Read Online Vixen by Jane Feather - Free Book Online

hair, began automatically to plait it, then stopped. Sir Hugo had wanted her to take it down yesterday; perhaps he liked it that way. And she had already decided that whatever her guardian liked, she would endeavor to supply, since her plans depended on his cooperation.
    Samuel was alone in the kitchen when she went in. “I’m starving,” she announced.
    “Tell me summat new.” Samuel didn’t look up from the fireplace, where he was raking the embers. “Reckon you’ll find summat in the pantry.”
    Chloe brought ham, a loaf of bread, a crock of butter, and a jug of milk to the table. “Has Sir Hugo had breakfast?”
    “Not as far as I know. There were visitors and ’e went outside. What ’appened to ’is leg?”
    “Dante bit him.” Chloe sliced thickly into the ham.
    Samuel turned around at that and stared at her for aminute with an arrested expression. “Now, why would ’e go an’ do a thing like that?” he asked slowly.
    Chloe shrugged and layered thick slices of ham on the buttered bread. “Just a mistake.” She filled a beaker with milk and took a large bite of her sandwich.
    “Strange sorta mistake,” Samuel muttered, turning back to the grate.
    Chloe hesitated, wondering whether to expand. Samuel had clearly drawn his own conclusions, and they were probably close to the mark; he knew how attached Dante was to his mistress.
    Leave well alone, she decided, burying her nose in the beaker of milk.
    “I’m going outside,” she volunteered as she put the empty beaker on the table.
    Samuel merely grunted.
    Taking the remnants of her sandwich, she left the kitchen, intending to check on Beatrice and Dante, but Beatrice streaked past her as she crossed the great hall on the way to the door. “I’ll bring you some breakfast in a minute,” Chloe called after the cat, heading up the stairs back to her litter. Beatrice paused on the stairs, cocked an ear, then continued on her way.
    Chloe stopped at the open door, staring down into the courtyard. Hugo stood talking to two men on horseback. She recognized the elder of the two immediately, and it wasn’t difficult to guess the identity of his companion, although she hadn’t seen either of them for seven years.
    Still holding her bread and ham, she came slowly down the steps. Dante ran across the yard to greet her, tail flying.
    Jasper Gresham was facing the steps and saw her first. He was a handsome man, as his father had been, although there was a certain heaviness to his features, a florid tinge to his complexion that indicated a life ofdissipation. But his eyes were frightening. They were curiously light and shallow and never seemed to hold an expression for long enough to identify it. They slid and darted, never engaging, yet somehow all-seeing.
    “Ah,” he said pleasantly. “We’re about to be joined by the subject of this discussion.”
    Hugo spun around, scowling. “What are you doing here?”
    Chloe’s step faltered at this puzzlingly harsh reception. Then she put her chin up. “I beg your pardon, Sir Hugo, but I didn’t know the courtyard was forbidden.”
    Before he could respond, Jasper said, “Well, little sister, look at you—all grown-up. And how do you go on?” He swung off his horse, took her shoulders, and kissed her cheek.
    Dante suddenly growled. Hugo took an involuntary step forward. He knew Jasper Gresham. He knew how Jasper sullied women. Then he took hold of himself. Nothing was going to happen on this sunny morning in the courtyard of his own home, particularly with that mongrel in the vicinity.
    “Very well, thank you, Jasper,” Chloe responded politely, placing a reassuring hand on Dante’s head. “Good morning, Crispin.” She greeted the younger man, who had also dismounted.
    He, too, bent to kiss her, and Hugo saw her stiffen, although she endured the salute. “Chloe, it’s been a long time,” Crispin said with a smile that didn’t warm his flat brown eyes or do much to enliven his rather stolid