Daughters of Rebecca Read Online Free PDF Page B

her husband had called Llinos by her pet name. Once it had been an indication of his love and admiration but that was a long time ago. She took a deep breath. ‘Look, Joe, if more young girls were educated they would realize that to allow a boy liberties is to give away something precious.’
    â€˜Are you saying it doesn’t happen?’ Joe asked, and Llinos read him well. It suited him to discuss the morals of others and so distract her from his own failings.
    â€˜I’m not saying that at all.’ Llinos decided to play along: she was weary of going over the same ground with him. She had lost count of the times she had begged him to give up contact with his mistress and all to no avail. ‘The practice suits young men, of course it does. They can sow their wild oats with the benefit of parental approval.’
    â€˜Poor Shanni,’ Joe said. ‘Her mother didn’t set her much of an example, did she? I’m surprised the girl is still pure.’
    â€˜I think you do Shanni and her mother an injustice,’ Llinos said sharply. ‘Mrs Price thought the man loved her. She allowed him to father a child on her and for that she was made the scapegoat. And, in any case, I think your own views on morality are more than a little suspect.’
    Joe was staring into the sky. ‘Will you never let the past lie, Llinos?’
    â€˜How can I when you are incapable of forgetting it yourself?’
    A butterfly landed on a branch of the lilac tree and Llinos watched it, focusing her attention on the beautiful things in her life. ‘I’ll make life good for Shanni.’ She spoke as if it was a vow. ‘I’ll try to teach her about life, about feelings and about pride.’
    â€˜She seems very adaptable,’ Joe said. ‘I think she will learn her lessons well.’ He turned to look at Llinos. ‘You are very good to take her into our home and treat her like a daughter. Perhaps she makes up a little for the daughter we lost.’
    Llinos was suddenly angry. ‘Don’t be absurd!’ She rose and stared down at him. How dare he hurt her like that? She left Joe sitting in the garden his head in his hands.
    Once inside, she hurried upstairs, feeling tears burn against her eyelids. She wanted to cry for the daughter she and Joe had lost; for the trust she had lost when he left her to live with an Indian squaw. She wanted to shed tears for the sweetness of first love when Joe had been her hero and life was a wonderful thing.
    â€˜So you are to be a radical, are you?’ Lloyd said, and his hand brushed hers.
    Shanni moved slightly away from him. ‘I wouldn’t say that.’
    â€˜But you think people of that sort are right to burn down barns and pull down toll-gates, do you?’
    â€˜If that is the only way to achieve justice, yes, I do.’ Shanni felt uncomfortable. Lloyd was so welleducated, so nicely spoken that he made her feel rough and ignorant.
    â€˜Well, in the end they will destroy their own livelihood,’ Lloyd said. ‘Folk should work with their masters not against them.’
    â€˜It’s easy for you to say that.’ Shanni forgot her shyness. ‘You were born to privilege, born to eat good food, to read books and wear clean clothes.’
    â€˜And you were born to poverty,’ Lloyd said. ‘Were conditions really as bad as you describe?’
    Shanni looked up at him. ‘I tell you what,’ she said. ‘Shall we dress up as street urchins? Then you can see at first hand what poverty really looks like. That’s a challenge. You can’t refuse me or I’ll think you a coward.’
    She saw Lloyd smile. ‘I don’t think I’d have the courage to refuse you anything, Shanni Price.’
    She glanced at him covertly, wondering if he was teasing her. ‘Will you come with me, though?’
    â€˜Yes, but for heaven’s sake don’t let Mother