laughed. A mocking sound, slightly awry. “Darling, are you reminding me of my obligations?”

  The way he called her “darling” near
ly took her breath away. “Really I’m just having a bit of fun,” she wavered.

  “No, you’re not.” The laugh turned indulgent. “You want me to take this seriously.”

  “I swear I never thought of it until five minutes ago,” she said sincerely. “I looked up at the homestead and there it was! The setting right under my nose, so to speak.”

  “They pay well I imagine?” Grant the business man was considering.

  “I’m sure they would.”

  “In that case Rafe is involved in a programme for rehabilitation for troubled youth, a kind of bush rescue scheme. I’m interested, too, but as Rafe runs the station it’s mainly his concern. The Trust could do with the money.”

  “What a good idea.” She felt a real flutter of excitement. “I’ve heard about the scheme from Ally. I can see, too, the bush has great healing powers.

  “Nature’s cathedral,” Grant said. “God can speak very clearly here. But hang on, Francesca, your mother has other ideas.”

  “Not by the time I’ve spoken to her.” Francesca gave her lovely endearing smile.

  “I believe you, but you’ll have to hang on until I speak to Rafe and Ally. They mightn’t want any part of it.”

  Francesca lifted her face to him. “I’m not exactly sure about Rafe, but I know Ally will be intrigued. She might even want to be home when they shoot the scenes. We’ll all enjoy watching Fee. She becomes so much the part she’s playing, it’s shivery. As soon as the makeup goes on, the dress, she’s that person.”

  Grant could well believe it. He’d seen Fee transform herself into any number of people in the space of telling a story. “You’ve never thought of acting yourself?” he asked Francesca.

  “Believe it or not I was considered quite good at school.”

  “So did Fee go along to see you? Tell you how wonderful you were?”

  The smile faltered slightly. “She was so busy at the time she missed all of my performances, but Daddy came.”

  “Hell I put my foot in it,” he groaned, so much in empathy with her he felt her old pain.