"Andre Norton - The Opal-Eyed Fan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

side curls in this humid damp were more flyaway wisps than proper ringlets. Yet this time Persis faced the
mirror with hardly any more assurance. She did not think all these frills became her. Her face was too thin,
her high-bridged nose too sharp. Yes, she had the look —the slight look—of a schoolmarm.
"Uncle Augustin—" Duty nipped her again.
"Still sleepin', Miss Persis. Shubal is sittin' there right beside him should anything be needed. But no
harm your lookin' in on him."
Molly opened the door of the chamber and pointed to another directly across the hall.
"Miss Lydia and Mrs. Pryor—they are down on the veranda. You go down them stairs and straight
ahead -"
Persis nodded, tapped lightly on her uncle's door.
Shubal peered out at her, his gray whiskers a disorder-ly fringe about his meager face. He waved her in, but
set his finger to his lips in warning.
Here was another huge bed with netting falling from the tester above. Against the pillows which sup-ported
his head and shoulders (her uncle had to sleep nearly upright since his illness) the old man's face was clay-white. His
thin hair stood up like the crest of one of those strange birds sailors sometimes brought home, and his mouth hung
open a little as he breathed in shallow puffs. His eyes were closed.
And it was the eyes which had and did make Uncle Augustin so alive as a person. Their bright, inquiring blue
had been the first thing Persis had noticed when he had brought her to live with him after he retired from traveling in
foreign parts.
Somehow she had never thought of him as being old, though he had been the eldest of a long family and her
father was the youngest of the lot. Now when she looked at that pinched and weary face, the eyes shut, a stab of fear
chilled her. She could not believe in a fu-ture which did not include Uncle Augustin—his wry humor, his keen wit, and
his always interested mind. Though he had also had a reserve, so that her affection was born of duty and appreciation,
not love.
Not many men of his age would have taken an or-phaned niece of eight into their house. He had given her
every comfort but had always kept her at a dis-tance, forging a barrier Persis never tried to pierce.
However, her situation was hardly different from that of Sally Madison or Caroline Briggs, who had shared
her studies at Miss Pickett's Academy for Young Ladies and had been her closest friends. For both Sally and Caroline
seemed to fear their fathers and hold all older gentlemen in awe.
But Uncle Augustin, as remote as he was, was al-ways there. He shared no confidences, of course. She had
been astounded when he had first told her of his decision to sail to the Bahamas. Though she had guessed that the
situation of Rooke and Company, as a result of the fire, had been a worry which had brought on his first attack.
 He had appeared to recover so well from that. Then he said a voyage to a warmer climate was all he needed to
put him on his feet again. Persis suspected that more than his health had occupied his mind during the past few
months. Mr. Hogue, the lawyer, had come so many times to the house.
And there had been that hunt through the attic storeroom for a certain box. Which, when found, con-tained
little more than a packet of old letters. Yet Uncle Augustin had been delighted with those.
Shubal touched her arm and motioned to the door. She nodded and went out, the manservant following her.
He had always been as silent as Uncle Augustin, but his lips were trembling now and he kept glancing back, which
added to Persis' uneasiness.
"He—he looks worse!" she blurted out.
"It's the Lord's good mercy he ain't dead!" Shubal's voice quavered. "His heart—the doctor fears for him—I
know it. Though he said naught to me. You must speak with him, Miss Persis. Perhaps he'll tell you the truth."
"I will." The truth they must certainly have. This doctor might be the best they had on the island. But surely
Key West might house a better one. How far were they now from that port? Could Uncle Augustin be taken there—or
could a doctor be summoned here? Persis shivered, remembering the fury of the storm. To go to sea again—
"Thank you, Miss." Shubal's hand shook as he reached for the door latch. He must care a lot for Uncle
Augustin, they had been together for years and years. Now the signs of his caring made her feel guilty. Uncle
Augustin really meant more to Shubal than he did to her. Yet he had given her so much. Everything, another part of
her mind whispered—but himself.