Sweet Savage Eden Read Online Free Page A

together.
    “Jassy!” Linnet called out.
    “Mother!” She swung around and fell down by the bed. “I am here!”
    Linnet’s head tossed about. Jassy touched her forehead and discovered that it burned. Linnet’s eyes opened for a moment, but they were glazed. She did not see her daughter. “Help me,” she whispered feverishly. “Oh, help me, please …”
    Her voice faded away; her eyes closed.
    “Oh, God!” Jassy cried out. She caught her mother’shands and held them tightly, then she stood and whirled about, almost blinded by her tears.
    No!
she thought, and it was a silent scream of agony.
I will not let her die here! I will beg, borrow—or steal
.
    And that was when the idea caught hold of her.
    Steal … yes.
    Surely God would understand, and He was her only true judge. She had turned her back on Him, but maybe now He was helping her to help herself.
    She could steal the money that she needed. And keep her daydream. If the blond man did not suspect her of a foul deed, she could suddenly cry innocence and escape him. He was so kind. He would understand.
    And if he caught her in the lie … well, again she would depend upon his kindness.
    And if that didn’t work …
    She swallowed bitterly. She could go through with the bargain. She could not let Linnet die.
    “Ah—thank you, Molly. Thank you for so much.”
    Molly cleared her throat. “He’s an exciting one, he is!” she said, trying to sound cheerful. She flushed slightly. “I—I tried to exchange myself for you; I’d have gladly given you the coin. But he wanted you, he did, were he to have any at all.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Shall I stay with her for you?”
    “Oh, bless you, Molly! Will you?”
    Molly nodded.
    Jassy hurried to the washbowl, poured out the remaining water, and tried to scrub her face. She was shaking so badly!
    Molly wandered in and sat down. “Best hurry, child,” she said tonelessly.
    Jassy knelt down by her mother’s side once again and picked up her frail hand. It burned to the touch, and there was no response.
    “Mama, I love you very much! I’ll not let you die this way.”
    She swore it out loud, passionately. Then she was onher feet, slipping into her worn cloak, on her way out the attic door.
    One last time she paused, her beautiful features tense and dark with torment.
    “Nay, I’ll not let you die this way! Not if I have to beg, borrow—or steal!”

II    

    T he savage cold struck Jassy as soon as she set out on the path from the inn to the Towergate. The two establishments were not far apart, for in this town where the road ran south from London, there was continual commerce and travel, and even a third innkeeper might have fared very well. The general consensus was that Master John set the better table, while the Towergate offered more amiable rooms—more private rooms, at that. The gentry and nobility tended to spend their nights at the Towergate even if they did sup at Master John’s, while common folk enjoyed fewer amenities—and lower prices—at Master John’s.
    Jassy’s teeth chattered. Her nearly threadbare cloak provided scant protection against the winter wind, and the ground snow—where it had not turned to muck from the countless carts and carriages passing by—had frozen to ice. She was somewhat glad of the cold, for it seemed to have frozen over her mind and her thoughts. When she stood before the door of the Towergate, she was trembling from the cold and from fear of what she was about to do.
    The wind blustered behind her as she entered, drawing the door quickly closed. She leaned against it and noted that hounds and hands dozed about the dying fire alike,that there was very little commerce at this late hour, only one pair of fellows still seeming to be engaged in quiet conversation near the wall.
    One of the Towergate’s serving wenches came forward, and Jassy found herself furiously swallowing her pride and pulling the hood of her cloak lower about her forehead.
    “What