The Awakening Evil Read Free Page B

Sarah gathered her long skirts, turned, and rushed from the room. She hurried over to her carriage.
    â€œAre you all right, ma’am?” Phillip, the driver, asked. He helped her inside.
    â€œI’m a little tired, that’s all,” Sarah answered. She hoped Phillip didn’t notice her voice trembling. “Please take me home.”
    As they traveled closer and closer to her gloomy house, Sarah felt tempted to ask Phillip to stop. To turn around and drive anywhere as long as it was away from the Fears.
    You must get control of yourself, Sarah thought. Just because people tell these stories about the Fears does not mean that they are true.
    Everyone in town is jealous of the Fears. Including Liza Teasedale. After all, the Fears are the richest and most powerful family in Shadyside. That’s enough reason for people to hate them and tell lies about them.
    But Sarah didn’t feel convinced. She let out a long sigh. She allowed her head to fall back on the cushioned seat of the carriage.
    Thomas has been nothing but good to me, she reminded herself. What happened to Michael could have been an accident.
    I’ll just be careful. I’ll keep my eyes open. And I’ll trust my husband.
    Unless something else happens to make me think I shouldn’t.
    The carriage turned into the long, winding drive that led to her home. She climbed down without waiting for Phillip and made her way up the long flight of stone steps to the front door.
    Sarah hesitated outside the thick wooden doors. Then she took a deep breath and stepped inside the marble-tiled entrance hall.
    The library door slid open. “Sarah!” Thomas exclaimed.
    She almost screamed. Calm down! she ordered herself.
    Thomas grinned at her from the library doorway. “You’re back so early,” Thomas said.
    She crossed the room slowly, making a big show of tugging off her white gloves. She didn’t feel like being close to him right now.
    â€œDid you have a nice tea with Mrs. Teasedale?” Thomas asked.
    â€œQuite nice, thank you,” Sarah replied.
    â€œShe is a terrible gossip, isn’t she?” he asked, studying her face.
    â€œHorrible,” Sarah agreed, trying to keep her expression neutral.
    In the dim recess of the library, someone coughed. Then a thin, well-dressed young man around Thomas’s age rose from the divan.
    Thomas pulled her into the room. “Sarah, this is Aaron West, an old school chum of mine. He thinks he may have met you at a party his cousin gave in New York.”
    Sarah jerked her head toward the young man. Aaron West had a large Adam’s apple and big ears. There was something horselike about his long face. He looked awfully sad.
    Thomas gave her a gentle nudge. Sarah quicklycrossed the dark library to greet their guest. “Mr. West, it is an honor. But I’m afraid I don’t remember ever having met you.”
    â€œI must have been mistaken,” Aaron answered. “I had a completely different person in mind.”
    Good, Sarah thought. She didn’t want anyone from the past turning up here. That would be a disaster.
    â€œAaron has visited so many places and met so many people, I’m not surprised he gets a little mixed up. He’s a world traveler,” Thomas explained to Sarah. “And speaking of traveling, I’m afraid I must go to the bank.”
    He’s always rushing off someplace, Sarah thought. But does he tell me the truth about where it is he goes?
    â€œOnly for an hour,” Thomas added with a charming smile. “Can I count on you to entertain our guest until I return?”
    â€œOf course,” Sarah promised.
    Thomas started for the library door, then paused. “Oh, by the way,” he said. “I brought you something. A wedding gift.” He tapped a large wooden box sitting on the side table next to the globe.
    â€œA wedding gift?” Sarah couldn’t help exclaiming. “But it’s been