Love Never Lies by Donnelly Rachel

Author:Donnelly, Rachel [Donnelly, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
Published: 2012-02-28T04:00:00+00:00

***

“God’s breath! How could you let this happen?” Lord Agnew’s voice shook with anger as he strode for his mount, tethered under a stand of pines at the edge of the wood. “Isabeau was to be safely married by now and out of our hair.”

Barak glowered at his father’s twin bloodhounds, Ram and Talbot. “I told you to wait to tell him until after we returned to the hall.” He handed his longbow to his squire, resisting the urge to cuff both of their dull, black heads, then fell into step behind his father.

He cursed the day Nicola and Isabeau had been dropped at their door. Would that his father showed half the concern for him as he did for his cousins. He couldn’t even enjoy an hour of hunting with his father, without them plaguing him. “Had you betrothed her to one of our allies in the north as I suggested, she’d have been off our hands by now.”

“To Newbury?” His father paused with his foot in the stirrup, the craggy features of his face turned cynical. “You know very well my sister wouldn’t agree to that. The man’s too coarse for her liking. She jumped at a stranger’s offer over him.”

“Yea, and at what cost? The dowry is gone and one of our best men lost.” Not to mention the fact that he’d almost been killed, though his father showed little concern over that.

“She’ll have no choice now. I’ll have my alliance and she’ll see her daughter wed.”

“If Newbury will take her.”

“He’ll take her.” His father swung into the saddle, with a satisfied smile curving his lips. “‘Tis a valuable alliance, now that he’s fallen out of favor with the King. He needs Guilford’s support from the east to keep the Scots at bay. He dare not risk insulting me.”

‘Twas true. The Scottish King, David, won more and more English land every day, thanks to King Stephen’s inept rule. Warring with his cousin Matilda had divided the country—left it weak. Newbury needed them as much as they needed him.

And that was why, they must get Isabeau back. Still, he chafed at giving that bastard Fortin one more piece of silver. “You’ll pay Fortin’s ransom after what he did?”

“’Tis our only recourse.” His father frowned down at him. “With Beaufort to back him, Fortin is beyond our reach.”

Barak ground his teeth in vexation as he watched his father canter away with Ram and Talbot following close at his heels.

His father might be willing to bow to Fortin’s demands, but he certainly wasn’t. ‘Twas good coin they could ill afford to waste. If there was a way to get Isabeau back without paying the ransom, he’d find it.

And once he had her back, Fortin was a dead man.

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