" The meal was excellent." The meal was excellent. Dinner conversation was limited to Benjamin and Victoria discussing family matters. Simon ate hungrily, but in silence. His eyes had become saucers when Victoria and I started to eat when they did. The mayor kept casting nervous glances at his daughter, who was coordinating the waitresses' efforts. Agnes seemed not to notice. "You know, Mr. Mayor," I began. The man jumped and his eyes bugged out. "Agnes would really like to come home. You can not blame her for what has happened. Besides, it would serve you well to be less..." I searched for the proper word. "Pro- tective of her. This is not the nineteenth century." Agnes blushed, having overheard my little speech. Mayor Hunyadi's face filled with rage (he's a very angry man, it seems), and his whole body trembled. "You -- VILE creature -- have no right to speak of my dead daughter. She is no longer alive, and YOU have despoiled her." He growled, choking on his angry words. A tear ran silently down his daughter's cheek. The mayor ignored her, staring maliciously at me. "David," my wife interrupted, "we do not discuss business over a fine meal here at the castle." It was a reprimand. "That is the American way," she finished. She smiled at me to soften the impact of her words, but she did make her point. I'd have to learn the etiquette befitting a Carpathian noble. Victoria's rebuke did nothing to diminish the tension between the mayor and myself. To further complicate matters, Agnes' heartbreak washed through the hypnotic link we shared. I kept my mouth shut through the rest of the meal. |