Of Noble Birth Read Online Free PDF

I scare
ye?”
    Nathaniel didn’t answer. Mary was a wiry
young girl with medium-brown hair and a heart-shaped face. She had
sharp little teeth and a flat, shapeless figure, nothing much to
recommend her, but Richard gave her a hug.
    “Did you miss me?”
    “No, an’ I know better than to believe ye
missed me.” She laughed again, her eyes turning to Nathaniel with
apparent interest. “Oooo, ye did bring ‘im. But ye never told me ‘e
was so ‘andsome.”
    “That’s because he’s an ugly bloke in the
light,” Richard responded. “His hair’s as black as one of those
American savages everyone talks about, not the flaming red of me
own, and while I admit his eyes are blue, they sometimes look as
pale as ice. You should see him when he gets angry, which I must
admit, he does, and entirely too often.”
    Nathaniel couldn’t resist a smile at this
quick accounting of his attributes, or lack of them, but he hadn’t
come to be inspected like a horse. He was ready to get hold of the
heavy book Mary hugged to her breast, and doubly eager to be away
from Bridlewood.
    “Well, ‘e wouldn’t be ‘is father’s son if ‘e
didn’t ‘ave a temper,” Mary responded. “The duke’s been a miserable
soul ever since the two of ye took that first ship. I can scarcely
keep a straight face when ‘e starts rantin’. I swear, the mention
of ye makes ‘im apo—apo... what’s the word?”
    “Apoplectic,” Nathaniel replied dryly,
deriving a small bit of pleasure from picturing his arrogant father
out of his mind with rage.
    “That’s it. ‘E’s apoplectic near ‘alf the
time.”
    Nathaniel felt the maid’s hand on his
forearm.
    “But ‘ow did ye get so tall?” she asked.
“Yer a full ‘ead taller than yer father.”
    “Perhaps I’ve my mother to thank,” Nathaniel
responded. “May I?” He put his hand out for the book she still held
to her flat chest, and finally she shrugged and relinquished
it.
    “‘E’s in an awful ‘urry,” she remarked to
Richard, a grimace claiming her plain face.
    Nathaniel quickly lit one of the candles he
had brought in his pack and laid the book open, searching for the
information he needed. The pages were filled with the names of
ships, the dates, times, and locations of their departures, their
destinations, even a list of their anticipated cargo.
    Nathaniel smiled as he memorized the
schedule for the following two weeks, but the smile froze on his
face when he heard voices, men’s voices, coming through the
trees.
    “There’s someone at the pond,” a stranger
shouted, “Come on!”
    Running feet pounded the ground, making
apprehension prickle down Nathaniel’s spine. Whoever it was, they
were close. And they were coming closer still.
    He glanced up to see a look of shock, then
fear cross Mary’s face. Snapping the book closed, he shoved it into
her arms and pushed her back into the cover of the trees. “Run,” he
whispered. “Go back another way and return this. The sound of our
horses will draw them after us and keep you safe for a bit, but you
must hurry.”
    Nathaniel leaped onto his horse as Richard
did the same, then he glanced around, wondering which direction to
go. The water was on one side, their pursuers were on the other,
and he had no idea what he might encounter in front or behind
him.
    “How do we get out of here?” he asked
Richard.
    Richard shrugged and pointed. “I’ll go this
way, you go that way. We’ll meet back at the tavern, where Trenton
is waiting for us.” Then he dashed away, leaving Nathaniel to
charge ahead in the direction specified and to pray they could both
escape.

Chapter 2

     
    Tree branches clawed at
Nathaniel’s face and clothing as he goaded his horse through the
thickest part of the forest. Whoever he had heard back at the lake
sounded as though they were on foot, but there was no way to know
for sure. God willing, even if they had mounts, he could
outdistance them.
    After climbing a rocky
hill and descending an