The Wandering Harlot (The Marie Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

us discuss the matter. I have known Marie her whole life and cannot imagine she would become a woman of loose morals without any of us noticing.”
    Rupert’s face remained as frozen as a mask. “I will let the court judge.”
    Mombert wasn’t ready to give up. “But if this is all a mistake . . . if Marie is indeed still a virgin . . .”
    “I will have her examined by an honorable matron tomorrow morning, and if she is still a virgin, the carriage driver and the secretary will be cast into the dungeon as slanderers while I will have a glorious celebration of my marriage to Marie.”
    “We cannot object to that,” Master Jörg affirmed. “Counselor Rupert is a man familiar with the laws and knows what should be done.”
    “Father! No! You mustn’t allow them to take me away. Do you really think I am as evil as these liars assert?” Marie seemed to be struggling for air.
    She didn’t understand the turn her fate had taken. She desperately sought help from her father, but he just kept staring at the floor while mumbling something incomprehensible. Counselor Rupert seemed to take pleasure in damning her. Marie wondered in despair why he believed the statements of the two men more than he did her own.
    She looked at her two accusers. Linhard turned his head away at once, but Utz grinned and ran his tongue back and forth between his broken teeth. The man frightened her, and Marie quickly turned away.
    Master Gero returned almost at once with Hunold, one of the city bailiffs. Hunold stood more than a head taller than the men around him. His arms were bigger than the thigh of an ordinary man, and his abdominal muscles were as thick as ropes. He grinned broadly, seemingly enjoying the situation, and bowed to Counselor Rupert.
    “Always at your service, sir.”
    “Carry this woman to the dungeon. I’ll see to it that she is charged tomorrow.”
    Hunold glanced lustfully at Marie, then took a rope from his belt, tied Marie’s arms behind her back, and pushed her toward the stairs. As he squeezed past her father, Master Matthis raised his head as if awakening from a bad dream and reached out to the bailiff.
    “Take care of my daughter and see she has everything she needs. I’ll repay you handsomely for that.”
    Hunold’s gaze, however, wandered from the owner of the house to the counselor, whom he looked at questioningly. Rupert Splendidus nodded crossly and gestured vigorously for the bailiff to take the girl away, then descended the stairs. Stopping in the entryway below, he looked up at Matthis Schärer who was leaning on the railing and gasping. “You will understand that I can no longer be your guest. We shall see each other again tomorrow in court.”
    Master Matthis uttered a few incomprehensible sounds before his voice became clearer. “Go! Get out as fast as you can. And don’t forget to take with you the swine who sullied my house, or I’ll lose control of myself and throttle them.”
    He staggered toward Linhard who was still leaning on the wall, exhausted. At that moment Linhard sprang back to life, ran down the stairs as if the devil were after him, tore open the door, and disappeared into the dark night.
    Rupert followed him at a leisurely pace. At the courtyard entrance, he reached for the lantern he had set there but didn’t light it until he was outside in the street. Looking around, he saw Utz appear at the next corner, pulling Linhard after him.
    An evil smile played around Rupert’s mouth as he asked, “You know what you have to do now?”
    Utz laughed. “We’ll take care of everything, just as you wish, but first I’ll have to convince this coward that he has to play along.”
    Rupert glared at Linhard. “Are you going to back out? Don’t forget it was you who hid the butterfly in the girl’s room. If you cross us, I’ll have you broken on the wheel for perjury, fraud against your employer, and a few other crimes.”
    Linhard was visibly shaken and raised his hands, pleading.