by Margaret Way
Elizabeth lost no time getting them up to the executive floor, motioning to the Scott woman—stricken now she was found out, and making no attempt to brazen it out—to sit down and await her fate.
‘I can’t believe it. I can’t deal with it.’ Bryn had just finished telling Francesca of his suspicions, and the reasons for them. ‘Carrie couldn’t want to kill me. She couldn’t! That’s a great sin.’ Shock and revulsion were in Francesca’s voice. ‘Was she trying to frighten me off, do you think?’
‘Frighten you off the planet,’ Bryn retorted grimly, keeping his arms around her. ‘I had Elizabeth ring her with a message from you saying you’d like her to come to the apartment this evening around seven, if she can make it. She told Liz she could.’
‘But that’s in twenty minutes.’ Francesca’s head shot up in agitation. ‘Are we going to confront her?’ She searched Bryn’s brilliant dark eyes. ‘What if you’re wrong?’
‘I’m not wrong, Francey,’ he told her bluntly. ‘I’ve spoken at length to my grandmother about Gulla Nolan. There’s a tie-up here. She and I have never had this discussion before, but I guessed that towards the end my grandfather had come to believe Sir Francis had played a part in Gulla’s disappearance. My grandmother said—and this stunned me—Gulla had once saved her from Frank’s highly unwelcome advances. Apparently he’d always had a thing for my grandmother, since before my grandparents were married and they were all friends. Gulla threatened to shoot Frank on the spot. Just imagine it! He meant it too. Frank would never have forgotten. It was his way to get square. It’s Carina’s way as well. She’s always wanted to get square with you. Did you tell her we were engaged?’
‘No, no—of course not.’ Her emotions were in tumult. ‘I’ve told no one. We announce it together, as planned.’
‘We announce it to Carina tonight,’ Bryn told her. ‘Or rather you announce it. Be wearing your ring. I’ll be behind the scenes. You won’t tell her I’m here until we’re ready to confront her. By the way, Bormann has gone missing. Big surprise! He was part of the plot. He would have to have made contingency plans. We know about Valerie Scott’s part in things. I intend to string it all together for dear Carrie.’
‘This is a nightmare.’ Francesca groaned. ‘I couldn’t face it without you, Bryn.’
‘You’re not without me. We’re together.’ Bryn kissed her hard.
His rage at Carina and her actions would never in a million years drain away. She really shouldn’t be allowed to go free. She deserved jail. But the scandal! Francesca would hate that.
‘The best way to get rid of a nightmare like Carina is to banish her somewhere she can’t ever seek to harm you again,’ he said forcefully. ‘She’s always loved Monte Carlo, hasn’t she? All the money and glamour. She can take up residence there. We can’t have a huge scandal. The smartest thing Carina can do is transplant herself to the other side of the world. It’s just big enough. She has the money. She’s in no position to fight us.’
Francesca lifted her head to stare into his masterful face. ‘This is shocking, Bryn. The most obscene thing possible. Annette could have been killed.’
‘Don’t!’ A shudder passed directly from him into her. Fears for the two of them—his mother and the woman he so desperately loved—hadn’t yet subsided.
‘I think I know where Gulla’s remains are,’ she said gently.
‘Francey!’ He sat there stunned, and more than a little spooked. She’d said it as if it was fact.
‘When this is over I’ll show you, as Gulla showed me. His people will want to give him a ceremonial burial.’
Urgently he pulled her across his knees, burying his face in her neck. ‘Oh, God, Francey, you’re the best, the bravest, the most beautiful woman in all the world.’
‘And a little crazy?’ For the first time that evening she smiled.
‘Never! You’re protected by the Light.’
It was something that would draw people to her all her life, Bryn thought, but it was only for him, her future husband, to bask in its flame. Carina was the one who was crazy. The time had come for her to be held responsible—at least in part—for her actions.
EPILOGUE
LADY MACALLAN had insisted on giving the official engagement party. The news had swept the city, causing widespread coverage, a deluge of congratulations, expressions of delight and a good many hastily-got-together gala parties.
The general opinion was that this was the best possible outcome for the Macallan-Forsyth clans. Not only that, the best possible outcome for the city and for the giant state of Western Australia. Many benefits would flow from the union between these two very powerful families.
It wasn’t all that much of a surprise for the city to learn that Carina Forsyth had decided to quit ‘the backwater of Perth’ for the glamour and culture of Europe. If more than a few people responded with ‘good riddance’, Carina was not to hear it. She had lost no time quitting the country of her birth, with a cold and haughty, ‘I don’t expect to return.’ She would, however, in the fullness of time, marry a bogus Italian prince…
The beautiful one-shouldered gown Francesca had chosen for her engagement party, a one-of-a-kind silk-satin in a vibrant shade of cerise, couldn’t have been more perfect for such an occasion—nor more perfect as a showcase for her very slender, supple body When she arrived with Bryn at the great, graceful Macallan mansion blazing with joy and pride, Lady Macallan took her aside to pin an heirloom sunburst of diamonds high on the gown’s shoulder.
‘It’s gorgeous!’ Francesca breathed, consumed with gratitude. She stared at her glowing reflection in the tall gilded mirror. ‘I love it.’
‘It looks wonderful on you!’ Lady Macallan exclaimed, her beautifully coiffed head tipped to one side. ‘And I think I always knew the girl I was going to pin it on.’ She smiled. ‘Welcome to the family, Francey.’ Lightly she kissed Francesca’s cheek. ‘I couldn’t be more happy for you and for Bryn. I adore my grandson. He is the light of my life. And I know he has loved you literally from childhood. Annette and I both knew. What I hadn’t counted on was Annette finding a new love to fill her days,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘I expect she and Gordon will be married next, but I insist it’s you and Bryn first.’
And that was exactly how it happened.
Charles Forsyth, happily reconciled with his wife, gave his beautiful niece away.
In front of the altar, with the Archbishop waiting to conduct the ceremony, the bride, exquisite in her bridal gown, a bouquet of white roses in her hand, her smile radiant, and the groom, in his finery a fitting match for his glorious bride, looked at one another with perfect understanding. Their love and happiness was so great it overflowed. It surged down the aisle and along the lavishly beribboned pews, so that the entire congregation was bathed in it, absorbing its wonderful glow.
Everything was absolutely perfect. Francesca even fancied she saw a shining vision of her parents. They were smiling at her, waving in silent valediction, before merging with the blaze of bejewelled light that poured through the cathedral’s stained glass windows. Knowing herself blessed, Francesca turned her head to smile radiantly into the face of her soon-to-be husband.
His soul so beautifully complemented her own.
Love was the elusive key that opened up the door to an earthly happiness that made life complete.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3449-3
OUTBACK HEIRESS, SURPRISE PROPOSAL
First North American Publication 2009.
Copyright © 2009 by Margaret Way Pty., Ltd.
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