Come to Castlemoor by Wilde Jennifer;

Author:Wilde, Jennifer;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media Romance

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I had lost all appetite, and although the meal was lavish, I could only make a pretense of eating the succulent food Dorothea had had prepared for this occasion. I merely pushed the silver fork across the exquisite china plate. I sipped the wine in the crystal goblet and found it light, heady, and I drank more. The servant came to refill my glass. I smiled, nodded, and lifted the glass to my lips. Burton Rodd was watching me, amused. A cynical smile flickered on his mouth, and his dark eyes sparkled maliciously. I drank half the wine, glaring at him defiantly. He nodded slightly, as though to acknowledge my accomplishment. I set the glass down, a little too abruptly. When it clattered on the table, the others looked at me. I pretended not to notice.

“Ah, Egypt!” exclaimed Dorothea, who had been recounting her experiences as a young bride. With sunshade overhead and husband in tow, she had been an intrepid explorer, traveling from country to country with incredible zest. “The hot sun, the burning sands, the Nile! Crocodiles, my dear, swarming around the boat like vile green logs! My husband was petrified and kept asking the boatman if there was any danger! I stood at that helm and tossed chunks of bread to the creatures, thrilled, simply thrilled when they snapped open their jaws to gulp the food.”

I only half listened. My head seemed to be spinning. I took another sip of the wine, hoping it would help steady the spinning sensation. I was suddenly intrigued with the candles in their heavy silver holders. The pear-shaped flames seemed to dip and dance, flinging golden light all over the huge, baronial table. We all sat at one end of the table, but even so we were far apart. Dorothea sat at the head, Edward on her left, her son at her right. I sat beside Edward, several feet away from him, in fact, and Nicola sat across from me, her eyes lowered, her face alarmingly pale in the shifting light.

“The pyramids! You’ve never seen anything like them. They were excavating, and we actually went inside one of the grand ruins. Long passages all covered with hieroglyphics. I had the weirdest feeling! And when we saw the mummy, all wrapped in dusty linen.”

I had failed with Nicola. I had wanted so badly to help her to assure her of my friendship, yet it had been impossible to communicate with her. She had not spoken to me since we left her room. Once we joined the others, she had turned back into the demure, self-effacing creature I had seen when I first came. She showed Dorothea the bracelet, smiled meekly, withdrew into her shell. What demons haunted the girl? What living nightmare caused her to have such delusions? Her sickness must be deeply ingrained, as Edward had indicated. I felt a great compassion for the girl. I wished there had been some way I could have communicated it to her. Now, in her eyes, I was an enemy, incredulous, unbelieving.

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