Seduced by a Stranger by Eve Silver

Author:Eve Silver
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780994052841
Publisher: Eve Silver

11

Catherine had no idea how long she sat in the chair by the window and stared out at the moon. After a time, she saw Gabriel ride away. She had chased him out into the night.

As soon as the thought formed, she squelched it. No. She would not take responsibility for his choices, his actions, his moods. He chose to ride out.

Lucky him.

A part of her wished she could do the same. Ride through the night with the wind slapping her face.

She shook her head. Her thoughts were in turmoil, even as they were wiped clean. She revisited every moment with Gabriel, then she thrust aside any thought of their time together. She did not recognize herself, as though his mere proximity was somehow transforming her, changing her. Freeing her? The thought terrified. She did not want to be free. She wanted to be the woman she had created, controlled, safe behind her walls.

She did not want to remember the wonder of his kiss, the feel of his mouth on hers, the passion that swelled, monstrous and terrifying and beautiful. He frightened her. He soothed her.

She did not want that.

Sleep seemed an impossibility, but she craved the normalcy of routine, and so she rose, removed her clothing, changed to her nightrail. She crossed to the washstand, used her tooth powder, washed her face and hands.

Turning, she spied Mrs. Northrop’s letter and the vile clipping she had sent. Rage and pain swelled and she wanted them gone, wanted them never to have been. She wanted to purge the pain of this loss, and all those that had preceded it.

Of course, that could never be. The holes in her heart, her soul, could never fully mend. But she could do something. Something symbolic.

Taking up the letter and the clipping, she fetched the tin Gabriel had gifted her with. She had used only a single spill, the morning he had given it to her. She had taken Madeline walking by the lake and showed her the wonder of this marvelous thing. Madeline had recoiled from the flames, but Catherine’s joy in the gift had not abated.

The lid pulled open with ease now, and she slowly withdrew a solitary spill and the tiny pliers. Her first attempt failed, for her hands were shaking, her breath too fast. But her second attempt succeeded, the snip of the pliers igniting a small, lovely flame. She stared at it for an instant, feeling the glow reach inside her, warming her, lighting her way. Then she held the flame to the edge of the papers in her hand. A swell of heat. Licking tongues that curled and twined. Hungry.

Almost did she singe her fingers, but at the last, she tossed the tiny glowing remnant into the fire that already burned in the hearth.

“Goodbye, Martha,” she whispered. “Rest easy.” Easier in death than she had in life.

There were no tears now. She had cried herself dry.

Crossing to the window once more, she took up her silver-backed brush and settled in the chair.

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