Sentence of Marriage by Shayne Parkinson Read Free Book Online Page B

boil.
    ‘What?’
    ‘A new wife—Pa’s got married, and he’s brought her with him.’
    ‘Are you trying to be funny?’
    ‘Of course I’m not.’
    Jack came in, with Susannah leaning heavily on his arm. He pulled out a chair for her and she sank into it with evident relief.
    ‘Harry, say hello to… well, I suppose you can call her Susannah.’
    Harry stared from Susannah to his father, then back again. ‘Hello,’ he said.
    ‘Hello,’ Susannah said weakly. She passed a hand over her forehead.
    ‘Would you like to have your tea in the parlour?’ Amy asked, anxious to do the right thing.
    ‘Amy, she’s not a visitor!’ Jack protested. ‘This is her home now.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Amy said awkwardly. But she used the nicest china for the tea.
    Susannah drank her tea, but refused any of Amy’s cakes. Harry stared at her openly while she drank; John and Amy had at least had the hour’s drive to get a little used to the phenomenon of a stepmother.
    Amy nudged Harry once or twice, but he ignored her. ‘Haven’t you got any work to do, Harry?’ she asked at last.
    ‘Mmm? Oh, yes, I suppose we’d better go and milk some cows. Are you coming, Pa?’ He looked at their father in a way Amy could see was meant to make Jack feel guilty, but her father had eyes only for his new bride.
    ‘Eh? No, I’ll get out of my good clothes first, then I might come down later. I want to show the new lady of the house round the place—you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Susie?’
    ‘It’s Susannah,’ his wife said automatically. ‘Couldn’t we wait till it stops raining?’
    ‘All right, there’s no rush, I suppose. I’ll take you round tomorrow. You boys can carry those trunks in before you wander off.’
    Harry looked rebelliously at his father, but held his tongue and went outside. John helped him carry in the luggage and take it to Jack’s bedroom, then went off to his own room to get changed before he and Harry left to get the cows in.
    ‘I’d better start unpacking,’ Susannah said, rising from the table. ‘Will you show me my—our—room, Jack?’
    Jack led her out, and Amy was left alone in the kitchen. She sat at the table, trying to clear her thoughts. The new lady of the house, her father had said. What does that make me?
    She rose to clear the table and start getting dinner on, reminding herself to set an extra place. It was only later, when she was setting out the plates, that she realised the ‘extra’ place had better be for herself; her old one opposite Jack at the foot of the table would belong to Susannah now.
    Susannah, with a proud-looking Jack at her heels, emerged for dinner in a grey cashmere dress. It had cream lace gathered around the cuffs, and matching lace at the neck above a wide collar trimmed with a dark red fringe. She looked frail but composed.
    ‘What a beautiful dress!’ Amy exclaimed.
    ‘This?’ Susannah said in surprise. ‘It’s just a house dress.’ Amy looked at her own sensible dress of brown holland under her pinafore, and wondered how Susannah’s gown would stand up to a day spread between paddock and kitchen.
    Maybe I’ll have nice dresses like that one day. Not while I’m on the farm, though .
    ‘I’m afraid it’s only chops,’ Amy said, wishing she had had time to cook a roast.
    ‘Nothing wrong with chops,’ Jack said, illustrating his point by attacking his meal with vigour. ‘Sea travel gives you a good appetite, eh?’ He turned to Susannah.
    ‘Not really,’ she answered, picking at her meal daintily.
    ‘I’ve made an apple shortcake for pudding—I hope you like it,’ Amy said when they had finished the main course. She served the dessert and put a jug of thick cream in front of Susannah before taking her own seat, slapping John’s hand away from the jug when he tried to reach for it before Susannah.
    ‘She’s a good little cook, eh?’ Jack said with his mouth full. ‘You can take things a bit easier now, girl,’ he said, gazing