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Having to keep her visits a secret probably made it twice as romantic.
But I'm ashamed of her, she should have realised what it would do to
you!'
'She doesn't care what she does to me!' Prue said savagely, her green
eyes flashing. She pulled, her hands free and walked to the window,
fighting her temper, but in the end she couldn't hold back her real
feelings, they burst out of her. 'You know very well . . . she only
wanted David because he belonged to me. If he had been unattached
she probably wouldn't have looked twice at him, but she's your
daughter, and she prefers to take her men from other women.'
Lucy Killane stood there in a frozen silence, staring at her.
'Oh, don't pretend to look bewildered,' Prue snapped. 'You don't fool
me, any more than you fooled my mother!'
'She told you . . .' Lucy began, then took a deep breath. 'What? What
did she tell you?'
'The truth! She thought I was old enough to know what had ruined my
parents' marriage ... or rather, who had!'
Lucy put a hand to her mouth, whitening, then a wave of red flowed
up to her hairline. 'Oh, so that's why ... why you were so offhand with
me when you first arrived?'
'Until I was stupid enough to let you charm me into forgetting
everything my mother had told me! But that's what you're good
at you and your daughter, and your . . . your whole damn family!
You have a genius for charming people into forgetting things . . .
little, unimportant things, . . like loyalty and decency and common
sense!'
'But it wasn't true!' Lucy said huskily, still very flushed. 'My husband
meant everything to me; I loved him very much, I never once looked
at any other man. Your father and I were friends, just as he was my
husband's friends You ought to know your father better than to
believe he would betray one of his oldest friends; he'd known my
husband far longer than I had.'
'But you knew what I was talking about at once!' Prue said coldly, and
Lucy sighed.
'Oh, your mother accused us ... one day she came to the house and
made a very unpleasant scene,, shouting and crying. I was very upset,
I tried to tell her the truth, but I knew that she wasn't very stable, I
didn't take her seriously. Jim told me to forget it, he said she hadn't
really believed the things she said, she was pathologically jealous and
given to these outbursts. He said she was even jealous of his dog.'
Lucy paused, face hesitant, worried, then plunged on, 'She was
jealous of you, too, Prue. It drove her crazy if she thought your father
loved you more than her.'
Prue's green eyes opened wide, her pupils very black. That was true;
although she had forgotten it until now, she had always known her
mother was jealous whenever she and her father were together. What
else had she forgotten about those childhood years? she wondered,
and oddly remembered Josh teasing her by saying that he had kissed
her years ago. Had he lied? Ever since he had said it, some faint
memory had been trying to surface; she felt it almost within reach for
a second . . . then it was gone again on dragonfly wings.
Lucy was unaware of her reverie. 'And after she went away, and took
you with her, Jim said she had taken you to make sure you grew up
hating him,' Lucy went on, and that was true, too. Her mother had
wanted her to hate her father; that was why she had told her so much
about the past, blackening his name. That was something Prue had
worked out for herself years ago, but her mother's jealous nature and
instability didn't mean that there was no truth to all her wild
accusations, did it? There must be some fire behind all that smoke.
'Your two children must have got it from somewhere, though!' Prue
said bitingly, and Lucy Killane looked dumbfounded.
'My two& '
'Lynsey . . . and Josh! Yes! They're as bad as each other!'
'Josh?' repeated his mother with incredulity.
'Yes, Josh,' Prue snapped. 'I know how Lynsey managed to seduce
David, because her brother tried the same game with me, flirting with
me every time I saw him, trying to kiss me and... only he didn't take
me in the way your daughter fooled poor David.'
Lucy Killane stared at her. 'Josh has been flirting with you?' Her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Having to keep her visits a secret probably made it twice as romantic.
But I'm ashamed of her, she should have realised what it would do to
you!'
'She doesn't care what she does to me!' Prue said savagely, her green
eyes flashing. She pulled, her hands free and walked to the window,
fighting her temper, but in the end she couldn't hold back her real
feelings, they burst out of her. 'You know very well . . . she only
wanted David because he belonged to me. If he had been unattached
she probably wouldn't have looked twice at him, but she's your
daughter, and she prefers to take her men from other women.'
Lucy Killane stood there in a frozen silence, staring at her.
'Oh, don't pretend to look bewildered,' Prue snapped. 'You don't fool
me, any more than you fooled my mother!'
'She told you . . .' Lucy began, then took a deep breath. 'What? What
did she tell you?'
'The truth! She thought I was old enough to know what had ruined my
parents' marriage ... or rather, who had!'
Lucy put a hand to her mouth, whitening, then a wave of red flowed
up to her hairline. 'Oh, so that's why ... why you were so offhand with
me when you first arrived?'
'Until I was stupid enough to let you charm me into forgetting
everything my mother had told me! But that's what you're good
at you and your daughter, and your . . . your whole damn family!
You have a genius for charming people into forgetting things . . .
little, unimportant things, . . like loyalty and decency and common
sense!'
'But it wasn't true!' Lucy said huskily, still very flushed. 'My husband
meant everything to me; I loved him very much, I never once looked
at any other man. Your father and I were friends, just as he was my
husband's friends You ought to know your father better than to
believe he would betray one of his oldest friends; he'd known my
husband far longer than I had.'
'But you knew what I was talking about at once!' Prue said coldly, and
Lucy sighed.
'Oh, your mother accused us ... one day she came to the house and
made a very unpleasant scene,, shouting and crying. I was very upset,
I tried to tell her the truth, but I knew that she wasn't very stable, I
didn't take her seriously. Jim told me to forget it, he said she hadn't
really believed the things she said, she was pathologically jealous and
given to these outbursts. He said she was even jealous of his dog.'
Lucy paused, face hesitant, worried, then plunged on, 'She was
jealous of you, too, Prue. It drove her crazy if she thought your father
loved you more than her.'
Prue's green eyes opened wide, her pupils very black. That was true;
although she had forgotten it until now, she had always known her
mother was jealous whenever she and her father were together. What
else had she forgotten about those childhood years? she wondered,
and oddly remembered Josh teasing her by saying that he had kissed
her years ago. Had he lied? Ever since he had said it, some faint
memory had been trying to surface; she felt it almost within reach for
a second . . . then it was gone again on dragonfly wings.
Lucy was unaware of her reverie. 'And after she went away, and took
you with her, Jim said she had taken you to make sure you grew up
hating him,' Lucy went on, and that was true, too. Her mother had
wanted her to hate her father; that was why she had told her so much
about the past, blackening his name. That was something Prue had
worked out for herself years ago, but her mother's jealous nature and
instability didn't mean that there was no truth to all her wild
accusations, did it? There must be some fire behind all that smoke.
'Your two children must have got it from somewhere, though!' Prue
said bitingly, and Lucy Killane looked dumbfounded.
'My two& '
'Lynsey . . . and Josh! Yes! They're as bad as each other!'
'Josh?' repeated his mother with incredulity.
'Yes, Josh,' Prue snapped. 'I know how Lynsey managed to seduce
David, because her brother tried the same game with me, flirting with
me every time I saw him, trying to kiss me and... only he didn't take
me in the way your daughter fooled poor David.'
Lucy Killane stared at her. 'Josh has been flirting with you?' Her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]