Velvet Bond Read Online Free PDF Page B

hear me, Beth, you’d best set your sights elsewhere. From what he said tonight, I got the impression that Raynor is in no hurry to wed. He told me his personal life has been more than complicated of late. Raynor has a bastard child by a noblewoman, though that is a tragic story in itself.” He went on to tell her of why Raynor was at court and what he had told Stephen about his child, Willow. He concluded by saying, “Though I do like him, you will stay clear of Warwicke, Beth. It would not be right for you to set your sights upon him. Though he meant to wed the child’s mother, the fact is, he did not.”
     
    Elizabeth listened to all this with complete fascination. Many men tarried with serving women as a matter of course, but to get a gentle woman with child and then not marry her? That was another matter.
     
    Yet Stephen had said circumstances had kept them from marrying. And hadn’t Lord Warwicke come to court to claim the child? Wasn’t that the act of a truly honorable man?
     
    Far from discouraging her, Stephen’s remarks made her even more determined to know Raynor better. She had thought, simply by looking at him, that he was not a man to live by the rules of others. His long hair, his arrogant walk, the cool indifference in his eyes, set Lord Warwicke apart on first sight.
     
    She smiled at her brother with not-inconsiderable charm. “I want you to invite him here to sup.”
     
    Stephen stared at her. “I have already done so. But had I known then what I do now, I would not have. As I said, you must set your sights elsewhere, Elizabeth. Mayhap I will send a note and cancel.”
     
    Sapphire eyes widened in horror. “You will not! When is he to come?”
     
    Looking as if the reply were being forced from him, Stephen said, “On the morrow.”
     
    “On the morrow!” Elizabeth rose in flurry of velvet skirts. “How could you give me so little time to prepare?”
     
    His expression relaxed in relief. “I will simply go to him and explain that he can’t...”
     
    She appeared not to hear him. “You must excuse me while I go speak with Olwyn. We will need every moment to prepare a proper meal. We will need fresh pastries and bread. And I shall certainly call in the butcher to kill a pig in the morning. We cannot feed Lord Warwicke salted pork.”
     
    She passed through the doorway with a gentle sway of her slender hips, leaving Stephen staring after her. He knew he should be concerned for his sister, but the only sympathy he felt within him was directed toward Raynor Warwicke. Stephen would himself be here to see to Elizabeth’s well-being.
     
    Raynor had no one to protect him from Elizabeth.
     
    Besides Raynor had said he was returning to Warwicke on the day after the morrow. How much trouble could Elizabeth get herself into in one day?
     
    * * *
     
    The next afternoon found Elizabeth and Olwyn standing in Elizabeth’s bedchamber, looking at the array of gowns they had laid out on the high, wide bed.
    “I think the red,” Olwyn said at last, tucking a stray lock of streaky blonde hair into her kerchief. Her gray eyes studied the scarlet cotehardie, with its embroidery of gold.
     
    “Aye.” Elizabeth nodded. “It is my favorite, but I just wondered if the blue...or the saffron...” She turned to run her gaze over the nearest of the three trunks that stood open, their colorful contents spilling over the sides. “I did wear the other red yesterday.”
     
    Tilting her head to one side, Olwyn frowned. “Nay, the red will do very nicely. Men never remember what you wore the previous day. Only that you looked well.”
     
    Elizabeth grinned. Red was her favorite color. “Then that’s that. And I think I'll wear the new gold underdress.”
     
    Olwyn eyed her mistress with surprise, then uncertainty. “But, Elizabeth, I thought you were going to have me loosen it. You told me yourself that it was too tight for common decency.” The slender blond woman went to the chest beneath the