Sara Mitchell

The Widow's Secret


Скачать книгу

Jocelyn glanced sideways, she spied a twinkle in her maid’s eyes. “Come now, confess,” she coaxed. “You’ve been wanting to go to town as much as I have. We’ll stop by the bakery, and buy some of those nutmeg doughnuts you love so much.”

      When Katya dug into the folds of her voluminous sack coat for her pad and thick charcoal pencil, Jocelyn almost wept with relief. The further evidence of her crumbling fortitude drained her. Her desperation for any connection with another human being, albeit through the silent scribbling on a notepad, reduced her to a tearful puddle.

      Katya tugged her arm. Their stop had arrived. Jocelyn corralled her gloomy thoughts as they joined the throng of pedestrians spilling across the tracks to the sidewalk. As long as she and Katya stayed together, Sergeant Whitlock counseled her, and confined their meanderings to the busy downtown, they should be safe.

      After they strolled along East Main for several blocks, she relaxed enough to point out a display of ladies’ shoes in the window of a shoe store, even laughed with her companion over a man on a bicycle bumping his way down the cobbled street scarcely a dozen paces ahead of a horsecar. She lingered in front of the bookshop until Katya thrust a piece of paper in front of her face.

      Bakery.

      “Oh, all right.”

      They walked up Sixth Street to Bromm’s Bakery on East Marshall. Several moments later they emerged from the shop, carrying fragrant sacks of confections. A mule-drawn delivery wagon pulled up in front of the bakery and a wiry dark-skinned man jumped down, tying the mule to the hitching post. Katya’s entire face lit up as she pointed to the straw hat on top of the mule’s head, its long ears poking through holes cut on either side. When she indicated that she wanted to go pet the mule, Jocelyn waved her on without a second thought.

      “I’ll wait for you here. I’ve no desire to spoil the fragrance of our doughnuts with eau de mule.”

      Sometimes she forgot how young Katya was, she mused, watching the girl gesturing with her hands to the driver, relieved when he obligingly introduced her to the flop-eared mule.

      How had Katya endured the nightmares in her short life, yet retained the capacity for joy and hope?

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4SDJRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgADAEAAAMAAAABAg0AAAEBAAMAAAABArwAAAECAAMAAAADAAAA ngEGAAMAAAABAAIAAAESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEVAAMAAAABAAMAAAEaAAUAAAABAAAApAEbAAUAAAAB AAAArAEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAgAAAAtAEyAAIAAAAUAAAA1IdpAAQAAAABAAAA6AAAASAA CAAIAAgADqYAAAAnEAAOpgAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNiAoTWFjaW50b3NoKQAyMDE1 OjA4OjEyIDE3OjE1OjQ0AAAEkAAABwAAAAQwMjIxoAEAAwAAAAEAAQAAoAIABAAAAAEAAAXcoAMA BAAAAAEAAAfQAAAAAAAAAAYBAwADAAAAAQAGAAABGgAFAAAAAQAAAW4BGwAFAAAAAQAAAXYBKAAD AAAAAQACAAACAQAEAAAAAQAAAX4CAgAEAAAAAQAAH0MAAAAAAAAASAAAAAEAAABIAAAAAf/Y/+0A DEFkb2JlX0NNAAH/7gAOQWRvYmUAZIAAAAAB/9sAhAAMCAgICQgMCQkMEQsKCxEVDwwMDxUYExMV ExMYEQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMAQ0LCw0ODRAODhAUDg4OFBQO Dg4OFBEMDAwMDBERDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAz/wAARCACgAHgD ASIAAhEBAxEB/90ABAAI/8QBPwAAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAwABAgQFBgcICQoLAQABBQEBAQEB AQAAAAAAAAABAAIDBAUGBwgJCgsQAAEEAQMCBAIFBwYIBQMMMwEAAhEDBCESMQVBUWETInGBMgYU kaGxQiMkFVLBYjM0coLRQwclklPw4fFjczUWorKDJkSTVGRFwqN0NhfSVeJl8rOEw9N14/NGJ5Sk hbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2N0dXZ3eHl6e3x9fn9xEAAgIBAgQEAwQFBgcHBgU1AQAC EQMhMRIEQVFhcSITBTKBkRShsUIjwVLR8DMkYuFygpJDUxVjczTxJQYWorKDByY1wtJEk1SjF2RF VTZ0ZeLys4TD03Xj80aUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9ic3R1dnd4eXp7fH/9oADAMB AAIRAxEAPwAnq0boc4gDnRM+/FAJDjodRBXDmnkBunLYWl0HC9a59tb667HfquDbZPp/arhta+WN s92DjfaMz/grmYn+mpUcssogkkaeH/oTYPKYB+//AI8f/Vb1DCHstsaDsoDTaSI27nCpu7d/Lckb GjkH7vHj/O/NWJj5FdONYK7MHONlbM6x2U1xybHm0W/ZnuxLbK8ip2VVTkPo6hb+h/nr6qqa1HMz a8n0q+oPszXE/asuym4kHIuH6a57mVeg77NiNqwaqaMn9EzH9PG9H1LUwZ8hNUDr2P8A3y37pivT jP8AhR/9Vu569UxJn4KbAbBLAXDidOfvXPvfiDp7gzFbdbmOLGucG0VVV44qf+iFbPtPoOuy/fZ6 32nI+z/rN3pep6zOPSMjJc61l9dQsrbWxkPs+ztD2Mx2f4Gp1VbcWut7vVuu/Wcj9JkWegj7096H 2f8AoS4cniP+cH+FH/1W9AWuA9zSJ8YH8VFzmgE8AeYXNZVXTm4ZZjtLbza2y2y1hLiA39Fh4d2z +botfd9qtu9H7X6ePb9D9DVTc1unt9rREO8f++oxyzOug/wf/QkjksP+s/xo/wDqt7HfW2C7Qdj2 P9VEGVit5d5cLhH1sP8ANt4+Pz5UPREzEDw7lO45+H2f+hK+54R+/wD48f8A1U+gtzcTgOM/1SiD IpDQ7WDxoV56GxqW6dp8EVmolrYbw4NP+b9JDil3H2f+hJ+6Yf6/+NH/ANVvejOxm9zI8imbl0PM NcTPGhXCtqGmjtw12xqB2ciCqBNgEu8TqB+bxPtclxS7j7P/AEJQ5TEdPX/jR/8AVb3WpIAaSTwk uG9BpdO0lv8AJ7EeKSb7kv6v2f8AoSfuWLvP7Y/94//Q5qr9G8PDGvLOWvAc067oePz2/wAhWbep 9Ue5rn5L2ioBja6vbU1v7goduY/1P8LbkerZd/hVfb9XXuMkXSdZhiIPq2TAi+PgxQkAnWJP+C6H HiP6cNNvVFzsG6ut1v2uqu+l4ubtFTXH17muNFvpRVRSyi79L+jb+i/maf8ABp7X030YtOPX9nIp rovuNdbWvyWOf6mQ5zfflMc2yit77P5v0/UWk36tZDR7DkaiCAGDQ/mp6vq7nUOa+n1q3tiCAw6A 7m/T3fnJeFH7FcWO7E4/40Wu7K6ZZ1V2XXhNZgONgx8a2pgZBaNtNnoP3Y+x36T9Db6lf+iv/mkP OvbeWOxG+jjMqDaxcG2w9odVfY2K6WWt3vb6Fl9f2i1/6e9XmdG6i1oaX3wwQ0QwwIDP+painAz9 rmm3IcHgB7SK9pABb9GPNA+R3v5UieIVc46CvnDndQvwcjMZdXhGvpbb/XqxGhlDnUO9P1qD6Dnf SdTb6d2//CelvVLKsxrKXNbXvyHZPrMvFLMdrKNpb9lLMd9vq73+n+j99eN6f6PIs9ZbOR0rKv8A 5x1xIO8e1n0pLy7dG7ducmd0nPDg4WXTJdIazUktfOo/e