Demon Child

this dish alone. She was a woman who loved her work. And her love produced, especially in this instance, a dish that was wildly delicious, even though the argument and the constant gloomy expectancy that hung over the mansion had dulled Jenny's appetite.
        “Well?” Anna asked once the dessert had been taken and the extra cups of coffee had been poured. She clasped her hands before her and smiled, vulnerable to a rejection but fairly certain that she would receive praise.
        “It was marvelous, Anna,” Jenny said. She did not have to stretch the truth to give the woman the reply she wanted. “I don't think I'll be able to move from this chair for a week!”
        That pleased Anna. A murmured agreement from Cora and Richard finished her reward. She went back into the kitchen, smiling broadly and humming some vaguely familiar tune to herself.
        Jenny exchanged amused glances with Cora and Richard. Anna was some cook, and some character!
        “What do you think of the Brucker mansion?” Richard asked. He was watching her over the rim of his cup as he sipped his coffee.
        Unexplainably, she remembered that he had opened her suitcases upon placing them in her room. She had still not been able to decide whether or not he had been snooping, whether such a gesture was only meant as a final courtesy. But this very direct gaze of his seemed to pry at her own eyes, to peel back her brain and seek for secrets. She didn't like that at all.
        “My room is wonderful,” she said. “I'm anxious to explore the grounds and do some riding. I can't thank both of you enough. This is just what I need to prepare me for teaching this fall.”
        She thought he looked surprised at her answer, as if he had expected some other reaction. As if, perhaps, he had been hoping that she would say that she did not like it here and that she wanted to leave
        Or that might be her overworked suspicion again. Why would he want her out of the house? He had always treated her well, hadn't he? She remembered, suddenly, that he had been half an hour late picking her up at the bus terminal. Before she could enquire about that, however, they were interrupted by the soft yet penetrating chimes of the front doorbell.
        “That will be Dr. Malmont,” Richard said, laying his napkin on the table and rising from his chair. “I'll show him here. Perhaps he'd like some coffee on a night like this.”
        When Richard had left the room, Cora smiled at Jenny and spoke conspiratorially. “You'll have to forgive Richard his temper. He is very concerned for Freya, as we all are. But there are no more medical tests to be administered. I won't send that frightened dear to another hospital-nor to a psychiatric clinic. I'm going to try my darndest to make love turn the trick with her. She got no love from her mother. I'm trying to make up for that. If I can't, maybe I'll finally let her see Richard's psychiatrist. But before I do-”
        They were interrupted by Dr. Malmont who was mopping rain from his large, florid face. Richard came close behind him.
        “The doctor almost drowned,” Richard said, laughing.
        “And I intend to go home straightaway after seeing Freya-and there I'm going to begin construction of an ark!”
        He was so jolly in appearance, heavy, with pleasant jowls, quick and pudgy hands, too much belly and too much hip, that whatever amusing thing he said seemed twice as funny as it truly was. He was no more than forty-five, with just a touch of gray at his temples. Though a heavy man, he was dressed neatly and well in clothes tailored for his bulk.
        “If it's an ark that's needed,” Cora said, “you've got thirty-nine more days to build it. Surely you have time for a cup of coffee.”
        “Let me see Freya first,” he said. “Then we can talk. You have been keeping up with her vitamins?”
        “Yes,” Cora said. “She had her tablet with her meal tonight. Just as usual.”
        “I'll be down shortly,” Malmont said. “No, Richard, I don't need a guide. Just have coffee ready. And if Anna has extra dessert, I'll take some, no matter what it might be!” With that he exited the dining room. He moved with quiet grace unusual in a man his size.
        He returned in less than ten minutes, took a seat across the table from Jenny where a plate had been placed. “Is this the niece? It must be,” he said without waiting for answer. “She has the same