Lord of Always by Cynthia Wicklund

Author:Cynthia Wicklund
Language: ron
Format: mobi, pdf
Published: 2010-12-21T19:54:23+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Brenna entered the manor through the servants’ entrance at the rear of the residence, solely to prevent another unwanted confrontation. Her intention was to attain the main staircase by way of the kitchen, which forced her to travel the length of the house. When she arrived in the foyer, she furtively glanced around before making a dash for the stairs.

“Been out, have we?”

She came to an abrupt halt, boots sticking on the marble tile of the entry, almost tripping herself. Brenna swung around to the voice coming from the doorway of the drawing room, but she did not have to look to know who was standing there. She swallowed her disappointment, composing herself, determined to be civil.

“Hello, Geline.”

“My, my, our little rabbit surfaces from her burrow.”

So much for keeping things civil.

“What is your point, Geline?” she asked in a flat voice.

“I’m sorry?”

“I prefer blunt speech.”

The woman chuckled. “You know, I often hear that, but whenever I speak my mind, I find my forthrightness is sadly unappreciated.”

“There’s a difference between blunt and cruel.”

“Perhaps,” her sister-in-law drawled. “All right then. Lately you’ve gone to quite some effort to escape communing with my family.”

“Not all your family.”

“You know what I mean. You have a habit of deliberately misunderstanding.”

“And you have a habit of sneaking up on one.”

Geline moved into the entry, a patronizing smirk marring her elegant features.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you are the one doing the sneaking at the moment.”

Brenna cringed inwardly but ignored the comment, making a facetious one of her own. “Do you mention my absence because you’ve missed me?”

To her surprise, Geline took a more conciliatory tack.

“Dear me, I sense hostilities are about to ensue. Let’s not do that today. Join me in some tea, and we’ll talk as sisters do. I’m certain if we make the effort we’ll find some common ground between us.”

109

Cynthia Wicklund

How reasonable she sounded, how patently insincere. But what was Brenna to do?

Her inclination was to tell her sister-in-law to go to the devil. And surely Geline knew it. So why the pretense? They disliked one another. Much easier to go with that sentiment—and more honest.

And yet, despite her misgivings, she followed Geline into the drawing room and sat quietly on the sofa while the other woman rang for tea.

Geline glided to the sofa across from her and sat down, spreading her gown about her like a silken fan. She plucked at the folds of her skirt, arranging them just so. Every move she made, every gesture was part of an artful performance meant to impress. The tilt of her head, the way she glanced sidelong through her lashes, the gentle sway of her fingers as she brushed a feathering of black hair from her brow, all for show. In spite of herself, Brenna was fascinated.

The tea seemed to take forever to arrive as she found herself participating in a trite conversation that brought all her cynicism to the fore. Wasn’t the weather lovely? Oh indeed, lovely. Geline was just this side of condescending, and Brenna fought not to rise to her bait.

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.