Read Online Black Falcon's Lady (Celtic Rogues Book 1) by Kimberly Cates - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kimberly Cates
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Tade's murderous glare.
"Considering the low company I've had to suffer since this Kilcannon person brought me here, I was beginning to wish I had drowned." She forced a disdainful sniff, patting her curls in the fashion she had seen the vapid court beauties adopt. "Can you imagine? They wanted to take me back to Nightwylde in a donkey cart! And now, when I dare hope that I am to be rescued from this hovel and accorded the respect I deserve from honorable Englishmen, I am slandered and degraded!"
A tiny quiver crept into Maryssa's voice, and she hoped Rath would interpret it as wounded dignity rather than the fear it was.
Revulsion prickled her stomach as his pig eyes sank deeper into their folds, their eager, slavering light skimming over her body as though it were a prime haunch of mutton. When he raised his gaze to hers, his features were schooled into a careful mask of deference and a genuine approval that made Maryssa want to retch.
"My dear Miss Wylder, what you must have endured, being stranded in such crude surroundings! Can you find it in your heart to forgive my men and me this unconscionable breach of manners?"
"I shall consider it if you will escort me to my father's estate at once. These clothes make my skin itch. Heaven only knows what kind of creatures are crawling inside them."
"My men and I will deem it a privilege to deliver you safely to your father. But first let us give you the pleasure of watching His Majesty's army ferret out an enemy to the Crown."
Maryssa felt her palms go clammy as the soldiers ringed around the room tensed, readying for the search. With so much effort she thought her face would crack, she made her lips curl in distaste, letting her gaze stray to Tade, then dismiss him. "Colonel Rath, it would be a weak Crown indeed that found an enemy in these lowly creatures."
"The Irish are most deceptive to the eye, Miss Wylder, and sometimes"—Rath's beady eyes fastened on Tade—"winning to the heart. But rest assured that the man we seek is a criminal as vile and depraved as the devil himself."
The horror that whitened Maryssa's face was so real it left her chilled and numb. "What..." She barely whispered the word, wanting to ask what Devin was guilty of, then realizing she did not want to know. She swallowed, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"Miss Wylder, have you seen anyone else here in, say, the last three hours? A man a head taller than I, blond hair, blue eyes? On last report he was wearing black breeches and a frock coat, but he might have—"
"Nay.”
"You are certain?"
She could feel the tension in every Kilcannon, from little Katie to Devin, who was hidden away in the loft, but eclipsing all of that was Tade, the knotting in his muscles, the fire in his green eyes. He seemed to touch her, though they stood half a room apart. An enemy to the Crown, Rath had claimed. Devin— evil, depraved.
Maryssa forced her eyes to Rath's. "Colonel, I vow I've seen no one. Now, if you would kindly escort me home—"
"All in good time, my lady." Rath's eyelids narrowed, and as he scanned the room she could almost see his nose twitch, scenting its prey. “It will not take much time for my men to search this hovel before we leave. Something may have escaped your notice. Perhaps even now that devil Kilcannon lurks beneath a pallet or in a trunk."
"And perhaps the French army is hiding in the thatch straw," Tade observed with a brittle grin.
Maryssa hazarded a warning glance toward him, panic rising yet again in her throat as her gaze flashed back to Rath's paunchy face. "Do you judge me a liar, Colonel Rath?" she demanded, desperation choking her. "Or do you think me merely a fool?"
“No. I only—" Rath stammered, his neckcloth suddenly seeming too tight for his throat.
Maryssa clenched hanks of petticoats in fists that felt too stiff to move. "I was nearly killed, was dragged off to this mud hut, forced to wear rags, and very nearly had to be trundled home in a manner that would
"Considering the low company I've had to suffer since this Kilcannon person brought me here, I was beginning to wish I had drowned." She forced a disdainful sniff, patting her curls in the fashion she had seen the vapid court beauties adopt. "Can you imagine? They wanted to take me back to Nightwylde in a donkey cart! And now, when I dare hope that I am to be rescued from this hovel and accorded the respect I deserve from honorable Englishmen, I am slandered and degraded!"
A tiny quiver crept into Maryssa's voice, and she hoped Rath would interpret it as wounded dignity rather than the fear it was.
Revulsion prickled her stomach as his pig eyes sank deeper into their folds, their eager, slavering light skimming over her body as though it were a prime haunch of mutton. When he raised his gaze to hers, his features were schooled into a careful mask of deference and a genuine approval that made Maryssa want to retch.
"My dear Miss Wylder, what you must have endured, being stranded in such crude surroundings! Can you find it in your heart to forgive my men and me this unconscionable breach of manners?"
"I shall consider it if you will escort me to my father's estate at once. These clothes make my skin itch. Heaven only knows what kind of creatures are crawling inside them."
"My men and I will deem it a privilege to deliver you safely to your father. But first let us give you the pleasure of watching His Majesty's army ferret out an enemy to the Crown."
Maryssa felt her palms go clammy as the soldiers ringed around the room tensed, readying for the search. With so much effort she thought her face would crack, she made her lips curl in distaste, letting her gaze stray to Tade, then dismiss him. "Colonel Rath, it would be a weak Crown indeed that found an enemy in these lowly creatures."
"The Irish are most deceptive to the eye, Miss Wylder, and sometimes"—Rath's beady eyes fastened on Tade—"winning to the heart. But rest assured that the man we seek is a criminal as vile and depraved as the devil himself."
The horror that whitened Maryssa's face was so real it left her chilled and numb. "What..." She barely whispered the word, wanting to ask what Devin was guilty of, then realizing she did not want to know. She swallowed, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"Miss Wylder, have you seen anyone else here in, say, the last three hours? A man a head taller than I, blond hair, blue eyes? On last report he was wearing black breeches and a frock coat, but he might have—"
"Nay.”
"You are certain?"
She could feel the tension in every Kilcannon, from little Katie to Devin, who was hidden away in the loft, but eclipsing all of that was Tade, the knotting in his muscles, the fire in his green eyes. He seemed to touch her, though they stood half a room apart. An enemy to the Crown, Rath had claimed. Devin— evil, depraved.
Maryssa forced her eyes to Rath's. "Colonel, I vow I've seen no one. Now, if you would kindly escort me home—"
"All in good time, my lady." Rath's eyelids narrowed, and as he scanned the room she could almost see his nose twitch, scenting its prey. “It will not take much time for my men to search this hovel before we leave. Something may have escaped your notice. Perhaps even now that devil Kilcannon lurks beneath a pallet or in a trunk."
"And perhaps the French army is hiding in the thatch straw," Tade observed with a brittle grin.
Maryssa hazarded a warning glance toward him, panic rising yet again in her throat as her gaze flashed back to Rath's paunchy face. "Do you judge me a liar, Colonel Rath?" she demanded, desperation choking her. "Or do you think me merely a fool?"
“No. I only—" Rath stammered, his neckcloth suddenly seeming too tight for his throat.
Maryssa clenched hanks of petticoats in fists that felt too stiff to move. "I was nearly killed, was dragged off to this mud hut, forced to wear rags, and very nearly had to be trundled home in a manner that would
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