Free The Witch from the Sea by Philippa Carr Page B

More like an eaglet I’d say. To me you shall be Girl until you become Wife.”
    “I am of the opinion that after today you will never have an opportunity to call me anything.”
    “We shall see,” he said.
    We rode onward and I was never more pleased to see the familiar portico with the lions on either side. My mother had heard our approach and came running out of the house. Jennet was with her and so was my little sister Damask. I jumped from my horse and threw myself into her arms.
    “Dearest child,” she murmured. “Oh my darling Linnet. What a terrible night it has been.”
    It was so wonderful to see her before me that I forgot everything else but that we were together. She kept looking at me and I knew what terrible anxieties she had suffered until she had word that I was safe. I trembled to think what she would suffer still further when she knew what had happened to me.
    Then I was aware of him. He stood there, his legs wide apart, watching us with an almost benign expression as though he had given us to each other. I wanted to run into the house and hide myself. I saw that he was watching me sardonically. Was he waiting for me to denounce him as my seducer that he might tell them that I had offered no resistance? Did he think they would believe him in preference to me?
    Those moments in the courtyard seemed to go on for a long time. It was as though time was waiting for me to act. I could denounce him. What then? My father was not here but when he came back he would kill Colum Casvellyn. Or he might be killed himself. There was no sense in that. What was done was done.
    I was amazed at myself. Was I reconciled already? I longed to get away from him and think what I must do. I must wait, brood on what had happened, ask myself what I should do about it.
    My mother was saying: “It was good of you to send word that my daughter was safe and again to bring her home as soon as was possible.”
    “I only did what any gentleman would do,” he said, inclining his head.
    I was hard pressed not to shout at him and denounce him for the wicked creature he was, but I saw that it would only upset my mother more.
    “Come into the house and refresh yourself,” said my mother.
    She led him into Lyon Court. He complimented her on the charm of the house. “So modern,” he said, “compared with Castle Paling. They built spaciously in the old days but without the same view to comfort. Of course we improve on the Castle from time to time but it is not the same as doing it all in the best possible way first.”
    “Old houses are so fascinating though,” said my mother.
    “Oh yes. So much has happened in them. When I contemplate the villainies of my ancestors I begin to think the castle must be populated with evil spirits.”
    My mother took him into the small room which led from one of the galleries. Damask looked up admiringly at Colum Casvellyn. He must have seemed like a giant to her. He lifted her up and held her high above his head. I was annoyed that she showed her adoration so blatantly.
    “Damask has taken a fancy to you,” said my mother.
    “And I to Damask. What an unusual name. You have original names in this family.”
    My mother looked pleased. She did not see that he was sneering.
    “Damask is named after her grandmother. She was born the year Dr. Linacre brought the damask rose to England.”
    “And Linnet?” he said, smiling blandly at me.
    “We thought she would be a boy and we had decided to call her Penn—a family name. At the last moment we had to change that and she was so like a little bird …”
    I felt sick with shame. What had happened to my mother’s good sense? Did she not realize that this man was an enemy? Of course she did not know how he had treated me. She saw him only as my rescuer. I wanted to shout the truth. I had a feeling that he was waiting for me to do so and in fact was rather hoping that I would, but something warned me. Wait, I cautioned myself. Do not act rashly. Think