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"Mm But the underskirt is ivory; if she is too fair, will she not look washed out?"
I disliked being discussed as though I were an objet d’art--and a possibly defective one, at that--but sedher head, definitely
"Oh, no, ot them bones as makes shadows And brown eyes, but don’t be thinkin’ they’s ot, the one with the pictures of all thee animals?"
"If you mean Accounts of an Exploration of the Indian Subcontinent," Jocasta said, "yes, I recall it Ulysses read it to me only last month You mean that Mrs Fraser rehed, amused
"Mm-hm" Phaedre hadn’t taken her eyes offat er, a-lookin’ out from the leaves"
An expression of startlement showed briefly on Jocasta’s face
"Indeed," she said, and laughed But she didn’t touch ain
I stood in the lower hall, sreen-striped silk over my bosom Phaedre’s reputation as a selove, and the bold bands of eainst the paler shades of ivory and leaf
Proud of her own thick hair, Jocasta did not igs, so there was fortunately no suggestion that I adopt one Phaedre had tried to powder my hair with rice flour instead, an atte her opinion ofthe h to the back of my head
I wasn’t sure quite why I had resisted the array of baubles hich she had tried to further bedizen me; perhaps it was mere dislike of fussiness Or perhaps it was amade an object, to be adorned and displayed to Jocasta’s purpose At any rate, I had refused I wore no orna, a sreen velvet ribbon round the stalk of my neck
Ulysses came down the stairs above me, impeccable in his livery Ithe flicker of my skirts
His eyes widened in a look of frank appreciation as he sawadasp and jerked my head up to see his eyes still wide, but noith fear; his hand so tight on the banister that the knuckles shone
"Your pardon, led, and rushed down the stairs and pastthe door to the cookhouse breezeinging in his wake
"What on earth…?" I said aloud, and then I re, in a house with a blind rown careless He had otten that most basic and essential protection--the only true protection a slave had: the blank, bland face that hid all thoughts
No wonder he had been terrorized when he realized what he had done If it had been any wouarded look…rew cold and sweaty, and I sed, the remembered scent of blood and turpentine sharp in my throat
But it had been me, I reht be afraid, but he was safe I would behave as though nothing had happened--nothing had--and things would be…well, things would be what they were The sound of footsteps on the gallery above interrupted hts driven at once froht--any Highlander, no matter how old, ill-favored, or crabbed in appearance A tall, straight-bodied, and by no hlander in the pri
He hadn’t worn the kilt since Culloden, but his body had not forgotten the way of it
"Oh!" I said
He saw , silver shoe-buckles gleahtened and turned on his heel to set his plaid swinging, then came down slowly, eyes fixed on my face
For aI married him The sett of his tartan was nearly the saht at his shoulder with a silver brooch, dipping to the calf of a neat, stockinged leg
His linen was finer now, as was his coat; the dirk he wore at his waist had bands of gold across the haft Duine uasal hat he looked, a man of worth
But the bold face above the lace was the sa head and the set of the wide, firm mouth, the slanted clear cat-eyes that looked into my oere just the same Here was a man who had always known his worth
"Your servant,smile as he descended the last few stairs
"You look wonderful," I said, hardly able to s the lureed, with no trace of false ed a fold over his shoulder with care "Of course, that’s the advantage of a plaid--there’s no trouble about the fit of it"
"It’s Hector Caarbed so splendidly Instead, I touched the hilt of the dirk; it was topped with a sht