Sea Witch by Sea Witch (retail) (epub)

Author:Sea Witch (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788638883
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2019-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Ten

For several days I was in a state of nervous exhaustion, hardly able to sleep. When darkness fell across my room, I could feel again the cold steel of the blade against my throat. However hard I tried, I could not blot the thought out of my mind that the intruder had been Daniel Perkins.

About a week later, Lucy came into the room, a strange expression on her face.

‘You have visitors, miss,’ she said. ‘Mrs Perkins is here, and she’s brought that daughter of hers.’

‘Show them in, Lucy,’ I said after a moment’s hesitation. ‘It is probably something to do with the dress.’

Mrs Perkins seemed more birdlike than ever; her eyes darted everywhere, and there was a thin smile on her lips.

She stood stiffly just inside the door, but Sarah was bolder. She strode confidently into the room and seated herself comfortably near the fire.

I suppressed the feeling of irritation that was rising in me and looked questioningly at Mrs Perkins, waiting for her to state her business. She moved uncomfortably, staring down at the carpet, not certain how to begin.

I tried to help her out. ‘Have you come to see me about the dress? Has something gone wrong?’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not that, miss. The gown is almost ready; just a few more stitches in the hem is all it needs.’

‘Well then,’ I said, becoming a little exasperated, ‘is there another matter I can help you with?’

I sat down, hoping she would do the same, but she remained standing, and her face grew a shade paler.

Sarah was staring about her with avid curiosity. There was something unpleasant in the way she seemed to be summing everything up.

‘Please sit down, Mrs Perkins,’ I said sharply, and she was so surprised that she sank down on a chair near the door, her mouth hanging open as she stared at me.

‘Sarah will have money soon,’ Mrs Perkins said, and I frowned, trying to understand what she was talking about. She pointed at her daughter, and for a moment there was a spark of feeling in her pale eyes.

‘Oh yes?’ I said uncertainly.

‘My Sarah will be a fine lady quite soon now.’ She smiled proudly, and Jonathon’s words popped into my mind. He had called Sarah a sow’s ear, somewhat unkindly perhaps. But a fine lady she would never be by any stretch of the imagination.

Mrs Perkins seemed inclined to talk now that she had started, and I let her ramble on, hoping to find out what she wanted of me.

‘So you see, miss, it would only be a loan, just for a little while until Sarah’s married.’ She looked at me hopefully.

Then it occurred to me that she was trying to borrow money on the strength of her daughter’s expectations, whatever they might be.

I watched Mrs Perkins rubbing her thin hands together and felt more than a little sorry for her. She couldn’t have much of a life with a man like Daniel Perkins to contend with, as well as a spoiled, difficult daughter.

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