The Lady and the Falconer Read Online Free PDF Page A

residence, Logan thought. I would slit his throat on sight. His fists clenched.
    “Yes!” he heard a voice call out. “Ask Peter Grey!”
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
     
    L ogan froze. Tingles of bated excitement shot through his entire body. He thought for a moment it was just his imagination. He thought for a moment his ears were playing tricks on him. He whirled to search for the person who had said his brother’s name.
    She stood across the courtyard, her brown hair waving in the wind, her hands resting on a slim waist, a grin curving her full lips. Perhaps he was dreaming and this woman was an angel come to tell him that his brother was gone.
    Then, she turned away and headed toward the gate to the outer ward. Anxiety filled him. Could Peter possibly be alive? he wondered, his breath suddenly tight in his chest. This woman might be my only link to him. Impulsively, he found himself racing after her, skirting carts and sheep to keep up with her, fighting to keep from losing sight of her.
    Just as she left the inner ward and entered the outer ward, a man grabbed her arm, halting her movement. Logan came to an abrupt stop, his gaze sweeping over him. The man’s immaculate, bowl-cut, blond hair made Logan’s lip curl in distaste, as did the rich blue velvet jupon he wore, a sure sign that the pompous noble had not done a hard day’s work in his life. The nobleman’s eyes quickly scanned the courtyard, and Logan’s instincts told him to stay hidden. He melted into the shadows of the stone wall.
    “You’re not at mass this morning,” the man said to the woman after surveying the ward.
    Even though the wind was blowing toward Logan, pushing their words his way, he still had to strain to hear them.
    “Neither are you,” she replied. “Perhaps it’s an appropriate place for you to be... at your betrothed’s side.”
    “There is much work to be done.”
    “You haven’t lifted a finger yet, Graham.”
    “I didn’t say I would do the work,” the man she called Graham said with a smile.
    The woman pulled her arm free. “No, you didn’t. But I intend to do as much as I can.”
    “As always, m’lady, your heart is quite large where the peasants are concerned.”
    Logan saw her body stiffen, and he was surprised to find he was suddenly clutching his staff so tightly that his knuckles hurt.
    Another man, a peasant wearing soiled breeches and a patched tunic, burst through the open gates. The man scanned the area, breathing hard, before running up to Graham and the woman, calling, “Lady Solace! Lady Solace! It’s Dorothy!”
    “Dorothy?” Solace echoed.
    “She’s having her baby!”
    “Now?” Solace asked in disbelief. “She isn’t due for a month.”
    “Agnes is with her in the village now. But no one else will stay.”
    As Solace turned to snatch the reins of a horse tethered to a wagon, a tidal wave of dread surged through Logan, so powerful that it left him momentarily incapacitated. Visions of his own impetuousness filled his mind. She was so young, as he had been. So naive.
    Suddenly, he was bolting for her, seizing her arm.
    The command was out of his mouth before he could stop it. “Don’t go!”
    She tried to pull her arm free, but his grip tightened. “What are you doing?” she demanded in astonishment. “Let go.”
    For a moment, Logan didn’t speak. She had the largest green eyes he had ever seen. “Think about what you’re doing,” he finally ordered, forcing himself to look away from her dazzling eyes.
    “I have no other choice,” she responded.
    “There are always choices.”
    Solace glanced coolly at his hand. After a moment, he removed it from her arm. She turned away from him and hoisted herself onto the horse, settling her petite form on its back. She glanced down at him, her green eyes cool with disdain. “I don’t see you rushing to her aid,” she snapped and spurred the horse.
    “Solace, wait!” Graham called.
    Logan watched Solace urge the horse into