Lord of My Heart by Jo Beverley

Author:Jo Beverley [Beverley, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, General, Romance, Historical, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), Historical Romance, Great Britain
ISBN: 9780451206428
Publisher: Signet
Published: 1991-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Madeleine had no patience with whiners, and she flung herself into the preparations for her wedding. She forewarned the cooks that boarsmeat would be available for roasting for her wedding feast, and she ordered two bullocks slaughtered and spitted as well.Tomorrow would be her wedding day, and everyone in the area would feast.

She sent the steward and three guards to Hertford with her second best gold chain and orders to bring back casks of wine.

Tomorrow would be her wedding day, and everyone in the area would be drunk—herself included if she had any say in the matter.

She authorized the use of their stores of dried and preserved fruits with a profligate hand. She didn’t know what they would do after tomorrow; she didn’t care. It was as if her world was about to end.

The feast for this night was well in hand. The aroma of roasting lamb filled the hall, making everyone’s mouth water. Cakes and pastries were piled high in the pantry. Madeleine turned her ferocious energy toward the tables.

Since Paul de Pouissey’s departure, work had halted on the defenses, and so she had no shortage of hands to mend the trestles and benches. Few of them ended up with any degree of elegance, but soon they were level, stable, and sound.

While the men worked on that, Madeleine took two women and attacked the cloths. Rough edges were hemmed, holes were patched, stains rubbed out where possible. Again, there was no time to do a fine job, but at least the appearance of the hall this evening would be more dignified.

At all times she was aware that Aimery de Gaillard was somewhere in the manor house, but she never saw him. Perhaps he was being as careful to avoid her as she was to avoid him.

The watchcorn announced the return of the hunters. Madeleine leaped up from her stool by the window and thrust her half-finished hem into another woman’s hand. She had forgotten her own appearance. Calling for Dorothy, she ran to her room, washed her face and hands, and unbound her hair. Then Dorothy was there to comb it out.

“Loose or plaited, my lady?”

It was her last night as a maiden. “Loose,” she said, even as she shuddered at the implications.

She wore her finest silk kirtle and chose a scarlet velvet tunic, banded with gold embroidery. It was too heavy for this warm weather, but she felt the announcement of her choice called for some display. She fastened a girdle of gold wire and obsidian around her waist and a fillet of gold wire around her head. “How do I look?” she asked Dorothy.

“Magnificent,” the woman said reverently. “I’ve never seen you so ... It’s as if there’s a fire in you, my lady. You’ve made your choice, then?”

“The choice is made,” said Madeleine flatly. She went to collect his bracelet to return it, then stopped herself.

The only way to get through this evening was to avoid him. Forget about him. Obliterate him . . .

Tears threatened, but she fought them back.

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.