Free The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt

corner. We had difficulty in finding it but I knew it was a Collison by the style. Having seen your daughter, I have come to the conclusion that it is a picture of a member of the family. There is a resemblance. Colouring and a certain’ he paused and I could not read the expression in his eyes ‘je ne sais quoi… But I have always been aware of it.”
    “I very much look forward to seeing that,” said my father.
    “You shall. You most certainly shall.”
    I was excited by the talk of art and his obvious knowledge. I was most eager to learn as much as I could about him and I felt I was not doing too badly. I knew that he was arrogant, rich, powerful, that he had always had his own way and planned to go on doing just that. He was knowledgeable about art and had a real feeling for it. It would be almost impossible to deceive him, I was sure. I was eager to talk with my father as to how we should deal with this difficult situation and the thought that it would begin the next morning filled me with apprehension.
    When we rose from the dining table we went back to the room with the painted ceiling. Liqueurs were served there; I found the drink sweet and pleasant.
    After a while the Baron said: “Monsieur Collison is tired, I see.
    Bertrand, you will conduct him to his room. Mademoiselle Collison, I see that you are not tired. You would, I am sure, prefer to remain and chat a while. “
    I said that was so, and Bertrand took my father to his room, leaving me alone with the Baron and Madame St. Giles.
    “Tomorrow,” he said, looking at me, “I shall show you my treasures.
    Have you explored the castle yet? “
    “Monsieur de Mortemer has been very good. He has shown me a little.”
    The Baron snapped his fingers.
    “Bertrand has not the feeling for the castle … wouldn’t you say so, Nicole?”
    “Well, it is yours, isn’t it? He, like the rest of us, is but a guest here.”
    The Baron patted Nicole’s knee rather affectionately. I thought he must be on very familiar terms with her.
    “Well, Mademoiselle Collison,” he said, ‘you know how it is. This is my home. It is built by my ancestor and is one of the first the Normans built in France. There were Centevilles living here from the early days when Great Rollo came harrying the coast of France, with such success that the French King said that the only way to stop this perpetual harassment is to give these invaders a corner of France, which he did. And there was Normandy. Never make the mistake of thinking we are French. We are not. We are the Norsemen come to France from the magnificent fjords. “
    “The French were a very cultivated people when the
    D.
    L.

-C
    savage Norsemen came in their long ships looking for conquest,” I reminded him.
    “But the Normans were fighters, Mademoiselle Collison. They were the unvanquished. And Centeville Castle was here at the time our great William the Duke conquered you English and forced you to submit to Norman rule.”
    “The Normans won on that occasion,” I said, ‘because King Harold had just come down to the south after winning a victory in the north. If he had been fresh for the fight, the victory might have gone the other way. Moreover, you say you defeated the English. The English of today are a mixed race. Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Romans . and yes, even glorious Normans. So it seems to me a little misplaced to crow over the victory of William all those years ago. “
    “You see how Mademoiselle Collison corrects me, Nicole.”
    “I am delighted that she puts forward such a good case against you, Rollo.”
    Rollo! I thought. So that is his name. I must have shown my surprise for he went on: “Yes, I am Rollo. Named after the first Norman to turn this corner of France into Normandy. His battle cry was ” Ha! Rollo!
    ”
     
    And it continued to be the Norman battle cry for centuries. “
    “It is no longer in use, I trust.”
    I could not understand this impulse in me to attack him at every turn.
    It was