Thornlost (Book 3) by Melanie Rawn Read Free Book Online

replied that she hadn’t spoken to any of them. Another mile or two went by before he mentioned that Mieka’s little daughter was a very pretty child.
    Lady Jaspiela shrugged, a rustling of silk in the darkness of the carriage. “They had best hope that she grows up prettily enough to compensate for her circumstances. One can scarcely expect a worthwhile marriage for the daughter of a theater player and a seamstress.”
    “Windthistle is one of the oldest Elfen names there is.”
    “A meaningless consideration, after this descent into the working classes.”
    Though he couldn’t see her face, he knew precisely which of her many condescending expressions she would be wearing. “
I’m
a theater player,” he said. Then, most unwisely: “
I’m
working class.”
    “No, you are not. There is a difference, Cayden, between how a gentleman amuses himself in his youth and what a person must do to keep a roof over his head.”
    A slight, involuntary movement of Kearney’s shoulders told Cade that he was faking sleep. The grunt and sigh that followed signaled that he intended to go on faking; no gentleman would make such boorish noises while conscious, and therefore His Lordship
must
be asleep. Cade rather admired the shrewdness of the deception, and for the rest of the drive kept his mouth shut.
    At some point along the rest of the silent way home he realized that his mother had given him the first hint of what was to come. And it came only minutes after leaving the elegant confines of Lord Fairwalk’s carriage for the vestibule of Number Eight, Redpebble Square. Lady Jaspiela told Mistress Mirdley to take Derien up to bed, then turned to Cade.
    “A few moments of your time, please, Cayden.”
    He knew what she wanted to talk about. Money. More to the point,
his
money, the inheritance from his father’s father, who’d been a Master Fettler back in the day. She was about to tell Cayden that because he was now financially independent, he need not continue in the theater. She would mention the advantages of his acquaintance with Princess Miriuzca, Prince Ashgar’s bride. She would remind him of his father’s position at Court and of her own noble antecedents, and end with the observation that whereas he’d enjoyed a certain amount of success, it was time he settled to a profession worthier of his ancestors than that of Master Tregetour.
    He was right about the money, but wrong about everything else.
    She led him into the drawing room. One of the footmen had made up a nice little fire against the spring evening’s chill, and left a long-necked bottle of Colvado brandy and a pair of snifters on a side table. This told him she had been planning this discussion and had left orders for her comfort. Cade poured liquor into each glass, presented her with one, and waited while she seated herself with an instinctively well-designed arrangement of skirts. Some portion of his mind made note of the precision of the drapery for use onstage; the little details of a performance always meant so much.
    “It’s late, so I will be brief,” she said. “At this point in your life, your father and I had expected that you would be decently established in a profession, perhaps even advantageously married to a young woman of rank and distinction. We—”
    “I hadn’t expected to still be living at home, either.”
    “You will have the courtesy to let me finish, Cayden. We had thought that by this time we would be turning our entire efforts to Derien, to his education and future prospects. As it happens, he has developed a curiosity about foreign lands—very much due to your travels last year, and I am grateful to you for sparking thisinterest. The favor shown you by the Princess is another thing I had not expected, but is also gratifying. And you have made other contacts among the nobility which I know
you
do not care to use, but which will be essential to your brother. With the proper training and connections, Derien may well become a