Read Online The Hourglass by Bárbara Metzger - Free Book Online Page B

glass of wine that the earl offered, and asked, “But what about all the marriages of convenience, or the dynastic matches whose whole purpose is to provide heirs for thrones, titles, and wealth?”
    He sipped at his own wine, savoring the taste after so many years without. “All matters naught, in the end. Elgin Macklin will not see his son. What of the French Louises, the English Henrys, or the Egyptian Ramseses? Where are they now?” He could tell her precisely where, but that was not the point. “Your own prince regent has no heir, despite his political maneuvering. England will survive.”
    “But what of those unions that merge fortunes? You are a rich man yourself. Do you not want your flesh and blood to inherit your money?”
    He shrugged. “I have already started making plans for the gold, establishing a fund for the widows and orphans of the soldiers we could not save. I intend to build schools and hospitals and much more. Do not worry—you will be well provided for, as I promised. There is enough left to do a world of good.”
    Genie was so amazed she almost dropped her glass. “You would give all of your money away?”
    “Not your share, but yes. I will not need it when I am done.”
    “You are a very peculiar man.”
    He laughed, more at himself than anything else. “You do not know the half of it.”
    “You see things others do not.” She touched her stomach. “You speak like no other man, think like no one I have ever known. Women should have choices. Money should be spent. Heirs do not matter. I know you have been in foreign lands, but I have never heard of a society with such notions. What are you?”
    The crow had been sleeping on the bedpost, glossy head under one wing. Now the bird blinked and bobbed. “Reaper,” he mumbled. “Reaper.”
    Ardeth scowled at the gremlin, which was now fluffing its feathers and going back to sleep. “The pest means ‘reader.’ I am a prodigious reader of varied philosophies. For all my studies, I have decided to be a man of honor, as I said. A man who is trying to find his lost soul, if that makes any sense.”
    “Don’t you mean save your soul?”
    “No, mine was lost long ago, with the hourglass. But I will find it. Then I will be free if I can make amends.”
    He seemed so noble to Genie, so selfless and honorable, she had a hard time believing anything else. “Were you not always a gentleman, that you must atone?”
    “A gentleman? I was never that.” He looked at his hands with their nails that were now smooth and manicured, but hands that had held broadsword, battle-axe, and mace. “To my sorrow.”
    “Did you take lives?” she guessed.
    “Too many to count.”
    “But you saved some. I saw that myself.”
    “Too few.”
    “Were you a mercenary, then, fighting in wars around the world? Is that how you became wealthy, selling your sword for gold?”
    “I started as a warrior, battling for land and gold and influence. Then I became a kind of tax collector for those with far more power than I ever imagined.”
    “You have great inner strengths.” Genie had never seen him weary or undecided. He seemed annoyed by the crow, but he never shouted or swatted at it, the way Elgin would have. “I cannot imagine anyone but royalty with more innate authority.”
    He brushed that aside. “I have nothing compared to those I served.”
    Genie did not believe him. She’d read of other lands, too, of czars and sultans and satraps. The Earl of Ardeth was surely more regal. Reminded of sultans, though, she thought of harems. “What about women?” Now that he was answering questions, Genie found she had many.
    “To my regret I battled for wenches, too, and won many, whether they were willing or not. But I am long since done with rakehell ways, I swear.”
    “What of your first wife?”
    “She was seldom willing.” He could not remember the color of her eyes, only that they were always reddened from weeping. “Or did you mean to ask if I had other