The Cattle King's Bride

by Margaret Way

  “Luke has been intent on controlling me from day one.”

  Luke was always playing to the grandstand, Mel thought. Ava said it had got to the stage when she could hardly tell the difference between what she had left behind and what she had signed on for. There was a great irony in that. Mel was grateful Luke hadn’t come down to dinner, claiming he felt too distressed to eat. What a lie! More likely he found his brother-in-law just too intimidating.

  Standing well back in the shadows at the far end of the room, Mel could see a few of her mother’s well-trained staff, ready to spring to attention at a moment’s notice. After the excellent three-course dinner, followed by coffee—Mel had noticed both she and Ava had hardly eaten anything—members of the family began to excuse themselves, one after the other. A charter flight had been organised for eight o’clock the following morning. It would take them all to Sydney. An early night was in order, as well as providing a legitimate excuse to escape an uncomfortable situation.

  In the end Mel was left alone with the new Master of Kooraki. “Thanks for joining us, Mel.”

  “Don’t thank me. I did it for Ava.”

  “Is there no end to your goodness?” He sat studying her. Her dress was beautiful, with its deep V-neckline showing just the right amount of cleavage. He had never seen her in that particular shade before. It set off the satiny warmth of her flawless olive skin. “Love the earrings,” he said. “A little trifle from your mentor?”

  She could feel her face flush. “Don’t be ridiculous. I bought them myself.”

  “A beautiful woman should never have to buy her own jewellery.”

  “You mean when she’s having an affair?”

  “Your words now, Mel,” he said with shimmering eyes. They really were a wondrous colour. “I think it’s about time I paid a call to your mother,” he shocked her by saying.

  “What, now?” Mel’s face was a study in alarm.

  Dev took an exaggerated glance at his watch. “It’s only nine-thirty. We have the rest of the night. Why don’t you pop up and check she’s dressed? A little discretion is called for. She might have to change out of her negligee. I bet she’s got a few.”

  “Something wrong with that?” she reacted angrily. She had spent her life defending her mother.

  “God, no! Many the time you’ve lured me onto the rocks with your gorgeous night apparel,” he said, his expression sardonic.

  “Not that I got to keep it on long.”

  His face settled into an expression of patience. “Are you going or not, Mel? Either way, I’m speaking to your mother tonight. She’s not calling the shots.”

  “Easy to see who your grandfather was,” Mel responded in a flash. “You’re not going to turn into him right now, are you?”

  “If that’s what it takes, Mel,” he told her very crisply, indeed.

  “Futile to argue. Give me ten minutes.”

  “Five, then I’m coming up.”

  * * *

  She almost ran the length of the gallery. No gentle tap on the door. This wasn’t the time for her mother to barricade herself in.

  Sarina finally appeared, wearing an exotic silk kaftan, the material patterned in brilliantly coloured tropical flowers. “I hope you don’t intend making a habit of pounding on my door, Amelia. What’s the matter now?”

  Mel’s response was sharper than any she had given her mother. “Good thing you’re dressed. Dev wants a word with you. He’ll be up in five minutes.”

  “Wha-a-t?”

  Sarina appeared to buckle at the knees. Mel took hold of her mother’s slender arm, unconsciously massaging it. “Look, Mum, it’s okay. But you can’t get away with the Greta Garbo act. Dev wants to know your plans. You can’t just hide. You’ve already insulted the family by quitting your job.”

  Sarina didn’t bat an eyelid. “I have nothing to apologize to the Langdons for,” she said loftily.

  “I think you do. Wouldn’t you call it a breach of contract or something, giving up without notice?”

  Sarina’s beautiful face hardened. “That’s my business, not yours. I want you to go, Amelia. I don’t want you here when Dev comes.”

  “Well, I want to be here, Mum.” Mel was prepared to stand firm. “I might be the only person in the entire world on your side.”

  Sarina looked back at her in such a way Mel felt a chill in her blood. Who was this woman? It was obvious her early life had scarred her. No time to think about that now. Sarina was wearing her long lustrous hair loose so it rippled down her back. She was still made up. Her exotic kaftan only complemented what was of late her slightly wild beauty. Whatever age she was, her beauty hadn’t dimmed.

  “Go, Amelia,” Sarina said. “I don’t need you.” She stared back at Mel, who was too stricken to hide her distress. “Go on now.”

  “It might be best, Mel.” Dev spoke from the open doorway. His jewelled gaze was fixed not on Mel but Sarina, who coloured up fiercely.

  Mel nodded to him. “Yes,” she said dolefully. “I’m only in the way.” As she shifted her gaze from Dev back to her mother, she was surprised by the most extraordinary expression on her mother’s face. That expression struck Mel mute. Sarina was staring at Dev with absolute fascination. She had seen that exact expression on women’s faces when they looked at Dev. The one thing in the world she had not allowed for was seeing it on her mother. Sarina, who was still young and beautiful. As a further madness, had she fallen for Dev? Was Sarina the reason Dev and his grandfather had fallen out so violently?

  The idea was revolting. Had Gregory, who had occupied Sarina’s attentions for well over a decade, grown too old and sick? Had Dev then filled Sarina’s hungry eyes?

  It was wicked.

  “Mel, what’s the matter?” Dev asked her sharply. The look on Mel’s face bespoke shock and something more. Disgust. As though some boundary had been crossed that should never have been.

  Mel drew back, fearing the possibility she could be making another one of her quantum leaps.

  I mean it can’t be real. It’s indecent.

  “Mel?” Dev’s gaze was searching.

  “I’m staying,” Mel abruptly announced.

  Sarina took her place in an armchair, habitual calm back in place. “You’re not wanted, Amelia.”

  “I never have been,” Mel retorted.

  “Stay if you want to, Mel.” It was the voice of the man in command.

  “Might as well come along for the ride,” she returned in an ironic voice. How could she ever begin to fly when her wings were continually cruelly clipped?

  * * *

  The meeting was over. It was brief. Sarina would fly back with the others in the morning. She had graciously consented to give Dev the name of the hotel where she would be staying until she was ready to launch herself on an unsuspecting world. “The world is now your mother’s oyster,” Dev observed dryly, not bothering to mask his contempt.

  Mel said nothing.

  “I suppose most people would think that when handed twenty million dollars. Your mother is leaving Kooraki forever. Don’t worry about her, Mel. Sarina knows how to look after herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not too long before she captures an adoring husband. Think of all the bewitching years with my grandfather.”

  “Sure she hasn’t bewitched you?” It burst from her with violence. It was a wonder she didn’t shout at the top of her voice.

  “Now, that’s disgusting!” Dev caught her arm, pinning her gaze. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself. What the hell are you on about now?”

  “Evil!” Mel spoke with loathing, her voice cracking with emotion. “Pure evil. What was the cause of the big break with your grandfather? It drove you away from Kooraki to live with your great uncle. What was it, Dev? It had to be something very serious.”

  Dev looked with fury, his jewelled eyes blazing. “It’s too ridiculous to even talk about. Let’s get away from here. We could be overheard.” He took hold of her arm, propelling her along the gallery.

>   Ava must have heard their raised voices because she emerged from her old room, still fully dressed. “Is something wrong? You both look upset.” Easy to sense the rift between them. Both were breathing irregularly.

  “It’s the time for upset, isn’t it, Ava?” Dev retorted. “We’re all upset. We let people torture us. I say put an end to it.”

  “Hear, hear! I intend to,” Ava spoke forcefully.

  “Atta girl!” Dev saluted his sister. “Get some sleep. You know I’m always here for you, Ava.”

  “You’re the best brother in the world,” she maintained. “Problem with Sarina?” she asked, watching Mel’s face. Sarina had been obliged to spend her time bailed up in her room. She had forfeited her position for good and all.

  Dev answered for her. “Exhausting as it is to admit it, yes. But Mel and I are going to sort it out.”

  “Right, Mel?” Ava asked, her beautiful eyes never once leaving her friend’s face.

  Mel managed a smile. “You’re a good friend to me, Ava. You always have been. Dev and I are used to our fiery little chats. You know that. Everything’s okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Ava was unconvinced. She could see the sparks flying off them both like static, but what could she do? “Then I’ll leave you to it. Love you both.” She blew a kiss.

  “Love you, Ava.”

  Dev and Mel spoke as one while all the while their biggest concerns were elsewhere.

  As they neared the staircase, Mel said with fiery determination, “I’m going to bed, Dev. I don’t want to talk.”

  He actually manhandled her, pressing her back against the wall. It was futile to struggle. “You started this, Mel. Histrionics won’t save you. What’s on your mind? Have the decency to spit it out.”

  Mel clenched her fists, feeling all of a sudden very sick. “I need to know why you left Kooraki. Was it because of my mother? Did you covet her, too?”

  Dev’s hands fell away. “Believe that, you’ll believe anything.” Disgust threw an iron mask over his arresting features.

  “So tell me what it was about,” she begged. “It has never been mentioned.”

  “I can’t talk about it, Mel, I’m afraid,” he said shortly. “I’m just too mad. Mad that you, of all people, could ask me such a revolting question. Your mother is trash!”

  No one, not even Dev, was going to get away with that. Even if it were true. She hit him then, using all her strength and she was very fit.

  He caught her hand in midair, his eyes ablaze. “Go to bed, Mel,” he ordered in a voice harsh enough to make her blanch. “If I were the brute you seem to believe I am, I’d give you a backhander that would knock you off your feet. How’s that?”

  “Oh, God, forgive me. I’m sorry.” There seemed to be a mist before her eyes as Mel fell back on childhood prayers, ironically taught to her by her mother.

  “No, Mel, I’m sorry,” Dev said, perversely kissing her punishingly hard on the mouth. “Sorry for the years I’ve spent loving you.” He turned his back on her, making without a backward glance for the stairs.

  * * *

  Inside her room, Mel collapsed onto the day bed, burying her face in her hands. She had been so much at the mercy of her mother. Nevertheless, it had cut her to the heart to hear Dev call Sarina trash. What had provoked it? Dev had never used strong language about her mother. Sadly, she wasn’t in any position to dispute the charge. Her mother was getting away with murder, as the saying went. A good thing she was leaving in the morning.

  It’s your last opportunity to have it out. She won’t be expecting a return visit. You’ll have the element of surprise. Don’t let her just walk away.

  Dev had most probably locked himself in his study, disgusted with her. Everyone else had gone to bed. It was a comfort to know all the doors of the homestead were made out of solid, sound-muffling mahogany.

  She was surprised to find her mother’s door unlocked. Maybe Sarina was expecting a nocturnal visitor, she thought with cynicism. Sarina did have a dangerous allure, and God knew she had used it. She turned the knob. There was silence in the room, but she could hear the shower running strongly.

  Mel moved over to an armchair, ready for confrontation.

  Sarina entered the bedroom with a white towel wound around her head.

  “Peekaboo!” said Mel, totally without humour.

  “My God!” Sarina actually jumped when she saw her daughter, sitting for all the world like a judge in session. “You startled me,” she said, roused to anger.

  “Who would care?” All love for her mother seemed to have dissolved.

  Sarina shrugged. “So what’s up now, Amelia? Think I’m going to tell you more with Dev not around? It’s not going to happen. I want to go to bed. You’re always on about something. You’ve been like this since you were a child.”

  “What a burden I must have been to you, Mum,” Mel said. “I’m surprised you didn’t have your pregnancy terminated.”

  “Too late!” Sarina declared cruelly, throwing off the hand towel.

  “Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame. You’re one hell of a sick woman, Sarina.”

  Sarina pointed the finger of scorn at her daughter. “More of a woman than you, my dear.”

  “But I’ve got Dev,” Mel taunted. “You haven’t. Got the hots for him, Mum? Isn’t that a bit pathetic, not to say vaguely incestuous? Did Gregory get too old to perform like the mighty stallion he once was?”

  Sarina didn’t appear at all fazed. “At his best he would never rival Dev.”

  “Oh, stop it.” Mel gave a contemptuous laugh. “Even now you’re trying on another of your big-time lies.”

  Sarina ruffled a careless hand through her lustrous long hair. “You’re getting to be very boring, Amelia. Dev thinks so, too.”

  Mel was amazed that such calm had descended on her. “How does a human being get all bent out of shape? Dev is in no way attracted to you, Mum. He despises you.”

  Sarina’s great eyes flashed. “As if I’m crazy enough to believe you! You’re full of your own malice.”

  “No, Mum.” Mel shook her head. “But you’re crazy enough to believe anything.”

  Sarina drew close to her daughter, speaking vehemently. “At least I’ve never slept with my own flesh and blood.”

  Condemnation burst from Mel’s throat. She leapt to her feet. “That’s the stake through the heart, is it? You’d stop at nothing to separate Dev and me. Are you going to change tack now and tell me Gregory Langdon was my father?”

  “To hell with you!” Sarina threw up her hands, nostrils flaring in rage. “Michael Norton certainly wasn’t,” she barked.

  It wasn’t possible to be more wounded than she was. “Only who would believe you? You chop and change as you please. It’s even possible you don’t know who my father was! You could be delusional, you know that?”

  “I have an ugly past.” Sarina spat her fury.

  “You must have. Something turned you into a compulsive liar.”

  “It has been suggested before.” Bizarrely, Sarina laughed.

  “Dear Gregory, I suppose. Maybe poor deceived Michael? Well, here’s the deal, Sarina. Look into my eyes and tell me the truth for once in your miserable scheming life.”

  “Deal, what deal? What have you to deal with?” A faraway look came into Sarina’s great eyes. “My story is my own.”

  “And that’s the best you can do?”

  Sarina rounded on her, prepared to lash out. “You’re wasting your time, Amelia. Anyway, it’s better for you not to know.”

  “Only I can’t go along with that. Neither would anyone with a right to know. Gregory Langdon wasn’t my father. A devil in hell prompted you to say that. Dev and I don’t need any DNA testing to confirm it. You’re eaten up with jealousy and it shows. You can’t bear to think Dev might marry me when Gregory wouldn’t marry you. That’s it, isn’t it? Shock tactics. Jealousy and envy has you all fired up, ready to say anything to break us up.”

  Sarina stood wit
h one hand on her hip. Her black hair was drying and tumbling all around her face. She looked beautiful and half crazy. “You’ll break up without me, my girl. I know that only too well.”

  Mel studied her mother’s face and slender body. “How old are you, Mum?” she asked. “You have to be much younger than you’ve always claimed. How old were you when you had me? Sixteen, seventeen? Savage old Mireille was kind enough to inform me I was a premature baby delivered by a nurse from the Royal Flying Doctor Service. All the years of ugly rumours masquerading as fact were indeed fact. Mireille called Michael a cuckold. I didn’t even know what it meant. Mireille could have had Michael destroyed. Ever think of that? She hated you so much she was prepared to do anything to see us off Kooraki, who knows, with Michael in a wheelchair. Or worse, dead.”

  “You go too far.” Sarina gave her a foul look. “But then you have your own demons. Michael’s death was an accident. Gregory would have seen to it that we didn’t leave. Gregory wanted me from the first moment he laid eyes on me.”

  “I suppose that has to be true,” Mel said dully. “You were pregnant then, a young girl, a first baby, not showing. I suppose you put it over poor Michael. You’d have found it easy manipulating men. Even the great Gregory Langdon. Michael loved me. He believed I was his child. You’re such a liar, I probably am.”

  “Well, you won’t know now,” Sarina said sweetly. “There are many mysteries in life, Amelia. Best to accept it. Only you’re the sort of woman who likes banging her head against a brick wall. There’s no way I’m going to explain myself to you. My cup overfloweth with money—lots of money.” She laughed.

  Mel looked at her mother with great forbearance. “Haven’t you forgotten Dev could hold up your inheritance? He’s the executor of Gregory’s will. Then there’s the press.”

  “Press?” Sarina’s eyes widened as her hand flew to her throat.

  “Good Lord, Mum, they’re going to be very interested in you. A genuine rags to riches story. If you won’t speak about your past, the media will drag it up. They’re not short on investigative journalists, you know.”