Highland Avenger by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online

brother and his true wife or ordered the killing done. He may have kenned the truth about Claud and Marie Anne even though the rest of the family didnae learn of it until shortly after the bodies were found, may have e’en hoped killing them both would keep that secret hidden forever. But Claud left a letter explaining how the boys were nay the bastards everyone thought them but his true heirs.”
    She shook her head and helped herself to some food. “I learned shortly after wedding Claud that his branch of the Lucette tree was, weel, verra blood proud. They were nay too certain I was their equal but they badly wished to have my dowry and the tie to my clan for it would ensure that the land they held in Scotland would be weel protected. The news that their eldest son, the heir to all titles and lands, had actually married a common wench, as they called her, appalled them. What little toleration they had shown toward Michel and Adelar faded away in a winking. They immediately set about the expensive and tedious chore of getting Claud’s marriage annulled.”
    “But what of you? Did they nay care that they exposed ye to unwarranted shame and embarrassment?”
    “Nay. They had already marked me as an utter failure as a wife for I lost the only child I conceived ere we barely kenned I was carrying one and I couldnae keep my husband away from his mistress.” She shrugged. “They didnae ken that I had already learned the truth and was planning a way to get free of the mire I found myself trapped in. All that kept me from leaving the moment I discovered the truth about the boys, about Claud’s lies, was that I wanted to find a way that saved us all, especially the boys, from gossip and the hurt it can bring.”
    “The boys all thought were your husband’s bastards.”
    “Aye. I was given the care and training of them from the verra beginning. Michel was little more than a bairn. Marie Anne didnae appear to care much for them for she rarely visited them or took them to the bonnie wee cottage Claud bought for her.
    “But none of that matters. Amiel is all that concerns me now. He doesnae want to wait until his family gets Claud’s marriage to Marie Anne annulled, or, mayhaps, he doesnae want to lose the money it will cost to see it done. From the moment Claud’s confession was read, Amiel began to plot to kill his own nephews. I truly dinnae think he kenned that Claud had left a confession but it meant he then needed to be rid of the boys, too, before he could grab what he coveted. He e’en joined hands with the DeVeaux to get it.”
    The way she nearly spat out that name told Brian all he needed to know. “An old enemy.”
    “Verra old and with a lot of Lucette blood on their hands. Matters between the Lucettes and DeVeaux had grown so deadly and dire that the king himself stepped in and forced them into a truce, promising some verra hard, and costly, punishments if the truce was broken.”
    “It didnae bring any true peace though, did it?”
    “Nay, it just made the DeVeaux grow more secretive in their crimes against the Lucettes and the Lucettes even more subtle in their vengeance. I doubt any of them even recall what started the hatred or who; they just cling to it and make a habit of the old war. Amiel may have convinced people he had the right to kill Claud and Marie Anne because of the shame Claud had brought upon the family name, but not one of his clan will e’er forgive him for dealing with the DeVeaux.”
    Brian nodded; fully understanding that, for his family had suffered such a feud until recently. His family had not known peace for long and there had been one clan, the Grays, who had held to the old feud with a deadly tenacity. This tale held all the needed insults and pride that could end with the Murrays and the Lucettes locked in a feud, especially if Arianna’s family discovered the full truth about how the family had treated her.
    “What do the DeVeaux want?”
    “Aside from simply getting some