Sick of Shadows Read Online Free PDF

anyway. I get tired of beating Tommy Simmons. He’s Bryce’s new law partner, so he doesn’t get much of a chance to practice.”
    Elizabeth stared at her companion. “But if
he’s
Mr. Bryce’s new law partner, then who—”
    Just then Amanda appeared in the doorway with her best company smile. “Oh, here you are, Elizabeth. Dinner is ready. You and Alban come along.”
    When Amanda had marched away to assemble the rest of the family, Alban turned back to Elizabeth. “I gather I’m not what you expected.”
    “Did I tell you I’m considering a career in the diplomatic corps?” asked Elizabeth faintly.
    He laughed. “I always got along with you, Cousin Elizabeth. You were my favorite relative.”
    Elizabeth was puzzled by this remark, because she could scarcely remember Alban speaking to her at all,but she had made enough gaffes for one day, so she made no reply. It was probably an exaggerated form of Southern politeness, she decided.
    Charles and Geoffrey were already in the dining room, standing stiffly behind their chairs like sentries. Even Charles had put on a coat and tie for dinner, probably because anyone more casually dressed would feel uncomfortable in the strict formality of Amanda’s dining room.
    Elizabeth stole a glance at Alban, who was padding to his place in bleached sneakers and sweat socks without a flicker of self-consciousness. Of course, there’s no telling what
he’s
got, she thought. His dining room may make this look like a Dairy Queen.
    It would have been hard to outdo Amanda Chandler in traditional opulence, however. The room was a careful blending of red and silver: crimson carpet and curtains; white linen tablecloth stretched across a William and Mary table with places for twelve; red roses in silver bowls for the centerpiece and on the sideboard, where more silver serving dishes gleamed. Even the huge painting on the long wall conformed to the color scheme: a bloody stag lay collapsed in the snow while wolves approached him, their red tongues lolling.
    “So appropriate for our dining room, don’t you think?” asked Geoffrey, nodding toward’ the painting.
    Amanda and her sister Louisa appeared in the doorway, their conversation in full swing. “…  Though if we don’t get some rain soon, heaven knows what’s to be done about it …”
    “Better notify the florist in case you need him, dear,” Louisa replied. “You know they cannot conjure up arrangements at the last moment.”
    “Yes, but I did want to do the flowers myself from the garden. Those things from Wallers are so trite, they might as well be plastic!”
    “Amanda, you don’t have any flowers to speak of,” her sister reminded her.
    “Well, I was thinking of
your
garden, actually, Louisa. You know what a genius you are with growing things.I just know that you could create something perfectly splendid—oh, good evening, everybody!”
    “General Patton and Omar Bradley have arrived!” Geoffrey announced.
    Amanda ignored this sally. “Elizabeth, you are over there between Alban and Charles; and, Louisa, of course you’ll be on Dad’s right, across from me. I think we can all sit down; the others are on their way.”
    Louisa, a smaller, grayer version of Amanda, took her place beside her son. “Well, Alban, you are a sight!” she twittered, frowning at his tennis outfit.
    “Sorry, Mother.” Alban grinned. “I considered it, and decided that being late would be the greater social crime, so I came as I was. Oh, Aunt Amanda, Simmons sent word that he’ll be around tomorrow morning on his legal errand, whatever it is.”
    “Thank you, Alban, we were expecting him. Oh, Robert, here you are! You remember Elizabeth, of course? Do sit down. Where is everybody else?”
    “I’m right here, my girl,” said Captain Grandfather, taking his place at the head of the table. “And don’t tell me I’m late, because you said twenty hundred hours.”
    “Never in my life have I said ‘twenty hundred