"Warrington, Freda - A Taste of Blood Wine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Warrington Freda)

"Yes, the War changed everything, you don't have to tell me that. Some women have to look after themselves, but there's no need to do it if you don't have to."
"I don't understand. I'm hopeless at making friends, especially men friends. When you said it's my own fault, and no one would want to marry me, you were probably right." She spoke quietly but there was an edge of bitterness in her voice.
"Oh, that was just the heat of the moment, I expect. I shouldn't be too sure of it." Elizabeth's lips formed a cupid's bow smile that erased all the hardness from her face and made her radiantly pretty; an older, darker-haired Fleur. "Think about it." And she patted Charlotte's arm, and left.
Charlotte could not think what her aunt was implying. She was not even sure she wanted to know. It was hard enough to let her own relatives near her. The thought of some man invading her life in a far more intimate way was repellent.
Suddenly she knew the source of the pain that was tightening inside her like a spring. She wanted love, but some internal mechanism was locking her away from it. Her eyes widened and her fingernails dug into the paint of the windowsill. I'm doing this to myself, but I can't stop.
There was a fatal flaw inside her that was dooming her to a cold and loveless existence, and it was no one's fault except her own.



Chapter Three
Seeing through the Veil
So glad you invited me, old man. Find it a bit hard to get out and socialize these daysЕ well, you know."
"Well, Edward, you should go out more often and I'm going to make damned sure you do from now on." Captain David Neville turned the wheel as he spoke, steering the green open-topped Bentley through the gates of Parkland Hall. The first sight of the estate always raised his spirits. The long drive bisected a gentle upcurve of green that swept away into distant woodland on both sides. Light shone down between the chestnut trees, the oaks and copper beeches. Under the broad level spread of the branches sheep grazed, woolly as clouds outlined by light. And there at the top of the hill stood the Hall, with its straight Georgian lines and its mottled grey walls; plain and magnificent.
David glanced at the thin, pale man in the passenger seat. Edward was the same age as he, twenty-six, although he looked older. His mouse-fair hair was as colourless as his skin and his blue eyes were never still, always taking in everything around him. That alertness, the complete inability to relax, was the least part of the trenches' legacy.
"Soon, all this will be mine," David said drily.
Edward chuckled. "Sounds as if you're planning to bump off your aunt."
"That wouldn't get me far; her husband has two boys of his own from his first marriage. No, I shall just have the responsibility without the privilege of ownership, but that's the way I prefer it. Elizabeth will give me a free hand to administer the estate and I shall thoroughly enjoy the job."
"Will you be living at the Hall itself?"
"No." David looked over to the east, but a copse on the flank of the hill obscured his line of vision. "You can't see it from here, but there's an old manor about a mile off. Bit dilapidated but a splendid house, good thick walls. Anne and I are going to do the place up, it'll be perfect for us."
Edward gazed thoughtfully out of the side window, hands lightly clasped on the walking stick that rested between his knees. "You seem to have it all worked out. I envy you."
David brought the Bentley to a halt. "Listen, old man, I wasn't going to say this until later, but this seems as good a moment as any. I didn't bring you here just for my sister's party. I wanted to see how you like the place. When I become estate manager I'm going to need a right-hand man. What do you say?"
"You want me to work for you?"
"With me, Edward. Can't think of a more reliable man for the jobЕ "
Edward was silent for a few moments. "There must be better people than a shell-shocked soldier. I'm a wreck, David, and you know it. I don't want pity."
"You know me well enough to know it's not pity," David said brusquely. "You can do the job, I need you, and I won't take no for an answer."
A smile spread hesitantly over the lined features. "I'd like nothing better."
"That's the spirit." David clapped him on the shoulder and started the car again. "And while you're at it, propose to one of my sisters, will you? Charlotte should suit you perfectly; she's a bit shy, but take no notice. She's a lovely girl underneath."
"Actually, it's Madeleine I'm rather sweet on."
"Oh, that's what they all say. Why not be original?" They laughed together.
Edward shook his head. "I don't know how many times I've said you don't have to do anything for me, but I have to confess I'm glad."
"Good God, man, will you stop making it sound as if I'm doing you a favour?" David said quietly. "You saved my life. I'm in absolute bloody awe of you."
***
The two blows fell on Charlotte just before the party, one after the other, like the soft double thump of a trap.
There was an hour to go before the guests would begin to arrive. And in this lullЧafter the frantic business of dressing up in costumeЧshe stood with Fleur and Madeleine on the terrace, breathing in the sweetness of the garden. In white shifts and long black wigs, their eyes striped with kohl and bracelets on their bare arms, they looked as if they had stepped down from the walls of Tutankhamon's tomb. In this rage for all things Egyptian, Madeleine had chosen to be Cleopatra, Fleur and Charlotte her handmaidens.
Charlotte had mixed feelings about wearing fancy dress. In one way it made her feel ridiculous and self-conscious, but in another it bestowed a welcome anonymity.
The late summer evening was warm but overcast, darkening early under pearl-soft clouds. Standing on the long sweep of the terrace, with the house rising up on one side and the gardens falling away on the other, Charlotte experienced a wonderful feeling of peace. They had wished Maddy a happy birthday, they had all embraced and kissed, and now they stood here in this perfect moment of accord. Past and future dissolved into mist. There was only now. It was so pleasant to be with her sisters, just listening to them talk.
Fleur seemed her usual self again; good-natured, always smiling a little, yet aloof, as if she considered herself slightly above the world. She was enthusing about the painting she was working on as if nothing else existed. Madeleine listened with uncharacteristic patience, her eyes shining, as if she were waiting for the right moment to impart some news of her own.
Then Fleur asked, "Did you see him again, your wonderful Austrian?"
"He came to the house yesterday." Madeleine put her hand on Fleur's arm. "It was quite unbelievable. I thought Father would just give him a little advice. But he was so taken with Karl that he asked him to come and work in the laboratory."
Charlotte felt her whole body turn rigid, her tranquillity slide away like a receding wave. Madeleine's statement was ambiguous. Fleur asked, "Which one? You mean the Cavendish?"
"No! Aren't you listening? Karl wants to work in our laboratory, and Father said yes!"
"Fancy that," said Fleur, raising her eyebrows.
Madeleine glanced at Charlotte, knowing she would be horrified, watching for her reaction. But Charlotte kept her face expressionless, thinking, Whatever I say, it will be the wrong thing and I refuse to cause an argument.
"Aren't you pleased?" said Fleur.
"I don't know what I feel," Madeleine said quietly. "I only invited him to the lecture as an excuse to see him again. I never expected this to happen."
"But now you'll see him every day."
"Yes, yes. But I had so many plans, people to see, house parties, and now I shan't want to go, because Karl will be in Cambridge."
Fleur stroked Madeleine's arm. "Well, Karl can go with you, can't he? I hardly need to ask if he's taken a fancy to you?"
"I should think he has." Madeleine's expression brightened. "If you only saw the way he looks at me! You're right, Fleur. Everything is going to be perfect." She turned to Charlotte. "Oh, you're not miserable about it, are you, Charli? Please don't be. Not on the best birthday of my life."
Charlotte forced a smile onto her face and shook her head, but her heart felt thick and cold. She felt ashamed of ill-wishing Maddy's happiness. While her sisters lived deep in the stream of life, Charlotte remained on the riverbank, watching life flow past, fleeing from anything new. And she envied them.