1841PT

Bramwell and Catherine melted into each other's arms, sheltered from prying eyes by midnight darkness and the trees and foliage surrounding the ancient gazebo. Urgently, their lips met, desperately they kissed. Catherine pressed her tender, pregnancy-swollen breasts into Bramwell's chest. Reluctantly breaking the kiss, they held each other in a tight embrace for a long, long time.

They discussed the child in hushed, hurried voices. "It's our child that you're carrying," Bramwell said, his voice quaking with emotion at the very thought of Morgan raising his son or daughter. "We've got to make some decision about its future!"

They wrapped their arms around each other and shared another fervent kiss.

Unknown to them, on one side of the gazebo, hidden amongst the bushes, Morgan Collins crouched, overhearing every word. My God, he thought, Catherine has been unfaithful to me--with HIM! She took him into her body, a place where even I have not ventured, and now carries his child, his BASTARD, in her womb! His face twisted in an evil expression that boded ill for his wife and her lover.

Also unknown to them, on the other side of the gazebo, Daphne Harridge Collins listened, overhearing the same devastating news that Morgan had. She wept, quietly, so sad she feared her heart would break in half. Bramwell had refused to share her bed, now she knew why. He had lain with Catherine as a wife would, had put a baby into her womb, when he should have been sowing those seeds in his own wife's belly--hers, not her sister's!

Wiping her eyes, feeling fury bursting through her body, almost completely replacing the agonizing hurt, Daphne blindly raced away from the gazebo. She ran into another person and found herself face to face with Morgan Collins. They gazed mutely at each other, their eyes revealing everything. They spoke for a few moments, expressing their anger and sorrow, and came up with a plan for revenge.

The following evening, Catherine and Bramwell received terse, separate notes requesting that they come to the Harridge cottage. They met outside the door and hesitated upon seeing each other. "I received a note," Bramwell said, waving it in front of Catherine's face.

"As did I," she said. "In Daphne's handwriting. This is odd. Well, let's go in."

Entering the cottage, they heard sounds that puzzled and disturbed them. "It sounds like. . ." Catherine said, unable to finish the sentence.

"Yes," Bramwell said, "it sounds like. . ."

Catherine pushed open the bedroom door and, followed closely behind by Bramwell, walked in. They gasped. Morgan and Daphne, completely naked, lay on Catherine's old bed, shagging each other to beat the band. "Oh, God!" Daphne bleated.

"Oh, God!" Morgan bellowed, moving faster, then freezing in place with a shudder.

It was obviously the rutting couple had completed their pleasure.

"One good knock-up deserves another," Morgan said, rolling off Daphne, eyeing his wife and cousin-in-law with contempt.

And Bramwell and Catherine could do nothing but stand there, gaping.

Love, RobinV