Claire Delacroix Read Online Free

he seeks.”
    “Yet he cringes from no deed, no matter how foul, if it will see him sated.” The maids sighed in unison and Blanche’s dark brows arched high with interest.
    Why had the Hawk come to Abernye? Aileen had a dark premonition in that breathless moment, though her good sense dismissed the possibility with ease. No men come to her father’s hall to hunt her hand any longer. He must be making a jest by feigning fascination with her, the icy daughter of the Laird of Abernye.
    That realization made it simple for Aileen to turn away, even as her wretched heart sank. The Hawk’s companions laughed loudly and she was convinced it was at her expense.
    Aileen knew that she was old for a maiden, she was tall, she was plain of face, she was outspoken. She knew that she had recoiled from a man’s kiss too often for her distaste to not be noted. She had had her faults so oft recounted that she know them as well as a clerk knows the debts in his accounts.
    The Hawk was cruel beyond belief to mock her in her father’s hall. Aileen added ‘rude’ to the list of his dubious attributes and fairly marched in her haste to reach the far end of the high table. She would sit away from the viper her father had been so fool as to wed, she would eat with haste and then retire.
    The pair of Blanche’s women nudged each other as Aileen passed, no doubt noting her high color. “So, even your frosty womb can still recognize a man,” the first maid whispered with a malice that made the other cackle.
    “Do not set your ambitions so high, dear Aileen, lest you die of disappointment,” added the second. They laughed together, these two evil old crones, though Aileen gave them a look so sharp it might have left a bleeding wound.
    Her father’s new wife, of course, did not defend her from her servants’ insolence. Step-daughter and step-mother had long past dispensed with pleasantries and Aileen tried to avoid any discussion with her father’s new bride.
    She felt compelled to be polite, though Blanche did not apparently feel the same desire. Aileen had no doubt that Blanche would have had her cast from the gates if that lady had not feared that the laird himself might object.
    Aileen was not certain he would. Her father was so smitten that it seemed Blanche could not err in his estimation.
    “Our guest had best sit directly beside me,” Blanche said smoothly, stroking the spot Aileen’s father usually occupied.
    Aileen halted, shocked that her step-mother would be so bold. She knew she should leave the matter be, but guessed that her father would not protest such an uncommon breach of protocol. “Father will be displeased by such uncommon arrangements,” she said simply, though she longed to say more.
    Blanche smiled with a confidence that made Aileen’s blood boil. “He will not deny my will.”
    “But surely a laird should be shown respect in his own hall?” Aileen demanded. “Surely it would be unwise to show such a warm welcome to a man of such dark repute, especially when his mission here is unclear?”
    Blanche sniffed, her gaze cold. “When I have need of your counsel, Daughter, I shall ask for it.”
    Aileen let her gaze drop to Blanche’s slender waist. They were nigh the same age, daughter and second bride. “You surely know as I do, Blanche, that you are not my mother in truth.”
    “Unfortunately for you,” Blanche whispered, her accent suddenly more pronounced. “For you are burdened with, how do you say, the taint of your mother’s blood.”
    “She possessed no taint!”
    Blanche’s dark eyes narrowed and she might have said something vicious, but Aileen’s father cleared his throat, revealing his unexpected proximity. He halted behind his wife, looking hale and hearty for all his years. Blanche turned one of her honeyed smiles upon him and Aileen was disappointed to see how her father fairly glowed.
    “What is this I hear of you seating our guest at your very side?” Aileen’s father asked, his