Frontier Wife by Margaret Tanner Page B

as much as the low, almost tremulous way he spoke them. Her heart fluttered like a captured bird, but she forced herself to walk away from him. She didn’t understand the riotous feelings he aroused in her, but he must never know what effect he had on her.
    Ten minutes after her first encounter with Adam, Tommy and her partner, Ian Wiseman, started to leave the dance floor when they encountered him again.
    “So, we meet once more, Miss Lindsay.”
    “Good evening, Mr. Munro.”
    She felt herself blush at his intense scrutiny. She wore no jewelry except a gold cameo on a dark blue ribbon nestling in the hollow of her throat. From where he stared that item seemed to have caught his interest.
    “There you are, Adam.” Sophia glided up to them and slipped her arm through his in a possessive gesture.
    “Sophia, my dear.” He bent his head as he favored her with a dazzling smile that wiped years off his age. “Let me introduce you to Miss Lindsay. You know Mr. Wiseman, of course.”
    “Good evening.” The polite smile died a sudden death on Tommy's lips. The girl looked quite attractive, her green silk gown Parisian inspired. This did not drain the warmth from Tommy's cheeks, but the pendant encircling Sophia’s throat did. “Where did you get that pendant from?”
    “Adam bought it for me.”
    “Why, you despicable cad.” Furious, Tommy glared at him. “That's my pendant.”
    “I’m afraid it isn’t any more. You sold it and I happened to buy it.”
    “I hate you, Adam Munro.” Angry tears filled her eyes.
    As Ian tried to edge her away, the squatter turned on his heel and strode off with a gloating Sophia clinging to his arm.
    “May I ask what that was about, Miss Lindsay?”
    “Oh, nothing important.” She gave a high pitched, brittle laugh.
    Ian escorted her back to David and hurried off. He obviously thought he had been dancing with a madwoman.
    “He seemed in a rush to leave. Did you step on his toes?”
    “No.” She clenched her fists as she explained what had transpired.
    “You said you didn't like the pendant much.”
    “I didn't.” She recovered herself in a flash. She had to stop showing her feelings so openly. “It was the principle of the thing that infuriated me.”
    “Well, the poor devil you were dancing with seemed glad to escape.”
    “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” She stared into David’s flushed face and her anxiety heightened.
    “Yes, I'm just hot.” He ran his fingers around the collar of his jacket.
    “Do you want to sit down?”
    He looked pale now, sweating. He passed a trembling hand across his eyes. His face turned ashen, and without a sound he slid to the floor in a dead faint.
    She fell to her knees beside him and tried to loosen the collar of his jacket. “Don't just stand there,” she cried out as several couples milled around. “Get a doctor someone. He's sick.”
    His whole body convulsed, the sweating more profuse, and he muttered incoherently.
    “Just look at him?” a woman complained from close by. “He's drunk. Forced their way in here uninvited, it's disgusting.”
    “Can't hold his drink,” another voice condemned.
    “Please someone, find a doctor.” Tommy's voice turned shrill with fear.
    “The Imdi are coming.” David moaned and threshed about.
    “What's going on here?”
    Blinking back tears, she stared into Adam Munro's smoky gray eyes.
    “Please, Adam, find a doctor.” Her gaze pleaded with him for help. “He's sick. He's got some kind of fever.”
    “Get the lids off those ammunition boxes. The Imdi are overrunning us.” David raved deliriously as Adam held him down with one hand, and loosened the tunic with the other.
    “I hope he’ll be all right,” Tommy said.
    “Move away all of you. Someone get Dr. Brannigan, I saw him out on the verandah.” Adam issued his orders in a clipped, authoritative voice that brooked no argument.
    Tommy clung to David's hand. “He isn't going to die is he?” Her voice came out in a