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- Колин Маккалоу
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She
was
n't
too
sure
that
she
cared
for
the
way
he
talked
,
but
the
trouble
with
Luke
was
that
he
was
a
hard
man
to
put
down
.
Everyone
came
to
a
woolshed
dance
,
from
squatters
'
sons
and
daughters
to
stockmen
and
their
wives
if
any
,
maidservants
,
governesses
,
town
dwellers
of
all
ages
and
sexes
.
For
instance
,
these
were
occasions
when
female
schoolteachers
got
the
opportunity
to
fraternize
with
the
stock-and-station-agent
apprentices
,
the
bank
johnnies
and
the
real
bushies
off
the
stations
.
The
grand
manners
reserved
for
more
formal
affairs
were
not
in
evidence
at
all
.
Old
Mickey
O'Brien
came
out
from
Gilly
to
play
the
fiddle
,
and
there
was
always
someone
on
hand
to
man
the
piano
accordion
or
the
button
accordion
,
taking
turns
to
spell
each
other
as
Mickey
's
accompanists
while
the
old
violinist
sat
on
a
barrel
or
a
wool
bale
for
hours
playing
without
a
rest
,
his
pendulous
lower
lip
drooling
because
he
had
no
patience
with
swallowing
;
it
interfered
with
his
tempo
.
But
it
was
not
the
sort
of
dancing
Meggie
had
seen
at
Mary
Carson
's
birthday
party
.
This
was
energetic
round-dancing
:
barn
dances
,
jigs
,
polkas
,
quadrilles
,
reels
,
mazurkas
,
Sir
Roger
de
Coverleys
,
with
no
more
than
a
passing
touching
of
the
partner
's
hands
,
or
a
wild
swirling
in
rough
arms
.
There
was
no
sense
of
intimacy
,
no
dreaminess
.
Everyone
seemed
to
view
the
proceedings
as
a
simple
dissipation
of
frustrations
;
romantic
intrigues
were
furthered
better
outside
,
well
away
from
the
noise
and
bustle
.
Meggie
soon
discovered
she
was
much
envied
her
big
handsome
escort
.
He
was
the
target
of
almost
as
many
seductive
or
languishing
looks
as
Father
Ralph
used
to
be
,
and
more
blatantly
so
.
As
Father
Ralph
used
to
be
.
Used
to
be
.
How
terrible
to
have
to
think
of
him
in
the
very
remotest
of
all
past
tenses
.
True
to
his
word
,
Luke
left
her
alone
only
so
long
as
it
took
him
to
visit
the
Men
's
.
Enoch
Davies
and
Liam
O'Rourke
were
there
,
and
eager
to
fill
his
place
alongside
her
.
He
gave
them
no
opportunity
whatsoever
,
and
Meggie
herself
seemed
too
dazed
to
understand
that
she
was
quite
within
her
rights
to
accept
invitations
to
dance
from
men
other
than
her
escort
.
Though
she
did
n't
hear
the
comments
,
Luke
did
,
secretly
laughing
.
What
a
damned
cheek
the
fellow
had
,
an
ordinary
stockman
,
stealing
her
from
under
their
noses
!
Disapproval
meant
nothing
to
Luke
.
They
had
had
their
chances
;
if
they
had
n't
made
the
most
of
them
,
hard
luck
.
The
last
dance
was
a
waltz
.
Luke
took
Meggie
's
hand
and
put
his
arm
about
her
waist
,
drew
her
against
him
.
He
was
an
excellent
dancer
.
To
her
surprise
she
found
she
did
n't
need
to
do
anything
more
than
follow
where
he
propelled
her
.
And
it
was
a
most
extraordinary
sensation
to
be
held
so
against
a
man
,
to
feel
the
muscles
of
his
chest
and
thighs
,
to
absorb
his
body
warmth
.
Her
brief
contacts
with
Father
Ralph
had
been
so
intense
she
had
not
had
time
to
perceive
discrete
things
,
and
she
had
honestly
thought
that
what
she
felt
in
his
arms
she
would
never
feel
in
anyone
else
's
.
Yet
though
this
was
quite
different
,
it
was
exciting
;
her
pulse
rate
had
gone
up
,
and
she
knew
he
sensed
it
by
the
way
he
turned
her
suddenly
,
gripped
her
more
closely
,
put
his
cheek
on
her
hair
.
As
the
Rolls
purred
home
,
making
light
of
the
bumpy
track
and
sometimes
no
track
at
all
,
they
did
n't
speak
very
much
.
Braich
y
Pwll
was
seventy
miles
from
Drogheda
,
across
paddocks
with
never
a
house
to
be
seen
all
the
way
,
no
lights
of
someone
's
home
,
no
intrusion
of
humanity
.
The
ridge
which
cut
across
Drogheda
was
not
more
than
a
hundred
feet
higher
than
the
rest
of
the
land
,
but
out
on
the
black-soil
plains
to
reach
the
crest
of
it
was
like
being
on
top
of
an
Alp
to
a
Swiss
.
