Magic In The Storm Read Free

marriage. Frustration
began to simmer inside her.
    She had to find out something or else this
whole excursion would have just been a waste of time. She didn’t
know when she would have another chance to be alone with Lord
Vallentyn, and to speak with him candidly. Somehow, she was certain
that he wanted to marry her as little as she wanted to marry him.
If only he would admit it!
    In desperation, she pulled her horse in front
of Lord Vallentyn’s so that he was forced to stop.
    She looked directly into his large pale blue
eyes, which were now wide with surprise. His heavy brow drew down
in concern, but she would not be stopped. “Please, my lord, be
honest with me.” Adriana leaned toward him and held onto his gaze
with her own. “Do you want this marriage as little as I do? If so,
you must help me to find a way out of it.”
    “I do not want this marriage, but it is
useless to even try to get out of it. My mother has decided that we
should marry, and so we shall.” Lord Vallentyn snapped his mouth
shut, his eyes suddenly narrowing with suspicion.
    Adriana shook her head in frustration. “I
cannot simply let Lord Devaux blackmail me into marrying you, my
lord. I am sorry.”
    “Miss Hayden, are you...? Can you...?”
    A flash of lightning pulled Adriana’s
attention away. Only now did she notice that while they had been
talking the wind had picked up. Lord Vallentyn had been right to
worry. The gray clouds above had begun stirring themselves up into
what looked like a significant storm. Luckily, the accompanying
thunder took a few minutes to reach them. The rain was still some
way off.
    Lord Vallentyn’s voice had fallen to nearly a
whisper, but the wind seemed to blow the word “magic” into her
ear.
    She didn’t know what he was referring to, but
it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was finding some way out of
this marriage. “My lord...”
    He shook his head. “Miss Hayden, I am sorry
that you, too, do not wish to marry, but you simply must accept it
as I have. This is the way of the world. You are from a good
family, have been trained...”
    “I don’t care about any of that. I will
not...”
    The pounding of hooves interrupted her. A man
rode toward them so quickly that, for a moment, she was afraid he
would crash straight into them.
    The rider stopped just short of where they
stood. “My lord, there’s... a fire... the Drummond’s cottage...
afraid it will spread... with this wind...” the man panted.
    Adriana was surprised to see Lord Vallentyn
immediately sit up straighter in his saddle and take charge of the
situation. It was a completely different man who turned his horse
in the direction the man had come. He paused for a moment and
turned back to Adriana. “Miss Hayden, you must forgive me, I need
to go. In any case, our conversation is at an end. There is no more
to be said on this subject. Can you find your way back to the
abbey?”
    “Yes, but...” Another burst of thunder
drowned out what she was about to say and Lord Vallentyn did not
wait to hear any more. With a quick nod, he and the man rode off in
the other direction, disappearing from view within moments.
    Adriana sighed. She would not give up this
fight just because Lord Vallentyn had. Slowly walking her mare
along the border of the forest that edged the last field they had
visited, she tried to think of some way out of her difficult
situation. It just wasn’t right. She was an adult and, as such,
should be allowed to decide who, and if, she wanted to marry. Men
had this right—well, most men. It seemed as if Lord Vallentyn was
as bound to his mother’s will as she was to Lord Devaux’s.
    The raven that had bothered Lord Vallentyn
earlier landed in front of her horse, startling her. It took a few
hops off to one side, seemed to look directly at her, and then flew
up and away.
    As she watched it go, she noticed the beauty
of the wood next to her. What a good thing it was that she had
thought to bring her sketch book