[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.I will never forgive Rose for duping me, nor will I play the fool for her.She wanted to become my wife, and so she shall be, in every sense of the word.”Seething with fury, Dominic mounted his destrier.“My lord,” Starla called out, finally finding her voice.“Do not hurt my sister.She did naught but make it possible for me to pursue my dream.I will pray for her.”“Mayhap you should pray for me,” Dominic replied.“I have to live with that harridan.”Touching his spurs to his destrier’s sides, he thundered off.“What do you suppose Rose did to anger him?” Starla asked as Dominic rode off in a cloud of dust.Nelda heaved a rueful sigh.“Knowing our Rose, she could have said or done anything.” She paused thoughtfully.“Why could she not have held her tongue a little longer? Despite the odds against their happiness, I feel that the match between Lord Dragon and Rose is a good one.I wonder which of them will recognize it first.”“I wonder who will kill the other first,” Starla said dryly.Dominic rode as if chased by the devil.He was angry.Damn angry.He had wanted Starla and through trickery had wed Rose, but truth to tell, seeing Starla again made him glad he had not married her.He thought he had wanted a submissive, unobtrusive wife but felt fortunate that he had not wed the pious twin.That did not mean, however, that he was any the less angry with Rose for making a fool of him.“You will ride your horse to death if you do not slow down,” Raj said as he caught up with Dominic.Cursing his stupidity as well as his gullibility, Dominic pulled back on the reins.“I do not enjoy being tricked.She will pay, Raj.Aye, Rose will pay for her duplicity.”The way I see it,” Raj mused, “you got the best of the bargain.Piety belongs in the church, not the marriage bed.”“You are a wise man, Raj, but in this you are wrong.Rose must be shown the error of her ways.She knew what she was doing when she duped me into wedding her.She will accept me in her bed or suffer the consequences.”Raj chuckled.“You sound like a man eager to bed his wife, master.”” Tis my right.God’s nightgown, man! Rose is my wife; she owes me her maidenhead.”Think you she will surrender it without a fight?”Dominic’s expression turned feral.“She has no choice.Mayhap I will take her maidenhead, then send her to the convent with her mother and sister and fetch Lady Veronica to Dragonwyck.Now, there is a lady who knows how to please a man.”“If you say so, master,” Raj said.“Were I you, I would not act precipitously.Pluck your Rose but have a care for her thorns.Mayhap, master,” he said, sending Dominic an amused smile, “you will enjoy being pricked.”Dominic could not suppress the smile that lifted the comer of his mouth.“Mayhap you are right.Raj.”Rose was a nervous wreck that night.She had expected Dominic to appear for the evening meal, and when he did not, she was both worried and relieved at the same time.She was worried because she had no idea where Dragon had gone, and relieved because she did not have to sit beside him at the table and wonder if he would force her into his bed.What would he do if she locked her door against him again tonight? she wondered.Would he break it down and take her roughly? She wouldn’t put it past him to hurt her.Men could be beasts when thwarted.Fortunately, Dragon did not appear and the meal progressed peacefully.Afterward, Rose and her ladies sat before the hearth in the solar, embroidering a new altar cloth for the chapel.“Listen to the wind,” Lady Emily said, looking up from her work.” Tis howling something fierce.It would not surprise me to wake up to snow tomorrow morning.”Lady Blythe yawned and stretched.“I am for bed, ladies.”After Lady Blythe left, Lady Emily folded up the cloth and set it aside.“Can I help you undress, Rose? Shall I summon Tyra?”“Nay, thank you, I can manage on my own.”“Think you your husband will return tonight?”“Since Lord Dragon did not see fit to tell me where he was going, I know not when he will return.He can stay away forever for all I care.Good night, Emily.”“Good night, Rose.Sleep well.”Rose undressed, washed and slid into bed, pulling the bed coverings up to her nose.The days and nights were growing colder, and the sound of the howling wind sent shivers down her spine.It would soon be Christmastide.She closed her eyes and remembered Christmas last, when her father was still alive.How happy they had been; how blessed and carefree.Suddenly the joyous memory was shattered by Dragon’s image, bringing to mind her father’s untimely death and the fact that she had not been allowed to properly mourn him.So much had happened that she had not found the opportunity to shed tears for the exceptional man who had sired her and Starla and had loved them with his whole heart.Rose and Starla had been so fortunate to have Edwyn for a father.He had never complained about the lack of a son and had lavished his love upon his twin daughters equally.Now she would never know that love again.A terrible grief consumed Rose as tears spilled from her eyes.They fell down her cheeks in a steady stream, soaking her pillow.Her sobs were loud and soul-wrenching, coming from deep within her.She cried until she had nothing left to give, and still she cried.Tired and chilled to the bone by the raw wind, Dominic entered the keep and strode to the hearth to warm his hands.He was hungry, but saw that no one was awake to fix him a meal.“Sit and warm yourself, master,” Raj said.“I will fetch us something to eat from the kitchen
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]