The Emerald Swan by Jane Feather

Author:Jane Feather [Feather, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9780553575255
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

LORD HARCOURT leaned back against the tavern wall, tipping his stool on its hind legs. He blew a ring of smoke up to the blackened rafters, narrowing his eyes as he took up his tankard of mead. He was drinking deep but it seemed to have no effect on him tonight.

“Your throw, Gareth.” Brian leaned forward, squinting against the smoke to push the dice across the upturned ale keg that served as a table.

Gareth took a long swallow from his tankard, set it down, and scooped up the dice. He cradled the bones in his palm, then threw them in a lazy arc across the table.

“Hah! You have the luck of the devil tonight, my friend.” Brian swung round on his stool. “Hey, potboy. Over here with that ale jug!”

Gareth brought his stool back onto its four legs. “Nay, I’ll drink no more and play no more this night. I’ve a feeling my luck’s about to change for the worse.”

“Come, now, Harcourt, you’ll not desert us before we’ve had a chance for our revenge?” Lord Lenster cried. “ ’Tis most unsportsmanlike to walk off with your winnings.”

Gareth merely smiled. “I’d challenge any man to accuse me of lack of sportsmanship, Lenster. But, indeed, I’ve a mind to seek my bed.” He scooped up the shining pile of guineas, dropping them into the leather pouch he wore at his belt.

“You’ll not be rushing back at your sister’s behest, I trust?” Brian fished a moth out of his tankard, shaking it free in a shower of ale drops. “You give your sister too much rein, m’boy,” he continued, peering into his tankard for any more foreign bodies drawn by the candle. “ ’Twas the same with Charlotte.”

Gareth’s nostrils flared, and a muscle jumped in his cheek. He said nothing and Brian, who had spoken without thought, looked up amiably. Then his already drink-raddled countenance suffused with bright crimson. He looked appealingly at their companions, but they all, including Kip, sat stone-faced, staring into the distance, refusing to meet his eye.

“Beg pardon, Gareth, if I spoke out of turn,” Brian mumbled.

Gareth stood up and strode out of the low-ceilinged room, away from the tavern and down to the river.

“It’s the truth,” Brian said to the table at large, half in defense, half in appeal.

“Aye,” Kip responded dourly. “And d’ye think Gareth doesn’t know it?”

“He seemed less melancholy tonight,” Lenster observed, gathering up the dice. “Until you spoke your mind, Rossiter.”

Brian mumbled and held out his tankard to the potboy for a refill.

“This marriage between Roissy and Lady Maude means much to him,” Kip observed. “It’s subject to viewing, of course. But that’ll provide no problems.”

“No, indeed, a toothsome wench,” Warwick muttered into his mead. “Thought she was supposed to be an invalid. Looked very healthy to me.”

“Yes, very,” Kip responded, tracing the pattern of an ale spill on the tabletop with a finger. “As if she’s never known a day’s illness in her life.”

“Her marriage to Roissy will put the Harcourts back in the forefront of power in the French court.

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.