Becket's Last Stand by Michaels Kasey

Author:Michaels, Kasey [Michaels, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780373772810
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-11-02T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CASSANDRA CLOSED THE door to Eleanor's bedchamber a full hour after midnight, lifting her exhausted gaze from the hallway floor to see Courtland leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, looking at her. Simply looking at her.

He appeared as tired as she felt, his hair mussed, his neck cloth askew, his eyes shadowed. She'd never needed to see him more than she did now.

Without a word, she went to him, pressed her cheek against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Held her close.

For long moments, they didn't speak. There was no reason. They both just held on.

"How's Elly?" Courtland asked at last, guiding Cassandra down the hallway, toward her own bedchamber.

"Still angry," Cassandra told him. "She still seems to believe she somehow can make a difference, go to Dover Castle and plead Papa's case, or something like that. Jack has his hands full with her, we all do, especially once Jack pointed out that, mistake or not, misled thanks to trickery by Edmund Beales or not, Papa did sink an English ship. Did you know that Jacko killed her mother? Morgan told me when Elly was at last taking a small nap."

"Yes. I'd rather you didn't know about that, though. He had reason to do what he did, but his life's never been the same. There's not going to be a trial, in any case. We won't let it go that far."

She looked up at him hopefully. "You've decided on a plan?"

"We have a few plans, some already set in motion. But there's time for all of that in the morning. You must be exhausted."

"No, no I'm not," Cassandra lied quickly. "I'm angry, Court. I'm as angry as Elly, even more than Elly. At first…at first I just wanted to die, seeing Papa with his wrists shackled like that, being pushed into that horrible black coach. But now I'm angry. How dare they! How dare Edmund Beales be able to have the Crown do his bidding like this?"

"Money is a powerful weapon, I suppose. We'd hoped for a private war, a final settlement of old hurts, but Beales obviously didn't want that." Courtland depressed the latch, pushed open the door to her bedchamber. "How's Odette? Sheila Whiting told me she's not with Elly, that she's retired downstairs, to her own rooms."

"Oh, Court, it was terrible," Cassandra said, not entering her chamber. "She had no idea, none, for all her supposed powers. She listened to what we had to say, and then just sat in her chair, rocking back and forth, keening quietly, like a woman in mourning, I suppose. The way Madge Everett did when her little Johnny drowned. I think she's even more ill than she let Papa know."

"Damn. This poses yet another problem we hadn't thought of on our own," Courtland said, as if talking to himself. "If she's that sick, and with Elly needing her at any moment, I suppose, Odette won't be able to leave Becket Hall. Rian and Spencer and I are going to try to visit with him tomorrow at the garrison in Dymchurch.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.