The Light in the Darkness Read Online Free

for more than a week. Kayne had cheerfully tolerated him for three. All the O’Neills had been friendly, except the eldest son, Carey. Carey made it clear by his words and actions that he despised Grey and tolerated him only because he was a guest in their home. The two men had clashed for the first time seven years before, and over the years Grey had grown inured to the younger man’s dislike. He thought Carey an idiotic young pup and decidedly preferred Kayne’s company to his son’s.
    Just now, however, Kayne was determined to find out what lay at the bottom of Grey’s unexpected declaration. “If you feel nothing for the lady,” he inquired, “then what is ‘perfect’ about her?”
    “Everything.”
    “Is she of good family? Is she beautiful?”
    “She’s a tavern wench,” Grey said bluntly, delighting in the stunned expression that descended onto Kayne’s features, “and she’s louse ridden. And she is as far from beautiful as it is possible for a woman to be.”
    At this astounding answer Kayne could find no words. For a long moment his mouth hung open, then he closed it with a snap. “A tavern wench? Have you lost your mind?”
    “You’ve been wed so long you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a wealthy unattached man,” Grey said. “You can’t recall, can you, how young ladies—girls, really—throw themselves at you, and try to trap you into compromising situations. Have you forgotten how mothers capture you in a corner and force you to listen to how clever their empty-headed little dears are, how talented they are—at playing the harpsichord, or useless needlework, or painting garish watercolors?” Grey scowled in a way that would have terrified most of the young maids he was describing in such uncomplimentary terms. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I truly believed they were intrigued by my charmingpersonality—but of course we both know I haven’t one. It doesn’t improve my opinion of women, I can tell you.”
    “I grieve for you,” Kayne said dryly. He could almost have laughed at the disgusted expression on his friend’s face, had he not been so concerned by his actions. “I suppose that this young, er, lady you have pledged your hand to is not so superficial and vapid as the ladies of our own class?”
    Grey shrugged. “I don’t doubt she would have been, had she been brought up properly. As it is, she knows nothing of money or luxuries. In fact, she knows little of anything. I have never seen a face so devoid of personality or self-respect.”
    “Then why—”
    “If I marry this pathetic little creature,” Grey explained, “I’ll never again have to deal with women weeping on my shoulder and begging me to marry them. True, they’ll still clamor for the privilege of being my mistress—but that nuisance can be borne.”
    Kayne almost smiled at the younger man’s blatant misogyny, but he managed to keep his composure. He well knew how irritated Grey had been by the parade of simpering, eligible young women visiting Windward these past three weeks. But simple irritation was no reason for Grey to act so recklessly. It would surely ruin his life—and the girl’s as well. “Damn it, Grey,” he said, adopting the stern tone he used when his children were wayward, “that’s hardly fair to the girl. Do you think she’ll want to be shackled to a man who despises her for the rest of her life?”
    Grey shrugged. “She’ll be better off. Her uncle beats her—every day, from the looks of it. And an ordinary is hardly a wholesome environment. No doubt she’s a doxy as well as a serving wench. She’ll be happier at Greyhaven.”
    Kayne pushed a lock of silver-streaked red hair out of his eyes. He was becoming annoyed by the young man’s callousness, even though he had grown to expect such an attitude from his friend these last years. Furthermore, he was certain that there was more to this situation than Greywas telling him. Possibly there was more to the situation than