Devil's Desire Read Online Free PDF

red-gold hair tumbled in thick waves about her shoulders.
    "I will not marry him! I will not! I—I would rather die first!” Elysia cried.
    Agatha released her shoulders from her death-like grip, and lifting her hand slapped Elysia hard across the face. Elysia managed to jerk away, putting her shaking hands to her smarting cheeks, she stared at her aunt with a wounded, puzzled look in her eyes.          .
    "No, you won't die—yet. Maybe after a year's marriage to that lecherous old fool you will desire to; but marry him you will—and next week. He can hardly wait to get you into his bed, my dear," Agatha added tauntingly. She laughed aloud again; another wild, uncontrolled laugh-but this time full of triumph.
    "Oh, sweet, sweet revenge I knew if I waited long enough that one day I would taste it. Beautiful Elysia, just like your mother and grandmother. I told you that your mother was beautiful? Well, so was your grandmother—my stepmother. Father was bewitched by her and brought her home as his wife. Here! To my house—to take over as the new mistress of Graystone Manor. Fool—to think that anyone could take my place.
    "We had always been so happy, Father and I, here at Graystone, even though Mother had died years before. Then she came. She had no right to come here and to bring that little brat with her. I can remember them standing there in the hall." Agatha stared towards the hall; her eyes glazed as her mind moved back through the years to an earlier time.
    "They wore fine lace and velvet, and little plumed hats. The sun was shining down on that strange red-gold hair, turning it into living flames of fire. Their smiles were as false as their hearts. They came here; taking my house, my father, expecting me to be friends. Well, I pretended as they pretended, to be friends, but whenever I had the chance, I let your mother, the darling little Elizabeth, know where her true place was.
    “When your grandmother finally died, I took over the running of the house—as I should have from the beginning. Father was fit for nothing after she died. She ruined him!"
    Agatha paused, momentarily perplexed by her, thought, a frown marring her forehead. Her hands were clenched tightly and her breathing was ragged as she glanced about wildly. Beads of perspiration were dotting her upper lip as she put her hand nervously to her temple, pressing it as if the pain were unbearable. "I think I was about nineteen or twenty; your mother was only about eleven. years old. But I was old enough to assume the responsibility of running the Manor—and I managed it better than your grandmother had.
    "I told your mother, the darling Elizabeth, the things she would be expected to do just as I have told you your duties. Father was not around much; and when he was, he was so drunk he didn't recognize anyone or anything. Elizabeth soon found her proper place in my Manor. Ha! The little upstart trying to worm her way into Graystone with that sweet, sly smile of hers. Well, she got what she deserved!"
    A smile of remembrance broke on Agatha's face, her eyes glinting evilly. "Father died not long after that—in fact, it's a miracle he lasted as long as he—did. I didn't miss him—he only interfered; spent too much money on whiskey anyway."
    "Do you know how he died? It's rather amusing," Agatha said looking directly at Elysia, and seeming to see her for the first time. "He thought he saw your grandmother at the foot of the stairs. He came stumbling down them and tripped over the loose sash of his robe. He fell hard—right at my feet breaking his neck. I had no idea that he would mistake her for me. I was only wearing her dressing gown to do some of the dusting in—I didn't want to spoil my dress, of course," she added indifferently.
    "Father was a weak, drunken fool; his mind not only besotted by her, but by drink as well. After his death the Manor became mine. I was finally rightful mistress of Graystone, the legal owner by law. The Courts