{"product_id":"2940012085405","title":"DRAGON TATTOO: A Novel","description":"An excerpt:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Do you always walk along with your eyes shut?\" asked Brett Mercer.\u003cbr\u003eSybil gave a great start, and saw him lounging immediately in her path. The days that had elapsed since their first meeting had placed them upon a more or less intimate footing. He had assumed the right to speak to her from the outset—this giant who had picked her up like an infant and scolded her for crying.\u003cbr\u003eIt was a hot morning in the Indian Ocean. She had not slept during the night, and she was feeling weary and oppressed. But, with a woman's instinctive reserve, she forced a hasty smile. She would not have stopped to speak had he not risen and barred her progress.\u003cbr\u003e\"Sit here!\" he said.\u003cbr\u003eShe looked up at him with refusal on her lips; but he forestalled her by laying an immense hand on her shoulder and pressing her down into the chair he had just vacated. This accomplished, he turned and hung over the rail in silence. It seemed to be the man's habit at all times to do rather than to speak.\u003cbr\u003eSybil sat passive, feeling rather helpless, dumbly watching the great lounging figure, and wondered how she should escape without hurting his feelings.\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly, without turning his head, he spoke to her.\u003cbr\u003e\"I suppose if I ask what's the matter you'll tell me to go to the devil.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe remark, though characteristic, was totally unexpected. Sybil stared at him for a moment. Then, as once before, his rude address set her sense of humour a-quivering. Depressed, miserable though she was, she began to laugh.\u003cbr\u003eHe turned, and looked at her sideways.\u003cbr\u003e\"No doubt I am very funny,\" he observed dryly.\u003cbr\u003eShe checked herself with an effort.\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, I know I'm horrid to laugh. But it's not that I am ungrateful. There is nothing really the matter. I—I'm feeling rather like a stray cat this morning, that's all.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe smile still lingered about her lips as she said it. Somehow, telling this taciturn individual of her trouble deprived it of much of its bitterness.\u003cbr\u003eMercer displayed no sympathy. He did not even continue to look at her. But she did not feel that his impassivity arose from lack of interest.\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly:\u003cbr\u003e\"Is it true that you are going to be married as soon as you land?\" he asked.\u003cbr\u003eSybil was sitting forward with her chin in her hands.\u003cbr\u003e\"Quite true,\" she said; adding, half to herself, \"so far as I know.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"What do you mean by that?\" He turned squarely and looked down at her.\u003cbr\u003eShe hesitated a little, but eventually she told him.\u003cbr\u003e\"I thought there would have been a letter for me from Robin at Aden, but there wasn't. It has worried me rather.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Robin?\" he said interrogatively.\u003cbr\u003e\"Robin Wentworth, the man I am going to marry,\" she explained. \"He has a farm at Bowker Creek, near Rollandstown. But he will meet me at the docks. He has promised to do that. Still, I thought I should have heard from him again.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"But you will hear at Colombo,\" said Mercer.\u003cbr\u003eShe raised her eyes—- those soft, dark eyes that were her only beauty.\u003cbr\u003e\"I may,\" she said.\u003cbr\u003e\"And if you don't?\"\u003cbr\u003eShe smiled faintly.\u003cbr\u003e\"I suppose I shall worry some more.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Are you sure the fellow is worth it?\" asked Mercer unexpectedly.\u003cbr\u003e\"We have been engaged for three years,\" she said, \"though we have been separated.\"\u003cbr\u003eHe frowned.\u003cbr\u003e\"A man can alter a good deal in three years.\"\u003cbr\u003eShe did not attempt to dispute the point. It was one of the many doubts that tormented her in moments of depression.\u003cbr\u003e\"And what will you do if he doesn't turn up?\" proceeded Mercer.\u003cbr\u003eShe gave a sharp shiver.\u003cbr\u003e\"Don't—don't frighten me!\" she said.\u003cbr\u003eMercer was silent. He thrust one hand into his pocket, and absently jingled some coins. He began to whistle under his breath, and then, awaking to the fact, abruptly stopped himself.\u003cbr\u003e\"If I were in your place,\" he said at length, \"I should get off at Colombo and sail home again on the next boat.\"\u003cbr\u003eSybil shook her head slowly but emphatically.\u003cbr\u003e\"I am quite sure you wouldn't. For one thing you would be too poor, and for another you would be too proud.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Are you very poor?\" he asked her point blank.\u003cbr\u003eShe nodded.\u003cbr\u003e\"And very proud.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"And your people?\"","brand":"Kim Pleasants","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069018947824,"sku":"2940012085405","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012085405_p0.jpg?v=1763552443","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012085405","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}