Devon took a step forward and Sharon backed, really afraid now, She could see why Ana the maid looked agitated. There was something dangerous about Devon, something in her eyes, something in the way she was talking, something vicious and frightening.
'Devon, please sit down', she said again, thinking, where are you Bryan? This is your problem, not mine, and I don't think I can cope.
Devon's smile faded. 'I can do anything', she said, her voice strangely quiet. 'Bryan brought me from France to live with him. You see he loves me, not you. I'll tell him that it's not his baby you are carrying. I kept you away from him for three years. I enjoyed seeing your face when you found me in his arms in his office that day. Bryan was angry. You poisoned his mind', she rambled on as though talking to herself.
Realisation dawned on Sharon in a sudden blinding flash. She had been wrong. For three years, she had been wrong. 'You did it delibrately, didn't you?' she said smiling herself now, a little hysterical. She remembered what Devin had said at the wedding. 'I did it once and I can do it again'.
'Oh Yes', Devon said coolly, pleased with herself and anxious to reveal all the details. 'I was looking out the slightly open doorway when I saw your cloth and knew instantly that it was you coming. I stood up and drew close to Bryan. When I was sure you were indeed the one, I kissed him and he thought that I was kidding him for the gift he had given me and put his hand to my back to pull me away from him but you misread it, right?'
Sharon felt her legs trembling and sank into the nearest chair. Bryan had been saying the truth all the time. She had refused to believe him.
Bryan threw me out when he felt that I was getting to close to him but you were already gone', Devon continued smiling.
'How could you?' Sharon whispered, her heart pounding. 'How could you?'
Devon moved closer. 'I'm glad I did it. I hate you'
She lifted her hand. She's going to hit me', Sharon thought in horror, unable to move a muscle.
'Devon!' Bryan's voice was like a whiplash in the silence. He moved into the room.
'Sharon's done nothing. Why do you want to hurt her?'
'She's trying to take you away from me', Devon said wildly but her hand dropped and Sharon let out her breath on a long shaking sigh of relief.
'No, she's my wife', Bryan said quietly. 'I want her'.
Sharon looked at him. He filled the room with his presence, his calm strength and she felt safe.
'How can you want her?' Devon demanded emotionally. 'I love you!'
'But I don't love you',. His voice was gentle but firm.
Devon started crying noisily, then the room seemed full of people --- Ana, a small man with a leather case. A doctor, Sharon thought thankfully.
She stood up and walked out of the room unnoticed. She went up and checked on her daughter. She was having a nap. Thank goodness.
She came down and slipped out into the courtyard,breathing deeply of the warm air. Her head was spinning with all that had happened,but one thought soared above all the confusion. Bryan had not lied to her. He and Devon had never been lovers. She sat on the tilted edge of the fountain and let her hand trail in the cold water. The day was losing its heat, night beginning to fall around her. Devon had caused so much heartbreak in their lives. Could the damage ever be repaired?
Bryan found her deep in thought as he strolled outside half an hour later.
'I've been looking for you', he said deeply.
She looked up into his dark familiar face and smiled.
'I've been here'.
'She didn't hurt you?'
'No, I'm just stunned'.
'She told you the truth?' His eyes were very dark, very serious.
'Yes. And I'm sorry I called you a liar. You should have told me'.
'I did. You didn't believe me'.
'No'. She smiled at him and his eyes narrowed on her face.
'I didn't even know what she had done until you told me', he said harshly. 'On the day of the wedding, I confronted her with everything you had told me and she admitted everything'.
Sharon was silent. Ashamed of herself. 'Where is she now?'
He frowned. 'Dr. Clemente has given her a sedative, and she's been taken to the local hospital. I've arranged for her to be flown back to England and transferred to a hospital there as soon as she is well enough to travel. Clemente is a good doctor --- she will be well looked after'.
'What is the problem with her?'
His shoulders lifted wearily. 'A complete breakdown. She's been ill for some time now but nobody thought that it would come to this'.
'But why?' Sharon shook her head puzzled.
'I don't know. She's had a very hard life. The main thing is that she will get better'.
'She said that she loved you', Sharon said quietly.
Bryan shook his head. 'She doesn't. It's part of her illness, an obsessional thing, I guess. That will go too, as she recovers'. He touched her hair with gentle fingers. 'You do believe that I never touched her, never wanted to?'
Sharon nodded, her face sombre. 'Yes, but ---'
'But what?' His face was tense, his hands suddenly still against the softness of her hair.
'Why did you bring her from France to live with you in England?' It was a question she had wanted to ask for three years. Bryan reached into his short pocket and pulled out the letter he had been reading at breakfast the morning before. He handed it to her. 'I've been waiting for the right moment to show this to you. Read it', he said expressionlessly.
'I-----'
'Read it'.
The envelope had a French stamp on it. She took the letter out. It was from a firm of solicitors in Paris, confirming after thorough investigation.....
'She's your sister!' Sharon exclaimed, the letter dropping from her suddenly nerveless fingers.
'Half sister', he corrected grimly. 'Another one of my mother's affairs.
'Hiw did you find out?'
'I didn't know fir certain until yesterday --- I was pretty sure but I needed that final proof so that I could make you believe me'.
He ran a tired hand through the darkness of his hair. 'Some years ago, I found an old diary of my mother's and from the details in that, I managed to trace Devon, through the French side of her family. She was living in poverty in Paris, earning a living any way she could. I had to help her. It seemed my mother had just abandoned her, left her with her liver, Devon's father. He's long dead but he treated her pretty badly which is why she ended up in Paris fending for herself'
'That's terrible'. Sharon breathed, able to feel sympathy for Devon now, sadness at the tragedy of her life. It was no wonder that she had focused on Bryan as her saviour, her protector. He must have seemed like a sort of God to her, rescuing her from what sounded like a hellish life.
'But you all had everyone thinking that she was Brenda's friend and not a relative of yours'.
'That was how she wanted to be known and I obliged her pending the confirmation of my suspicions '.