LUCIFER'S ANGEL
Page 18
Newton collapsed in his chair mumbling to himself.
“How could this happen, how could this happen?”
All Hugh could do was walk and pace the room with his hand over his mouth pointing at Sarah, not knowing what to do or how to react until he watched Sarah be sick onto the floor. His instinct was to rush to her aid but he stopped dead and fell to his knees now not knowing how to react or what to do. Newton didn’t even see his second wife Anne leave as the room filled with shrieks and snivelling as the Newton empire and family crumbled to its foundations.
The Commissioner and detective Mills quietly left as two councillors entered the room in the mild hope that some help could be offered to a family that would now desperately need it.
It was perhaps beyond the help of people who had never dealt with anything like this before. As John Murphy glanced back through the glass window into the room he mumbled something that unbeknown to him was as good as an explanation as any. He would never know how true his words were.
“As much as I would like to believe all this was brought about by fate I can’t help but think that this is the work of the devil himself”
Chapter 21
“Did you bring what I asked?” enquired Connor as he sat next to Isobel on a bench overlooking the village green in Much Marcle.
“Yes here it is” she replied as she handed over the envelope.
“Thank you Isobel. I’m sorry for putting you through all this……..”
“Connor you don’t have to apologise. So why did you ask me to meet you here? It’s lovely, I have never been here before”
Connor turned and studied Isobel as the warm breeze caught her hair, lifting it off her face and exposing her studious eyes.
“It’s where I used to live…..for about five years anyway”
“Would you be annoyed if I confessed to something?” asked Isobel as she took in the view in front of her and as far as the horizon.
“It depends” said Connor also looking towards the horizon.
“I know who Connor Chevaal is. I did some research and found out what happened to you and your family when you were a child. It made me cry…..I’m so sorry”
Connor nodded but kept his gaze on the distant hills whilst taking a long deep breath.
“I’m glad you know and I knew your curiosity would get the better of you after you heard my name mentioned at the Newton’s house”
Isobel felt desperate to tell Connor how she felt but couldn’t pluck up the courage to say anything to him. Connor could tell something was up because she could not sit still which made him smile.
“Can I now confess to something as well?” asked Connor, forcing Isobel’s heart to jump in her chest.
“Yes”
“I know you like me a lot and I have been questioning how I feel about you and if circumstances were different I would like things to happen for us but I will be totally honest with you and say now that it can’t happen and I beg of you not to ask me why”
Isobel didn’t know what to say and sat as still as a statue, her mind drowning in confusing thoughts. The sympathy for Connor and what he had experienced all those years ago was being overpowered by lust. The urge to tell him how she felt was being suppressed by anger at the hand fate had dealt them.
“I have to leave now so again thank you for everything Isobel” said Connor standing up.
“Ok!” said Isobel determined not to let Connor see her disappointment.
As their arms embraced each other they both hid their faces from sight. Connor could smell her sweet perfume and her hair on his face then the realisation hit him that Isobel was the first woman he had held in his arms and felt safe since his mother. They hardly knew each other but he felt the urge to not let her go. He felt an emotion that had been hidden for years but knew it was something that would never happen. Isobel also buried her face in Connor’s shoulder and struggled to hold back her feelings, holding her breath to try and hold back the tears because she also knew what was in the envelope. She dared not tell Connor because the trust they had between them would be gone but the temptation during the drive over here had been too much.
“Right thank you Isobel and may I wish you all the best in life”
“You too Connor” she said bravely as she kissed him on the cheek, slowly pulled her hands away from his, turned around then climbed in her car and drove back towards Hereford.
The first chance Isobel got she pulled over, stopped the car climbed out and burst out crying as the wave of unstoppable emotions caught up with her. Whatever she did she could not stop the sobbing as she realised she would probably never see Connor again. She clutched her chest as though the hand of destiny was pulling her heart from her, then slumped down on the grass next to her car and closed her eyes hoping it would all be put right somehow. Connor drove the small distance once again to where his family’s house once stood. This was only his second time here and this would almost be his last as he stood where the front garden used to be. It was a place where so many short but happy memories had happened. It was where his father would chase him, where Molly had hit him for steeling something off her and where his mother used to get him to help her with the gardening.
Connor opened the letter from the hospital with his test results inside and read what his specialist had written, offering treatment and numerous appointments. Smiling, he placed the envelope back into his pocket and began walking back to his car that was parked at the bottom of the drive. Stopping to look back at the remains of the house Connor spoke the words of a condemned man.
“Mother, Father and Molly. We will be back together very, very soon. Sooner than I could ever have Imagined”
“I love you and I’ve missed you all so much”
THE END.