A River Runs Through It Read Free

then? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    Kate shook her head. "Not so bad anymore. We’ll pull
through.”
    Tom took a deep breath. He looked down at her. A gleam of
light from the chandeliers peeked through the curtains and illuminated his
face. His expression was that of a man who knew his duty and would perform it,
no matter how dismal.
    “If we were married, there could be no objection to my helping
you. The children need a father.”
    Kate’s mouth dropped open. Tom squared his shoulders
resolutely.
    “Will you do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage,
Kate?”
    A sudden rush of hot tears stung her eyes. Kate waited for
the lump in her throat to ease, then turned to him, hands outstretched. “Oh,
Tom,” she said, voice quavering. “You really are my dearest friend.”
    He took her hands in his. “Well, that’s all right and tight,
then,” he said with false heartiness.
    “Wouldn’t we be the most unhappily married couple in England?”
    “Yes,” he agreed fervently. “What I meant to say--”
    “Please allow me to make you the happiest man alive,” Kate’s
eyes twinkled, “by refusing your kind offer.”
    Tom took out his handkerchief and mopped his brow. Kate
laughed, the atmosphere easy once again.
    "Now about that favor…”
    He groaned. “All right, I’ll help you kidnap him. But I draw
the line at murder, Kate.”
    Kate slid a glance through the open doors to the opposite side
of the room where Mr. Dalrymple held court. The dance was over and the couples
were starting to drift to the supper room.
    “Fiddle. This is a situation which calls for finesse. Who
are you escorting to supper?”
    “I thought we’d go down together.”
    Kate shook her head as a scheme of such simplicity and
brilliance sprang to her mind that for a moment it took her breath away. Such
was the look on her face that across the room, Lady Alice wondered if her niece
had received an offer from Tom Appleby at last.
    “Excellent. Lucy is going in with Mr. Weilmunster. You part
is to sit by her and engage her attention away from him.”
    Looking slightly taken aback by the tameness of her scheme,
Tom nodded. “What will you do?”
    Kate burst out laughing. “Dear Tom, do you really care to
know?”
    He held out his arm to her. "No. I do not.”
     
    ***
     
    Kate watched in fascinated revulsion as the loathsome Adam
Weilmunster shoveled lobster patty after lobster patty into his mouth, stopping
only to drop such pearls of wisdom as he considered appropriate into the
conversation.
    “I told Father Flannery that the idea of a pageant glorifying
several of the seven deadly sins was abhorrent to any man of sense and
breeding.” Chew, chew, swallow. “I feel certain you must agree with me,
Vicar.” He bowed pondersously for a man of such youth in the direction of the
reverend and took another bite of lobster.
    "Nonsense, Mr. Weilmunster,” the Reverend Mr. Whiffle
replied heartily. "Neither the good Father nor I see the pageant as
anything more than a bit of fun for the village and tourists alike.”
    Kate watched his Adam’s apple gyrate as he once more chew,
chew, swallowed. Her eye automatically went to the table opposite, where Tom
was entertaining Lucy. His glance met Kate’s and both turned away, turning
laughs into coughs. Kate resolved in her determination not to move heaven and
earth to see Lucy married to someone worthy of her. Into her brain dropped a
scheme of such malevolent brilliance that even her scalp tingled.
    “As I have always said, revulsion of the Seven Deadly Sins
must go hand in hand with obedience to the Ten Commandments for true piety.”
He began to tick off the sins one by one. “For instance, pride, anger, envy,
gluttony--”
    Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Lucy glance her
fiancé’s way. A flush stained her cheeks as she kept her eyes focused on her
plate.
    “--sloth, lust. Can anyone tell me the next?” he asked with
heavy-handed humor, taking another patty.
    “Boredom?”