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Once I'd longed to sleep in that swan bed with Bartholohim for my oould be all I'd ever want

"Isn't that bed a reat deal of trouble to find artisans who'd handcarve the headboard in the form of a swan They looked at him, so he said, as if he were crazy But he found so they found uniquely creative, and financially rewarding It seems Bart has detailed descriptions of how the swan should have its head turned One sleepy eye set with a ruby Fingertip feathers to hold back filmy bed curtains Oh, the flurry he ht the first time And then the little swan bed at the foot, he wanted that, too For you, Catherine, for you"

Chris spoke, his voice hard "Joel, just what has Bart told you?" He stepped beside me and encircledWith hiave th

The old man's smile was faint and sardonic as he took notice of Chris's protective attitude "Bart confided all his family history to me You see, he's always needed an older man to talk to"

He pausedat Chris, who couldn't fail to catch the implication Despite his control I saw hih to continue "Bart told me about how his mother and her brothers and a sister were locked away for more than three years He told me that his mother took her sister, Carrie, the twin left alive, and ran off to South Carolina, and you, Catherine, took years and years to find just the right husband to suit your needs best-- and that's why you are now married toDr Christopher Sheffield"

There were so h to make me shiver with sudden cold

Joel finally left the room and closed the door softly behind hiive me the reassurance I had to have if I was to stay here for even one night He kissed me, held me, stroked my back, my hair, soothedBart had done to make this suite of rooms just as luxurious as they'd been before "It's only a bed, a reproduction of the original," Chris said softly, his eyes war "OurBart read your scripts, remember that What's here is here because you constructed the pattern for him to follow You described that swan bed in such exquisite detail that he must have believed you wanted rooms just like our mother used to have Maybe unconsciously you still do, and he knows that Forgive us both for

Think only that he wanted to please you and went to a great deal of trouble and expense to decorate this room as it used to be"

Nu I'd ever wanted what she had He didn't believeshe did! I know it Your sons know it So don't bla able to interpret your desires even when you cover thees"

I wanted to hate hi ainst his shirtfront as I trembled and tried to hide the truth, even from myself "Chris, don't be harsh with me," I sobbed "It came as such a surprise to see these rooms, almost as they used, to be e came here to steal from herand her husband"

He held ainst him "What do you really feel about Joel?" I asked

Considering thoughtfully before he answered, Chris spoke "I like hi to let him stay on here"

"You told him he could stay?" I whispered

"Sure, why not? We'll be leaving soon after Bart has that twenty-fifth birthday when, he 'comes into his own' And just think of the wonderful opportunity we'll have to learn more about the Foxworths Joel can tell us , and what life was like for all of them, and perhaps e know the details, ill be able to understand how she could betray us, and why the grandfather wanted us dead There has to be an awful truth hidden back in the past to warp Malcolm's brain so he could override our mother's natural instincts to keep her own children alive"

In h downstairs I didn't want to know e humans born without conscience, unable to feel re him, and no way to understand