Witchcraft

if I was only considering myself, I'd move you into my room today and say the hell with the proprieties. But I'm not totally insensitive. I also realize that I'm supposed to be protecting you, not taking advantage of you." He bent over the bed, planting a hand on either side of her body. "So I'm going to try very hard to behave myself until we get things sorted out between us. If that's the way you want me to behave, I suggest you don't tempt me too far."
    "If you come to my room again in the middle of the night I'll have no one but myself to blame?" she taunted wryly. "Right." He kissed her forehead and then straightened. "See you at breakfast." With a proprietary slap on her hip, Cavenaugh turned and strode out the door.
    Kimberly watched him go, half amused, half enthralled by the self-assured, unabashedly male arrogance in him. He was feeling very good this morning, she decided. Men were probably at their most dangerous when they felt that good. On the other hand, it gave her an undeniable pleasure to know she was the cause of his wholly masculine satisfaction. Ariel's card reading that morning was far from being a private affair. She arrived complete with a new burgundy turban for the occasion and a wonderfully dashing flowered dress in pea green. By the time she was ready to deal the deck of ordinary playing cards into a series of numbered squares, Julia, Mrs. Lawson and Aunt Milly were gathered around. Good-naturedly Kimberly sat in front of the inlaid table Ariel was using and waited to have her fortune told. "She's really quite good," Julia confided cheerfully. "A few months ago she predicted Mark and I would become engaged and that's exactly what happened." Aunt Milly nodded enthusiastically. "And she predicted I'd get sick at the little restaurant in Mexico last summer. She was right."
    "Lots of people get ill eating unfamiliar food in foreign countries," Kimberly felt obliged to point out. "And after seeing Mark and Julia together, I think I could have predicted an engagement, too." Julia laughed. "Don't ruin it all by being too analytical."
    "Julia's absolutely right," Ariel declared roundly as she shuffled the cards. "You'll spoil all the fun if you start analyzing the whole thing."
    "Okay, okay. I promise not to intellectualize about it."
    "Have you ever had your fortune told?" Ariel asked. "Nope."
    "Well, once the cards are dealt they all have a relationship to one another in addition to their own independent meanings. It can get very complex. Each of these squares stands for a certain aspect of life. This square concerns prosperity. That one deals with projects you might be thinking of undertaking and that one is your love life."
    "I can't wait to see what card turns up on that square," Julia said with a chuckle. "As if we don't know," Mrs. Lawson put in with bland emphasis. "Ready?" Ariel asked lightly as she began to deal the cards into the squares. "Ready," Kimberly agreed in resignation.
    Ariel became unexpectedly serious as she dealt the cards. When she began to turn them over and study them she seemed to become completely involved with the task. "Excellent," Ariel murmured as she turned over a heart on the square representing prosperity. "You will enjoy success in your work. Money is no problem for you. This next square represents changes in your life. Here you have a spade. Hmmm. That's not so good.
    A spade indicates a change for the worse. Perhaps actual danger.
    However, it appears to be mitigated by the King of Hearts next to it in the square for happiness." The card reading continued, largely a vague and ambivalent process as far as Kimberly could determine. Whenever a card representing misfortune turned up, Ariel seemed to find one next to it that lessened or canceled out the first. There were good cards for such things as health, ambition, money and travel. "A recent trip may lead to major changes in your life," Ariel noted as she turned over the card on the travel square. Kimberly resisted the impulse to say "no kidding." But she caught Julia's eye and found the other woman grinning at her. "And now we come to your love life," Ariel finally declared grandly. Her listeners leaned forward expectantly. Kimberly felt a wave of embarrassment and wondered if all the others were aware of how she had spent the night. She watched as Ariel turned over a King of Clubs. "Hmm," the older woman said, eyeing the card. "He'll be faithful, at least."
    "Well?" Kimberly pressured. "Is that all it