The Lorimer Legacy Read Free Page B

of quick sketches as it tossed its head or rolled on its back or trotted up to its mother to feed. Alexa heard the firm strokes of his charcoal faltering, although she pretended not to notice.
    â€˜Do you remember your mother?’ he asked, so unexpectedly that Alexa blinked with surprise.
    â€˜Of course. I was nine when she died.’
    â€˜What was she like?’
    â€˜She was Italian. Dark-haired; not like me. Until she became ill, she was very beautiful. She had a lovely singing voice, and played the piano well. She was a teacher of music, you know; very patient. When I was small, she had to take me with her to the lessons, and I can remember all the things she used to say, over and over again. It’s been a great help to me: I can give lessons to myself.’
    â€˜How was it that Aunt Margaret came to adopt you, then?’
    â€˜She came – as a doctor – to visit my mother, who was dying by then of consumption and starvation. But they had known each other earlier, as teacher and pupil. After my mother died, there was no one in the world on whom I had any claim. I was very fortunate to escape the workhouse. Why do you ask all this?’
    Matthew was slow to answer. He had sounded awkward even when he asked the question, and now he was obviously embarrassed; but Alexa waited until he spoke.
    â€˜When you first came to live at Brinsley House, we were told that you had been adopted,’ he said. ‘But you look – I just wanted to be sure – I only wondered whether Aunt Margaret could possibly be your mother.’
    His face was scarlet as he stared down at his sketching pad. Alexa gave an incredulous gasp.
    â€˜What an extraordinary idea! Why, she wasn’t even married when I was born.’
    â€˜I know.’ Matthew’s voice was apologetic. ‘I shouldn’t have suggested it. You won’t tell Aunt Margaret I asked, will you?’
    â€˜Certainly not. She would be very shocked. Why –?’
    But Alexa had no need to finish the question. Without asking, she understood why he had needed to know. For six years they had studied and played together as though they were brother and sister. Matthew had known that she was not really his sister. What he was checking was the possibility that she might be his cousin.
    Alexa could move one further step into his mind. Only the previous evening, after dinner, Margaret had been talking about a death caused by the measles epidemic: that of a feeble-minded child. Alexa, who had often noticed the boy’s shambling walk and idiotic grin, asked how such things were caused.
    â€˜There are a good many possible reasons,’ Margaret had said. ‘But the one that I blame, and the most easily prevented, is the habit of marrying within a very small community such as a village. The parents of this boy were first cousins. It means that the child had fewer grandparents than is usual. If there is any weak strain in the family already, the chance of inheriting it is greatly increased. Although it is not forbidden for cousins to marry, I would always advise against it, if I were asked. But then, young people nowadays never ask for advice until they have quite decided not to take it.’
    Matthew and Alexa laughed together then, and Alexa had thought no more of it. If Matthew, taking the theoretical advice seriously, felt it necessary to check that it could have no practical application to himself, there could only be one explanation. For a second time she felt her breath snatched from her; this time by wonder. She looked across at Matthew, who sat with his head still bowed, and was almost overcome by a wish to run her fingers through his thick fair hair. He raised his head slowly to gaze at her. Alexa jumped to her feet and turned away – not because she wished to discourage him, but because she was overwhelmed by a kind of excitement she had never felt before, and needed time to steady her feelings.
    â€˜I would like