"Andre Norton & Rosemary Edghill - Carolus Rex 1 - The Shadow of Albion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

boots upon her feet.
But Mrs. Kennet apparently saw nothing to dislike in me picture before her. She
seated herself carefully in the chair opposite Sarah, a momentary look of unease
crossing her mobile patrician features, as if she suffered some inward pang.
тАЮIs something wrong?тАЬ Sarah asked.
тАЮA touch of indigestion, perhaps тАУ I will not say that travel disagrees with me, but
the victualing that one finds in oneтАЩs travels certainly does. But you will wonder, and
rightly so, what business an entire stranger may have with you,тАЬ Mrs. Kennet said
briskly.
Sarah had schooled her features to polite interest, and Mrs. Kennet smiled. тАЮHow
rarely one finds such mannerliness in the young!тАЬ she commented. From her sleeve
she withdrew a billet of ivory vellum sealed with a red blotch of wax, and extended it
toward Sarah.
Sarah took it and gazed down at the picture in the wax: a crowned Salamander in
flames, surrounded by a ribbon of Latin motto too blurred to make out тАЮIt is the seal
of the Dukes of Wessex тАУ a not inconsiderable power in England,тАЬ her mentor
commented.
тАЮThis cannot be for me,тАЬ Sarah said in bewilderment тАЮIt is, if you are Cordelia
HerriardтАЩs great-granddaughter. She married a Richard Masham, did she not?тАЬ
тАЮHer son was my motherтАЩs grandfather, so I suppose I am. But тАУ тАЬ
тАЮRead your letter тАУ and then, if you please, you may tell me what it contains, for
that is one consideration Her Grace never rendered me.тАЬ
Sarah broke the seal and scanned the pages of precise elegant script, her
confusion deepening by the moment The writer spoke of an ancient wrong done to
the Herriards by her own family, of betrayal and unlawful attainder, and of a suit
before the Chancery Court that had taken more than a century and the reigns of
half-a-dozen kings to wend its way to completion.
тАЮBut this is foolishness!тАЬ Sarah burst out, passing the pages to her companion
half-read. тАЮWhat can any of this have to do with me?тАЬ
Mrs. Kennet glanced over the pages briefly before she replied.
тАЮIt is best you know from the first that my patron is the Dowager Duchess of
Wessex, and I have some cause to know that noble family well, for mine has served
theirs since before your unhappy ancestress was exiled to this bitter place. If the St.
Iveses and the Dyers feel that some redress is owed you, then be sure they will find
some way to pay their debt down to the last haтАЩpenny.тАЬ
тАЮBut what can they owe to me?тАЬ Sarah asked again.
Mrs. Kennet smiled. тАЮChild, that matters not in me face of their determination that
they shall pay. I see from this letter that the Dowager wishes you to come to
England тАУ is there any reason that you may not accompany me when I take ship next
week?тАЬ
Sarah had hesitated only momentarily, the certain future here at home weighing
very lightly against a future that held, at least, the allure of difference.
тАЮThere is no reason at all, Mrs. Kennet. I shall be delighted to accompany you,тАЬ
Sarah said firmly.
In her tiny cabin on the Lady Bright, Sarah refolded the Dowager Duchess of
WessexтАЩs letter once more. She had withdrawn her promise a thousand times in the
week that had followed, for Cousin Masham was not shy in awarding the rough side
of her tongue to both Sarah Cunningham and the тАЮEnglish adventuressтАЬ who had
beguiled her, but Mrs. Kennet was one who delighted in pitched battle, as well as
one who listened to oneтАЩs first words and conveniently ignored the last. Sarah, had