The Light in the Darkness Read Online Free Page B

said quietly. “Truly I do. But I’ve already made the arrangements. I imagine the girl’s uncle has sold Tempest already.”
    Kayne blinked. “Am I to understand that you traded your horse for the girl? Good Lord, Grey, your callousness astounds even me. I cannot believe—”
    “Furthermore,” Grey went on calmly, ignoring his friend’s outburst, “the banns have already been posted. The matter is settled. I will be married in three weeks.”
    At that moment the door to the study opened and a stunningly beautiful, ebony-haired woman entered. She crossed the chamber with quick, confident steps and stopped beside Kayne, placing a hand on his shoulder. He raised his hand to hers and squeezed it as though for support.
    “Pray, gentlemen, do continue,” she said merrily. “I believe I must be hearing things, for I could swear that I just heard Grey state that he was going to be married.”
    “You heard correctly,” Kayne said through clenched teeth.
    “Good heavens. Judgment Day must be at hand.”
    Grey grinned despite himself. Sapphira Carey O’Neill was still a beautiful woman, though she was over forty and had borne four children. Her midnight black hair was piled atop her head in a fashionable style, and the deep blue gown she wore showed clearly that her figure was still lovely. “It must be,” he agreed. “Good morning, Sapphira.”
    “Practically afternoon,” she corrected. “But no matter. Tell me how you came to propose to some fortunate young lady—if indeed you are not jesting with me.” She smiled in his direction but her gorgeous blue eyes did not quite find him, for Sapphira was blind.
    “I am not jesting. But I am not certain I want to explain the entire story again. Perhaps your husband will tell you about it.” Grey placed his glass back on the desk and stood up, bowing in her direction even though he knew she could not see him. There was something about Sapphira that impelled him to be gentlemanly in her presence. “If you will excuse me, I believe I will go for a ride.”
    He strode from the room. Sapphira waited until the front door could be heard closing behind him, then squeezed her husband’s hand. “Kayne, is he really going to be wed?”
    Kayne looked across the room at the fire, blazing to drive away the January cold. “Yes. In a manner of speaking.”
    Sapphira looked exasperated. “Pray do not speak in riddles. Whom does he intend to marry?”
    Sighing, Kayne explained the entire situation to her in as few words as possible. “I believe I’ve seen the girl at the Pine Tree Ordinary,” he added. “Not only is she extraordinarily plain, I suspect she is simple. I still cannot believe Grey intends to go through with this farce.”
    “He cannot!” Sapphira said vehemently. Her blind eyes were filled with alarm. “Kayne, we must stop him. This arrangement is not fair to either of them.”
    Kayne groaned. “There is nothing we can do, Sapphira. You know as well as I do that when Grey is set on a course of action, nothing can turn him aside. We can only let him muddle through as best as he can.”
    “We are to stand by and watch him ruin his life?” Sapphira responded indignantly.
    Kayne smiled sadly. “My beloved, we have stood by and watched him ruin his life these past seven years. There has been nothing we could do about it before.” He bent his head in sorrow. “And there is nothing we can do about it now.”
    Carey O’Neill was as startled by the news as his father had been half an hour earlier. “You must be joking,” he said incredulously.
    He was seated in the Pine Tree Ordinary, with an ale before him, despite the fact that it was barely noon. Due to the hour, the taproom was virtually deserted, empty of acrid pipe smoke and ribald conversation, and Jenny was free to talk with him as she had not been last night. He looked up earnestly into her features. “Surely,” he said withgreat intensity, “you are joking with me. Tell me you are jesting,