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.She hears a lady crying out; the sound makes Martha want to run toward the voice and offer aid, but she’s far too terrified to move.Instead, she begins to cry, weeping with a noise that sounds like a puppy whimpering.A hand touches her shoulder; another takes her arm, and all at once she can’t move, cannot run away, and the hands move to her chest, covering her mouth until she feels she can no longer breathe.She gasps, tries to shake free, but the constraining fingers only grip her tighter.She’s so very young and helpless, and the person holding her so large.Martha awakes from this nightmare, panting.The noise of her own fear follows her from sleep into consciousness.Her pillow is wet with tears.For a long moment, she believes that she’s still a young girl escaping from a faceless foe.Then the door to her bedroom opens a crack, and the light from the hallway knifes yellowly in.“Martha, are you quite well? I was passing in the hall and heard you cry out.”Still lying on her back and staring at the lace canopy above her head, Martha finds herself caught between the vivid reality of her dream and a peculiarly trance-like wakefulness; and so she answers with an automatic “Yes.Yes, of course, Mr.Simms … But I must ask you to leave my chambers … It’s not appropriate that—”Instead of complying with her wishes, however, he moves toward her bed and the bellpull that will summon her maid.“You’re agitated, Martha.Let me ring for your servant.She can prepare a sleeping draught.”“No,” Martha orders before he can reach her.“I won’t have you awaken her.” She pulls herself upright and drags the coverlet up to her throat.It seems wrong indeed that she can’t convince Owen Simms to quit her rooms.“I’m sorry to have disturbed you, but I ask you again to leave.I’m sure it’s very late.”“Sometime after two, I believe.”She looks at Simms more closely.“You’re wearing one of Father’s dressing gowns.”“It’s very similar to one of his, Martha.Your father kindly had it made for me by his own tailor.You’re observant to notice how alike the two garments are … Now, let me summon your servant so that you can get a peaceful night’s slumber.”“I won’t have the household disturbed because I had a foolish nightmare, Mr.Simms.I’m quite well, I assure you, but you must go away.It’s not appropriate that you remain with me at this hour.”“Nonsense, my dear.I’ve known you since you were a girl.I’m as close to a family member as any you might have.”“I have no family except my father.” Martha frowns, remembering pieces of her dream.“Have I, Mr.Simms …? I seem to recall a lady—”“Your mother, I presume—”“No, not my mother … another lady … Did my mother have a sister, Mr.Simms? Or my father?”“If you had female relatives, Martha, don’t you think your father would have introduced you to them? Or male family members, for that matter?”“That doesn’t answer my question.”“Of course it does.” He smiles benignly down at her.“Do you imagine your father purposely withheld aunts and uncles and cousins who could have lightened his own burdens as a parent?”Martha doesn’t reply.She pictures the twin parts of her dream, but this illusory fiction is no match for Owen Simm’s logic.“There,” his calm voice continues, “you see? It only takes a modicum of common sense to provide solutions to all our queries—whether large or small.There were no uncles or aunts, no young cousins with whom you could play, my dear; instead, your father provided his singular care and support.And that was ample indeed …” Simms pauses.“Now, Martha, I will do as you request and leave you to return to your slumbers as you can, but before I do, I have a request to make.It’s a serious one, and I want you to consider well before responding.”Martha’s heart thuds in her chest.For a horrible moment, she imagines Owen Simms is about to ask her hand in marriage, but the notion is so absurd she quickly casts it aside.“What is it, Mr.Simms?”“Take as much time as you wish before making your decision, but know also that I will continue to press my case—”“Yes, Mr [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]