tales of the latter kingdom 08 - moon dance Read Online Free PDF Page B

another.
    Or perhaps she was merely doing her best to hide her disappointment. My cousin had always reminded me of the stream that flowed across my uncle’s lands — bright and chattering and not overly deep. Perhaps it was simply not in her nature to feel a hurt all that deeply, especially when nothing formal had been arranged.
    Whatever her true feelings, I found myself relieved that no one attempted to engage me in the conversation, and that I was able to pick up my needle and apply myself as best I could to repairing the damaged lace at the neckline of my good chemise. Nothing could induce me to like needlework, but at least when I was mending something, I could tell myself I was doing some good by extending the life of a garment.
    At length, the dinner bell sounded from somewhere below, and we all happily set aside our projects — which would be brought to our rooms later by one of the maids — and headed down to dinner. Lord Mayson was nowhere in evidence, and my aunt explained that he had gone to have his dinner at the estate of Sir Locksen, a neighbor whose lands bordered those of my uncle.
    I had not known that Mayson and Sir Locksen were good friends, for our houseguest had never shown any particular interest in the elderly knight and his family before. But I guessed that Lord Mayson had decided to absent himself from our company for the evening because he had not quite regained his composure after his little confrontation with me down by the creek.
    For the barest moment, I wondered if I had made the wrong decision, whether I should have accepted his suit as my aunt had wished me to. But no. It did trouble me to have upset Mayson, but even my worry over his well-being did not serve to change my mind.
    And so our dinner was a quiet enough meal, with Adalynn, as usual, dominating the conversation. My uncle was a kindly man, still obviously besotted with his wife even after so many years of marriage, and so he did not do much to guide the discussion, but only listened and nodded, and from time to time signaled for one of the servants to refill his plate. He was one of those lucky men who could consume whatever he wished and still remain as lean as he had been when he was younger, and so, while I was now more or less used to the prodigious amounts he could eat, I still could not help but be astonished by the feat.
    At length it was time to go upstairs. We all bade the lord and lady of the castle good night, then went up to our rooms.
    Janessa was also quiet as she got ready for bed, although I noted a speculative gleam in her eyes as she looked over at me. Just as we were slipping beneath the covers of our narrow beds, placed up against opposite walls, she said, “So it is true that Lord Mayson has asked for you.”
    “Not at all,” I lied. I did not see the point in telling her the truth, for then I would have to explain why I had refused him…and I was not sure I could even explain that to myself. Not convincingly, anyway.
    “That is what Carella was saying.”
    I wondered if Carella had somehow managed to hang back and eavesdrop on my conversation with her mother. “Well, Carella can sometimes have incorrect impressions about things. I can assure you that I am definitely not engaged to Lord Mayson.”
    “Hmm.” Janessa wriggled about under her bedclothes, but she said nothing else, and so I prayed that would be the end of her questions.
    Apparently it was, for a few short minutes later, I heard her breathing deepen and become more regular. I let out a small sigh of relief, and hoped I would slip into slumber just as easily. It had been an odd and long and rather tiring day.
    My wish was granted, it seemed, for the darkened room blurred around me and then slipped into blackness.
    I cannot say if I dreamed. All I do know is that something woke me much later, something that made me sit up in my bed with a start, although I could not recall hearing any sound in particular. I sat there for a moment, blinking