Suzanne Robinson by Lord of the Dragon Read Free Book Online Page A

had never brought anything but evil to her. Not daring to look at the embrasure and this evening’s particular evil, she tried to join in the conversation going on around her.
    “Where have you been?” Laudine asked her. “You missed the great circle.”
    The great circle was a Wellesbrooke custom in whichthe whole company of dancers joined in one large circle nearly the width of the hall.
    “You know I hate dancing.”
    “It’s your own fault,” Laudine said. “If you were more pleasant to young men, they wouldn’t be afraid to dance with you.”
    Juliana frowned at her sister, who had been blessed with a body of generous proportions that assured her plenty of young men eager to join her in dancing. Laudine was nearly seventeen, plump and full of ribald humor, and had no patience with Juliana’s views on rooster knights and the unworthiness of men. Juliana risked a glance at the embrasure, but de Valence wasn’t there. She jumped when Laudine and the others suddenly burst out with laughter.
    “What’s so amusing?”
    “Yolande,” Laudine said. “She just told us of the pretty words the Sieur de Valence spoke to her.”
    Yolande nodded and bounced on the balls of her feet while clapping her hands. “If I married him, I’d be an even greater lady than I am already.”
    Shaking her head, Juliana sighed to herself. Yolande had a simple view of the world due to her rarified upbringing. To Yolande, all knights were brave, all ladies gentle. And when not reminded otherwise, she tended to forget that she wasn’t the most important creature in the kingdom. When Yolande was scolded for this fault, however, tragic remorse always ensued. Juliana despaired for her. What would happen to such a girl at the hands of a corrupt barbarian?
    Laudine was still talking. “Mmmm, mmm, mmm, you’re a lucky one, Yolande. Two cocks crowing at your chamber window, one dark and one light, but both with right pretty combs, I vow—”
    “Laudine!” Bertrade put a gentle hand on her sister’s arm. “Don’t be so ungentle.”
    Her admonishment went unheard by everyone except Juliana. Laudine and several other girls shrieked and tossed jests back and forth while Juliana felt a crimson heat flood her face. Quickly she glanced around the hall, hoping that Gray de Valence hadn’t been near enough to hear Laudine’s comment.
    There he was, by the fireplace, talking to his cousin Arthur, another of those cursed Stranges. De Valence lowered his head to hear what the younger man was saying, and a spray of moonlight hair swung across his cheek. Suddenly he straightened, his expression grave. It was then that Juliana noticed that Arthur held out a black cloak. De Valence took the garment, slung it over one shoulder, and strode for the doors. Along the way he stopped to have a word with her father; then he was gone.
    Good. She was glad he was gone. Perhaps he’d quit Wellesbrooke altogether. When Richard had wheedled her into dancing, she had never thought to be coupled with Gray de Valence. Now she was glad, for she’d been there to interfere with his evil wooing of Yolande. She still couldn’t forget the witless expression on her friend’s face when de Valence started spewing vapid compliments at her. Thunder of God! How could women believe such muck?
    And how could she herself have believed de Valence’s protestations of innocence? The man was evil. Had been since he corrupted his lord’s wife when he was but a youth. Juliana wet her lips as she remembered the way he’d backed her against the embrasure. He’d been so close she had felt the warmth of his body on her skin. Without touching her, he’d made her quiver inwardly with awareness—of the suppressed strength of his body,of his readiness and heat. Juliana gave her head a little shake. What was wrong with her? She was breathing rapidly, and she was hot.
    Parts of her tingled that shouldn’t be tingling at the thought of Gray de Valence. Not after she’d witnessed the