Chapter ThreeVentura kept herself awake with an effort. The warmth of the room, the food and the wine that she had drunk made her feel almost uncontrollably sleepy.
She felt that it was very long since she had known such contentment – the contentment of being well fed, of not knowing the sharp uncomfortable pains of hunger and of not feeling cold and alone.
As if in a dream she heard Lord Lynke call for more wine and thought with a childlike satisfaction of the meal that she had just eaten.
The Sopa de Cangrejos made with the crabs that had been brought alive to the kitchen only an hour before they were eaten, the Arroz a la Valenciana, which was her favourite dish of chicken mixed with rice, fish, lobster, sausage, pimento, artichoke and green peas.
Ventura told herself with a faint s
