The Countess by Catherine Coulter

his knees, John told me. I looked up at that incredible blue cloud-strewn sky,

and wondered if it ever rained here, if it was ever damp and cold and miserable.

Did they ever have a wind that was so strong it would nearly rip your hair from

your head?

Not now, in April, they didn’t. It was Venice, and I felt its magic to the

depths of my soul. The sounds of the gently lapping water of the Grand Canal

against the ancient pilings below us soothed me to my very bones. George liked

the sounds, too. He snored more loudly when he napped on the balcony and could

hear the water.

It was perhaps a half hour before sunset, the most vivid time of day, when the

sun shone gold on the water, and grew so large as it neared the horizon that it

seemed to swallow the earth. I stared as the water glistened off that brilliant

dying sun, spreading dazzling sharp points of white everywhere. A magic hand had

strewn diamonds over the water. I heard a gondolier singing to the dying sun,

and I wanted to weep with the wonder of it.

I stretched in my husband’s arms, and he dropped a kiss on my forehead. George

sat on a cushion beside us, sleeping, his ugly little head resting on his paws.

“We have been here for two weeks now,” John said, and kissed my left ear.

“Yes, and the weather is so perfect, so absolutely, impossibly perfect, that I

find myself pining for a nice stiff wind off the moors at home.”

“When I was a young man, just arrived here, I decided that I wanted to come to

Venice with my bride. And because I am a man who can manage just about anything,

here we are, my bride and I, all cozied up in Venice. What is this? Are you

bored with me already?”

His hand lightly cupped my breast. I leaned into him, wanting to feel his hand,

his fingers, the warmth it sent all the way to my belly.

“Perhaps in fifty or so years,” I said, and leaned forward to kiss his neck.

“I received a letter from your father today. All goes well with him. He feels

fine now, and his diamond-cutting business continues to prosper despite his

absence. He will visit us in June. Miss Crislock is being kept in a house near

Leeds run by this woman Dr. Boulder knows. He said that she and her staff care

for the insane. They are not maltreated. She is fine, Andy.”

I nodded, not liking to even think about the woman I had regarded as my second

mother. I lightly rubbed my palm over his chest, feeling the slow steady beat of

his heart. The feel of him, so different from me. It was still a wonder to me. “I

never thought a man could be so precious,” I said, and kissed his heart through

his jacket.

He laughed, I felt the rumble of it. “Does this mean that you are thinking

spiritual thoughts about me?”

“Probably not.”

“Ah, then you want to have your way with me?”

“I rather like that thick carpet in front of the fireplace.”

I thought he would swallow his tongue. I had changed so much, and it still

occasionally floored him. Of course he was himself responsible for all the

changes, and it pleased him enormously.

“Actually,” he said, “I do, too. We’re alone, and George isn’t snoring for the

moment.”

“It’s a miracle.”

He laughed and hugged me close. “I will hear your laughter every day of my life.

It is a wonderful thing. Now, there is another party for us this evening. The

Contessa di Marco. Are you yet tired of all the fetes and soirees and balls?”

I shook my head against his shoulder. “I wish to wear that beautiful turquoise

silk gown you selected for me. There is something else, too, John. I don’t want

to leave Venice until we finally see a bit of rain, perhaps a bit of wind,

perhaps feel a chill to our bones.”

“Then we might be here until next November.”

George wuffed, and John added, “He nearly fell into the canal the other day,

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *