Catherine Coulter - Night Trilogy 01 by Night Fire

Author:Night Fire
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2011-11-25T23:51:36+00:00

Dorcas shrugged. It was a sign that the old woman had no intention of answering and couldn’t be made to.

“Sit down and let me arrange your hair.”

Arielle sat. Dorcas worked quickly, parting her hair into thick sections, then braiding them loosely. As she wrapped the braids in a circle atop Arielle’s head, she said, “I saw your riding jacket and the blouse.

He finally beat you.”

Arielle met her eyes in the mirror.

“I knew it was a matter of time. He tried to take you, to force you, didn’t he, and you resisted him. You said when he did we would leave. But where will we go? Your sister isn’t in Boston any longer. You don

’t have any money, do you? Does he give you any money?”

“Burke didn’t touch me, Dorcas. It was Evan. He caught me alone by Bunberry Lake. Burke saved me.” To her surprise, Dorcas merely grunted, a particularly noxious sound. “He will do the same, just wait and see.”

But suddenly Arielle knew he wouldn’t. She couldn’t say just how she knew he wouldn’t, she just knew.

Dorcas was dusting her face lightly with powder when Burke came into her bedchamber through the adjoining door. He was carrying a narrow velvet box.

“You’ve done well,” he said to Dorcas. “Her hair is beautiful. You may leave now.”

“I will see that Miss Nesta is all right,” said Dorcas and left the room.

Arielle eyed the box. Her eyes were sparkling, but he saw that she was trying to act only mildly interested in an effort to control her excitement. He felt the shaft of pain in his gut.

“It is yours,” he said abruptly, thrusting it into her hands. “It belonged to my mother and to her mother before her. If you don’t like the setting, we will have it redone.” He watched her slowly open the box. She gasped as she stared at the incredible array of diamonds and sapphires. “Oh, it is too beautiful. I’ve never seen anything to compare with it. Oh, God, Burke—no, no, I can’t accept it. What if I lost it or broke it or—” She pressed it back into his hand.

“Then I should have to replace it for you.”

She stared at him, perplexed. “Let me put it on you.” He fastened the clasp and gazed at her in the mirror. She looked mesmerized by her own image, her eyes glittering.

“The sapphires are brilliant, but not as brilliant as your eyes.” His hands were touching her shoulders lightly. She could but stare at herself, mute. Never had she worn anything of such beauty. She remembered the emerald bracelet Paisley had insisted she wear once, remembered again how the bracelet had fallen off and he’d beaten her. She knew that the clasp had been defective and she knew that he’d known, deliberately waiting, hoping the bracelet would fall off. But Burke wasn’t like that.

“Thank you, Burke.” She lifted her hand and placed it over his. But then she thought: What will he want for it? What will he demand?

Burke saw the shifting expressions and wondered at them.

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