The Dark Unwinding by Cameron Sharon

Author:Cameron Sharon [Sharon, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: ePub Bud (www.epubbud.com)
Published: 2012-09-19T16:00:00+00:00

I made a noise of disbelief at that, and he reached out and yanked me to a stop, pulling me around to

face him. “Then why won’t you lie? Why? You understand him! Better than I do in some ways and I’ve

had the running of him since I was a boy. If you won’t do it for us, then for God’s sake do it for him!”

His voice rang against the wood, glass, and gilding. I waited for the sound of it to die before I spoke.

“My aunt will find out the truth and take Uncle Tully away no matter what I tell her. And Stranwyne, too.

And if she finds I’ve lied to her — when she finds I’ve lied — she’ll leave me to the streets without a

thought.” I pulled my arm away. “I can’t keep Uncle Tully out of an asylum, and I can’t keep the villagers

out of the workhouse. The only person I can possibly save is myself.” I pushed my wheels against the

floor and rolled away from him. I was no Joan of Arc. His voice came from right beside me.

“You needn’t always live with your aunt.”

“She is my guardian. She’ll hold my purse strings until she dies.”

“Have you no inheritance of your own?”

I shook my head. He swore softly, and we began our fourteenth circle.

“Then you will marry.”

Again I shook my head. It had been made plain over the course of too many years that there was

nothing in or about me to draw the attention of a man. Even now it was so. Lane had only brought me here

to get something he wanted. Perhaps he had come to the same conclusion as the village: sugar, instead of

vinegar. He reached out and pulled me to a stop again, gently this time. I turned my face away.

“Lie for him,” he said. “Please, Katharine.”

I could not answer; there were no answers to give, but I also couldn’t breathe. It had seemed so

natural when he said my Christian name, thoughtless even, and yet never had I heard it spoken in such a

way. In his voice, my name had almost been … beautiful. My eyes were drawn upward, slowly, and then I

was drowning in a gaze that covered me like a calm gray sea, a look I’d seen only one time before and

told myself I’d imagined.

“Just say you’ll think on it,” he said. “We don’t have to talk of it again. But say you’ll think on it, and

that you’ll come back to the workshop. For Mr. Tully.”

I nodded, still mesmerized, and he took both my hands in his, pulling me to the center of the ballroom.

I did not resist.

“I’m going to teach you how to spin,” he said. “Davy showed me, he …” But he loosened his grip on

my right hand, which I had not bothered to bind up again. “Did I hurt you?”

I looked down at the red-marked hand he still held, pale against his tan. “No,” I whispered. “It’s

healing.”

“Good. Then we’re going to spin.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“It’s easier than the other things you’ve done.

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.