Chapter 36

Fifteen minutes James returned. He had been pacing up and down in the garden, trying to keep his temper in check and turning this possibility over in his mind.

"I refuse to accept this; you are labelling my Father an adulterer." Gwen shook her head sadly.

"I am labelling my Husband an adulterer; that should hurt me more than it will hurt you?" Her voice and face betrayed naked misery.

"What makes you think this?" His voice broke, choked with his emotion. Gwen smiled sadly.

"It was my fault. I left your Father alone too much. He was a healthy man, there was enough evidence to suggest he had Affairs, but I chose to turn a blind eye. We lived our lives in an expedient way, allowing each other a certain freedom. You knew your Father, most of the time he was a bit of a bore but he could be most charming when he wanted something. There being no other apparent candidates for Abby's Father, you have to consider there is a chance, an outside chance I agree, that it could be Charles. If he set his sights on Marion, then she would have been hardly able to say no." James shook his head. His eyes were being opened. Most children recognise their parents as being fallible in a gradual process, starting after the child comes to adulthood and culminating when the parent is elderly. It doesn't engender disappointment, more likely greater love. Charles Comberford had died just after James had entered the Army; his faults therefore were buried with him.

James was being forced to acknowledge the truth. That and revelations about his parent's marriage.

"No Mother, I cannot believe this. I knew Marion as quite well, I don't think that she and Dad ever exchanged more than two words together, and from what I remember, she wouldn't have been browbeaten."

"Darling, I understand how you feel about Abby." Gwen tried to placate her son. "Your reaction was enough to tell me that. If you really like her we shall have to make sure that she isn't your sister, we should try to get some DNA evidence. Perhaps you could get some of her hair. I believe that would be sufficient for a test." James could see the sense of that, but getting a sample from Abby without her knowledge would be wrong.

"You want me to go sneaking around to get a strand of her hair? I will not do that. I shall have to explain everything to Abby; she has as much right to know as we do. I am certain she will agree. It's this way or nothing." Gwen had no option but to agree. "Very well. Perhaps you are right. Would you talk to her about it, perhaps ask her to come up here, I don't think it's the kind of thing you would want to talk about in the Combe Inn." He nodded agreement. "James, please answer my question. I don't want to spend the next few weeks worrying about that." James looked at his Mother.

"Mother I will not answer. If." He said putting a lot of emphasis on the 'if', "we did, and it was incestuous, then talking about it won't make it undone. If we didn't then it doesn't matter." Gwen shook her head wearily. Part of her applauded James for his integrity, after all she wouldn't admit to any of her adventures, and she brought him up so he was only acting in the way she had taught him; the other part cursed him for being the stubborn fool.

James needed to find Abby as soon as possible. He dreaded telling her of the possibility that they were brother and sister, yet this couldn't be delayed. He had left his mother, with anger, hating her for the presumption she had made. He jumped in the Land Rover and drove viciously out of the grounds. He didn't stop at the junction, simply wrenching the steering wheel to go right, the tyres squealing, heading towards the station. The blaring horn brought him back to his senses. He waved to the driver of the small van he had nearly run off the road, to acknowledge his mistake, and drove on a little more slowly. The near accident cleared his mind. His mother was right; she had no other option but to mention it. Abby was not at the station, he got straight back in the Land Rover and drove back the way he had come to see if she was at the Combe Inn. Her car wasn't there either. He went in and spoke to Jack.

"Yes, Mr. James, she went out about an hour ago. I think she went to Gallow Farm." James thanked him and gave some thought about what to do. He sat on a bench at the back of the Inn for about half an hour, Mary brought him some coffee, and he was rewarded when Abby's car turned into the drive. She flashed a smile when she saw him, and came over to join him at the table. She poured some more coffee from the pot.

"There isn't another cup, so you won't mind me sharing yours will you?" He had to grin at her cheek, and then the reason for his coming here took the grin from his face. Noticing the swift change of mood, Abby asked.

"Is there something wrong?" He nodded with gloom written all over his face.

"Tell me."

He found it difficult to know how to start. He had thought not to discuss this with Abby here, at the Inn. Now he wanted to unburden himself as quickly as possible.

"Well a situation, no something has come up and I don't really know how to tell you."

"You're married." He gave a hollow laugh.

"No, no, nothing like that. That would be simple. Abby it's difficult so I will just say it. You could be my sister." Her face went dead.

"What?" she eventually managed.

"There is a chance that our fathers could be one and the same." Abby looked at him, looked away, and then turned back quickly.

"This is a joke, right?"

"No, no joke." She then astounded him. She giggled. Then giggled some more when she saw the expression on his face. She leaned close and whispered.

"Then it's a good job, that my amateurish attempts to seduce you didn't work." The load lifted immediately from his shoulders.

"You don't know how many cold showers I had to take when I got back to the hotel." She laughed with him.

"Well then you shouldn't have resisted." She smiled at him fondly. "I know neither the time nor the place." The giggle came again. "But you know. Incest has a deliciously immoral ring to it."

"You're laughing at me."

"No James, just trying to see the funny side of it, or I could rant and rave if you wish, but that will not do any good. This is unusual by any stretch of the imagination, I can't get my head round it, tell me. If I were, how would you feel about having a Sister?"

"If you are my sister, it will take some getting used to, but I suppose I could come to terms with it after a while. So long as you don't try to boss me about. But I would much prefer to have a Lover."

Abby was pleased to hear that that he too recognised their relationship was going that way.

"So would I, James. So would I." She finished the coffee in the pot.

"This is cold. I'll ask Mary for some more." Mary as usual had anticipated her, and in two minutes Abby was back with another pot of coffee and another cup and saucer. Abby ignored the second cup.