"Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - The Spider Glass" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yarbro Chelsea Quinn)

тАЬBut he didnтАЩt summon the Watch,тАЭ Whittenfield said slyly. тАЬHe held her hands and stared hard at her.
And though it was deepest night, Sabrina said in her journal that she had the uneasy feeling that he could
see her plainly. He demanded to know what she was about, in Dutch, of course.тАЭ

тАЬOf course,тАЭ Dominick said as he refilled his glass and poured more port for his cousin.

тАЬShe does mention that he had an accent she could not place, but that is to be expected, since she had no
more than a few words of the language herself. She tried to explain that she had only fallen, but he did not
believe her. He also realized that her native tongue was not Dutch, for he addressed her in French and
German and then English, of which, Sabrina insists, he had fluent command.тАЭ Whittenfield drank half of
his port with the air of a man making a sacrifice.

тАЬGo on, Charles!тАЭ Twilford bellowed.

тАЬIn good time; I must not abuse this wine.тАЭ He drank again, less deeply, and set the glass down on the
rolled arm of his chair where it balanced precariously. тАЬSo this foreigner discovered that she was English
and upon learning that, asked to be told how she came to be in a back street in Antwerp. At first Sabrina
refused to answer him, saying that it was her concern. He protested that since she had attempted to rob
him, he was entitled to some explanation before he called in the authorities. It was that threat that caused
her to tell him what had befallen her. At least that is what her journal says on the next day, though there
are later entries that hint at other factors.тАЭ

тАЬWhat other factors?тАЭ Hamworthy spoke up. тАЬDonтАЩt be mysterious, Charles. What factors are you
talking about?тАЭ

Whittenfield lifted his wine and stared into its garnet-colored depths. His expression was slightly
bemused. тАЬOther factorsтАж well, itтАЩs hard to know how much to believe, but this man was not what
Sabrina had expected. She remarks, several days later, upon his kindness, which she first perceived that
night. Apparently she held nothing back, and out of caprice or compassion he made a bargain with her.тАЭ

тАЬI can imagine the bargain,тАЭ Twilford said, his tremendous side-whiskers bristling like the jowls of a
tomcat.

тАЬNo, you canтАЩt,тАЭ Whittenfield corrected him mildly. тАЬYou know what most women, and men, too, for
that matter, would expect at such times. Yet that was not SabrinaтАЩs experience. She says in her journal
that she wondered at first if he was one of those whose love is inverted, but it turned out otherwise. She
made a bargain with this foreigner, as I say. She agreed to live in the house he had bought, to keep it for
him. He did not object to her children and gave her permission to care for them as she felt best. He did
not require them to serve himтАФтАЭ

тАЬWell, they were what, one and three? Hardly old enough to wait upon anyone, foreigner or not,тАЭ
Dominick pointed out.

тАЬThere was the matter of bonds,тАЭ the sixth guest said quietly.

тАЬPrecisely,тАЭ Whittenfield agreed. тАЬAnd this foreigner did not require that Cesily and Herbert be bonded
to him, which was something of a wonder in those times. Sabrina mentions in her journal that her
employerтАЩs manservant told her that he had been a bondsman, and when his master found him he refused
to continue the bond.тАЭ