The Primrose Bride Read Online Free Page A

t be able to bear it; she knew that. She made herself remember that he hadn ’ t kissed her very often. Hardly at all during those first weeks, and then only as if he were teasing her or bidding a child au revoir. And during those last days before the wedding, he had mostly greeted her or said goodnight in front of the aunts. Just once he had taken her into the garden and held her in his arms; something had banished the gentle mockery that night and he had left a bruise on her arm and a pain in her lips, and she had gone to bed feeling frightened and ecstatic. But it had been the other woman he was kissing, or forgetting perhaps—it hadn ’ t been love for Karen that stirred him.
    Oh, stop it! Tearing herself to shreds wasn ’ t going to do any good at all. But how was she to act? How did one deal with a man one loved so desperately without a chance of being loved in return? Perhaps there was a chance. If she went along quietly doing what he wished, falling into t he pattern he visualized ...
    But no, that wouldn ’ t be living! She might not be strong and hot-tempered and forceful, but she did possess her quota of spirit and independence. She wasn ’ t going to sit ba ck meekly and wait for him to discover that as a wife s he did have her points. She would tell him what she had overheard, have it out with him. But, fatalistically, she knew he would laugh at her for listening to gossip, and set about erasing it from her mind; and possibly he would be right in doing so. She scarcely knew the doctor, and the younger man had been merely a voice. Men gossiped as well as women.
    But ... but not those men. One of them, the doctor, had talked fairly and impartially; and the man Tony was Andrew ’ s friend; anything he might say against Andrew would come from a bitter disappointment, not from malice.
    Karen squared her shoulders, touched her face with a clammy finger. As Mrs. Mears came into the room she turned so that her back, was to the light.
    “ Oh, you ’ re still in here, ” the older woman said cheerfully. “ Andrew was just saying that it ’ s time you went home. He thinks you must be tired. ”
    “ It ’ s the first of many times. Come in and see me whenever you feel like it, and if you want me to put you wise about the other people here, I ’ ll be having coffee and biscuits at eleven tomorrow morning—come and join me. If Jake and I can help you in any way, don ’ t hesitate to ask. And do call me Molly. ”
    They were back in the glow of the living room, where both men stood close to the open door. Andrew turned, smiled and thanked Mrs. Mears. Karen repeated her thanks and preceded him into the night. They walked to the path which linked both houses, dutifully turned and waved before they were obscured by the riotous hedge.
    “ You ’ re over meeting your immediate neighbors, ” Andrew remarked. “ Decent couple, aren ’ t they? ”
    “ Very nice, ” was all she could manage.
    “ They took to you. The doc says you have the stamp of a good constitution. ”
    “ I expect you found that a relief. ”
    He glanced at her quickly in the darkness. “ Keyed up? There ’ s no need to be. ”
    What could she possibly answer to that ? “ Well, wasn ’ t it a relief? ” she asked mechanically.
    “ Not particularly. It was obvious back in England that you were a healthy type. ”
    Yes, it must have been, or Andrew Eliot would not have wasted his leave on her. Hysteria rose to Karen ’ s throat; she had the peculiar feeling that she was going a little mad. And yet if, just then, he had slipped an arm about her and held her, tenderly, she would have shed every fear and all the unhappiness. But all he did was to nod down towards the faintly silvered sea and the silhouetted palms and say, a little guardedly, “ Let ’ s go to the beach for a minute. You’re a bit edgy, and no wonder. You seemed to sleep a good deal on the plane, but perhaps it wasn ’ t restful sleep. You can relax now, anyway. We ’