The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,161

her own would survive the travails of childbirth as well . . .

Kiki splashed around for a while, then took the towel Aleeki handed her as she stepped out of the water.

‘I’ll stay down here with Cecily and dry off in the sun,’ she said to Aleeki, who nodded, handed Kiki her cigarette holder and left the two women alone.

‘Any more thoughts?’ Kiki asked as she dragged on her cigarette, the plumes of smoke making Cecily feel nauseous again.

‘Only that you’re right. I can’t see any alternative, even though I can hardly bear to think of my baby being adopted. I’ll have to live a lie to everyone around me for the rest of my life.’

‘I know, honey. But you have to remember that you’re doing it for the baby as well; as an unmarried mother, you would both be social outcasts. Not to mention the disgrace it would bring on your family. You’ll have other kids, I swear you will. When you’ve found the right man this will just be a horrible dream you can put behind you. Now, I need some coffee after all that exertion. Join me?’

‘I’ll just sit here a while longer, thank you.’

Cecily watched Kiki don her robe then wander off back up to the house. She then stood up and walked along the shoreline of the lake until Mundui House was out of sight. Looking down at the lapping water in front of her, a part of her was tempted to grab a bottle of Kiki’s bourbon, down it, then walk into the still waters and just keep on walking until she and the terrible mess she had made of her life no longer existed.

‘Oh Mama, if only I could talk to you, but I can’t, I can’t.’

Cecily put her head in her hands as her shoulders began to shake and her body slid down the trunk of an acacia tree behind her. She was so busy crying, she didn’t notice the footsteps approaching until they were almost upon her.

‘Cecily, darling! Your godmother said you were down here by the lake. What on earth is wrong?’

Katherine stood above her, concern written on her kind face.

‘Oh nothing, nothing.’ Cecily wiped away her tears harshly. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Bill heard from Dr Boyle that you hadn’t been well when he dropped in to Muthaiga Club yesterday. He told me this morning, and I was so worried that he insisted he drive me over here to see you.’

‘Bill’s here too?’ Cecily was horrified how fast word of her indisposition had already spread through the community. ‘Why, it’s awfully sweet of both of you, but really, I’m fine.’

‘Cecily.’ Katherine crouched down next to her and took Cecily’s hands. ‘I have never seen anyone who looks less “fine”. What on earth has happened? And please don’t lie to me; after our two-and-a-half-hour journey to get here, I deserve the truth at least.’

A hundred different answers came to mind, but Cecily was just too exhausted and frightened to lie any longer.

‘I’m pregnant! That’s what’s wrong with me, Katherine. Dr Boyle says I’ll be giving birth to a baby in just over seven months. There!’

Cecily stood up and began to march along the lake, desperate to get as far away from the house and Katherine as she could. Perhaps someone could run a headline in the local newspaper, she thought bitterly. It would probably sell more copies than Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia.

‘Oh Cecily, wait! Please!’ Katherine ran to catch up with her but she continued to scramble along the bank.

‘No! And I won’t be at all offended if you never want to see me or speak to me again. I’m a disgrace! And it seems everyone round here knows it already!’

‘Please, will you calm down? Nobody knows anything about it. And of course I still want to speak to you . . . Cecily, will you please stand still for a while so we can talk?’

‘There’s nothing to talk about, nothing . . .’ She was sobbing again now. ‘Kiki’s organising for me to go to a clinic in Switzerland where I can stay until I’ve had the baby, then I have to give it up for adoption the moment I have it, and then carry on with my life as though nothing’s ever happened. You see? Everything’s decided.’

‘Cecily, I know you’re upset but—’

Cecily had reached the end of the walkable ground as the lake curved round and the foliage became impenetrable. She turned to Katherine and shook her head.

‘Please,