Berry, Steve - Cotton Malone 16 - The Kaiser's Web by Berry Steve

Author:Berry, Steve [Berry, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

SCHLÖSS HERZOG, BAVARIA

12:30 P.M.

Marie slipped her arms into the jacket and finished dressing. Last night she’d done something she’d never done before.

She locked the door to her room.

For over a decade she and Kurt had lived together, but separately, each content with their distance. But sometime after midnight, amid a clatter of thunder and the patter of a summer rain, she’d slipped out of bed and locked the door. At first she thought it all a dream, her senses drifting from what was perceived to what was real.

Why do such a thing?

In her state of semi-awareness she’d slipped back a quarter century, to a time when she and Kurt once enjoyed each other. When love and passion were an element of their relationship that both of them seemed to cherish. Yet so much had happened since. And particularly yesterday. She could still feel his tight grip on her arm.

They tried for years to have a baby.

Finally, testing revealed that it was a mutual issue. He was low on sperm, she was incapable of producing viable eggs. Science had not progressed to the point of today, and by the time it had, they were too old to be having children.

She’d many times thought that loss began their decline.

Perhaps.

Or maybe they should have never been together from the start.

Kurt was the first man she’d ever given herself to, and he would be the last. She was seventy-four years old, way past what anyone would consider the prime of life. Not old. Not finished. But definitely tired. Yet now, staring at herself in the mirror, she concluded that time had certainly been kind, somehow sparing her the indignity of a bulging midline and skin marred like creases in a crumbled sheet of paper. Physically she’d weathered life well. Emotionally depended on the time of year.

June was perennially her month of renewal.

She should have probed Kurt yesterday and found out why he treated her with such contempt, query him on his anger and bitterness, perhaps even try to understand his resentment of all things foreign.

But as always, she’d kept silent.

When she woke this morning she’d quickly unlocked the door, ashamed of herself for being so mistrustful.

Thankfully, no one had noticed her transgression.

A light rap brought her mind back to the present.

She heard the bedchamber door open, then close.

She stepped from the closet and saw Kurt crossing the parquet floor toward her. He was dressed in a striking three-button Zanetti suit with a white Charvet shirt and a Façonnable silk tie.

“I wanted to apologize for yesterday,” he said. “It was inappropriate what I did, speaking that way and grabbing hold of you.”

She appreciated the concession but had to say, “Yes, it was. On both counts.”

“It won’t happen again.”

She could see that he was being sincere.

“You look lovely,” he said.

She’d dressed conservatively, choosing a navy tailored jacket, pleated skirt, and ivory silk blouse. Back to the campaign trail today.

“Is the rain gone?” she asked, trying to make some sort of small talk.

“I was just outside. Sunny and warm.

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.