Light Casts No Shadows, part 7

       The next morning was terrable.
   I still remember lying in that dark, dank cellar. All sence of time and place were lost. It was as if I had woken in some one else's tomb. My head ached, to the pint where i could not think with a single degree of clarity. My throat and mouth were so dry it was asthough I had been salting buckets of sand.
   It reminded me of when I had marched all day though the barren country side of southern Spain under a relentless summer sun. But it was worse.
   Because I had drank too much wine.
   When one drinks more than one should, one often wakes with a sence of dread and guilt. Happy is the man who searches his cloudy, drunken memories and finds that, in fact, he has done nothing to be ashamed off. I, however, was aware that my crushing dread was (in so many, but not all, ways) justified
   Desperately thirstly, I found the nearest source of liquid. Half of a smashed bottle of wine which still held a mouthful of wine. i drank it, and regained some capacity for thought.
   My first ration thought was of the girl in the cell next to me. she would require water and food.
   It was not my intention to starve her to death.
   I set off in search of the kitchen.
   Jacques sat on the steps leading up from the cellars. He had a bottle of wine, two full glasses and a wolfish smile.
   "Good afternoon Captain!' he called out. "More wine?!"
   Silently, I brushed past him.
   Searching the ground floor of the manor, I found that all of the servents had deserted their posts. Quite reasonable of them.
   Soon I located the kitchen and parlour. First I found a tray, a glass and a jug.  I filled the jug with water, and the tray with bread, cheese and fruit. As an after thought, I drank a little water myself and stuffed some bread and cheese in my pocket. Then I put the jug and glass on the tray and took it down to the cellar. I put it down on the floor before I opened her door, incase she rushed me.
   She did not. she lay huddled in one corned of the room. I decided to give her a blanket later, she seemed so cold.
   She seemed to ignore me as I placed the tray on the floor, but as I left she glanced up at me.
   "Madman,' she hissed.
   I locked her door behind me.
   She was always pretty when she was angry.
   I retired to my gold hoard and ate my bread and cheese. this cleared my mind further. I realised then that I would need to improve the conditions of her confinement before they became unsanitary.
   It was my intention to keep her, not destroy her.