Page 30 of Promise Me Love

‘But you’re not sure how David feels. Oh, Beth, I’d give anything to end this stupid quarrel, any single thing under the sun! Matthew has got as far as stating that it’s time it was all sorted out, but that’s it. He’s too damned stubborn to take the next step and meet David and talk!’

‘What caused the row between them, Maggie? I don’t mean to pry, but I need to know.’ She laughed almost bitterly. ‘Sometimes it seems to me that everything hinges on it.’

‘I really don’t feel that I can explain it to you, Beth. David is the one who should do that.’ Maggie was obviously distressed at being questioned and Beth bit back an impatient sigh. The trouble was that she’d had too much time to brood recently, and this quarrel between David and his brother had started to take on a greater and greater importance the more she thought about it.

‘I’m sorry. Forget I said anything. As for the christening, well, I would love to say yes here and now, but I think I should talk to David first and see how he feels.’

‘Of course. I don’t want to be the cause of any trouble between you. Give me a ring as soon as you can to let me know. I hope it’s yes because I can’t think of anyone I would rather have as Elizabeth’s godmother.’

The warmth in Maggie’s voice was genuine and Beth felt comforted by it. She had the feeling that they could become good friends if circumstance allowed. After getting all the details of where and when the ceremony was to take place she hung up and spent the day buoyed up by the pleasant exchange. However, when she heard the front door opening she was suddenly assailed by doubts as to the wisdom of what she was doing. Was it really sensible to risk disturbing the harmony that they had maintained since she’d left hospital by pursuing a course of action that David seemed opposed to? He would think that she was trying to interfere in his life again, and the memory of what had happened the last time was still too fresh in her mind.

‘What’s the matter, Beth?’ Obviously sensing her disturbed state of mind, he stopped beside her chair, staring intently down at her, but Beth refused to meet his eyes as all her doubts rose up. She didn’t want to force his hand and start a confrontation again. She didn’t want to put herself in a position whereby he might tell her to leave, because the thought of never seeing him again was too much to bear.

‘For heaven’s sake, Beth, what is it? Don’t you feel well? Answer me.’

It was impossible to ignore his mounting impatience. ‘I’m fine, David.’

‘Then tell me what’s been going on.’ He towered over her, big and dangerous-looking in his dark suit and white shirt with his grey eyes glittering in the light cast by the lamp. They had been married for weeks now, but when he stood there glaring at her she felt she hardly knew him at all.

Something of what she felt must have shown on her face because he turned away abruptly and dropped down into a chair. ‘Just tell me what’s wrong. I won’t bite your head off, so stop looking as though I scare you half to death.’

Beth took a deep breath, realising with a pang that she was going about things all the wrong way. ‘You don’t scare me, David. It’s just that…that I don’t know how you’re going to react to what I have to ask you.’

His face tightened, but his voice remained cool and level. ‘Then maybe you’d better tell me what it is.’

‘Maggie phoned today. She asked me again if I would be Elizabeth’s godmother.’

The words hung in the air, bare and unadorned, and Beth held her breath as she waited to see if the storm would break over her head again as it had done before. However David’s voice held little but bland acceptance when he spoke.

‘And what did you tell her?’

‘That I would ask you first.’ She stared back at him, colour ebbing and flowing in her face. ‘I don’t want to start another row, David, by interfering. Just tell me how you feel about the idea.’

‘How I feel?’ His tone was harshly bitter, sending a chill coursing through her, and she closed her eyes in despair. She couldn’t bear it if it happened again, if he reiterated what he’d said that day. Their marriage might have been forged for any number of strange reasons, but Beth was honest enough to admit that it was the most important thing she had left in her life. It was the one good thing she had to cling to, her mainstay in a world which had been turned upside-down over the past few months.