Strangclyf Secret by Mary McCall Read Free Book Online Page B

me a
lot.”
    “ I’ll try,” she whispered.
“But ‘tis my most hated dish.”
    Barwolf set down her
goblet and reached a dainty hand toward their trencher. Bernon
grabbed her wrist, halting her as Lady Lucretia sniggered. Barwolf
raised questioning eyes to his.
    “ I forgot you had no dagger
to eat from, my dear. You may use mine,” he said in a patient tone,
handing her his pearl-handled blade.
    Accepting the dagger, she
gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you, milord,” she whispered. “My
father always kept me hidden away when important visitors came to
Strangclyf. I will try not to forget any other manners.”
    Bernon frowned at her
words. What kind of monster had her father been? After she ate a
few bites of the eel and turnips in wine sauce, she grimaced and
rubbed her hand over her middle. She stopped eating and took
another swallow of wine.
    “ Where did you stay when
guests came to Strangclyf?” he asked, ignoring Lucretia’s latest
lid flutter.
    “ Places,” she answered
vaguely with a shrug. Her grip tightened on the dagger and fire
shimmered in her eyes as she glanced at the redhead. Stabbing a
piece of eel, his bride raised the morsel and shoved it into his
mouth.
    Bernon calmly chewed and
swallowed the bite then found another mouthful forced upon him.
What was he supposed to make of this latest maneuver? He grabbed
Barwolf’s wrist before she could spear any more food, chewed her
latest offering, and swallowed. “You do not have to feed me, ma petite .”
    “ I do too.”
    God’s bones, she looked
unsettled. “Why?”
    “’ Tis my duty to pamper
you, so you will be in the mood to perform magic tricks
later.”
    What kind of asinine
notion had she come up with now? “I do not perform magic
tricks.”
    Her green eyes widened and
she clutched his arm with her free hand. “But you must. The most
important duty of a Lady Strangclyf is to provide her lord with a
male heir.”
    God help him if he ever
began to understand her mind. “And what does this have to do with
feeding me and magic tricks?”
    “’ Tis where babies come
from. I asked Cora. She is Leof’s wife. He is our stable master.
They have seven children, so she must know what she is talking
about.” She cocked her head and looked at him as if worry had
rooted in her mind. “Have you never done magic, milord? Cora said
most men know all about it as soon as they can walk or there about.
They crave it and want to do it all the time.”
    Good God, the woman didn’t
know! She probably thought to find a babe in the forest under a
toadstool. He let go of her wrist and put his hand over the one she
had placed on his arm. “Exactly what did this Cora tell
you?”
    “ Surely you know this?” she
asked, pressing a hand to her flushed cheek. “Is the room getting
hot or is it just me?”
    “ I would still like to hear
it from you,” he said, noticing the pretty pink shade glowing on
the tip of her nose.
    “ All men have magic wands.
A woman gets a babe after a man raises his wand and pokes her with
it. If she feeds him first, she gets a boy, and, if she licks his
wand first, she gets a girl.” Barwolf waved a hand in front of her,
fanning her neck. “You do want babies, do you not?”
    A vision of her on her
knees before him came to mind and his wand perked up. He couldn’t
find the words to answer her. Who could focus on babies at a time
like this? Absolutely nothing he heard for the rest of his life
could stun him after this conversation.
    Geno grinned. “If I were
you, my friend, after one boy, I would have a whole slew of
girls.”
    “ I have to warn you,
milord, magic may not work on me,” Barwolf said with a pathetic
shake of her head. “I got poked last year and didn’t get a babe
from it.”
    “ What!” He would kill with
his bare hands the lecher who had touched her.
    “ I got a pearl, though.”
Barwolf took another swallow of wine and caught a drop from the
corner of her mouth with her finger. Then her pink