The Seducer Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Madeline Hunter
quietly and gently. More gently than she ever remembered, as if he were sharing an important secret.
He still held her hands, his pressing thumbs making strange pulses throb in her palms. New lights entered his eyes and the pulse spread. To her arms. To her blood. To her breath and the fire and the air. To the whole chamber.
Another timeless instant. An astonishing one. Compelling and confusing. A little frightening, but touched with dangerous excitement, such as one felt when peering down from a great height.
He dropped her hands abruptly, breaking the spell. He turned on his heel and aimed for the door. “Break one every day if you need to. Tear the chamber apart if it suits you.” His voice came harshly, making her wonder if she had imagined what had just happened.
He paused at the threshold and looked back. A little tremor of that pulse passed to her again. Like an echo. Or a distant voice calling.
“Your intentions, Daniel. I would hear them now.”
“You say that in an accusatory tone, Jeanette. I am wounded.”
“It is not in anyone’s power to wound you.”
“Perhaps not, but if anyone could, it would be you.”
That made her retreat. She relaxed back in her chair and her face lost its strict expression. “Why did you bring her here?”
“I told you, it was necessary.” He explained the little drama at the school and the discovery of Diane’s true age. “I suppose that I never considered that the years passed for her as well as us. And she appears very young, unless you look closely.”
“Perhaps you also found it convenient not to see that she was grown and had to be dealt with.”
He ignored that. “She was building up her courage to leave the school anyway. It was just a matter of time. London, she said. To find her life.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Exactly.”
Jeanette’s face came to him five times over, the real one multiplied by the mirrors. He did not care for this old-fashioned sitting room with its flimsy furniture and relentless reflections. His own tastes were more restrained, but this was Jeanette’s bower and she had decorated it to create a private world. She had filled it with the light and beauty of her childhood, and he neither begrudged her the expense nor the opulence. He would build her an entire palace filled with golden tendrils if that would crowd the darkness from her memories.
“Do you intend to keep her here forever? She thinks that she is going to London.”
“She will, eventually. I merely need some time to finish arrangements regarding Dupré first. Then I can turn my attention to England, and to Tyndale.”
Jeanette’s dark head tilted back in surprise. Concern veiled her green eyes. “Daniel . . .”
“Do not worry. And do not interfere.”
She thoughtfully rearranged the long shawl around her shoulders. He waited while she contemplated the little she knew and surmised the rest. He never explained much to her, but she always saw it all.
“She is very lovely,” she said. “Unpolished, but that is easily remedied. I will see to it.”
“Do not make the shine too bright. It will obscure what is naturally there.”
He did not have to say more. She would understand.
Wrapped to her satisfaction, the shawl’s long silk ends crossing just so, she drew herself a little straighter. “So many years had passed, that I thought you had given up on it. That it was over. But if you are making arrangements for Gustave Dupré, I suppose not.”
“It is only over when it is finished.”
“And when you turn your attention to England, you think that you see a way to finish it for good? You plan to try and take down Andrew Tyndale? I do not like it. I do not want it. He is the brother of a marquis. It is not worth the risk. You could lose everything, even your life.”
“I won all that I have so that it
could
be finished. It is definitely worth the risk.”
“I will not see this girl harmed for my sake.”
“It is not only about you.
He still held her hands, his pressing thumbs making strange pulses throb in her palms. New lights entered his eyes and the pulse spread. To her arms. To her blood. To her breath and the fire and the air. To the whole chamber.
Another timeless instant. An astonishing one. Compelling and confusing. A little frightening, but touched with dangerous excitement, such as one felt when peering down from a great height.
He dropped her hands abruptly, breaking the spell. He turned on his heel and aimed for the door. “Break one every day if you need to. Tear the chamber apart if it suits you.” His voice came harshly, making her wonder if she had imagined what had just happened.
He paused at the threshold and looked back. A little tremor of that pulse passed to her again. Like an echo. Or a distant voice calling.
“Your intentions, Daniel. I would hear them now.”
“You say that in an accusatory tone, Jeanette. I am wounded.”
“It is not in anyone’s power to wound you.”
“Perhaps not, but if anyone could, it would be you.”
That made her retreat. She relaxed back in her chair and her face lost its strict expression. “Why did you bring her here?”
“I told you, it was necessary.” He explained the little drama at the school and the discovery of Diane’s true age. “I suppose that I never considered that the years passed for her as well as us. And she appears very young, unless you look closely.”
“Perhaps you also found it convenient not to see that she was grown and had to be dealt with.”
He ignored that. “She was building up her courage to leave the school anyway. It was just a matter of time. London, she said. To find her life.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Exactly.”
Jeanette’s face came to him five times over, the real one multiplied by the mirrors. He did not care for this old-fashioned sitting room with its flimsy furniture and relentless reflections. His own tastes were more restrained, but this was Jeanette’s bower and she had decorated it to create a private world. She had filled it with the light and beauty of her childhood, and he neither begrudged her the expense nor the opulence. He would build her an entire palace filled with golden tendrils if that would crowd the darkness from her memories.
“Do you intend to keep her here forever? She thinks that she is going to London.”
“She will, eventually. I merely need some time to finish arrangements regarding Dupré first. Then I can turn my attention to England, and to Tyndale.”
Jeanette’s dark head tilted back in surprise. Concern veiled her green eyes. “Daniel . . .”
“Do not worry. And do not interfere.”
She thoughtfully rearranged the long shawl around her shoulders. He waited while she contemplated the little she knew and surmised the rest. He never explained much to her, but she always saw it all.
“She is very lovely,” she said. “Unpolished, but that is easily remedied. I will see to it.”
“Do not make the shine too bright. It will obscure what is naturally there.”
He did not have to say more. She would understand.
Wrapped to her satisfaction, the shawl’s long silk ends crossing just so, she drew herself a little straighter. “So many years had passed, that I thought you had given up on it. That it was over. But if you are making arrangements for Gustave Dupré, I suppose not.”
“It is only over when it is finished.”
“And when you turn your attention to England, you think that you see a way to finish it for good? You plan to try and take down Andrew Tyndale? I do not like it. I do not want it. He is the brother of a marquis. It is not worth the risk. You could lose everything, even your life.”
“I won all that I have so that it
could
be finished. It is definitely worth the risk.”
“I will not see this girl harmed for my sake.”
“It is not only about you.