Read Online In the Laird's Bed by Joanne Rock - Free Book Online

thinking he would wed her and then seduced her.
    Brutalized her.
    “Edwina.”
    The deep male voice behind her was obvious enough to identify, but she pretended not to recognize it in order to draw out her latest suitor.
    “Who would speak my Christian name in public without regard to my reputation?” Closing her eyes, she tapped her finger to her lips thoughtfully.
    She’d been sent on a short errand for a local noblewoman, one of the countless fortunate Normans who had inherited the country since the debacle at Hastings. Edwina had been instructed to seek good herbs to make fresh dyes for the lady’s embroidery thread.
    “My lady.” The man behind her lowered his voice, bending closer to be heard. “I meant no offense.”
    “Yes, Henry, but I keep hoping one day you will,” she teased, spinning on her heel to face him. She opened her eyes and feigned delight at his young, pockmarked visage.
    Henry Osgood would have been a handsome enough youth, but childhood disease had not been kind to him. Edwina admired his warrior’s strength,however, even if he was not exceedingly clever. Actually, that thick wit of his worked in her favor, since he had no ear for the nuances of court gossip and resolutely refused to listen to anyone speak unkindly of her.
    A first.
    Since her arrival in King William’s court four years ago as an exile—and a ruined one at that—she had often been the subject of suggestive rumor. No one knew for certain about her past, but the fact that she kept it well hidden spoke volumes. Only Edwina knew of the child she bore. The child she’d given up so that the little girl would have a better life. Even thinking of it now caused her heart to tighten and ache.
    But it had been for the best. Her sister would take care of Leah and protect her from the gossip that would hound Edwina forever. Instead of letting life defeat her, she’d become a bit of a warrior herself, making herself useful to anyone who could put her in a position to return home.
    Calculating her next move, she turned back to the bins of fresh herbs she’d been culling through before he arrived, seeking out the leaves and stems with the strongest scents and richest colors.
    “You are too cruel to remind me of your idle fancies when they cut me to the quick.” She took an odd pride in her skill at manipulating men and sometimes she found herself down on her knees in church to beg forgiveness for it. But then, she’d never been able toforgive her attacker for what he’d done to her. And each man she maneuvered into giving her what she wanted soothed an old wound she doubted would ever heal.
    Not every man would have been taken in by such obvious guile, but Edwina considered that part of her gift. She understood which men could be duped by this method, and which men required cunning or directness.
    “How so?” Henry touched her shoulder in order to encourage her gaze. A caress which he withdrew almost immediately.
    She knew she had a powerful effect upon him.
    “Please, do not,” she entreated him sweetly, rubbing her fingers meaningfully over the place he had just touched, as if that brush of his hand were a caress she’d craved. “You know I will not wed while I am in exile. I must return home. No woman wants to speak her vows in a strange land among people who do not care about her. Have you so little concern for my future?”
    Or her dowry?
    She did not speak the thought aloud, however, knowing Henry’s noble soul would be wounded all over again at the suggestion.
    Around them, spice traders and bakers, metalworkers and weavers began to pack their wares to close the market stalls by noon.
    “It means so much to you?” Henry pressed, removingtwo pouches of herbs from her hand so that she could rummage through the remaining bins. Unencumbered. “Enough to risk our safety?”
    “Domhnaill is on the water, so you needn’t travel on dangerous roads.” If he waited for the land passages to clear, she would be stuck here