[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"Let's go back to the table and eat."
The next time he danced it was with Elsie Fowler, and then with
Clair's mother, who protested that she could not dance but was taken
on the floor anyway. Christal was the last to be invited to dance and
she rose with a faintly haughty sweep, taking up her dress in one hand
and gliding from her place at the table, her dark and glinting eyes
seeking Clair's face as she did so.
But on her return she was smiling, and so was Shane. Clair glanced at
him; he caught her eyes and held them for a brief moment before
transferring his attention to James Fowler, who was talking about the
yacht race to his wife and Martin.
After dinner there was dancing proper, in the main ballroom, and
again it was Clair whom Shane chose to dance with first.
"Are your parents enjoying their stay?" he began conversationally
when Clair remained silent, just following his steps, and content to be
in his arms.
"Enormously. They're bemoaning the fact that their holiday is more
than half over already."
"Time passes quickly," he mused. "Are you taking them to Pretoria
?"She shook her head.
"Mother's content to stay around here. I think she'd like to live here if
Father could get a little farm. He's always wanted one, but whether
he'd give up his work or not T couldn't say. He's often talked of doing
so, but you know how it is - security's the most important thing."
"It is, indeed."
"Perhaps, when he's retired, he might consider a farm."
Shane merely nodded his head and for the next few minutes they
danced in silence, Clair feeling as if she were treading on air and
wondering how she could be so foolish as to have thought that Shane
could so easily transfer his affections from one girl to another.
Before the evening was over they took a stroll in the grounds; Shane
steered her towards a little shrubbery and she was reminded of the
night when he had kissed her so passionately, using - in his own
words - a callous method of finding out whether or not she loved him.
This time his kisses were gentle, but still passionate, his body
demanding, but in a tender, intimate way. Clair smiled at him in the
moonlight, her lips parted, inviting even yet another kiss.
"You're so lovely, Clair. I shall never tire of taking my fill of your
sweetness." His tender caress on her cheeks sent thrills right through
her body, his Lips on hers were ecstasy. This was love, in all its
tenderness and desire, its demand and its fulfilment.
She thought: I've never loved before. What was between Keith and
me was a shadow, insubstantial thing which would have died quickly,
leaving nothing, not even a memory.
The night was warm and balmy, the African sky clear and velvety
dark; the stars too were clear, diamonds and more diamonds
stretching down to the very horizon itself. She remarked on this
startling clarity, expressing astonishment at the length of her vision.
"Sometimes it is like this," he told her, his cheek touching hers. "So
clear that you feel you could pick out every single star." His head
turned; his Lips found hers in a long and tender kiss. "You haven't
said you'll marry me, little one, but I take it that your surrender is
complete ?"
She hesitated; she knew not why, since all she wanted to do was
please him. Yet before her vision rose the picture of him with Christal
- especially the picture of them together when she had called him
darling and requested that she be taken "home".
As yet Shane had offered no explanation for that little scene which, to
Clair's way of thinking, should never have taken place between a man
and a girl other than the one to whom he had so recently made a
proposal of marriage. She was guarded, but not by her own desire.
Warnings sounded in her brain, but she would rather not have heard
them. They told her of the possibility which was still present - the
possibility of Shane's being so attracted to the glamorous Christal that
his emotions would carry him - as they had carried Keith - to a point
where he could not help himself.
And if this should happen then he would naturally have to follow
where his heart and his desire led him ... towards Christal.
If only she weren't staying at his home. The very thought of the girl's
being taken home by Shane in his car - as for instance tonight when
the dance was over - was like a weapon pressing into Clair's heart and
mind. The darkness of the bushveld through which they had to drive,
the moon and the stars above, the sweetly-perfumed breeze drifting
into the car through a half-open window ... all these combined to
create a most romantic atmosphere, and who could blame Shane if he
stopped the car along the lonely road, stopped to kiss the beautiful
creature at his side.
Shane was speaking now, murmuring to her, asking her to say she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
"Let's go back to the table and eat."
The next time he danced it was with Elsie Fowler, and then with
Clair's mother, who protested that she could not dance but was taken
on the floor anyway. Christal was the last to be invited to dance and
she rose with a faintly haughty sweep, taking up her dress in one hand
and gliding from her place at the table, her dark and glinting eyes
seeking Clair's face as she did so.
But on her return she was smiling, and so was Shane. Clair glanced at
him; he caught her eyes and held them for a brief moment before
transferring his attention to James Fowler, who was talking about the
yacht race to his wife and Martin.
After dinner there was dancing proper, in the main ballroom, and
again it was Clair whom Shane chose to dance with first.
"Are your parents enjoying their stay?" he began conversationally
when Clair remained silent, just following his steps, and content to be
in his arms.
"Enormously. They're bemoaning the fact that their holiday is more
than half over already."
"Time passes quickly," he mused. "Are you taking them to Pretoria
?"She shook her head.
"Mother's content to stay around here. I think she'd like to live here if
Father could get a little farm. He's always wanted one, but whether
he'd give up his work or not T couldn't say. He's often talked of doing
so, but you know how it is - security's the most important thing."
"It is, indeed."
"Perhaps, when he's retired, he might consider a farm."
Shane merely nodded his head and for the next few minutes they
danced in silence, Clair feeling as if she were treading on air and
wondering how she could be so foolish as to have thought that Shane
could so easily transfer his affections from one girl to another.
Before the evening was over they took a stroll in the grounds; Shane
steered her towards a little shrubbery and she was reminded of the
night when he had kissed her so passionately, using - in his own
words - a callous method of finding out whether or not she loved him.
This time his kisses were gentle, but still passionate, his body
demanding, but in a tender, intimate way. Clair smiled at him in the
moonlight, her lips parted, inviting even yet another kiss.
"You're so lovely, Clair. I shall never tire of taking my fill of your
sweetness." His tender caress on her cheeks sent thrills right through
her body, his Lips on hers were ecstasy. This was love, in all its
tenderness and desire, its demand and its fulfilment.
She thought: I've never loved before. What was between Keith and
me was a shadow, insubstantial thing which would have died quickly,
leaving nothing, not even a memory.
The night was warm and balmy, the African sky clear and velvety
dark; the stars too were clear, diamonds and more diamonds
stretching down to the very horizon itself. She remarked on this
startling clarity, expressing astonishment at the length of her vision.
"Sometimes it is like this," he told her, his cheek touching hers. "So
clear that you feel you could pick out every single star." His head
turned; his Lips found hers in a long and tender kiss. "You haven't
said you'll marry me, little one, but I take it that your surrender is
complete ?"
She hesitated; she knew not why, since all she wanted to do was
please him. Yet before her vision rose the picture of him with Christal
- especially the picture of them together when she had called him
darling and requested that she be taken "home".
As yet Shane had offered no explanation for that little scene which, to
Clair's way of thinking, should never have taken place between a man
and a girl other than the one to whom he had so recently made a
proposal of marriage. She was guarded, but not by her own desire.
Warnings sounded in her brain, but she would rather not have heard
them. They told her of the possibility which was still present - the
possibility of Shane's being so attracted to the glamorous Christal that
his emotions would carry him - as they had carried Keith - to a point
where he could not help himself.
And if this should happen then he would naturally have to follow
where his heart and his desire led him ... towards Christal.
If only she weren't staying at his home. The very thought of the girl's
being taken home by Shane in his car - as for instance tonight when
the dance was over - was like a weapon pressing into Clair's heart and
mind. The darkness of the bushveld through which they had to drive,
the moon and the stars above, the sweetly-perfumed breeze drifting
into the car through a half-open window ... all these combined to
create a most romantic atmosphere, and who could blame Shane if he
stopped the car along the lonely road, stopped to kiss the beautiful
creature at his side.
Shane was speaking now, murmuring to her, asking her to say she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]