The Black Benedicts Read Online Free Page A

library which is a por trait of one of our ancestors, and he was a pirate in the days of Queen Elizabeth the First. He went about singeing the King of Spain ’ s beard and seizing his ships, and he also seized a beautiful Spanish bride, but Queen Elizabeth wasn ’ t at all pleased when he brought her home, and he very nearly lost his head—had it cut off, you know! But she forgave him, because she liked him very much, and he brought her lots of treasure, and ” —she tried hard to stifle a yawn— “ he ’ s very like Uncle Raife, only he hasn ’ t got a beautiful Spanish bride—Uncle Raife, I mean ... ”
    “ You ’ re a monkey, ” Mallory told her, smiling a little. “ And you ’ re a very sleepy monkey, ” she added.
    Serena grimaced a little.
    “ That ’ s like Darcy, ” she said. “ She thinks children should be seen and not heard, but I ’ m not a child—I ’ m nearly ten! ”
    “ And what about your father? ” Mallory inquired “ What does he think? ”
    “ You mean Adrian? ” with a faint air of surprise.
    “ Yes; he ’ s your father, isn ’ t he? Doesn ’ t he express any opinions where you are concerned? ”
    Serena shook her head.
    “ Not many—not any, ” she corrected herself. “ He plays the piano, and he doesn ’ t seem to bother about anything else, or anyone. He ” —she yawned suddenly and uncontrollably— “ oh, I ’ m so tired ... ! Do you think I could go to sleep in your bed? ” and she started to snuggle down.
    But Mallory decided that this was the point at which she asserted herself. She roused the reluctant youngster with a certain amount of difficulty and persuaded her to return to her own room, complete with the much more willing Belinda. Serena, however, only agreed to go if she was accompanied along the corridor by Mallory, expressing a newly-discovered fear of the dark and the by now complete silence of the house. And as her bedroom was some little distance away, in another wing of the house, and it did seem a little hard to expect the child to go alone, Mallory acted as her escort until she was safely in her own room. Then she tucked her up, saw Belinda into her basket, and returned to the side of the small bed to say good-night.
    “ Good-night, Serena. Sleep well, ” she said. “ I hope you won ’ t be terribly tired in the morning. ”
    “ I won ’ t, ” Serena promised. Then she smiled at her sleepily. “ You ’ re much nicer than Miss Peppercorn! ”
    On the way back to her room Mallory found that she had to traverse the long, moonlit gallery alone, and it struck her as exceedingly eerie at that hour. She fled rather hastily past the head of the stairs, and then as she was about to plunge into her own corridor she noticed that the hall light was still on, and that a man was standing immediately beneath the great swinging lantern, in the middle of a glowing Persian rug. He was in evening dress, and he appeared to be quietly smoking a cigarette and contemplating the remains of the fire on the w ide hearth, above which his family ’ s coat-of-arms was carved into the chimney breast.
    As if instinctively Mallory paused and looked down at him, noting how tall he was, and what an excellent pair of well-held s houlders he possessed. His head was very dark and sleek and well-brushed, and shone like ebony in the rays of the swinging lantern. Mallory could also observe that his face was thoughtful, that he was not in the least like his brother, that his chin and jaw were noticeable and ruthless, that his nose was straight but his nostrils probably flared a little ...
    And then he looked up. She gasped, for his eyes were looking directly at her, and they were so dark—so dark, and deep, and—and yet there were tiny lights in them, golden lights, like lambent flames, and there was something mocking and— menacing ... ?
    She drew back swiftly and the light clicked out, so suddenly that she realized he must have put out a hand and touched a switch