Patricia Ryan - [Fairfax Family 01] Read Free Page B

Edmond was what Sir Thorne had chosen to communicate—that he was the younger of two sons and had been knighted by his father several months before, that he would be coming into his manor upon his marriage, that he was comely, and that he hunted. Sir Thorne had gone on for some length about the hunting, but had mentioned no sports or other pastimes of Edmond’s.
    “People don’t just hunt ,” she said.
    Rainulf stared intently at the hooded man. “Hmm?”
    “He’s got to do something else. Doesn’t he?”
    “I suppose so,” he replied distractedly.
    The cloaked man stopped a few yards from the end of the pier and stood waiting in the somber drizzle while men scrambled down from the boat to tie her up. He was tall, nearly a head taller than the sailors bustling around him. She couldn’t make out his features because of the hood, but she could see that he was clean-shaven. The black cloak fell straight from his square shoulders, and his chausses and shoes were also black.
    “Is that him?” Martine asked, feeling foolish even as she uttered the words, since Rainulf had no more idea than she what Edmond looked like.
    “That’s him,” Rainulf said. Martine took a deep breath.
    From behind them, someone cleared his throat. They turned to see Gyrth, scratching his boils and looking at the floor. “Begging your pardon, Father, but... I was wondering, if you’ve got the payment handy...?”
    “Of course. Eighteen shillings, wasn’t it?” Rainulf withdrew his purse, and Gyrth stared at it greedily, actually running his tongue over his lips in anticipation of the coins within.
    Martine pinned her mantle over her head, picked up her brass lockbox and Loki’s basket, then followed the men out of the cabin. The rain had stopped at last, but a cold, gray mist still enveloped the harbor. While Rainulf paid Gyrth, Martine stood half-hidden behind a strut to steal a glimpse of Sir Edmond.
    He was looking up, at the clouds. As she watched him, a strange thing happened. His face became gradually suffused with golden light, until it shone like a beacon in the mist. Transfixed, she followed his gaze upward to find that the clouds had parted, framing the sun in a circle of dazzling blue. It was the sun’s warm rays that had transformed him so magically. There was always a logical explanation, she reminded herself. And yet the temptation to believe in good omens was strong upon her in that moment.
    He pushed back his hood as he lowered his head. His hair fell to his shoulders, and looked to be the color of brandy—brown with some gold in it, as if he spent a great deal of time outdoors. To her alarm, he looked directly at her, and she saw that his eyes had stolen the radiant blue of the widening patch of sky above him.
    His face had been carved of such noble planes that it might have been that of some young emperor on an ancient coin. It seemed clear from his expression of recognition and pleasure that he knew who she was. Rainulf had undoubtedly written an accurate description.
    He seemed to look not just at her, but into her, his bright, penetrating eyes locking with hers and peering deep inside, to where her most secret hopes and fears lay curled up, waiting. It was as if she were transparent, her very soul lying naked for his inspection. She felt she should look away, that it was impudent to hold the gaze of a stranger in this manner. But then, this man was not a stranger in the true sense. He was her betrothed. In less than two months, he would be holding her in his arms. What harm could there be in merely looking at the man she would spend the rest of her life with? For the first time ever, she felt not fear at the prospect of marriage, but anticipation.
    It is this man who will speak vows with me, this man who will bring me to his bed, this man who will sire my babes.
    Now he smiled at her, a welcoming smile that lit his eyes and etched deeply creased dimples. Without willing it so, she returned the smile, then dropped