Virginia Henley Read Online Free Page B

none,” she answered simply, knowing it was the answer he sought. She was suddenly glad that it was the truth.
    “Do you think that someday you could ride out with me and show me your beautiful countryside?”
    She smiled at him. “Are you busy tomorrow?” she asked daringly, holding her breath until his answer came.
    “I had not dared hope so soon.”
    “I think I shall go hawking tomorrow at dawn. If you care to join me, Sir Bryan, it would be my pleasure.” It was the longest sentence she had uttered in his presence, and it left her attractively breathless. His eyes, which had lingered on her mouth, now fell to the rose in her fingers. Gently he plucked it from her hand and tucked it inside his doublet above his heart.
        Castlemaine Manor had only one turret, and Roseanna had claimed it for her chamber long ago. Slightly removed from the rest of the household, it gave her the amount of privacy she needed to be happy.
    The sky was still dark the next morning when she awoke and lit up the turret room with a dozen candles. Alice, used to Roseanna’s arising early but not at this ungodly hour, shivered. “I’ll send for a page to light a fire.”
    “No time for that, Alice. Help me with my hair. We’ll braid and loop it and fasten it with ribbons. I need it very secure so it won’t come tumbling down, for I’m hawking this morning.”
    Alice shivered again just at the thought of riding in the wind at dawn. Later, the summer day would be lovely and warm, but at this hour the outdoor world was decidedly chilly.
    Roseanna chose a linen underdress and long tabard in matching forest green. Her riding boots were soft red Spanish leather, and her cloak was scarlet. She was well aware that scarlet was one of the colors that showed off her dark hair to perfection. She pulled on her leather gloves, then took a bright green apple from a bowl of fruit and bit into it lustily.
    Alice shuddered. “Ugh, isn’t that sour?”
    Roseanna’s tongue shot out to catch the juices, and she laughed. “It’s so tart it sets my teeth on edge, but it’s delicious!”
    The two girls made a startling contrast: one very alive, the color high in her cheeks for what adventure the day might bring; the other pale and thin and shivering.
    “Go back to bed, Alice. Here, put on my velvet bedgown. If I’m hawking, I have to be up with the lark, but you most certainly do not. I’ll tell you all the juicy details when I get back.” She winked suggestively and whirled from the turret room, raced down the long flight of stone steps that led to the second story of the manor, then went quietly along to the backstairs, which led to the ground floor and out into the courtyard.
    In the stables not even old Dobbin was astir yet, but Roseanna noted with pleasure that Sir Bryan was already there—as if he were impatient for the very sight of her!
    He drew in his breath at the lovely vision in the scarlet mantle. She smiled up at him, not even trying to hide the pleasure in her eyes. “Come and select a hawk for yourself,” she bade as she led the way through the stables into an annexed building and then up into the loft.
    The birds, now disturbed, set up a screeching cacophony that was almost deafening. The light in the loft was very dim, and the musty smell of straw and bird droppingsmade Roseanna wrinkle her nose in protest. Then she unlatched the shutters and threw them back to let in the first light of day.
    The birds were on wooden perches in long rows. Some were privately owned; the names of their owners were carved into the perches. One or two wore hoods with ornately fancy crests, but there were many varieties of hunting birds that were for general use by any of Castlemaine’s inhabitants.
    Sir Bryan chose a fine falcon with a massive wing-spread and claws that could tear a man apart, let alone a bird. Roseanna almost chose a small sparrow hawk so that her companion would show to advantage in the hunting, but she changed her mind. She