hated that portrait. She told the artist it would never be considered a masterpiece, and the artist replied that to paint a masterpiece, the artist must first have a beautiful subject.”
The smile became a laugh. “Monsieur le Comte, I would have never known you for a man of great wit and humor.”
“It is nothing more than an opportunity to resist the nascent attempts of approaching age to stir the blood of kinship.”
“Did you have a large family?” she asked.
“Two brothers and three sisters. All are dead now.”
“I am sorry you have suffered so much loss, and sorry that you are all alone.”
He raised his brows in surprise. “But, I am not alone. There is a young woman living here. Josette Revel is about your age. She is no blood relation, but she is like a daughter to me. I think the two of you will enjoy each other’s company and companionship.”
“When shall I meet her?”
“She should return tomorrow. Josette is Romany…a Gypsy by birth. Although she has spent most of her life here at my château, there are times when she will go back to the place where she was born. She feels it is important that she not forget who her people were.”
“And she travels alone?”
It was the first time she had seen the comte throw his head back and truly laugh.
With charitable zeal, Kenna quickly said, “No one should lose their past and where they came from.”
Humor still danced in the comte’ s eyes. “She would agree with you, for she likes to remind me that I am noble by heritage, and human by choice.”
“I look forward to our meeting, and hope we shall be good friends.”
“I am confident you will. Josette is a woman who is passionate about many things, just as you seem to be. Of course, I could be wrong, and the two of you could dislike each other from the start, for I have arrived at the age where one oft expresses himself with a palsied heart and a jaundiced eye.”
“What made you change your mind about me, Monsieur le Comte? Was it the fortuitous aligning of planets, or the mere whim of merciless fate who tossed me into the center of your retired life?”
“Fortuitous situations form the molds that shape the events in our lives, whether some are by accident or the decree of ordaining fate, one can only suppose. As to your particular situation, it’s been several days since you were last here, and during that time, your parting words have not left my mind, primarily because I find them to be quite haunting. I decided I would know more of this woman, so lovely and so young, who knows a great deal about suffering. You mentioned things that can happen in life to push you from your center, leaving you with little hope of salvation. That comes not from reading but from experience. I would like you to tell me of it. Please,” he said, moving to the sofa, “do sit down.”
She seated herself and studied the hands in her lap for a few moments, as she wondered where to best start.
The comte took a chair close to her.
“It began with the murder of my father and my two eldest brothers by an aunt and her lover. Isobel Lennox was married to my father’s brother. She had a son, Giles McLennan, by a previous marriage. She was a beautiful woman, but vain and greedy. She was always pushing my uncle to buy bigger castles, so she could live like a queen.”
“A wife like that has been the ruination of many men,” he said. “It usually causes the honeyed milk of romance to curdle.”
“Apparently, it did in Isobel’s case, for she had a lover for years—an Englishman, Lord Walter Ramsay. My uncle was barely in the ground when he moved into the castle with her. She had my uncle’s wealth and his property, but before long, the money was gone and she began selling off his holdings, and when that was squandered, she turned her greedy eyes upon my father’s money and holdings, and his title. About this time, my father and two eldest brothers were murdered while returning home from visiting the
The smile became a laugh. “Monsieur le Comte, I would have never known you for a man of great wit and humor.”
“It is nothing more than an opportunity to resist the nascent attempts of approaching age to stir the blood of kinship.”
“Did you have a large family?” she asked.
“Two brothers and three sisters. All are dead now.”
“I am sorry you have suffered so much loss, and sorry that you are all alone.”
He raised his brows in surprise. “But, I am not alone. There is a young woman living here. Josette Revel is about your age. She is no blood relation, but she is like a daughter to me. I think the two of you will enjoy each other’s company and companionship.”
“When shall I meet her?”
“She should return tomorrow. Josette is Romany…a Gypsy by birth. Although she has spent most of her life here at my château, there are times when she will go back to the place where she was born. She feels it is important that she not forget who her people were.”
“And she travels alone?”
It was the first time she had seen the comte throw his head back and truly laugh.
With charitable zeal, Kenna quickly said, “No one should lose their past and where they came from.”
Humor still danced in the comte’ s eyes. “She would agree with you, for she likes to remind me that I am noble by heritage, and human by choice.”
“I look forward to our meeting, and hope we shall be good friends.”
“I am confident you will. Josette is a woman who is passionate about many things, just as you seem to be. Of course, I could be wrong, and the two of you could dislike each other from the start, for I have arrived at the age where one oft expresses himself with a palsied heart and a jaundiced eye.”
“What made you change your mind about me, Monsieur le Comte? Was it the fortuitous aligning of planets, or the mere whim of merciless fate who tossed me into the center of your retired life?”
“Fortuitous situations form the molds that shape the events in our lives, whether some are by accident or the decree of ordaining fate, one can only suppose. As to your particular situation, it’s been several days since you were last here, and during that time, your parting words have not left my mind, primarily because I find them to be quite haunting. I decided I would know more of this woman, so lovely and so young, who knows a great deal about suffering. You mentioned things that can happen in life to push you from your center, leaving you with little hope of salvation. That comes not from reading but from experience. I would like you to tell me of it. Please,” he said, moving to the sofa, “do sit down.”
She seated herself and studied the hands in her lap for a few moments, as she wondered where to best start.
The comte took a chair close to her.
“It began with the murder of my father and my two eldest brothers by an aunt and her lover. Isobel Lennox was married to my father’s brother. She had a son, Giles McLennan, by a previous marriage. She was a beautiful woman, but vain and greedy. She was always pushing my uncle to buy bigger castles, so she could live like a queen.”
“A wife like that has been the ruination of many men,” he said. “It usually causes the honeyed milk of romance to curdle.”
“Apparently, it did in Isobel’s case, for she had a lover for years—an Englishman, Lord Walter Ramsay. My uncle was barely in the ground when he moved into the castle with her. She had my uncle’s wealth and his property, but before long, the money was gone and she began selling off his holdings, and when that was squandered, she turned her greedy eyes upon my father’s money and holdings, and his title. About this time, my father and two eldest brothers were murdered while returning home from visiting the
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