The Light in the Darkness by Ellen Fisher

Author:Ellen Fisher
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780307829986
Publisher: Loveswept
Published: 2013-10-14T07:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Fall came to Virginia at last, splashing the forest with vivid shades of crimson and topaz. The wild geese began to fly overhead, and Grey began to take a fowling piece out with him every few days and bring home a plump goose for dinner. The geese were lovely, their black heads contrasting beautifully with their gray bodies, and Jennifer hated to see them killed, but they were delicious, and their feathers were useful for stuffing mattresses and pillows.

Other migrating birds passed through: the descriptively named canvasbacks, small ducks with long bills known as shovelers, and the green-headed mallards. Sometimes the ducks also found their way onto the Greysons’ dining table. As the days grew colder, however, and the leaves fell from the trees, many of the birds flew further south.

Grey groaned inwardly as someone knocked on the door of his study one gloomy winter afternoon. Life with two females, he thought with irritation, was deucedly annoying. It seemed that he was never left alone in peace and quiet any more. Even his study, which had once been his refuge, was no longer sacrosanct. All too often nowadays his quiet afternoons were disturbed by Jennifer practicing the harpischord in the parlor, which was across from the study, or by Catherine tapping on his door like a damned woodpecker.

Today he particularly wanted to be left alone. This morning the first winter storm of the year had arrived bringing icy, stinging, rain. The ground turned slick and dangerous, making it impossible for Grey and Jennifer to take their customary ride. He had to admit grudgingly to himself that he missed her. For the first time, he was becoming painfully aware of how much he enjoyed her company.

He was even more irritated because he had spent most of the day moping and fighting the insane impulse to walk into the parlor and suggest to his wife that they pass the time playing draughts or chess. She, on the other hand, had spent the morning constructively, practicing the harpischord. It was more than evident, he thought with annoyance, that she did not miss their daily ride at all. She did not miss his company.

With these thoughts circulating through his mind, he ignored the knock at the door, hoping whoever it was would go away. The knock came again, more loudly this time, and Grey sighed.

“What the hell do you want?” he demanded.

The door opened, and Catherine, clad in an unfashionably high-necked dark gray gown, came in. “I’ll take that as an invitation to enter,” she said calmly, smiling at him. Grey did not return the smile. Whenever Catherine smiled at him there was trouble in the offing.

“What is so important,” he said tightly, “that you must disturb me?”

Catherine sat down in one of the leather-upholstered chairs and faced him. “I have had a brilliant idea,” she began. “More than brilliant. Astonishing, extraordinary—”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, get on with it,” Grey growled.

Catherine looked slightly wounded. “Very well. It seems to me that I should consider finding another place to reside.

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