Survivor by Lesley Pearse Read Free Book Online

and cleaning.’
    ‘But they had to get married,
     didn’t they?’ Mariette asked. ‘Mum was pregnant on her wedding
     day.’
    Mog was shocked to hear such a thing
     coming from Mariette’s lips, and wondered who had told her. But she
     wasn’t going to deny it, not even if most people saw it as a disgrace.
    ‘The reason they married was
     because they couldn’t bear to live apart,’ she said reprovingly.
     ‘And, in my opinion, that is the only reason to get married.’
    ‘But you’d all be furious if
     I got pregnant and I wasn’t married.’
    It was Mariette’s tone, rather
     than her actual words, that made Mog suspicious. She had spent much of her early
     life listening to conversations between other women and had learned to detect hidden
     undercurrents, to hear the faint inflections in remarks that revealed what the
     speaker meant, but couldn’t actually put into words. Belle claimed she was
     impossible to fool.
    ‘Are you pregnant, Mari?’
     she asked gently. ‘Is that what all this is about? Going out today to meet
     someone, the long silences since you got back? You’re worried?’
    ‘Of course
     I’m not pregnant,’ Mariette said with some indignation. ‘Whatever
     gave you that idea?’
    ‘You did,’ Mog said.
     ‘Or you think you could be. But the most worrying thing for me is that
     you’ve obviously been seeing someone who you know we wouldn’t approve
     of. I think you ought to tell me who he is, right now.’
    As rebellious as Mariette could be, when
     faced with a direct question she usually answered truthfully. She had her jaw
     clenched, which suggested to Mog that she was steeling herself against admitting
     anything.
    ‘You know I’ll find
     out,’ Mog reminded her. ‘No one can do anything in Russell without
     someone passing it on. It’s better to tell me now than to have someone
     spiteful telling your mother with the sole intention of upsetting her.’
    ‘It’s over, so it
     doesn’t matter,’ Mariette blurted out. ‘I won’t be seeing
     him again.’
    ‘If he’s someone unsuitable,
     then that’s fine. But unless he’s just someone passing through Russell,
     it would be hard to avoid him,’ Mog said. ‘But my guess it’s
     someone you’ve known for a long time. Is it Carlo Belsito?’
    Carlo Belsito was a ferryman. Although
     born in New Zealand he had all the hallmarks of his Italian ancestry, with dark
     curly hair, spaniel eyes and a physique that few women in Russell could fail to
     notice. He was something of a Lothario, and many distasteful stories circulated
     about his prowess with women.
    ‘Carlo!’ Mariette said in
     astonishment. ‘What do you take me for, Mog? I despise him.’
    ‘Well, that’s a
     relief,’ Mog chuckled. ‘I’d hate to think you wasted even a minute
     of your life on him. So let me think, who else is there?’
    ‘Let it go, Mog,’ Mariette
     pleaded. ‘I’ve told him it’s over. I just want to forget about
     him.’
    Mog knew that more
     could be gained by backing off and coming back to the subject at a later date than
     by trying to force the issue now.
    ‘Fair enough,’ she said.
     ‘Now, we’ve only got about another fifty pearls left, so let’s try
     to sew them on before the light fades.’
    She noted that Mariette looked very
     relieved at being given a reprieve. Mog was amused that the girl assumed that would
     be the end of it.



3
    The following morning Etienne left early
     in his truck to pick up some timber from Waitangi, taking Mariette with him. Mog
     suspected she’d asked to go in the hope that, during her absence, the
     conversation of the previous day would be forgotten.
    After the boys had gone off to school,
     Belle decided to spring-clean their room. Mog went along to the Reids’ bakery,
     as she always did on Mondays. Belle had become friends with Vera Reid, the daughter
     of the owners, when they were both ambulance drivers in France, and it was Vera who
     encouraged Belle and