Lifelong Affair by Carole Mortimer Page A

and Mark,
seemed all the more heartrending.
    Alex stood at her side, had supported his mother all
through the service as she seemed about to collapse. Morgan had driven to
the church with them, Janet aid Charles Fairchild travelling in the car behind
them, their two little girls being left with Charles' mother for the day.
    Morgan
hated being in this cold emotionless church,
hated the curious looks Mark's family directed at her, and she wondered
why she didn't cry when it was her sister lying in one of those boxes.
    She
refused to cry, refused to believe that any part of Glenna, the laughing
beautiful woman that mattered, was anywhere
near this sterile service, this Mark church. None of these people here
had loved Glenna, none had tried to understand her—and her sister wouldn't give them the satisfaction of
knowing how deeply she mourned her.
    By
the time they got back to the house Rita Hammond
seemed to have recovered her composure, and was acting the gracious
hostess as the family began to arrive from the church.
    To
Morgan it was just another part of the charade. How could these people genuinely feel the loss of two beautiful young people when they could stand
around drinking sherry and eating the trays of food the staff were
circulating with? Morgan couldn't have eaten a thing and, quite frankly, the
whole thing made her feel sick.
    She
wanted to escape, to get away from here, and yet pride kept her standing in the
room, that and her love for Glenna. Her sister hadn't been one to run away from
a fight, and neither would she.
    'She
finally got her wish.'
    Morgan
spun round to confront Janet Fairchild, instantly tensing. Janet was as cold
and calculating as her mother. She even looked like her with her cold blue eyes
and tightly drawn back black hair, and Morgan knew any attempt at conversation
with her owed nothing to politeness.
    'I
beg your pardon?' she said warily.
    'Glenna,'
Janet drawled, dressed completely in black as was her mother; Morgan had chosen
a less dramatic navy blue dress, not being out to make any impressions. 'She
always wanted to get away from the family,' she taunted. 'She got her wish—although
hardly in the way she expected.'
    Morgan
drew in a harsh breath of pain. 'That's a disgusting thing to say!'
    Janet
raised dark brows, coolly knocking the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray.
'Is it? Perhaps. But it's the truth, isn't it?' she shrugged.
    'Glenna was unhappy here, yes. But    '
    'You
knew about that?'
    She
frowned. 'I don't think Glenna ever made any secret of the fact that she was—dissatisfied,
with her life here.'
    'She
wanted her career,' Janet scorned. 'Mark should never have married an actress.
It was obvious a woman like that could only be interested in his money.'
    Morgan
gasped. Janet was more like her mother than    she   had    previously    realised,    both    of thern
    seeming
to take delight in insulting the dead Glenna. 'Must I remind you that Glenna is—was—my
sister?' her voice shook a little, and she saw the other woman's Mouth twist
derisively at this show of weakness.
    Janet
gave a dismissive snort. 'You don't need to remind me of anything; you're like
Glenna in a lot of ways.'
    This
time the insult was a personal attack, and Morgan didn't hesitate to retaliate.
'Did she also think you were a vicious bitch?' she asked coolly.
    Angry
colour flooded the other woman's cheeks. •Glenna had more sense than to be
openly hostile,' she snapped.
    She
raised her brows, the brightness of her hair secured at her nape. 'And I
don't?' she drawled. 'I'm sorry, Mrs Fairchild, I thought this was honesty
time.'
    'It
is.' Blue eyes flashed their dislike. 'I don't like you any more than I did
Glenna. We'll certainly never make the mistake of letting another McKay into
the family!'
    'Courtney
is half McKay.'
    'I
meant you, Morgan.' Janet looked at her with dislike. 'I'm telling you this in
case you got the wrong idea from the newspapers.'
    'That
I marry Alex!' she