Druid's Daughter by Jean Hart Stewart Read Free Book Online

Lance kissed
his rather delicate mother, he again remarked to himself on her fragility. How
on Earth had she produced four strapping sons? And how under heaven could he be
excused for not seeing her more often?
    “Madam, I think I’ve been more negligent than I realized if
my father wants to know what motive I have for coming.”
    His mother, her voice as light as her graying blond hair,
tugged on his hand so he would sit beside her.
    “Well,” she grinned. “Tell us the reason, then.”
    Lance threw up his hands.
    “I often wish I could hire you two on my staff.”
    The Duke went to the door and called for three glasses and a
bottle of brandy. He’d never believed women should be denied the pleasures of
good spirits while men drank alone. His lady wife heartily agreed.
    When they were all settled with their glasses in hand, his
father looked expectantly at the son who so much resembled him in appearance.
    “Well,” he said. “Who is she?”
    Lance could feel himself blushing, for the first time he
could remember since he was a callow teenager.
    “Gerald, I’m ashamed of you. Let the boy talk in his own
time.” His mother tapped his father lightly on his nearer arm.
    His father now looked almost as abashed as Lance felt,
although the grin stayed on his father’s face. Somehow the atmosphere settled
into easiness again.
    “Actually it is a woman,” Lance said. “Or two women. Morgan
McAfee and her mother Viviane.”
    “Two excellent women,” his mother said. “Although actually I
do not know the daughter and only met the mother briefly. I imagine Viviane has
raised and trained her daughter well.”
    Lance looked his surprise. “Am I hearing things? We are
discussing here a self-proclaimed Druid and her daughter who claims to be a psychic
and wants above all else to have witch’s powers. I’m not only amazed you know
them, but astonished you esteem them.”
    The Duchess smiled at the Duke and tapped him lightly on his
arm.
    “As for me, I esteem Mrs. McAfee highly. I believe your
father thought favorably of her at one time and she was too wise to allow a
relationship to even begin. Naturally I think her exemplary.”
    The Duke’s possessive smile at his wife warmed the room.
    “As you well know you are and have always been my only
love.” He turned to his son as he continued. “Your mother was in the country
with you children and I met Viviane while riding in the park here in town. She
knew a great deal about everything and I learned to value her opinions. She’s
unusually interesting to talk to.”
    He took another sip of his brandy and seemed lost in
reminiscence for a moment.
    “I wanted to be friends, although there was never a
suggestion of anything else with either of us. She’s a highly moral woman, as I
imagine is her daughter. I thought her the second most intriguing and beautiful
woman I’d ever met. Although I never had any desire to be unfaithful to my
wife.”
    His wife tapped him lightly on his knee.
    “A very astute addition, my lord husband.”
    The Duke smiled at his wife.
    “She knew this and we could have been friends in other
circumstances. I think your mother and she would have been friends also. At one
point Viviane very gently made me realize our relationship could go no further.
She was concerned about the same issue you are now, I imagine, Lance.”
    Lance watched his mother’s hand reach out and grasp his
father’s.
    “How very interesting.” Lance’s voice was a low and
enthralled murmur.
    His father favored him with a shrewd glance.
    “And so how can we help you, Lance? You must know by now
Viviane and her daughter follow the Druid teachings. The name Viviane comes
from the name of one of the most revered and powerful priestesses in Druid
history. No one can really quarrel with the learning Druids impart, nor
diminish the good Viviane does with her medical knowledge. Yet still she is
ostracized to a certain extent.”
    Lance lowered his blue, blue eyes. “I