Royal Seduction (The Royal Princes of Ruthenia) by Blake Jennifer

Author:Blake, Jennifer [Blake, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Steel Magnolia Press
Published: 2012-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

13

In the days that followed, Rolfe slept, woke to take broth and Burgundy, then slept again. A portion of his care was taken over by the cadre, who sat with him in pairs for his protection and their own satisfaction. Only at night was he left alone with Angeline. During the daylight hours, he was restless, but when darkness fell, he lay quiet, sleeping undisturbed by the firing of pistols in endless competition; the music of jew’s harp, fiddle, and guitar; or the bawling of a herd of cattle driven into the outlaw stronghold under cover of night.

Released from the sickroom by day, Angeline was able to speak briefly with André. His presence was explained simply. He had set out on the trail of Angeline’s abductors and been caught in the same net that had dragged them in. The bruise to his face was fading, but the blow to his ego would take longer to recover. He had thought to rescue her, and merely wound up looking ridiculous. So far, he was stubbornly holding out against the efforts to make him give his surname and the direction of his nearest relatives, but he knew well enough that it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to capitulate. Low in spirit, he could see no way that Angeline might be wrested from the outlaw McCullough, even if she could be taken from Rolfe and the men of his guard.

“Angeline?” he said one day as he sat watching while she chopped beef and threw it into water seasoned with salt and red peppers, beef from the cattle stolen by the clan.

She sent him a smiling glance. “Yes?”

“Are you certain you want to be rescued?”

“What a thing to ask!” Angeline stared at him with her knife held in the air, too startled to be offended.

“I beg your pardon,” he said, keeping his voice low, “but I think our … friendship in the past gives me the right. You are Rolfe’s mistress, are you not?”

“Certainly not!”

“How can you deny it, when you tend him like a devoted wife and share his bed?”

She lowered her gaze, taking the fat from a chunk of beef with great care. “He has been very ill.”

He made a quick gesture of dismissal, as if the state of Rolfe’s health made no difference. “I realize you were forced in the beginning, but I wonder if I were to ask you to come away with me now, would you do it?”

“We would not be allowed to go.”

“But if we were?” he insisted.

“It would not be fair to you, to put you in that kind of danger, to saddle you with the responsibility for my welfare.”

“That is my worry.”

She raised her soft gray-green gaze at last. Her tone held pain and a trace of dismay as she said, “I couldn’t leave him, not while I’m needed.”

The bruise on his face had turned yellow. Now the skin around it took on the same hue. “I understand. You will be

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