The Spitfire by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online

Marches depends on Greyfaire Keep remaining in English hands.”
    “I will not fail you there, my liege,” Sir Jasper replied with complete sincerity. He was a soldier first, and the challenge presented him was a pleasing one. He did not fear that the little girl would not like him, for he had never met a woman who did not like him. Tall, with bright gold hair and light golden-brown eyes, few females looked past his pleasing features with his oval face, high cheekbones and forehead, straight nose, dimpled chin, and sensuous mouth, to see that those eyes were cold and fathomless. That the sensuous mouth could grow narrow with cruelty. He was as skilled a seducer as he was a soldier, although as a soldier he had never been known to take a foolish chance. A man did not live to enjoy the fruits of his labor by being reckless and foolish in war. Only in passion did a man dare to be reckless.
    “Come to the queen’s solar tomorrow morning after the Mass, Sir Jasper,” the king said, “and you will be introduced to your proposed bride and her widowed mother.”
    “Thank you, my liege,” Sir Jasper Keane replied.
    “And be prepared to leave immediately afterward for Greyfaire Keep,” the king said. “It will take you a week or more traveling with the ladies to reach there. You are not used, I would imagine, to traveling at such a slow pace, but it will give you time to get to know Lady Rowena and her daughter. It is best you leave tomorrow before the autumn rains begin. The ladies will not like traveling in the rain.”
    “I shall endeavor to make the trip as easy and as pleasant for the ladies as possible, my liege,” Sir Jasper replied, and he gave the king a warm smile.
    In the morning Sir Jasper Keane made it a point to attend early Mass that he might secretly observe his bride-to-be and her mother. They were obviously amongst the women attending the queen, but all he was able to see was the backs of heads and gowns. It was not until the queen departed the chapel with her ladies that Sir Jasper saw the petite girl with the pale hair, the only child, excepting the little prince, amongst the others. This then was his bride, but which of the ladies was his mother-in-law he could not tell. Waiting for a few discreet minutes, he finally made his way to the queen’s solar and was admitted.
    Sir Jasper bowed elegantly to Queen Anne and kissed her hand politely. “Madame.”
    “You have come that we may introduce you to our beloved cousin, Lady Rowena and her daughter, Arabella, whom the king has chosen as your prospective bride, my lord. Welcome,” the queen said.
    “I am honored that you would consider allowing me this connection with your own family, my gracious lady,” Sir Jasper replied.
    “What elegance of speech, my lord,” the queen answered him.”Why, you might be a clever courtier instead of the soldier my lord, the king, says you are. I am glad to know that Arabella’s husband will be a man who is able to use pretty words as well as a sharp sword, Sir Jasper, but I imagine you grow impatient to meet your bride. Come forward, dear child, that I may introduce you to Sir Jasper Keane. You, also, Rowena, for I know you will want to meet your son-in-law to be.”
    Mother and daughter stepped forward and curtsied politely to Sir Jasper Keane. His bride was quite lovely upon closer inspection, but hair that pale had never really been to his taste. The mother, however, was another matter. The wheaten-colored hair was lovely, and her bosom, rounded where the child’s was flat, was delightfully enticing. He felt a familiar tightening, a stirring of interest in his nether regions, which his handsome face, of course, never betrayed. “I am honored, my lady Arabella, that you would consider me for a husband,” he said smoothly, taking the child’s hand in his and kissing it.
    Her heart was pounding furiously, and she felt her cheeks grow pink and warm even as she met his gaze with her own cool green one. He was