Emerald by Emerald (retail) (epub)

Author:Emerald (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788638876
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2019-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘Charlotte, are you awake?’ It was Wenna, and I glanced down at the cold tea in my cup and hastily tipped it into the plant bowl; then I lay on the bed and turned my face to the wall, pretending to sleep.

‘Poor little mite.’ Wenna was obviously standing over me. ‘I wish I could help you to be with your loved ones more quickly. Poor little Charlotte.’

She bent down and pulled a shawl over my shoulders, and her hands were gentle. How could I even suspect her of doing me harm? All the same, I kept quite still and listened as she moved around the room, opening cupboards and moving my possessions about.

Perhaps she was packing my clothes for me. I turned over onto my back. Hearing the movement, she glided over the floor and let herself out quietly.

I went to the cupboard and looked inside. There among my dresses was a box, and around it Wenna had tied some bright ribbons. Curiously I opened it and gasped in astonishment. Inside the box was the most beautiful gold and sapphire pendant I had ever seen. I picked it up and held it to the light, and a thousand candles might have been glowing behind the large stones.

There was a knock on the door, and quickly I hid the pendant behind my back.

‘Oh, you are awake now. Wenna told me to call you for tea,’ Greyson said as he came into the room, looking at me anxiously. ‘Is anything wrong, Charlotte? You look quite pale. I hope you are not feeling ill again. I had hoped you were improving.’

‘Look at this, Greyson. Wenna just put it in my cupboard.’ I held the gleaming trinket out, he came and took it from me.

‘Are you sure?’ he said in bewilderment. ‘Wenna has never owned anything as valuable as this, not to my knowledge, anyway.’

‘Of course I’m sure,’ I snapped impatiently. ‘I saw her put the box in my cupboard.’

‘Why didn’t she give you the box directly?’ Greyson sat down on the bed and examined the pendant closely.

For a moment I didn’t know how to answer. How could I tell him I had been feigning sleep?

‘I was half asleep, and I saw her put the box in the cupboard,’ I said. ‘I suppose she didn’t want to wake me.’

Greyson looked at me. ‘If you were half asleep, then you couldn’t be sure it was Wenna.’

I shrugged. ‘Of course it was Wenna. I heard her voice.’ As soon as I spoke, I realised how silly I sounded.

‘Whom was she speaking to, if you were half asleep?’ Greyson said quickly, and I had the feeling I was being cross-examined for some reason that I didn’t understand.

‘Why all this,’ I said, ‘just because Wenna left me a present? I wish I hadn’t shown you now.’

He threw the pendant at me. ‘There is an inscription that should interest you,’ he said. ‘That was one of the pieces of jewellery given to your mother from the Plas Melyn estate.

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