"Freda Warrington - A Taste of Blood Wine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Warrington Freda)

running, the black plaits of her wig swinging round her shoulders.
Here she could hide. Here she was safe. The rippling sea of foliage
drew her in, gentle and impersonal, making no judgments on her,
asking nothing. Down through the belt of shrubs and birches she
went, across the long lawns past towering monkey puzzles, until she
came to the balustrade that separated the gardens from the woods.
She sat down on a stone bench at the edge of the Italianate garden,
feeling the coldness bleed through the thin material of her costume,
letting it calm her. And there she remained as dusk gathered and the
world moved on without her.

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Now the guests would be arriving… Now the party would be in full
swing. The marquee walls would be taut and glowing. She sensed
the rising heat and the scent of crushed grass. Skeins of music and
laughter drifted around her. But she was outside it. Outside, by my
own choice. I refuse to feel sorry for myself. I choose not to be part
of it.
Across the grey flat of the lawn, a fountain danced and reflected
firefly colours from the Chinese lamps in the trees. At the summit of
the hundred steps, she could see two or three guests walking in the
shadow of climbing roses and great plane trees; distant, oblivious to
her. And beyond them, the Hall was lit up like a palace of ice.
She tried to forget the scene with her aunt. Her awareness swam
over and around it, not through it. She had no thoughts, and only
one desire; to dissolve into the cool balm of the night. Just to find
peace…
Her reverie was interrupted. There was a flowing silhouette coming
towards her, topped with ringlets and swaying feathers. A regal
seventeenth-century lady, in stiff green satin and silver lace.
It was Anne. Thank goodness, it was Anne. "Charlotte. I've been
looking everywhere for you. Here, drink this." She placed a glass of
champagne in Charlotte's hand. "Aren't you freezing in that thin
shift?"
"No, I'm all right," she said untruthfully. "Did my aunt send you to
look for me?"
"I would have come anyway, but she did say something."
"Oh, God." Charlotte drank. Her throat was dry and the champagne

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was acid, delicious. "Is she very annoyed with me?"
"No, not really. Slightly irritated that Maddy only had one hand-
maiden, that's all. Maddy's having the time of her life, but a few
people were asking where you were. You ought to come in, you