Imprisoned at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) Read Free Page B

today.’
    ‘Yes , but leeches can be useful in bringing down inflammation.’
    ‘Exactly. So , in amongst the crack-pot theories, you might find grains of truth about magical beings. Don’t give up.’
    Jasper gave a disgusted little grunt and turned back to his reading. If he hadn’t given up by now, t hen he doubted he ever would. But that didn’t make him optimistic. It just meant he was, on some level or other, bloody-minded. He was never going to let himself accept that there was no hope for them.
    ‘Phil returned from the south a little while ago. I have told Cook to prepare a welcome home dinner for her. She needs a little uplifting. Her friend’s grief has distressed her greatly.’ Byron leaned against the window frame and stared out at the snowy moors.
    ‘ Better pull out the violin then, had I not? We all became very adept at making your wife feel better when you left her.’
    Jas knew he was touching on a still-sensitive wound for Byron, but where Phil was concerned, he, like the other inhabitants of the Keep, could be very protective. When Byron had left Phil, trying to drive a wedge between their growing attachment to each other, he’d hurt her so badly that it almost led to her death. It had taken all the denizens of the Keep to help her weather that traumatic period. They all loved her – for her father, for herself and for her whole-hearted acceptance of them. They would do anything for her now, even stand up for her against Byron, if need be.
    Not that they were needed in that way, anymore. Byron loved his new wife to distraction. Despite his harsh persona, he was all gentle kindness and warmth whenever he dealt with Philomena. Jasper had no doubt that Byron would die for her if it was required of him.
    ‘I wish there’d been someone with a violin to help me feel better back then…’ Byron sounded defeated for a moment , and Jasper was immediately contrite. Of course, Byron had suffered as badly as Phil had. He’d been sacrificing his own needs for hers by leaving. It was only in hindsight that such a sacrifice had proven unnecessary.
    ‘Well , you have no need of violins anymore. You have the love and companionship of a beautiful woman who adores you. Few are so favoured in life.’
    Byron let the sombre expression slip from his harsh features , and he smiled again. His hazel eyes were suddenly as warm as a midsummer forest.
    ‘No need for violins, but your playing i s always a pleasure to hear. If you had been a lesser man, you might have made a career for yourself with that instrument.’
    ‘A lesser man? My social position neither makes me a greater or lesser man. If anyone should know that, you should.’
    Byron grinned at him again, as if he’d led Jasper to a conclusion that he’d wanted him to make. Just as the comment about leeches had been designed to get him to see value in all learning, so the comment about being a lesser man had been designed to make him acknowledge the man he was. To measure himself against the virtues he valued, so he could measure how far short of them he actually fell.
    In truth, except in the instance of his housekeeper’s death, there was little Jasper felt he’d done to lower his value. He prided himself on being a gentleman and living by a gentleman’s code of conduct. For all intents and purposes, he had been true to that code.
    ‘When will you stop employing Socratic method and just say what you mean?’ Jasper asked, more curious than annoyed.
    ‘You a re the philosopher. It seems a natural method to employ when I seek to make a point with you.’
    ‘Yes, well, s ometimes the direct approach saves time.’
    ‘Ah yes, but does it achieve its end as effectively? I think not.
    ‘ I must go to my wife. She may need my assistance in removing her heavy travelling apparel. It is a great pity that Howard Montgomery saw fit to ride to hounds in the middle of winter when the ice made such pursuits so dangerous. What was the man thinking, to risk