Isle of the Seventh Sentry by Fortune Kent

Author:Fortune Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2014-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

On the following morning, Monday, Beth thought Jeffrey looked at her over the breakfast table in a different way, but whether with disdain or a wary interest she could not be sure. Outwardly he was polite and distant. I don’t care, she told herself, and put thoughts of the day before from her mind.

An indifference had replaced the tears of yesterday, an overwhelming feeling of not caring, of being once removed from those around her. It mattered little what Jeffrey said or did, she told herself, for he could no longer hurt her.

I will live within myself, she thought, for myself. Once more she had exposed her feelings to a man and made herself vulnerable to him. She should have known what the result would be, for she had followed this same course before. With Francis long ago, with Matthew, now with Jeffrey.

She didn’t need them—she was capable of managing her own life without help from anyone. Even though happiness might not result, she knew she could find contentment, a peace much to be preferred to the alternating exultation and despair of the last few days. She was able to return Jeffrey’s stare across the white linen and shining crystal.

“Grandmother is ill.” Jeffrey’s tone was abrupt. Charles Fremont, sitting next to her, raised his tired eyes.

“Really sick this time,” Charles said. “Ellen has sent for Dr. Smith. We’re expecting him at any moment.”

“I’ll stop in and see her after breakfast,” Beth promised. She felt a sinking within her—the only friend she had in the family, old and ill.

Jeffrey deliberately changed the subject. He pretended a casualness toward his grandmother, but Beth had noticed the affectionate glances he had given her outside the church the day before. She vowed she would no longer be daunted by him and discussed in turn the weather, the food, and her impressions of New York State as compared to Ohio. Mrs. Jamison would have been proud of the results of her coaching. The two men seemed confused by her sudden loquacity, but after a time Charles injected comments or questions. Jeffrey merely smiled.

After breakfast she climbed to the old section of the house and found Ellen sitting by Mrs. Worthington’s bed as she had when Beth first visited the aged woman.

Mrs. Worthington held out her hand to Beth who took it in both of hers.

“Did you enjoy your excursion?” The sick woman’s voice was low, and Beth leaned forward to hear.

“The excursion? Oh, yesterday on the river. Yes, the island fascinates me.”

Mrs. Worthington murmured words Beth could not make out.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“Never…go…to…the…island…alone.”

Beth’s hands tightened about the old woman’s as the words echoed in her mind.

“Never,” Mrs. Worthington began again, “go to…” Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes and slept. Ellen shook her head at Beth while she placed a compress on her patient’s forehead. Beth backed slowly and quietly from the room.

She stopped halfway down the winding stairs to study her reflection in the mirror. Shadows made crescents under her eyes, and her face was paler than it had been when she arrived a brief two weeks before.

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