Trapped at the Altar by Jane Feather Read Free Book Online

reproof, however mild a one, and she flushed with annoyance, but she swallowed a sarcastic response, saying only, “I didn’t realize the time. It seems unnecessary, however, to send the dogs after me.” She gestured to Wilfred and his party.
    â€œThat was not my doing,” Ivor said. He nodded at Wilfred. “You had better return to the valley, Wilf. You will want to be in good time for the wake. I will escort Lady Ariadne.”
    Wilfred nodded and whistled up the dogs, and the trio set off towards the pass down to the valley.
    â€œYou are disgracefully untidy, Ari,” Ivor said bluntly, swinging off his horse. He came up to her and swiftly adjusted the twisted collar of her shirt, doing up the top button. “If you had a mind to advertise the kind of sport you’ve clearly been indulging in this afternoon, you certainly succeeded.” He looked around. “So where is he? Safely out of reach, I assume?”
    She flushed and jerked angrily away from him. “My conduct is no business of yours, Ivor.”
    â€œOh, but it is,” he reminded her, his own anger coming to the fore. “Have you forgotten that you are betrothed to me, that we are to be wed in seven days? You will be my wife, Ariadne, and subject to my will in every way. Your business is my business, now and for the rest of our lives.”
    It was the truth, however unpalatable. She kept her head turned from him, looking across the meadow, gathering her composure. She had to remember that until she was certain Gabriel was safe, she must offer no resistance. Ivor knew everything, he held Gabriel’s life in his hands,but she thought he would not betray them if she gave him no cause.
    She turned back to him with a tiny shrug. “As you say. Shall we go down?”
    The anger was still there, but she could read in his eyes his struggle to control it. He reached out a hand and lightly brushed her hair back behind her ears. “Put a good face on it, Ari. I am not such a bad prospect, you know. We understand each other. We have known each other since childhood. Surely we can make a life together, a life that will bring us both contentment. Can you not try to think kindly of me?”
    â€œOh, Ivor, I do think kindly of you,” she said almost desperately. She couldn’t bear it when he was kind and understanding. It was so much easier to hold him aloof when there was anger between them. And how could she possibly deny the years of friendship they shared? In many ways, they had been conspirators in the valley, united against the forces that governed their lives. But she didn’t love him, and now that she knew what love meant, how could she happily settle for anything less?
    â€œI value our friendship, Ivor, but I don’t love you. I’m sorry . . . I can’t change that.” She tried to hold his gaze, to impart the strength of her feelings, but his own eyes were suddenly blank, wiped clean of all emotion.
    When he spoke, his voice was cold and distant. “Well, love has never been an essential component of matrimony, my dear. You know that as well as I do. We must manage as countless others have managed before us.” He movedso swiftly she was taken by surprise when he caught her around the waist and lifted her onto his horse. For a moment, he stood at his stirrup, a hand resting on her thigh. “I would settle for your friendship and respect, Ariadne. Whether I can give you the latter will be up to you.”
    Before she could respond, he had swung onto the horse behind her, his arm circling her waist. He nudged the horse into a walk and turned him towards the gap in the cliff where the pass led down into the valley. Another nudge, and the animal broke into a canter across the meadow.
    Ariadne held herself upright, feeling his body at her back but keeping herself stiffly away from him. She had rarely met this cold and distant Ivor, who spoke with such bitterness. Oh, she