A Question of Marriage

by Lindsay Armstrong

  ‘I did. And broke my father’s heart when all I wanted to do was escape.’ He looked around, then down at Aurora with a smile lurking at the back of his eyes. ‘Sheep bore me to tears. On the other hand, it was a marvellous spot to observe the heavens.’

  ‘So that’s how it all started? With a passion for astronomy?’

  ‘Mmm… But also phenomena such as artesian basins, water tables and rivers that run inland like Cooper Creek. So my time wasn’t exactly wasted. Here we are.’

  He pulled the vehicle up and Aurora blinked because Beltrees homestead was about as far from a typical Queensland homestead as one could get. Built of sandstone, it was long and low, had a steep red roof with a central gable, also sandstone, all the window frames were wood and it looked like trout lodge from the Scottish Highlands rather than a farmhouse in outback Queensland.

  This impression was reinforced by the fact that the house, framed to the rear by trees, looked out over a lake, complete with swans, beyond a smooth green lawn.

  ‘Luke!’ she said in awed tones. ‘Are you sure you’re not mad? This is incredible. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Well, it’s not only incredible, it simply shouts—now I come to think of it,’ she said on a descending scale, ‘Neil did mention something about old money and family homes. I see what he means!’ She turned to him urgently. ‘I only brought one dress, all the rest are jeans and shorts.’

  He laughed. ‘You don’t have to worry about clothes. When my mother was alive, she liked things to be, well, formal, but Julia is much more easygoing. By the way, my father is a little absent-minded—he often speaks his thoughts aloud, so don’t be surprised. But he doesn’t stand on ceremony and he hates people calling him Sir David.’

  Aurora’s mouth fell open. ‘Sir David Kirwan? Knighted for his contribution to the wool industry? How come I never connected you to him?’

  Before Luke had the chance to answer, Julia and Barry, with several dogs at their heels, came to meet them. And it was not until much later that night that Aurora was alone with Luke again, although she did find herself alone with Julia for a few minutes when Julia showed her to her room. Nor did Julia desert her outspokenness.

  She said, ‘You might be a little surprised about this, Aurora?’

  ‘I am, Julia. Especially since I’ve been told Leonie wants him back.’

  Julia sat down on the bed and grimaced. ‘Don’t hate me for this, but it wasn’t my idea. Barry insisted I ask you. But then, for some strange reason, Barry was never a great fan of Leonie’s and he has also insisted that I stay out of it. So, welcome to Beltrees, Aurora, and please don’t feel you need to be wary of me.’ She smiled what appeared to be a very genuine smile.

  Aurora smiled back after overcoming a moment of complete surprise. She also thought—Good on you, Barry! At least one of you is prepared to judge me on my merits. It was only some time later that it occurred to her this was an inappropriate sentiment…

  It wasn’t a big house party by Beltrees standards, Aurora discovered.

  Two other couples, one of which comprised Julia’s sister and brother-in-law. The second couple were friends from the district and Aurora was the only stranger in their midst. But everyone welcomed her enthusiastically, almost overpoweringly so, in fact. Because she was not Leonie Murdoch, she surmised with an inward little grimace, but they were all trying to put it out of their minds?

  She didn’t get to meet Sir David until they were gathered in the lounge for pre-dinner drinks, and he was a different matter.

  Fortunately, the one dress Aurora had brought was a little black number, sleeveless and round-necked, then A-line to just above her knees. It was quite plain but classy, and she tied her hair back with a tissuey gold scarf. The only problem was shoes, of which she had a nice black pair, patent with a narrow gold rim around the sole, but they were almost flat. Oh, well, she thought, there was nothing to be done about it, but she would have loved a bit of height.

  And despite Luke’s claims of Julia being much more easygoing than his mother, it was an elegant company that assembled in the lounge before dinner. In fact, it was an elegant house filled with marvellous antique furniture and paintings, and sherry was served from a crystal decanter.

  Then a tall old man with a shock of white hair and shaggy eyebrows strode into the room, saying, ‘OK, where is she? If she’s ousted Leonie, she must be something else!’

  ‘Dad,’ Barry protested, ‘I thought we agreed that subject was taboo—oh, hell!’ he added helplessly.

  ‘As a matter of fact, she is something else,’ Luke said smoothly, into the awkward little pause that had developed. ‘May I present Aurora Templeton?’ He took Aurora’s hand and drew her forward.

  Aurora swallowed for some reason and looked up into a pair of dark eyes not unlike Luke’s. ‘How do you do?’ she said politely. ‘I’ve been told not to call you Sir David, but I don’t know what else to call you.’

  ‘Good Lord!’ David Kirwan studied Aurora intently, from her tied-back streaky fair hair to her black patent shoes, then turned to Luke. ‘Is this cradle-snatching or what?’

  ‘She’s twenty-five,’ Luke murmured. ‘As I recall, you were fifteen years older than Mum.’

  ‘But…’ Luke’s father turned back to Aurora ‘…well, she couldn’t be more different from Leonie if she tried!’

  ‘So I’ve been told,’ Aurora remarked, ‘although, never having met the lady, I’m unable to form my own opinion. But she obviously has a formidable reputation—I wouldn’t let my lack of inches fool you, however,’ she added with a sparkle in her green eyes. ‘I actually broke into your son’s house once, knocked him out, and I haven’t been able to get rid of him ever since.’

  ‘Aurora,’ Luke said gravely, ‘that is playing with the truth a little.’

  She turned her gaze to him. ‘It’s what you yourself accused me of, Luke,’ she responded equally gravely.

  ‘By gosh, a right sassy little one!’ David Kirwan gazed down at Aurora. ‘Do you know, I think I might see what he sees in you. And, come to think of it, Leonie’s last tip on the stock market was a lousy one.’

  Everyone started to laugh and David Kirwan took Aurora’s hand and led her into dinner.

  ‘You bowled my father right over,’ Luke said when they were strolling, at his suggestion, beside the lake before going to bed.

  ‘Oh, I think it would be fairer to say he’s reserving judgement,’ Aurora replied, and stopped to gaze at the reflection of the house lights on the smooth, dark surface of the water. And when she shivered because the night was cool, he took his jacket off and put it around her.

  ‘Maybe, but he’s enjoying himself along the way.’

  ‘He’s rather a sweetie.’ They came to a bench and she sank down on it. ‘What a marvellous night. It’s a little hard to associate this—’ she waved a hand ‘—with the dust and rigours of an outback sheep station.’

  ‘Plenty of blood, sweat and tears went into the creation of Beltrees. But my father had the foresight to diversify into other things rather than ride completely on a sheep’s back.’

  ‘Did you break his heart, Luke?’ She looked up at him as he stood before her on the lake’s edge.

  ‘Not really. Barry is more than happy to take my place and I still keep an eye on the business side of things.’

  ‘I would have thought you were a son to be proud of.’

  He shrugged. ‘I suspect he has grandchildren on his mind these days. Barry and Julia don’t seem to be in any hurry to provide them and I’m definitely…dragging my heels.’

  She thought for a moment, about how Luke had been during the evening, and wondered about the disenchantment she’d sensed in him. Not that it was anything to concern her, she told herself. She had one clear goal to concentrate on, and why, for example, he might have decided to present her to his father should not be allowed to deflect her from that goal. All the same…

  She patted t
he bench beside her. ‘Sit down for a moment,’ she invited, ‘and tell me which star is what.’

  He grinned and sat down. ‘There’s the Southern Cross—’

  ‘I know that—are you feeling dangerous again, Luke?’

  He was silent for a long moment, then, ‘How did you know?’

  ‘I could tell you were dangerous from the first moment I met you—remember? Although that was in a different context, of course, but some of the signs are the same—a bored sort of arrogant aura. Is it…was it because your father brought up Leonie?’

  He slid his arm along the back of the bench, around her shoulders. ‘We do antagonize each other sometimes, Dad and I. He’s not quite as absent-minded as he would like everyone to think—the Leonie reference was no doubt a well-thought-out ploy to point out the error of my ways to me.’

  ‘Why did you bring me along, then?’ Aurora queried. ‘You must have had some idea that it would happen.’

  ‘Because it seemed like a good idea to get it over and done with.’

  Aurora grimaced and unthinkingly laid her cheek on his shoulder. Then she realised what she was doing and went to sit up, but he stilled her.

  ‘Relax,’ he said. ‘No one can see us.’

  ‘It wasn’t that…’ She paused. ‘Perhaps I feel like the error of your ways now.’

  He laughed softly. ‘On the other hand, you couldn’t be more aptly named for an astrophysicist, which is my speciality. I guess you know what Aurora means?’ He looked down at her.

  ‘The dawn—I was born just as the sun rose!’

  ‘A little bundle of joy. But in meteorological terms an aurora is a luminous, sometimes richly coloured display of arcs, bands and streamers in the sky and there are two famous ones: aurora borealis and aurora australis. That’s how I’m coming to think of you—as my aurora australis.’

  She caught her breath for a moment and looked up at the night sky with a feeling of wonder in her heart but caution prevailed. ‘As well as the error of your ways?’ she suggested gravely.

  ‘Actually, that’s the last thing you feel like at the moment.’ He stroked her cheek with his fingertips.

  She knew she should resist, but when he drew her closer she found she simply couldn’t.

  ‘How does that feel?’ he asked.

  She shrugged. ‘You’re rather nice to lean against. You make me feel safe—I mean,’ she sought to qualify it immediately, ‘say there were wild animals roaming about out there, I’d be much happier to have you around than to be here alone.’

  She felt the jolt of laughter that ran through him, then he was quiet for a time. ‘Do you often feel unsafe and lonely, Aurora?’ he asked at last.

  She hesitated.

  ‘One thing that struck me when I skimmed through your diaries, and has been reinforced since I got to know you, is that you’ve had some long, lonely periods in your life with no mother and your father gone frequently,’ he said.

  ‘I…perhaps,’ she conceded, ‘although I don’t usually give it much thought. But it’s a bit worse at the moment because my father is away sailing the high seas again, but he’s alone this time and he’s the only family I’ve got. Both he and my mother were only children and all my grandparents are gone. I don’t know why this has struck me now,’ she confessed and tilted her face to his. ‘What made you bring it up?’

  ‘It struck me this evening,’ he said meditatively, ‘that I’d rather have thrown you into the lion’s den and, for a slip of a girl for whom, often, her diaries were her lifeline, you were extraordinarily brave—I don’t why, but it did. The other thing that occurred to me was—that I would be only too happy to kiss you and make you feel safe.’ He bent his head and sought her lips.

  Several minutes later, as they drew apart, she was feeling quite different. Trembling with desire and conscious of an electric, physical tension between them as he ran his hands up and down her arms beneath his jacket and handled her in a way she was becoming achingly familiar with. A way that made her pulse-rate soar and filled her with a heady delight because he was strong and powerful, but he made her feel silken, beautiful and desirable.

  ‘This is getting harder and harder to handle,’ she breathed.

  He cupped her shoulders, then withdrew his hands, closed his jacket up to her chin and took her loosely in his arms. ‘But nice?’ He rubbed his chin on the top of her head.

  ‘Wonderful. I don’t feel so much like the error of your ways any more. Still—’

  ‘You’re quite safe from me here at Beltrees,’ he broke in quizzically.

  ‘I know, but that’s only two nights.’

  ‘Perhaps we could come to a new arrangement after Beltrees.’ He tilted her chin and kissed the tip of her nose.

  ‘You know,’ she said slowly, ‘I’m trying to picture you as a little boy, staring up at the stars.’

  ‘I’ll show you my first telescope tomorrow. I made it myself.’

  She looked at him wonderingly.

  ‘In the meantime, however, if I’m to stick to my good intentions, perhaps we should go in?’ he suggested.

  They did, to their separate bedrooms, without speaking except to say goodnight. And it was as if they had an unseen, unspoken link between them, a mental association that was calm and close despite the separate rooms.

  But it was a long time before Aurora got to sleep as she contemplated how foolish she’d been to kid herself she only had one goal—getting back her diaries…

  The next day, a Saturday, was active.

  A tour of the property on horseback, a barbecue for lunch, then tennis. Luke did also show her his first telescope during the afternoon, although it took quite a search through a box-room to find it.

  ‘There.’ He dusted it off. ‘Pretty primitive! I don’t know if it still works—the prisms may have gone haywire.’

  ‘How did you have the knowledge to build it?’ she asked, fascinated.

  ‘I got the instructions out of a science magazine. I got a lot of ideas from science magazines, some that caused me to get my hide tanned. Like the homemade rocket that set fire to the wool-shed roof.’

  Aurora burst out laughing.

  ‘Not funny,’ he remarked. ‘Oh, here’s something that should interest you, a crystal radio set. I could actually tune into the flying doctor’s frequency—hell, it’s broken.’

  ‘Luke, you should keep these properly,’ she remonstrated. ‘Your kids could be fascinated one day.’

  He grimaced. ‘It’s junk, really. I don’t think I’ve looked at them since I was about…fifteen.’

  She closed her hand over his. ‘Keep them. You never know. If they were my kids…’ She stopped abruptly.

  He looked down at her and she felt a tingling sensation down her spine and a rush of colour come to her cheeks. ‘I wonder what kind of kids we would have?’ he said idly. ‘Sassy little girls not above breaking into other people’s homes?’

  ‘Or boys that set fire to the wool shed?’ she countered, although she was still feeling flustered.

  ‘Perhaps we’d filter out the worst of each other,’ he suggested.

  ‘I’m not admitting to any…criminal side that needs filtering out,’ she said primly.

  ‘Unless it suits you, Aurora. My father took me aside this morning and asked me if you really broke into my house.’

  She looked rueful. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘That he should ask you.’

  ‘Thanks! Uh…who knows?’

  ‘What our children would be like? You’re right.’ He put his hands around her waist and lifted her up to sit her on the edge of a table, then proceeded to study her face enigmatically.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ she said after a moment. ‘I was the one who made sweeping statements fairly recently about not being ready to surrender to marriage, maternity and domesticity—and now I’m talking kids, although it was in the most general way.’

  He fiddled with the buttons of her pink blouse, then adjusted some tendrils of hair
behind her ears. ‘Nope! I wasn’t thinking about that at all.’

  ‘Oh. What, then?’

  ‘The lovely sheen of your skin…’ he trailed his fingers down her cheek ‘…the gloss of your lips; the way you hit a tennis ball, as if you’d like to fire it right through your opponent, and how you stick the tip of your tongue out at the same time. Those kind of things.’

  ‘Luke—’ she laughed ‘—I don’t!’

  ‘Yes, you do—you certainly are a pocket dynamo, Miss Templeton.’

  ‘I suppose I am competitive,’ she conceded.

  ‘But a lot less aggressive on the subject of myself,’ he remarked casually, although with an oddly acute little gleam in his eye.

  She thought for a bit—with a feeling of being on dangerous ground. ‘Perhaps, like your father, I’m reserving judgement.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You are still holding two of my diaries,’ she pointed out.

  ‘Ah, so this is a “good behaviour” version of Aurora Templeton until you get them back?’ he suggested quizzically.

  ‘Wouldn’t you…have some plan of action if you were in my shoes?’ she countered with some irony.

  ‘Possibly.’ He looked wry. ‘Was kissing me last night part of your good-behaviour bond?’

  She merely gazed at him.

  ‘How about this, then? If there were only you and I at Beltrees, we could go for a swim in the lake without bothering about costumes, we could then make love on the grass, rest and recuperate a bit and have a candlelight supper for two whenever the mood took us.’

  Aurora narrowed her eyes. ‘I thought I was supposed to be safe from you at Beltrees?’

  ‘We aren’t alone,’ he pointed out.

  ‘Just as well, Professor,’ she said sternly. ‘I can see I would be in for a…decadent time otherwise.’

  ‘I wouldn’t call that decadent,’ he drawled. ‘I think it would be rather—delicious.’ He kissed her lightly.

  She slipped her hands around his neck. ‘You’re still in that dangerous mood, Mr Kirwan.’

  ‘Could have a lot to do with you, Miss Templeton. Ah—’ he paused as a gong sounded ‘—you’re saved by the tea bell.’