Daughter of Darkness Read Online Free Page B

duty to care and provide for his family. As for following his heart—?’
    ‘Gerard Lytton would now be married to Daphne de Vere and master of Sheronwood,’ Willow interjected bitterly. ‘Please do not remind me again, Grandmother. It’s hateful to know one’s husband loves another, even if that husband has cause to despise his wife. There is no pride in knowing I’m unworthy of his attention.’ Tears pricked her eyes. ‘Now I’m to meet his family. They will despise me also.’
    ‘I have never heard such taradiddle in all my life!’ Edwina’s severe expression softened as a fleeting memory of herself at that age flashed into her mind. ‘The earl and countess will welcome you as a daughter. As for Gerard?’ Stopping, she gazed into Willow’s upturned face. ‘You have it in you to make him forget Daphne de Vere ever existed. Gerard is the type of man who enjoys a challenge. By nature you are not submissive, Willow. No doubt you and he will argue. If you are clever you can win him round to your point of view.’
    ‘And how do I go about that, Grandmother? My intellect cannot be equal to his.’ Anxiously she gazed into Lady Edwina’s eyes. ‘I can read and write, and have learned about the wonders of distant lands, but I’ve not had his education.’
    ‘Your woman’s instinct will show you the way.’ Edwina kissed her cheek. She didn’t have the heart to tell her intellect wouldn’t come into it, only physical attraction. Educated women were frowned upon, and Willow had more education than most, thanks to her tutor’s liberated ideas.
    ‘Look, our coach is freed,’ she said happily. ‘Now we can make speed whilst the soldiers dig the baggage coach from the mire. Sheronwood Estate is only a short distance. We can refresh ourselves there before continuing on to Lytton House.’
    But Sheronwood was barred from them. Hugh Macbride cantered back towards the coach with a worried look on his face. ‘Some of the servants are suffering from smallpox,’ he said. ‘Lady Rosamond requests you extend hospitality to her great-grandson at Lytton House until she’s certain the infection is contained.’
    Edwina’s lips pursed as she hastily withdrew her head. ‘Drive on coachman,’ she cried out. ‘We must reach Lytton House before night falls and the highwaymen seek us out.’
    Hardly likely, Willow thought. Not with an officer and two soldiers in attendance. Nevertheless her heart beat a little faster, when two hours later the procession came to a halt.
    It was that time of evening when the sun sent long fingers of gold searching through the trees, and dusk pressed warm and purple against their backs. The air was whirling with all manner of flying insects and the breeze was a dying breath of sound.
    On either side of them branches reached out from the dense forest. There was a waiting and watching quality about the forest, as if it had taken a deep breath, then paused to survey the newcomers to its midst. Willow closed her eyes to its embrace, smiling as she breathed in its earthy aroma. It calmed her senses, cleansing from her nostrils the stale smell of the city she’d left behind. She thought she could hear the forest’s heart pulsing. In its depths, the rustles and squeaks of the creatures sheltering in its secret ways. Whatever the future held for her, this forest would nurture her soul, she thought. She would never be alone whilst she lived in its shadow. Her eyes held the knowledge when she opened them, and she felt strangely contented
    ‘Why have we stopped?’ Lady Edwina demanded as Hugh Macbride reined in his horse beside them and laid his pistol across the saddle.
    ‘A rider approaches.’

Chapter Two
    The hoof-beats were coming thick and fast through the undergrowth. Willow grinned at her flight of fancy. The forest’s pulsing heart was a horseman.
    ‘The rider makes no effort to conceal himself,’ Willow observed, as the soldiers gathered about them with pistols drawn. ‘He intends