Read Online Cait and the Devil by Annabel Joseph - Free Book Online
Authors: Annabel Joseph
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him.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Mitchum with a shadow of a smile.
* * * * *
That night at dinner Cait was relieved that the older man, Lord Douglas, was seated on the opposite side of her husband. She still heard his jibes to his son about his saucy wife. If she had her wish she wouldn’t have come to the table at all while he was there. She would rather have stayed to her room until he was gone. She couldn’t explain it, but Lord Douglas caused her a deep uneasiness. Even her father had not frightened her so much. And though she didn’t look at him, had no intention of ever meeting his cold hard eyes again, she felt them on her and it made something shivery and sick coil in her belly. Surely it would anger the earl if she showed disrespect to his father, but she didn’t think she could smile at him no matter how hard she tried.
Fortunately her husband seemed to sense her discomfort. He sent her to her room the minute she’d finished her meal. Perhaps he only tired of listening to his father’s disparaging banter about her. Either way, it was with relief that she stood to exit the hall.
“Wait!” his father said. “Is that how you take leave of your husband’s table?”
Cait froze, and her gaze flew to her husband’s.
“It is no matter,” Duncan said. “We don’t keep formal manners here.”
“We do at my keep, and I’m accustomed to the ladies taking their leave with a pleasant curtsy and a ‘good eve.’”
Her husband looked at her, the color rising around his neckline, whether from anger or embarrassment, she didn’t know. She dipped into a half-hearted curtsy and managed, through great effort, to meet the awful man’s eyes.
“Good eve to you, my lord.”
“And good eve to you, lass,” he replied in a voice dripping with disdain.
Cait felt absolutely humiliated.
“Good eve, Caitlyn,” said Duncan quietly, although she heard the fury in his tone.
She fled to the shelter of her room and shut the door. It was a warm night but she shivered violently. She climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her head. But she couldn’t get warm and she couldn’t rest even when the keep quieted around her. She felt a strange agitation that wouldn’t let her sleep. When she closed her eyes, Lord Douglas’s visage rose before her, and she feared if she fell asleep he would come to her in her dreams.
At last, she crept from her bed and over to the door, the door to the room she’d been warned, on pain of punishment, never to enter. His room. She didn’t know if he’d yet retired for the night, but she was too unquiet to stay in her room alone.
She turned the heavy lock, the lock Henna checked every night. It opened with a soft click. She pushed the door and peeked into the moonlit darkness.
He was there, staring right at her from the bed.
* * * * *
Duncan was still awake, fuming over his father’s unannounced visit. Pretty much every word he’d spoken since he arrived had been some form of criticism or disrespect. And his father’s treatment of Caitlyn... It had taken every measure of his hard-won control and self-discipline to keep from throttling the old man to death by the neck.
His rudeness to her at dinner had been insupportable. She had looked to Duncan to save her, and he ought to have defended her, but it only would have fed his father’s ire and prolonged a humiliating episode he was certain his father enjoyed. Instead, all he’d wanted to do was get her away from his father’s presence. His father loved to insult and embarrass women, but it was something else altogether to see it visited on Cait . Until Douglas left, he’d do a better job of protecting her. He’d be sure to tell her guards to do the same.
He wondered if she was angry with him for not defending her, and whether she had cried after she scurried from the hall. Well, of course she’d cried. She cried at everything. He had the sudden urge to check on her, just to peek into her room and be
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Mitchum with a shadow of a smile.
* * * * *
That night at dinner Cait was relieved that the older man, Lord Douglas, was seated on the opposite side of her husband. She still heard his jibes to his son about his saucy wife. If she had her wish she wouldn’t have come to the table at all while he was there. She would rather have stayed to her room until he was gone. She couldn’t explain it, but Lord Douglas caused her a deep uneasiness. Even her father had not frightened her so much. And though she didn’t look at him, had no intention of ever meeting his cold hard eyes again, she felt them on her and it made something shivery and sick coil in her belly. Surely it would anger the earl if she showed disrespect to his father, but she didn’t think she could smile at him no matter how hard she tried.
Fortunately her husband seemed to sense her discomfort. He sent her to her room the minute she’d finished her meal. Perhaps he only tired of listening to his father’s disparaging banter about her. Either way, it was with relief that she stood to exit the hall.
“Wait!” his father said. “Is that how you take leave of your husband’s table?”
Cait froze, and her gaze flew to her husband’s.
“It is no matter,” Duncan said. “We don’t keep formal manners here.”
“We do at my keep, and I’m accustomed to the ladies taking their leave with a pleasant curtsy and a ‘good eve.’”
Her husband looked at her, the color rising around his neckline, whether from anger or embarrassment, she didn’t know. She dipped into a half-hearted curtsy and managed, through great effort, to meet the awful man’s eyes.
“Good eve to you, my lord.”
“And good eve to you, lass,” he replied in a voice dripping with disdain.
Cait felt absolutely humiliated.
“Good eve, Caitlyn,” said Duncan quietly, although she heard the fury in his tone.
She fled to the shelter of her room and shut the door. It was a warm night but she shivered violently. She climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her head. But she couldn’t get warm and she couldn’t rest even when the keep quieted around her. She felt a strange agitation that wouldn’t let her sleep. When she closed her eyes, Lord Douglas’s visage rose before her, and she feared if she fell asleep he would come to her in her dreams.
At last, she crept from her bed and over to the door, the door to the room she’d been warned, on pain of punishment, never to enter. His room. She didn’t know if he’d yet retired for the night, but she was too unquiet to stay in her room alone.
She turned the heavy lock, the lock Henna checked every night. It opened with a soft click. She pushed the door and peeked into the moonlit darkness.
He was there, staring right at her from the bed.
* * * * *
Duncan was still awake, fuming over his father’s unannounced visit. Pretty much every word he’d spoken since he arrived had been some form of criticism or disrespect. And his father’s treatment of Caitlyn... It had taken every measure of his hard-won control and self-discipline to keep from throttling the old man to death by the neck.
His rudeness to her at dinner had been insupportable. She had looked to Duncan to save her, and he ought to have defended her, but it only would have fed his father’s ire and prolonged a humiliating episode he was certain his father enjoyed. Instead, all he’d wanted to do was get her away from his father’s presence. His father loved to insult and embarrass women, but it was something else altogether to see it visited on Cait . Until Douglas left, he’d do a better job of protecting her. He’d be sure to tell her guards to do the same.
He wondered if she was angry with him for not defending her, and whether she had cried after she scurried from the hall. Well, of course she’d cried. She cried at everything. He had the sudden urge to check on her, just to peek into her room and be
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