Read Online The Libertine by Saskia Walker - Free Book Online Page B

doorway.
    He was here. The Witch Master was now inside the room.
    Her fingers clutched tighter to the shelf. Her blood had
already been racing, but when she sensed his presence—so brooding and so
mysterious—here in her private chamber, her heart thumped against the wall of
her chest. They were alone. She took a deep breath, attempting to keep her
thoughts in order. It was difficult to do so. Her chest was constricted, her
corset and bodice unbearably tight.
    Once again she wondered if she’d gone insane, agreeing to have
him come here. It was bad enough that she had sought his kind out. Why had she
succumbed to his offer in the marketplace? His presence here in her private
quarters was outrageous, and it flustered her immensely, even more than she had
imagined it would.
    Then he stepped closer, into the light by the fireplace, and
those questions faded into the background. She was captured by the look of him.
Unruly, yet poised and elegant. He had the quality of a sleek parlor hound that
could turn into a wild hunter at whim. When he looked at her with those intense
eyes, her reason faltered.
    “Good evening, Mistress Chloris.” He bowed his head.
    “Sire.” Her voice wavered. She knew she must press on, and
quickly. She’d readied her words and forced them out. “You have risked much
coming here, thank you.”
    A shadow of a smile passed over his lips. “You asked for my
help, but you were wary of being seen coming to my home. That is understandable.
We can talk here in privacy.”
    She nodded, but somehow felt safer not meeting his piercing
gaze. Instead she risked only fleeting glances in his direction, remembering
what Tamhas had said about his eyes, and what she thought she had seen in the
market. Was it true? She meant to proceed quickly, lest they be discovered
conversing in secret in the midnight hour. However, curiosity had its hold on
her. “You seem to know your way about the place. You found my chamber
quickly.”
    “Aye, I have been inside the house before. Not that Tamhas
Keavey knows of it, I warrant. Your cousin’s wife invited me here, secretly.” He
observed her as he spoke, almost as if he wanted to study her reaction. “It was
shortly after she became mistress of the house.”
    Chloris was startled on several accounts and found herself
unable to respond with an appropriate answer. It appeared that he’d known all
along that Tamhas was her cousin. It would not take much investigation, she
supposed. Perhaps she had even given it away the night before. She’d been taken
by surprise on meeting him and had not thought clearly. The fact that there was
some previous involvement between him and Jean made her unbearably curious. It
went some way in explaining Jean’s response to him in the marketplace that
morning. Most of all it unnerved Chloris that Jean had apparently invited him
here, just as she had. Why?
    Unbidden, Jean’s words of warning ran through her mind
again—her comments about his immoral nature, his ability to seduce. Chloris’s
face heated as she recalled Jean’s flustered state while she explained why they
had to avoid him. She’d said it was because of his reputation. Was there more to
it? Had Jean herself been involved with him?
    Her visitor gave a soft laugh, as if he sensed his statement
had confused her. “Mistress Jean is a kindly woman, but somewhat gullible. As a
young bride,” he continued, sidling closer as he spoke, “Mistress Jean was
convinced of a ghostly presence in the west wing. She asked me here to seek it
out and send it on its way. Alas, it was a wasted visit, for I could not discern
any such presence.”
    “Ah, yes.” Chloris nodded, relieved to get to a reason for his
previous visitation. “The illusive wandering spirit, there has always been talk
of it amongst the servants. As my cousin’s ward I spent several years living
here at Torquil House, before I left for Edinburgh, and there were no sightings
while I was resident. I suspected it was a