Border Lord Read Online Free PDF

Besides, country castles always offer shelter to travelers. Haven't you heard of Scottish hospitality?"
    Miriam stared at the telltale candle. "Of course I have."
    "Then who's to say that candle hasn't been lighted before tonight?"
    "Me, that's who. The coincidence is too great. Remember the housekeeper said she'd just prepared these rooms."
    "Oh, Miriam." Alexis shook the brush. "Given enough time, you could find a flaw in the Ten Commandments."
    Undeterred, Miriam said, "I know this—several things about the earl and his household are not what they seem."
    "All right." Alexis pitched the brush onto the vanity. "But if we're going to pick apart this poor sod, I insist we do it by the fire."
    Contrite, Miriam said, "I'm sorry. Let's just say goodnight. You're cold and tired, and I'm—"
    "Mistaken." Alexis chuckled without humor. "I'm wide awake, and as anxious as a beggar on Alms Day." She pulled Miriam to her feet. Although shorter than Miriam by half a head, and almost twice her age, Alexis had a grip like steel. "But if I didn't insist that you sleep at least once a day, your head would never touch a pillow. When you do retire, you never sleep the night through." A maternal smile, full of love and understanding, glowed on her face.
    Miriam hugged her, bussed her satiny cheek, then pulled her to the hearth. Seated cross-legged on a rug like young girls defying a nanny's curfew, they faced each other. Miriam related the story of the sudden appearance of the armed guards on the walls.
    "I wondered why you went outside. I thought you might be fetching Verbatim from the kennel."
    "No, but I'll manage to move her in here tomorrow."
    Humor sprung from Alexis's lips. "Remember the time in Rouen, when the duke of Burgundy planted a spy under your bed?"
    Miriam laughed, too. "Poor fellow. Instead of gleaning information from me on the bride's dowry, he took one look at Verbatim and babbled on for hours about the concessions the duke was willing to make for his son."
    "You won a few more from him, as I recall."
    Pride infused Miriam. "A woman needs more than pretty promises from a courting swain."
    "I have every confidence in you, my dear."
    "Good. Now that I've met the earl I think I'll need it."
    A horse nickered. Miriam jumped up, ran to the window, and pulled back the drape. A cloud passed over the quarter moon, throwing a blanket of darkness over the yard.
    Alexis joined her. "What do you see? 'Tis black as a Cornish cave down there."
    Miriam peered into the gloom. Below lay a walled courtyard or garden. She pressed her cheek to the cool glass. A shadow moved. "There," she whispered, pointing to a moving shadow.
    "I don't see anything."
    Squinting, her foot tapping as she waited for the moonlight to return, Miriam tried to follow the progress of the darkened shape. Was it a person or merely the night breeze rustling the bushes in the courtyard? She strained until her eyes ached but she couldn't see enough to make a decision.
    Clouds continued to shroud the moon, but she knew as surely as the sun would rise tomorrow that she'd seen a man slipping from the castle.
    "If someone was there, he's gone now," said Alexis, pulling Miriam back to the hearth. "'Twas probably a maid sneaking out for a tryst with a stableboy."
    "What time is it?" Miriam asked.
    "Just past ten o'clock."
    Miriam paced the floor, trying to piece together the information.
    "All right," said Alexis. "Tell me everything."
    Like an anchor tethered to her thoughts, the contradictions about the earl and his household pulled at Miriam. She relayed each one. By the time she finished, the candle was another hour shorter.
    Alexis slapped her thigh. "Well, I agree that your observations are enough to make a saint seem circumspect. But I think you should take your time. You don't want to move too fast."
    "True." Miriam turned her palm up. "Tomorrow I must tell him who I am and why I'm here. Now. Honestly, Lexie. Tell me what you think of him."
    Propping an elbow on her