The Curse of the Golden Touch by G. M. Mckay

Author:G. M. Mckay [Mckay, G. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: StonePony Studios
Published: 2019-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Dinner was a strangely formal affair that evening. Instead of serving us in our rooms, Belinda and Aimee had set out the dining room table properly and we gathered around in the stiff, high-backed chairs and ate a six-course meal fit for royalty.

I was surprised when Jacob and Estelle, and then Aimee and Belinda, found spaces for themselves at the table and sat down as naturally as could be. Not that I minded, of course, but I’d have thought that Great Aunt Ruthless would have been a stickler for the rule that the help ate somewhere else out of sight.

“We run a strange house here,” Belinda said, catching my eye. “Ruth had her own ideas and I suspect that she was often lonely. She decided long ago that meal times were when everyone would gather and discuss the running of the house together. She always insisted that we were a team and that Dark Lady Farm was the master of us all, not herself.”

“Is,” Estelle corrected quickly, “you meant to say Ruth is.”

“Of course I did,” Belinda coughed, looked down at her plate and took a large bite of chicken.

Xan and Estelle sat close together, talking quietly to themselves and practically ignoring everyone else, their heads nearly touched as they laughed over some private joke.

Watching Xan and Estelle so cozy together sent a little pang of longing through my chest. Once upon a time that had been Frederick and me, in our own little world, laughing over something silly that nobody else would understand. And it wasn’t that I missed Frederick for himself, even I could see that he’d been a complete jerk, but I missed having a second half, that someone who was supposed to be always in my corner.

I caught Gil watching me from across the table and knew he’d guess my glum thoughts, but as soon as I smiled, he looked away abruptly and struck up a conversation with Belinda beside him.

After that, it was a silent meal for me. I ate the delicious food, lost in my own thoughts and listening half-heartedly to the conversation around me.

Belinda suggested that everyone retire to one of the little sitting rooms for dessert and coffee, and I thought that maybe this was my chance to slip away and go mope in my room alone for a while. Maybe Morris would be there to curl up with me.

“Now, don’t run away so quickly,” Belinda said quietly, coming up behind me just as I was heading down the hallway. “You come along to the library; I have something to show you.”

“I was just going to my room to rest,” I said, “I think I might have a headache coming on.”

“I expect that will clear up once you’ve had a moment to yourself. If you don’t mind, I’d also like to have a quick word with you,” Belinda said. “Alone.”

“Oh, all right.” I shrugged and followed her down the hall.

We went through the little hidden door into the library and found Aimee already kneeling on the hearth lighting a fire.

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