Free William by Claire Cray Page A

"If you feel
refreshed," he said, "shall we take a walk?"
    "A walk, yes!"
    Laughing under his breath, Merrick drew me
into his arms for a long and tender kiss. I yielded entirely,
allowing it to rake over my senses until I shivered and broke free
with a gasp.
    There was more to that, I recalled now with a
rumble of excitement. There was more to him beneath those elegant
clothes. There was more to us. Impulsively I pulled his head down
again.
    Merrick indulged me heartily, and then sighed
against my lips. "You'll ruin my senses."
    "Very well."
    "No," Merrick smiled, unwinding my arms from
his shoulders and pressing his lips to my hand. "Not tonight. I
must keep my wits if I'm to be your guide."
    "Then I'm your apprentice once more," I said,
grinning before I invoked the name I'd once called him by: "Master
Merrick."
    His amber gaze was patiently amused. "If it
pleases you."
    "It does indeed, sir."
    Merrick shook his head, but the smile
remained on his lips. If I had ever seen him so happy, it was not
since back in those peaceful days at the cottage under the guise of
master and apprentice, when he was as pleased to teach me as I was
to learn. Yes, let us return to that little game; only now we had
more than herbs and medicines to discuss. Now the veil was lifted,
and he had a whole new world to show me.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN
    I straightened from the washbasin with a soft
gasp, sloughing the cool water from my face. It felt divine.
Rubbing my face dry on a clean towel—ah, the smell of cotton!—I had
the triumphant notion that at this very moment, no one on the face
of the earth was merrier about the gills than I was.
    Just to look at myself in the mirror was
proof. I was the picture of health and happiness, as though I'd
never been burned by the sun or lost an hour of sleep in my life.
My skin was smoother and firmer than ever before, and my warm
coloring had returned with vigor. More striking still, however,
were my eyes, which gave off a strangely jewel-like gleam when they
caught the light of the candle. I leaned in closely to examine
them, and at once I blinked in surprise. The brown of my eyes had
taken on an understated sparkle, like a shallow stream shimmering
in the sunlight. But more amazing were the fragments of cobalt blue
that had appeared in wreaths around my pupils. How queer, I
thought, but it certainly wasn't disagreeable.
    I pulled myself away from the mirror and
donned a new shirt, merrily looking forward to stepping out on the
streets of Boston. Forward, at last! My new life had begun! I had
never felt such delicious anticipation. It was as though this dark
and lovely house was the antechamber to a grand and glittering
paradise, and we were adventurers about to behold its wonders for
the first time. Yes, I was in a fine mood. What on earth could
trouble me?
    Outfitted in a fresh suit of brown and black,
I went to join Merrick downstairs. I took my time, admiring the
elegant fixtures of the house on the way and vaguely remembering,
in the stairwell, what a strange experience it had been to dream
myself outside of my body. It certainly wouldn't be easy to
rationalize.
    Merrick was standing at ease in the study,
and I made an effort to corral the daft smile that threatened to
spring up every time I looked at him. After all, at a certain point
one had to practice decorum. It was, however, quite difficult to
contain my pleasure at the sight of him, and to think that we were
about to walk through the city together gave me an almost
embarrassing degree of excitement. I wanted to punch the air for
joy. Not once had Merrick and I been out in the world
together—unless one counted the time I had assisted him in helping
a village woman deliver a child upstate, but that was hardly a
night on the town, and he had been hidden all the while in his old
disguise.
    Everything was new! I was giddy as a damn
butterfly.
    "You look very well, indeed," Merrick said as
he looked me over once, lingering on my face. "And already,