Decision and Destiny by DeVa Gantt

Author:DeVa Gantt
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

The nursery offered little refuge from the pathetic episode. Charmaine remained numb and, much like the children who sat lethargically in the playroom beyond, was unable to concentrate on any task. Her mind raced on, one thought dominating all the others: hatred, definitely hatred. It was an emotion she knew well, for hatred had been her close companion those tender years when she was growing up. But she’d always kept it inside: a silent, bitter devotion. Not so John.

And what of Frederic? His disdain was just as apparent, just as nauseating. Charmaine was revolted by the polar extremes she’d witnessed: the healthy accolades he’d bestowed upon Paul and the dark slander he’d hurled at John, all in front of his impressionable young daughters. It didn’t make sense. Why didn’t he just banish John from Charmantes? And why did John, for all his proclaimed hatred, remain? Didn’t she know? No, you don’t.

She jumped with a knock on the door, surprised to find John standing there. “I’d like to speak with you,” he said softly. “May I come in?”

She hesitated. He was the last person she had expected to see. “Of course.”

He stepped into the room. “I apologize for my behavior this evening. I didn’t intend—”

“You needn’t apologize to me,” she interrupted, uncomfortable with his strained words, relieved when Yvette appeared in the playroom doorway, smiling for the first time since dinner.

“Did you try on your cap?” she asked, walking over to him.

“Does it fit?”

“It’s perfect. In fact, that is the reason I’m here. I came to say thank you. Though it may have seemed I didn’t appreciate it, I do, and I shall wear it as proudly as I did the last one.”

“Really?

“Truly,” he replied, nodding to Jeannette and Pierre as they, too, entered the bedroom. “Actually, I like it better than the one I lost.”

“Why did you tell Father you hate him?” she abruptly asked.

John’s eyes dropped to the floor. “It’s a long story. It took twenty-nine years to live, and it would take almost as much time to explain.”

“Well, if you hate him, then so do I!”

“No, Yvette!” he objected, falling on one knee before her. He took hold of her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “You mustn’t hate somebody just because someone else does. Hatred is a terrible thing. It destroys lives.”

“Then why do you hate him?”

“I shouldn’t have said what I said tonight. I said it because I was angry, but I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Why were you angry?”

“You are too young to understand,” he tried to reason. “But Father loves you, and it would hurt him to hear you say you hate him.”

“Didn’t you hurt him?”

“I don’t know. But you wouldn’t want to hurt him, would you?”

He patted her head when she said “no,” then stood and whispered a few last words to Charmaine. “I thank you also, Miss Ryan.”

“For what?”

“For attempting to make my birthday a special occasion.”

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