Iron Lace by Lorena Dureau Read Free Book Online Page B

for him at the
courtyard gate, he'll probably knock to see what's wrong."
    "Then let him knock," snapped Vidal. "I'm anxious to meet
that young man, anyway. The sooner he knows he can't come sneaking
around to the servants' entrance to meet you, the better. Now will you
please go to your room as I said? You won't be seeing your beau or
anyone else today."
    "I'm not a child to be treated this way!"
    "Then stop acting like one, and you'll be treated
accordingly."
    For a moment she still hesitated.
    "Don't worry, I'll meet this friend of yours and tell him
he can't see you today or any other day unless he presents himself at
the front door like a gentleman and asks for permission to call on you
in the proper manner."
    He stood tall and unrelenting, his hat and riding crop in
hand, until she had swished past him, her long skirts and satin sash
flying in a haze of blue, delicately scented with crushed rose petals.
    Only after the door had slammed behind her did he finally
heave a deep sigh and follow his wayward ward into the house at a more
leisurely pace. How he longed to catch that delightful half-child,
half-woman in his arms and awaken her to life! What a pity he was in so
awkward a position! If he weren't her guardian, how different things
might be between them. More and more he found himself drawn to the
fascinating woman He suspected lay hidden just below the surface of
that restless, defiant child.

Chapter Six

    Miguel
Vidal de la Fuente sat uncomfortably in the pew reserved
for His Excellency the Governor and his family. Between the
exaggeratedly full skirts of the ladies and the Baron de Carondelet's
plump figure, space was at a premium, so Vidal felt obliged to extend
one of his long booted legs discreetly out into the side aisle in order
to balance himself on the edge of the bench.
    Vidal cast a glance back to where he knew his two pretty
wards and their grandmother were seated. He had intended to sit with
them, but he and the governor had been in the midst of talking crops
and politics when mass had begun, so the latter had insisted that Vidal
join him. It would have been impolite not to have accepted the
invitation.
    The padre was giving one of his fire-and-brimstone
sermons, and Miguel shifted uneasily in his precarious seat. He had to
admit, at least to himself, that he wasn't the best of the Church's
followers. Not that he didn't consider himself a good Catholic or a
loyal subject of the Spanish realm, but he sometimes found himself
plagued with feelings of guilt because he didn't always like the way
his religion was practiced in his country, especially when it came to
making converts.
    Of course, he would never dare voice such "dangerous
thoughts" aloud. Who was he to question the methods of the Holy Office?
But after he had spent those three years traveling about on the
Continent and had had an opportunity to see the way his religion was
practiced in other lands, he couldn't help wondering whether the
Spanish Inquisition, despite its centuries of existence, might not have
hurt more than helped the overall cause of Catholicism. Religion, he
felt, should be based on faith, not fear.
    He had been happy to learn that the Holy Tribunal was not
active in Louisiana. At least that was one of the redeeming features of
New Orleans. If it weren't for the heat, the city would be quite
bearable.
    This crowded guardhouse next to the cathedral was
especially stifling. Poorly ventilated, it had never been meant to
accommodate so many people under such conditions, but until the new
church was ready, this was the only place in New Orleans large enough
to hold a sizable congregation.
    Vidal cast another glance back at his newly adopted family
and thought how they were at least nearer the door and might be getting
a little more air than he was. He couldn't see Monique at that moment
and craned his neck a little farther out of the folds of his cravat,
trying to catch a glimpse of that glorious halo of bright gold hair
that not even