The Knapthorne Conspiracy Malcolm Ballard (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📖

gossip that ran through any small community like an artery carrying diseased blood to its heart. As good a recipe for fomentation as one could find. Hardly surprising that things could get out of hand. Fleetingly, he thought of Joanna Trollope, as cunning an observer of the phenomenon as any. He compared it to his own existence in Bristol. In contrast the melting pot of city life included many whackos, oddballs and eccentrics yet the explosion of constant activity somehow fused them into the scenery. Like the ebb and flow of the tides, dramas, crises and disasters came and went, moving relentlessly from one to the next, leaving little or no time for deliberation or gossip. The two communities were so disparate they might just as well be on different planets. But something in her tale had caught his imagination, some indefinable element which sought to lure him into taking a closer look. Unknowingly, Kyle Lucas was about to become embroiled in a situation having some interesting parallels in the world of nature. An unsuspecting insect alights on the leaf of the Dionaea muscipula, totally unaware of the dire circumstances of its environment. Similarly, the silken strands of a spider’s web appear to pose no obvious threat to the inquisitive moth. Likewise, the invisible artifices of subterfuge and deceit are indelibly woven into the fabric of the human experience. That which may seem innocuous, appearing fairly harmless on casual inspection, may prove to be anything but and the consequences of becoming more deeply involved are impossible to foresee. Impossible, that is, until it is too late.

Bella slept for most of the journey back and felt better for it. To her relief the headache had all but disappeared and, thankfully, she had been spared the trauma of experiencing Kyle’s driving once again. As often happened around this time of the month, she was emotionally vulnerable and situations that she would have taken in her stride, without a second thought, were capable of causing her great anxiety. In the past, when it had been particularly bad, she had withdrawn from any social activity for a few days until she had felt better able to cope. Now, with Kyle indicating to turn into Spinney Lane, she was grateful to be nearly home and reflected on the fact. Home. This was how she saw Willow Cottage now almost as if the apartment in London with its somewhat sterile atmosphere didn’t exist. The cottage made her feel good maybe because it accommodated both her past, through its happy association with her Uncle Rupert, and the present as a haven for her work.

“How are you feeling?” Kyle’s voice interrupted her thoughts as they were approaching the old oak that marked the entrance to the driveway.

“Umm, better thanks,” she replied, as she stretched her arms, unable to stifle a yawn. Bella found herself battling conflicting emotions and the fact that she was still experiencing drowsiness from her medication didn’t help. On the one hand she wanted Kyle to go so that she could just give in to her condition and blob out, as she called it. But, alternatively, something instinctive within her didn’t want to see him leave and she was going to be faced with making a decision very shortly. As they rounded the final bend in the drive Kyle took the initiative out of her hands.

“I know you’re still not feeling too good, whatever you might say, but do you think I can come in for a short time so that we can just talk about this place.” He indicated the cottage with a nod of his head. “Whatever you might have thought earlier, I was interested in what you had to say and I’d just like to discuss it a little more. Would you mind?” Bella felt both relief and disappointment but didn’t have the energy to argue and a bleak smile preceded her answer as he parked the Range Rover and switched off the ignition.

“Sure. Come on in. I’ll make a cup of tea then we can talk it over.”

“What’s your own gut-feeling about the whole thing, then?” They hadn’t left the kitchen, after Bella had made tea for them, deciding instead to seat themselves at the table. As he put the question, Kyle’s mind was working on two levels. Interested though he was in investigating the source of Bella’s concerns he also saw it as a means of not letting her slip from his grasp. He had found it impossible to discern her feelings for him in such a short time, especially after she had walked out on him like that, but he couldn’t face the thought of not seeing her again. There was a quality about her that touched a deep-seated emotion he didn’t want to examine. Since Kay had left he’d only sought female company for one reason and Bella excited him physically more than anyone he’d met in a very long time. He’d seen the longing in her eyes too. Read the signs as clearly as if they’d been translated into words and printed on paper. A fierce desire nagged and goaded him, willing him on and he had to fight to control it, conscious of the fact that if he gave in to it now he could lose her. It hadn’t begun to rage within him yet as sometimes happened, transforming his boiling sexual energy into a furious outburst of words and deeds over which he had little or no control. There was no warning to precede such events which had entered his life little more than a matter of a few months previously. Kyle had begun to fear for his sanity but he harboured an even greater dread of discovering what was actually wrong with him and refused to seek help. Now, as he waited for the answer to his question, he saw the tiredness in Bella’s eyes and how her face had become drawn, accentuating the cheekbones, and he reached for her hand, forcing