Mischief by Unknown Page B

impression of an ancient colon nade.
    The bookcases were crammed with volumes of all shapes and sizes. Greek, Latin, and other far more obscure texts filled their pages. Inscribed clay tablets and documents written on rolls of a material that resembled papyrus but had proved more durable over the centuries were stacked on several shelves. Matthias had brought the tablets and the scrolls out of the secret library as though they had been fashioned of solid gold and priceless gems.
    Indeed, their true value to him had been far higher than the glittering treasures Rutledge had craved.
    Painted scenes of the ruins of Zamar decorated the walls between the elaborate columns. Stone statues depicting Zamaris and Anizamara loomed in opposite corners. The furniture was ornamented with the dolphins and shells that were so prevalent in Zamarian art.
    Matthias walked slowly into the firelit chamber.
    Two women, one young, one of middle years, sat stiffly on the dolphin sofa in front of the hearth. They hovered close together, evidently intimidated by their surroundings.
    Both women were garbed in dusty traveling gowns. There was an air of weariness and apprehension about them. Each gave a start when Matthias entered the library, as if the time they had spent waiting for him had unnerved them. The younger one turned an anxious face toward Matthias.
    He found himself looking into silvery-gray eyes that were mirror images of his own. She would have been quite pretty if she had not looked so desperate, he thought dispassionately. A classical nose and an elegant chin promised a hint of backbone beneath the nervous expression. Her hair was somewhat lighter than his, a dark brown hue that had no doubt come from her mother. She was willowy and graceful. He was surprised to note that her gown was somewhat worn and shabby.
    This was Patricia, the half sister he had never met, never wanted to meet. This was his father's other offspring, the beloved daugh ter who had been wanted, adored, sheltered, and protected; the babe whose mother had not been obliged to coerce her seducer into marriage.
    This was the daughter of the woman who had played her cards far more cautiously than his own mother had played hers, Matthias thought. The daughter of the paragon.
    He came to a halt in the center of the library. Good evening. I am Colchester. It's rather late. May I ask what brings you here?"
    Matthias kept his voice very even. It was an old trick, one he had developed before he was twenty and which had become a habit over the years. It effectively concealed all emotion, all doubt, all hope. It asked no quarter and it promised none.
    Patricia was apparently struck speechless by his icy greeting.
    She gazed at him with huge, frantic eyes, looking as if she were about to burst into tears.

    It was the older woman, the one with years of bitterness and resignation etched into her face, who drew herself up and regarded him with a degree of determination. My lord, I am Miss Grice," she announced. I accompanied your sister on her journey to London. She informed me that you would reimburse me for my expenses and pay me a fee for my services as her companion."
    Did she?" Matthias crossed the room to the brandy table. He removed the top of the crystal decanter and deliberately poured himself a healthy dose of the contents. And why does she not pay you herself? My solicitor informs me that she is well provided for according to the terms of my father's will."
    I cannot pay her because I haven't got any money," Patricia burst out. Every time my quarterly allowance arrives, my uncle takes it all and spends it on his hounds and his horses and his gaming. I was obliged to pawn my mother's necklace to purchase a ticket on the stage."
    Matthias paused with the glass halfway to his mouth. Your uncle?" He recalled the name his solicitor had mentioned.
    Someone on her mother's side. That would be Poole?"
    Yes. He is in charge of my inheritance and he is stealing it. Last year Mama