Suzanne Robinson by Lord of the Dragon Read Free Book Online

a glimpse of her eyes, which we’re of a gray so light that they rivaled the sheen on his most precious silver drinking goblet. She was in the midst of another tirade, but he’d missed most of it.
    “I know why you’re trying to suborn poor Yolande.”
    That got his attention. He went still and asked in a silken voice, “And why is that?”
    “You’ve come to avenge yourself upon my cousin. Oh, don’t look so amazed. Everyone knows how you ruined your liege lord’s wife, and how Richard was forced to remove you from England.”
    “An old tale, long past and forgotten,” Gray said lightly. “I’m afraid, Mistress Juliana, that you’ve mistaken courtly graces for something more. Perhaps it’s because you’ve never been to court, and after all, I’ve recently been in France, where these matters are better understood.” He lowered his voice. “Or perhaps it’s because you’re still a maid.”
    He couldn’t be sure, but he thought she blushed. Then she gave him a look of indecision, as if she weren’t quite so sure of her opinion of him as she let on. That look reminded him of their encounter in the mud, and of her lack of experience in matters of the flesh. He recalled her confusion, which for some reason intrigued and aroused him. He stepped so close to her that their bodies touched.
    “No, you don’t understand how a man banters with a woman. I should have remembered, should I not, my little black duck?”
    Not the most chivalrous of remarks. She gave a cry ofoutrage and at the same time stomped on his foot. He yelped, hopped backward, and clutched his foot.
    “You keep away from Yolande, Sir Knave. She’s a friend to me, and please you to know I’ll be watching. There’ll be none of your foxing and debauching or I’ll see you undone.”
    She whirled in a cloud of sapphire silk and pushed past him. He stumbled back into the embrasure and caught himself before he fell. Straightening, he watched Juliana Welles glide out into the light to join her sisters and Yolande. She had nearly discerned his true intentions. Her interference could ruin everything.
    Drawing his brows together, he contemplated this threat to his plans. He wasn’t baffled for long. He had the means to control Mistress Juliana; she obviously didn’t want her father to know about their encounter in the woods. No doubt she’d been out without permission. Aye, he could muzzle her, if not by threats, then by other means more pleasurable to himself.
    It was only after he’d rejoined his host and the guests on the dais that Gray realized that while he was with Juliana Welles he’d completely forgotten Richard and Yolande de Say.

Wolfsbane
(Aconite or Monkshood)
    The root was used to poison pests. Those who wished to get rid of rats were advised to make cakes of paste and toasted cheese and powdered wolfsbane and put them near their holes
.

•
Chapter 4
•
    JULIANA RAN THE LAST FEW STEPS THAT brought her to join the group of ladies that included her sisters and Yolande. Only when she’d put Laudine’s plump curves between herself and the Viking did she dare glance in the direction of the embrasure to see if he’d followed her. She was startled to find him where she’d left him, watching her.
    Clad in a black damask tunic cinched with a chain of gold and slashed at the sleeves to reveal an undertunic of crimson, he leaned against the embrasure. Looking directly at her across the expanse of the hall, he gave her a slow half-smile. Everything about him, the way he cocked his burnished head to the side, the manner in which he crossed his soft calfskin boots at the ankles, the loose suppleness of his lips, warned of enticing corruption.
    Juliana’s mouth went dry, and she tried to swallow as their eyes remained locked. Dragging her gaze from his, she cursed the moment of weakness when she’d allowed Richard to persuade her to dance. He’d wanted an excuse to be near Yolande and eventually dance with her. What a calamity. Dancing