Twelfth Night by Flora Speer Read Free Book Online Page B

to his scalding kiss. It was what
she wanted. Their mouths fit together perfectly, with a tenderness
and a depth of emotion that shocked her. Where were all her
carefully built defenses now, when she needed them? She who had
vowed never to let herself be hurt by another man, she who refused
to let any man get close enough for this heart-stopping, aching
beauty? Melted, that was where the protective walls were – melted
away in less than twenty-four hours in the fires generated by a
middle-aged Norman baron.
    She wanted him. Long-forgotten urgings of her
body, deliberately repressed, forbidden admittance to her conscious
mind, began to stir and awaken while Adam kissed her and she kissed
him back…
    “Aline.” His lips were on her throat.
    ’Too old for passion?” Gently she mocked him,
and herself, while she tried to get her feelings under control
again. “I don’t think you have finished with life yet, my
lord.”
    “No more than you have.” Briefly his lips
touched hers once more.
    “Aline, my lord Adam, are you injured?”
Connie knelt beside them “What are you doing here under the
tree?”
    “I thought it was obvious,” Adam murmured
into Aline’s ear. “I must be doing it all wrong.”
    “Oh, no, my lord, it was very right.” Aline
began to laugh and Adam joined her. After a minute or two he helped
her to stand and they tried to brush the pine needles and snow off
each other, there beneath the tree with a bewildered Connie
watching them.
    “We are unhurt,” Adam said to his
daughter-in-law. “Lady Aline fell out of the tree and knocked me
down. Here’s the mistletoe she plucked. You carry it home,
Constance, and be careful lest you lose any berries. I have a
feeling we are going to use all of them before Twelfth Night
ends.”
    “Out of the tree?” said Connie when the three
of them were standing near the tarpaulin full of greenery. “Aline,
did you climb into it, then? I would never think to do such a
dangerous thing.”
    “Perhaps you should,” Adam told her, but not
unkindly. “Sometimes the reward is worth any risk.”
     
    The journey homeward was slowed by the need
to carry the tarpaulin of greens slung between two horses, and by
the effort of dragging the Yule log across the snow. It was too
large and too heavy to carry.
    “You don’t think small, do you, Blaise?”
remarked Aline when she first saw the log. “That thing must be six
feet long and four feet in diameter. But will it burn if it’s green
wood?”
    “Ah, there’s the secret,” said Blaise. “A
year ago, the tree was alive, but it did not leaf last spring, so I
noted it in my memory for Christmastime. It should be dry enough by
now to burn easily.”
    “What a good idea,” murmured Connie. “How
clever you are, Blaise.”
    “I thought so,” said Blaise. “Here, let me
help you mount. How did you get so dirty?” With a smile he wiped a
bit of mud off Connie’s cheek.
    “I’ll tell you as we ride home,” she said.
“And after, you must tell me how you cut down the tree.”
    “I am forced to confess, I did not do all the
cutting myself,” Blaise began.
    “Aline, are you ready to mount?” Adam put his
hands on her waist. “Will you ride before or behind me? You will be
warmer in my arms.”
    “I will be safer riding behind you.”
    “There’s naught to fear from me today, my
lady. It’s Christmas Eve and I am still fasting.” He lifted her to
sit in front of him, then mounted himself. “As for what I may do
once the religious services are over, I make no promises.”
     
    They ate bread and cheese and drank cider at
midday, finishing the sketchy meal quickly so they could start the
decorating. Before long the great hall was festooned with evergreen
and holly, and mistletoe was hung at every doorway. Connie twisted
branches of holly together with the ivy she had gathered, to lay
along the tables as centerpieces.
    Then it was time to drag in the Yule log. It
was heavy work pulling it up the narrow