Serabelle: Where the Wealthy Come to Play by Tavi Taylor Black

Author:Tavi Taylor Black [Black, Tavi Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

The Commandments

Rebecca moved slowly down the back staircase to avoid Mr. Hunt. She had spent the last few days listening for gossip, unable to bring herself to ask too many questions of the staff. She certainly hated to hear that the master might be responsible for the dog’s death; though she didn’t doubt Mrs. Hunt—would never dare doubt Mrs. Hunt—the idea that anyone could be so cruel, so intentionally mean as to kill a dog, seemed impossible. Mr. Hunt surely was unpredictable, but a killer? She shivered.

Mrs. Hunt was becoming impatient with her. How was she to find out? Rebecca walked the first-floor hallway, nodding to Mr. Hunt’s nurse, who shuffled back from the pantry with a snack. It would be hours, Rebecca was sure, before Mr. Hunt was back in his room, now that he was feeling better. She had seen him follow some pretty young woman into the library on the night of the gala after Mrs. Hunt had been carried upstairs. He was a hateful man, really—and unholy, breaking all the commandments—or nearly all the ones she could think of.

Rebecca stopped and recounted the commandments as best she could:

Thou shalt have no other Gods than me; Remember the Sabbath; Do not take the Lord’s name in vain; Honor thy parents; Thou shalt not commit adultery. Rebecca flushed, just thinking of all these sins, and barreled on. Thou shalt not murder—who knew what Mr. Hunt was capable of?

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. The neighbor Rebecca pictured was the old widow who lived in the estate south of Serabelle. She saw the old woman some days from the top floor, out in her garden in a slip of a nightgown, full jewels laid atop her wrinkled skin. Diamonds and rubies glinted around her neck and wrists, dangling from her ears. Once, Rebecca had seen the old lunatic wearing a tiara. The widow occasionally joined Mrs. Hunt for tea on the patio, bringing along baskets, hearty looking odd-shaped fruits she said came from Asia. She would wear pants and big floppy hats, inappropriate dress for a lady of any age, Rebecca thought. (Mrs. Hunt felt the same—Rebecca had heard her say so.) These old wealthy people could get away with practically anything. Oh, Lord, Rebecca thought. If Mr. Hunt was coveting that neighbor, she didn’t want to know about it.

Rebecca splayed her fingers out: three more to go. She should know all the commandments off the top of her head. How could someone obey laws she couldn’t remember?

Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not… bear false witness.

The last commandment came to her as she exited the kitchen’s back door, taking the path around the back of the main house to the servants’ quarters, hurrying in the growing dusk of the evening. From the corner of the property, she saw the two figures atop pedestals guarding the front patio.

No false idols. She had moved beyond thinking about Mr. Hunt’s place on the scale of righteousness and on to considering her own transgressions.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.