Page 160 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"I love you," Walli said.

"I love you, too."

"What happened on Sunday morning? You were supposed to meet me."

"I got scared," she said.

This was not the answer he had been expecting, and he found it hard to understand. "I was scared, too," he said. "But we made each other a promise."

"I know."

He could see that she was in an agony of remorse; but there was something else. He did not want to torture her, but he had to know the truth. "I took a terrible risk," he said. "You shouldn't have backed out without a word."

"I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't have done it to you," he said. Then he added accusingly: "I love you too much."

She flinched as if he had struck her. But her answer was spirited. "I'm not a coward," she said.

"If you love me, how could you have let me down?"

"I'd give my life for you."

"If that was true, you would have come with me. How can you say it, now?"

"Because it's not just my life at risk."

"It's mine, too."

"And someone else's."

Walli was baffled. "Whose, for God's sake?"

"I'm talking about the life of our child."

"What?"

"We're going to have a baby. I'm pregnant, Walli."

Walli's mouth fell open. He could not speak. His world turned upside-down in an instant. Karolin was pregnant. A baby was coming into their lives.

His child.

"Oh, my God," he said at last.

"I was so torn, Walli," she said in anguish. "You have to try to understand that. I wanted to go with you, but I couldn't put the baby in danger. I couldn't get in the van, knowing you were going to crash through the barrier. I wouldn't care if I got injured, but not the child." She was pleading with him. "Say you understand."

"I understand," he said. "I think."

"Thank you."

He took her hand. "All right, let's talk about what we're going to do."

"I know what I'm going to do," she said firmly. "I already love this baby. I'm not going to get rid of it."

She had been living with the knowledge for some weeks, he guessed, and she had thought long and hard. All the same he was taken aback by her strength of purpose. "You speak as if it's nothing to do with me," he said.

"This is my body!" she said fiercely. The cleaner looked round, and Karolin lowered her voice, though she continued to speak forcefully. "I will not be told what to do with my body by any man, you or my father!"

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