Margaret Way - Required - Three Outback Brides - Cattle Rancher, Convenient Wife / In the Heart of the Outback... / Single Dad, Outback Wife

‘How could she stay when there was always tension between you and Mark?’ Valerie retaliated. ‘Though it must be said Mark always did his best to pretend nothing was wrong. Chloe and I have come to the conclusion you were the source of all the trouble, Allegra, however much you protest. And you’ve always gone out of your way to put your sister in the shade. You could have been a real help to her, but you live in your own little world.’

Allegra couldn’t help a groan escaping her. ‘So you’ve been pointing out to me for years and years. Now we’re on the subject of Chloe, she’s not much help around the place. I hear her complaining about putting on weight when the surefire answer is exercise. There’s plenty to do around the house since you let Beth go.’

‘We couldn’t afford her,’ Valerie said briefly.

‘She been with us for years and years,’ Allegra said, thankful she had managed to contact Beth who was now living with her sister

‘That awful woman!’ Beth, her anger up, had raged. ‘I only stayed because of your dad. It was all so different when you left home, Ally love. Personally I think your stepmother drove your poor dear father bonkers! He must have spent years of his life wondering why he married her.’

He married her for my sake, Allegra thought sadly. To give me a mother.

‘Now when this young man arrives I want you to stay in the background,’ Valerie said. ‘If such a thing is possible. Your father spoilt you terribly.’

‘I suppose he was trying to make up for you, Val,’ Allegra offered dryly. ‘I’ve always irritated the living daylights out of you.’ In fact Allegra couldn’t recall a happy, carefree period of her life; a time when she was not exposed to Valerie’s shrouded antagonism, which nevertheless Allegra was made aware of even as a child.

‘So you have,’ Valerie admitted. ‘You must have irritated the living daylights out of Mark as well. You could have held onto him with a little understanding. We all know men are in the habit of having a bit on the side But your ego couldn’t tolerate that, could it?’

Allegra considered this, aghast. ‘My ego had nothing to do with it. Dad didn’t have a bit on the side as you phrase it.’

‘No, he was faithful to the memory of your sainted mother!’ At long last Valerie gave vent to the helpless anger she’d been forced to stifle for years; anger that had at its heart jealousy of a ghost.

‘Now you’ve come out with it.’ Allegra experienced a hard pang. ‘I can see from now on it’s going to be no-holds-barred. That’s the answer to all our woes, isn’t it? I’m guilty of resembling my mother who died before she was thirty. Think about that, Val. You’re jealous of a woman who died so young? Would you have swapped places with her? It’s truly sad, but you’ve never been able to master your deep envy of her place in Dad’s life. The fact I look so much like her has only made you fixate on it all these long years. I suppose it was inevitable.’

‘Psychoanalyst now are we?’ Valerie jeered, her expression bitter. ‘Actually I’m fine. Llew is dead. Naroom will soon be sold. It was never really my home. More her shrine. No need for us to put up a pretence anymore. But don’t kid yourself. The conflicts we’ve had over the years have been caused by your pushing me or your sister to the limit. I wasn’t your darling mummy. You were such an assertive child, always demanding your father’s attention. You took your demands to the next stage with your husband. Small wonder he left you.’

‘Oh go jump, Val!’ Allegra had come to the end of her tether. ‘I left Mark. But don’t let’s upset your mind-set.’

‘Mark told me you made him feel alienated,’ Valerie persisted.

‘Since when did you become Mark’s champion?’ Allegra asked wearily. ‘He’s ancient history, Val.’

The expression on Valerie’s face was one of primitive antagonism. ‘Alienation was the cause of much of his unhappiness and his turning to someone else.’

Allegra groaned with frustration. ‘You’re talking through your hat. It was more than someone else, Val.’

‘I bet you had your little flings as well,’ Valerie quickly countered. ‘You demand constant admiration.’

‘None of which has ever been handed out by you. Some stepmothers are wonderful. Heaps of them! But your crowning achievement has been picking on me. All your love has been given to your own child. I had to lean heavily on Dad. You set out early to drive a wedge between me and Chloe. You bred your own resentment into her. As for my marriage, I respected my vows.’

Valerie gave a mocking smile. ‘The reason I understand exactly what Mark meant when he said you alienated him is because you alienate me.’

‘Then I’m sorry!’ Allegra threw up her hands, thinking her stepmother’s problems with her would never be resolved until the family—such as it was—split up. Her father had held them all together. Now he was gone. ‘I have to get changed,’ she said, moving towards the door. ‘Rory Compton should be here soon.’

‘Set to fascinate him, are we?’ Valerie called after her.

The facade of caring stepmother was rapidly crumbling.

In her bedroom Allegra changed out of the loose dress she’d been wearing since breakfast into a cool top with a gypsy style skirt that created a breeze around her legs. She slung a silver studded belt around her narrow waist and hunted up a pair of turquoise sandals to match her outfit. It was second nature to her to try to look her best no matter how she felt. For one thing her job as Fashion Editor on a glossy magazine demanded it. Besides, looking good gave her the extra confidence she needed. It helped her present her best face to the world.

Inside, these days, she felt totally derailed. Her beloved father gone. The only person in the world who had truly loved her. Val coming out into the open, spitting chips! No husband to be there for her. What does a woman do when she can’t keep her husband of three years faithful? So much for beauty! She had thought in her naivete, she and Mark would be together for life—Mark the father of her children—but she and Mark had been marching to a very different tune. Fidelity simply wasn’t in his nature, though he had given every outward semblance of it for quite a while. That was until she received in the mail a batch of photographs, stunning evidence of her husband’s betrayal. They were sent anonymously of course. Not a single word accompanied them as though the photographs said it all; which indeed they did. They were from someone who didn’t so much care about her pain as showing Mark up for what he was. Allegra had always had the idea that person was a woman. Someone who may have been a former lover of Mark’s and now hated him.

Mark’s explanation when she had confronted him with them had been quite extraordinary. He had acted calm, as though he couldn’t quite grasp her devastating shock.

‘It’s long over, Ally!’ He’d assured her in his smooth, convincing stockbroker’s voice. ‘It meant absolutely nothing. All it did was relieve a physical ache at the time. Let’s face it, my darling, I don’t get as much sex from you, as I want, though I have to admit it increases your allure. Why do women make such a big deal about men having extra needs? It’s you I love. You’re my wife. No other woman can touch you. I’ll never leave you and you’ll never leave me. I’d be devastated if you did.’

She was the one who was devastated but, God help her, she had forgiven him. It was too early in their marriage to call it a day. She certainly couldn’t go home to Val to seek advice and comfort. She told herself lots of people make mistakes. She made herself believe it had been Mark’s only infidelity. In retrospect, of course it hadn’t been. Mark was addicted to sex like another man might have been addicted to golf. It was a necessary relaxation, a fix. Mark was handsome, charming, successful, generous. Especially with his favours.