The Captive Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

safe place to live out the rest of his days.”
    “I have a mistress whom I love,” Hayle said. “I would marry her if I could, but my father would not accept any children of such a union as his heirs.”
    “What is wrong with her?” Alix asked, curious in spite of herself.
    “She is of low birth,” he answered.
    “Then your sire is right in the matter, I fear. My blood is more than equal to yours, and so we will wed. I to protect my father, and you to please yours. There is the long and the short of it, my lord.”
    “You are a hard girl,” he told her.
    “Nay, I am a practical girl,” Alix replied. “If you treat me with respect, I will be a good wife to you, my lord. I will keep the hall, honor our fathers, bear your children, and care for all within my realm as chatelaine of Wulfborn Hall. Keep your mistress. I will not complain, but do not flaunt her publicly, I pray you.”
    “I am accustomed to doing as I please,” he told her.
    “That is a child’s excuse. You are not a child, my lord. You are a man,” Alix said to him. “Once you take a wife, you must act like one.”
    They had reached the end of the hall, and Hayle suddenly pulled Alix into a dark corner. Pushing her against the hard stone wall, he said, “You will belong to me as my dogs, as my horse belongs to me. I will do with you as I please.” He pressed himself against her, his hand grasping one of her breasts and squeezing it hard. “Do you understand that, wench ?”
    Alix gasped with shock. “Take your hand away,” she half whispered.
    In response, he tweaked her nipple sharply. “No,” he said, and he kneaded her soft flesh with cruel fingers. “Are you a virgin?”
    Alix flushed. “Yes! Of course! Why would you think otherwise?”
    “I thought nothing. I merely wanted to know,” Hayle told her. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
    I am going to swoon , Alix thought as his mouth ravaged hers. She had never before been kissed, but she sensed the anger in him.
    He lifted his head from her. “You don’t know how to kiss, do you? Well, it matters not. All I need to do is get you with child. Then I shall not have to be bothered with you for a while.” And releasing his hold on her, he began to walk them back to where their fathers sat by the hearth.
    Alix’s legs felt wooden as she walked by his side. She was in shock. Would this coldhearted man ever care for her? Did she even want him to? Could she even marry him now? She had to, and tears pricked the backs of her eyelids. There was no other choice. Her father had to be protected even at the cost of her own happiness.

Chapter 2
    It would be a few days before the contracts were signed. To her credit, the queen did attempt to comfort her goddaughter. “I would not do this but that your father is ill and can travel no farther,” Margaret of Anjou said to Alix. “And it is easier for us to find shelter with just one body servant each. The day after your wedding we will depart here. Only the isolation of this refuge has kept us safe, but we cannot take the chance of remaining for much longer. Sooner than later the Yorkists will scour the countryside most thoroughly, and we will be found.”
    “I understand,” Alix said dully.
    “He is an attractive young man,” the queen noted.
    “He wants to marry his mistress,” Alix replied.
    “Pah!” the queen exclaimed. “All young men want to wed their mistresses, but mistresses are not for marrying. Be dutiful to your husband, and he will eventually outgrow his mistress. This is a good match for you, ma chérie . The family is respectable, and the baron likes you. If your husband misbehaves, go to him, for Sir Udolf is the head of the family, and I suspect he will live to be a very old man. But most important, your papa has a safe refuge now. I could not desert him for the sake of your dear mama, who was always so good to me. Think of her, Alix. When my grandmother and father decided she was to marry your father, she