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Chrissie refused to believe that was true SheShe was not a hard, unforgiving person, was she? Her first i with it, her long-held refusal to consider the fact that she ed him Very faint colour warmed her cheeks

She recalled that she had never forgiven her h and frowned Francesca had died before her younger daughter reached the age of confrontation and the older worave with her Chrissie sed hard, struggling to shake off the dirty, shaht of Francesca She was older noiser and less judge person and she had been very much abused in some of her relationships with men Her second husband, the very last e of Francesca’s weakness and dependency on hiht tell Lizzie the truth about theirthat sordid story with Jaul

‘I think this is an incredibly weird and ugly house,’ Chrissie remarked curtly on the way down theout of an ancient Ha out of the mummy cases in the hall to totally freak her out

‘Blarandmother She furnished this place’

‘The Englishworandfather?’ That was the bare bones of what Chrissie knew about her British predecessor in the Marwani royal family ‘Tell me about her’

‘Why?’

‘Fellow feelingaren’t I sort of following in her footsteps?’ Chrissie quipped, eager to talk about soiven and what had occurred in the tumbled sheets upstairs That extraordinary passion had left her aching in inti wasn’t quite comfortable Jaul had been sowild and forcefuland she had revelled in that display of pri forced to pay the piper and put her whole life back in Jaul’s hands She should never have let herself down like that, she thought painfully He was running rings round her now

‘I hope not She deserted her son,’ Jaul proffered censoriously ‘She randfather Tarif on a safari in Africa She was a socialite frolish faory Tarif fell deeply in love with her but he was simply a walk on the wild side for hera novelty A couple of months of life in backward Marhere there were no ex-pats for co enough to give birth to my father and walked out only weeks afterwards’

Chrissie knehen she was listening to a biased story ‘This is what your father told you?’

‘Yes I er I was in Paris on an officer training course and she was at a party I was invited to,’ Jaul told her grudgingly ‘She carandson Are you as stiff-necked and stubborn as your father?”’

‘So, your grandain,’ Chrissie worked out wryly fro ‘In other words she wasn’t quite as indifferent a randfather wouldn’t allow your grandain because she walked out on their le?’

Jaul hadn’t and his jawline clenched like granite because that particular faend set in stone and he couldn’t credit that Chrissie had already come up with a likelihood that had never once occurred to hirounds for his bitterness’

‘Such as?’ Chrissie was receiving a twist of satisfaction fro Jaul even if it was only about old faain He owned her, just as he owned their son and daughter There was no leeway for le rooirl who had been so in love she hadn’t foreseen a future where she ht have children and end up alone and abandoned She knew she would never forgive herself for being that stupid and that short-sighted about so very iht to keep and raise her own babies and live where she chose