Read Online The Heart Queen by PATRICIA POTTER - Free Book Online Page A

soared. He had been so unlike any other suitor. Quiet yet full of depth. Or so she had thought. She jerked the thought from her mind.
    “When?”
    “Tomorrow after he finishes his chores.” Clara stared at her hopefully.
    “Can we go?” Annabella asked again. Her arms were full of kitten. “Pleathe.”
    “Yes, Mama, please,” chimed in prim Rachel.
    Janet hesitated.
    Clara’s face fell, and Janet understood she wanted to be with Kevin. Janet tried to decide whether that was good or not. How much protection should she give Clara? How wise was she in the ways of young men? How wise was any woman?
    Janet looked at the girls. “I will think about it. In the meantime, would you like to go to the vicar’s and borrow a book?”
    “Oh aye,” said Rachel blissfully. She was the little scholar among them.
    “We will take the pony cart,” Janet said.
    “Can I drive?” Grace asked.
    “I was hoping you could care for Colin,” Janet said, knowing how much Grace liked playing mother.
    “Can we take the puppy, too?” Rachel said.
    “I think both of them need some rest,” Janet replied gently.
    “But the vicar will like them.”
    “Some other time,” Janet said, thinking of the horror of the pony cart with a baby, kitten and puppy.
    The prospect of an outing made the bairns’ eyes sparkle. They all liked the vicar, Timothy McQueen, who somehow managed to annoy no one, partially because he lived in his books and demanded little of his parishioners. He had helped her in little ways, secretly loaning her books she hid from her husband.
    That was as brave as he got. He was in mid-life with a mother to support and was totally dependent on Lochaene for his living. He had survived by asking nothing of her late husband. The only time he had ever gone against Alasdair, she thought, had been regarding the books and even then with a promise from Janet never to let her husband know.
    Despite his timidity, he was a good man, and Janet liked him. She knew he wanted to be braver, to fight for his congregation, but somewhere in time he had lost his will to fight. Just as she had.
    He was in his garden when they drove up. His face broke into a smile when he saw them and he went over to the pony cart, taking Annabella and swinging her to the ground, the same for Rachel. Grace handed Colin to him, then clamored down on her own.
    “And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” he said, beaming at Janet.
    “I hoped to borrow some more schoolbooks,” she said, knowing that he taught the village children in addition to presiding over the church. “Rachel races through them.”
    His slightly moist gray eyes regarded her somberly. “Trouble?”
    “Aye, I think so.”
    “My mither has some pastries inside,” he told the lasses. “She will be verra happy to have someone to eat them.”
    The three hesitated. “Go on,” she urged them, and took Colin in her arms. They did not need more prompting.
    Once they had disappeared inside the small house, Timothy led her into the church and they sat on a bench. “What is it, my lady?”
    “I think Reginald is going to try to have himself declared guardian of the children,” she said.
    He looked distressed. His loyalties were going to be tested again. She felt guilty at asking him, but she had to know. “I have heard rumors,” he admitted.
    She swallowed hard. She had hoped he would say something else. Hoped against hope. “Could the court do that?”
    “They will do what the Duke of Cumberland wants them to do,” Timothy said sadly.
    “I cannot let Reginald and his mother control my son.”
    He shrugged helplessly. “The good Lord will protect you.”
    “The Lord left Scotland years ago,” Janet said bitterly.
    “You must have faith, my lady.”
    “I will take my son away first.”
    “And the lassies? They need you.”
    “If I’m dead?”
    His eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
    “I think someone tried to kill me last night.” She quickly told him about the figure