The Nabob's Gift

~ A Short Story by Andre Norton

nabobs gift 1992

 

Synopsis ~

The honorable Sara Langston receives a gift from her betrothed, and soon finds that not all gifts are as they seem.

 

Write-up from a fan ~

The Honorable Sara Langston didn't "take" during her first Season, nor the second, nor the third.  Now she is being offered--not a "suitable alliance, but an odious connection, the second son, now heir, of Amos Rowland, who'd made his fortune in India.  During the betrothal party at the Langston manor house, Sara is presented with some of the jewels brought from India, among them a casket containing a pair of bracelets and a necklet made of tiger claws.  The Langston family considers the gift in very bad taste since Rowland's first son had been killed by a tiger in India. That night, Sara is awakened by an apparition of an Indian woman, who proceeds to remove the tiger claw bracelets from the casket; when she puts them on, she takes on some of the attributes of a tiger, and proceeds to attack Sara.  Then her balcony window is smashed, and a man comes in with a gun in his hand; turns out he is Rowland's first son, who had fallen out of favor with his father after a second wife came into the picture, and whose son Amos liked better.  The newcomer shoots the tiger/woman, who dissolves into the air, leaving behind a mangled corpse, that of Rowland's second son, who had become enamored of a native Indian woman who, in vengeance for being cast off, gave him the tiger claw jewelry as a "luck charm."  She didn't say what kind of luck! ~ SL

 

Bibliography of English Editions ~

  • All Hallows Eve: Tales of Love and the Supernatural (1992) Edited by Mary Elizabeth Allen, Published by Walker, HC, 0-802-71252-5, 247pg

Contains:
    1 • Peer Behind the Scene • (1992) • short story by Joan Aiken
    17 • Lord Samhain's Night • (1992) • novelette by Jo Beverley
    47 • Oakdean • (1992) • short story by Elizabeth Brodnax
    65 • Parson's Mousetrap • (1992) • short story by Marie Louise Cull
    83 • Superstition • (1992) • short story by Carola Dunn
    97 • The Drowned Lovers • (1992) • short story by Elizabeth Holden
    103 • A Portrait of Faith • (1992) • short story by Marvin Kaye
    115 • Pipe Dreams • (1992) • short story by Shariann Lewitt [as by S. N. Lewitt]
    133 • The Mistletoe Bough • (1992) • short story by Morgan Llywelyn
    143 • The Bones of Faerie • (1992) • short story by Hope Manville
    159 • The Nabob's Gift • (1992) • short story by Andre Norton
    177 • The Winchelsea Bride • (1992) • novelette by Nancy Richards-Akers
    199 • Be-Witchie • (1992) • short story by Jeanne Savery
    211 • The Pack • (1992) • short story by C. H. Sherman
    223 • Waiting for Harry • (1992) • short story by Caroline Stevermer
    235 • Lady of Shadows • (1992) • short story by Susan C. Stone

 

View the Original contract

 

 

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