Wheel of Fate by Kate Sedley

Author:Kate Sedley [Kate Sedley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Published: 2010-01-31T13:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

I caught my breath.

‘You saw her? You’re sure of that?’

‘I’m not absolutely certain, no. But as sure as I can be. As I said, she was walking towards the Bishop’s Gate. I was just on my way to ring the bell for sext, or I would have tried to attract her attention. That’s how I know it was before dinner.’

I frowned. ‘I thought sext was at noon.’

‘Not in the summer,’ he reminded me gently. ‘The office is said earlier once the warmer days arrive.’

‘I’d forgotten,’ I answered vaguely, my mind only half on what the priest was saying. I laid a hand on his arm and shook it. ‘Can you recall if she was alone, Father, or was there someone with her?’

Sir Berowne shook his head. ‘Now that I couldn’t tell you. There were so many people abroad this morning. What with it being May Day and then folk crowding into the city to hear the Duke of Gloucester’s proclamation at Paul’s Cross as well as all the usual traffic of a normal day, the track was very crowded. Mistress Godslove might have been accompanied, it’s true. There was a man close on her heels, but that could just have been coincidence. I’ve told you, the roadway was busy. Even busier than normal. But for sweet heaven’s sake, my son, why are you so concerned? At the risk of repeating myself, Celia is a grown woman; even, some might think, a little long in the tooth. Oh, don’t misunderstand me.’ He threw up his hands, grimy as always from digging in his garden. ‘An attractive enough woman, but long past the age when she should be wed. And she’s not a prisoner. Surely, she can come and go as she pleases?’

Impatiently, I pulled him into the side of the track where we were less likely to impede the progress of others. We had already given offence to more than one person in a hurry and caused at least three carts to swerve to avoid us.

‘You don’t understand, Father,’ I said. ‘Celia went out without leaving word for anyone as to where she was going or who she was going to visit, and has not been seen since early this morning. She joined the children in the garden, just after breakfast, to play hide-and-seek . . .’

‘Oh, was that all the noise I heard, then?’ my companion interrupted with an air of enlightenment. ‘I had occasion to visit one of my parishioners who lives further up the track, a poor childless widow who has been unwell, and as I passed the Arbour I could hear the children laughing and shouting. Such a merry sound I thought it, and just what that old house needs, so sombre and gloomy as it always seems. And good for Mistress Celia, I should—’

I cut in ruthlessly on these happy reflections. ‘For heaven’s sake, man, Celia hasn’t returned from wherever it was she was going and it’s nearly suppertime! Her sisters are frantic with worry after all that’s occurred these past two years.

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.