The Chateau of St. Avrell [antikvár]

Part One CHAPTER ONE It was all Taffy's fault - he ran into the theatre through an open side door and Ruan had to chase after him. She called urgently to him to come back, but the poodle ran on, his ears flapping like two small flags and his stump of a tail wagging. Taffy had a dash of the adventurer in him, and Ruan could have skinned him as he darted past some blocks of scenery and scampered right across the vast auditorium, giving a bark as from the stage a voice rang out: Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or goblin ? There the wonderful voice broke off, and as Ruaa stepped over some cables she came in sight of the stage and saw a tall figure peering down at the bundle of curly fur who had dared to interrupt a rehearsal of Hamlet in this famous theatre. T'll be blessed, it's a poodle!' a woman laughed, but Ruan's eyes were fixed on the actor who wore a black sweater to his throat and narrow black trousers that made his legs seem even longer as he came with a supple stride to the edge of the stage and fixed his eyes not upon the little dog but upon Ruan. His gaze passed over her, whimsical and startling. His eyes held hers, a smoky grey in his lean face with its chiselled cheekbones. She felt instantly the grace, the power, the spell of the bom actor, and a secret shiver ran all through her. She knew he was Tarquin Powers, and yet there was something very human about his ruffled dark hair and the way he suddenly knelt on one knee to look down at her. Tour pet, I presume?' 'My stepsister's.' Shy of those quizzical grey eyes, Ruan