Suzanne Robinson by Lady Gallant

Author:Lady Gallant
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-11-09T07:53:03+00:00

I hate, I love—the cause thereof

Belike you ask of me:

I do not know, but feel ’tis so,

And am in agony.

Chapter

XIV

God had answered her prayers, but Nora hadn’t expected Him to work His will in so fantastic a manner. Yet she was a little ashamed. If she’d been one of King Arthur’s knights, she wouldn’t have searched for the Holy Grail. Instead she would have sought a living, virile treasure with the temper of a basilisk and the eyes of a summer night. But the treasure didn’t know how unworthy she was to capture him. Her birth and thus her self might be tainted, and in any case, she possessed neither beauty, nor great wealth, nor clever wits. It was a perplexity. Why did he want her?

Nora was ensconced in the Queen’s barge, packed into a gown more costly than any she’d ever worn. A gift from her troubled mistress, it was of stiff yellow damask that chafed her skin. Already she had scraped her palm on the setting of five diamonds that marched down the front of the bodice. Her hand toyed with another of the gems, which perched above her waist.

Still puzzling over Lord Montfort’s attachment to her, she paled at the memory of his last visit. He’d done it again—burst upon her when she thought herself concealed, and almost discovered her secret. She would have to ask Cecil for a new way to pass ciphers when he returned from France. Her heart thumped painfully as she remembered how frightened she’d been when Christian surprised her, and how frantic had been her desire to lure him from the garden. He hadn’t noticed, though. He’d been too concerned with declaring his love. And the declaration had caught her unaware.

Had he not kissed her, she could have persuaded him to come away from the garden. The ways of the Lord were unfathomable, for she was sure it was His plan that Christian de Rivers corner her in her secret place and torment her. He’d done it too often.

So she’d found herself teetering on a pinnacle above a sheer drop, swaying between fear of discovery and lust. After he’d sent her away, she’d had no opportunity to sneak back to the garden and assure herself that her cipher was still hidden, for Mistress Clarencieaux had swept her up in preparations for the wedding.

Flustered, that’s what Nora was. She’d been caught up in her shock, it had been time to go to the Montforts’ house before she knew it. Her daze hardly lifted until she found herself climbing the stairs to the Earl’s chambers. On either side of the staircase stood the Montfort retainers. She tried to lift her chin and greet them with a smile, but the feat was beyond her.

What was she doing? She didn’t know this man. Not at all. And she was about to submit herself to his care for the rest of her life. She couldn’t. But if she didn’t she would lose him, and he was as necessary to her as food and drink.

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