This Other Eden Read Online Free PDF

tell her he was sorry, then something tightened in
his face. "Perhaps it's just as well," he said, turning his back on
the fallen man. There was an air of authority about him now, like the bearer of
bad tidings. He wasn't responsible for the content of the message. "It will take place," he announced, moving toward the door. "My plea went
unheeded."
     
    When
his announcement brought no audible response from the others in the room, he
turned back almost angry, quite defensive, "Her offense warrants it. I can
assure you of that," he added. "She was given every opportunity to
apologize and she refused."
     
    The
disbelief and condemnation of every eye in the room was on him now, an
intolerable burden. He stepped quickly through the doorway as though to end the
distasteful encounter. Then slowly he came back, a portion of his authority
gone, replaced now by decent compassion. "I'm sorry, Jenny," he
muttered. "I tried to convince him it would serve no purpose." He
shook his head, recalling the futile encounter with Lord Eden. "I tried to
tell him that Dolly Wisdom could—" He broke off and concluded simply with,
"He refused. Everything."
     
    A
bleak silence fell over the room. In an attempt to lighten their burden as well
as his own, he added, "It will be only ten strokes." He lowered his
head, eyes closed. "She won't like it, but she'll survive it"
     
    One
woman mourned, "Sweet Jesus, she's only sixteen."
     
    Ragland
countered, "Her youth will be in her favor."
     
    One
of the men asked, "Who is to administer the punishment?"
     
    Ragland
looked sharply in the direction of the question. "The same as
always," he said, annoyed. "Who else?"
     
    Still
there was no end to their misery. "The same as always" was as good as
saying Satan himself. Indeed Satan was another word for Jack Spade, head
overseer for the Eden estates, the man whose power outside the castle walls was
equivalent to that which Ragland held inside the fortress, a highly trusted man
known for his blind obedience to Lord Eden, with brute force in the breadth of
his shoulders and a slightly vacant look in his red face, red eyebrows, long
red hair, and thick red-splotched bull neck. The news that Jack Spade was to
administer the punishment plunged them even deeper into gloom, until every
occupant of the room looked as distracted and unseeing as Hartlow himself.
     
    Jenny
murmured, "He'll kill her."
     
    "No,"
Ragland promised. "I'll be there."
     
    It
was a small comfort, but the best he could offer. Now it was clear that he'd
had enough of the grim gathering. He retreated over the threshold. A clear look
of pain crossed his face, as though this last message was perhaps the hardest.
"Remember," he added in a weak voice, "it is to be public."
He faltered, then went on. "It will go easier on her if you climb the cliff
tomorrow. At seven."
     
    All
eyes in the room were on him, a new resistance in their expressions, something
akin to hate, as though Ragland were not merely the emissary from the source of
all authority, but the authority himself.
     
    One
man standing in shadows muttered angrily, "Has he gone yet? There is a
stench in the room."
     
    Ragland
looked toward the voice, sorrow creasing his eyes, but still resolved through a
total lack of options. His hands were trembling as he reached out through the
opened doorway as though for support. "Hartlow, too," he called back,
his voice breaking. "It's important that her father witness, and her
brother—"
     
    Apparently
he could not finish. He muttered something and stumbled out into the hot night.
     
    A
dog barked somewhere in the distance. There was the continuous hum of the surf.
Then, as though their constitutions had no more strength for endurance, the men
began to drift toward the door. Jenny urged them on with considerate tones.
"You go," she suggested, "all of you. I'll sit with him. He may
come around."
     
    One
woman passing by the fallen Hartlow prayed, "Please God that he