Free The Claiming by Kaitlyn O'Connor Page B

arm, but he dropped it to his side.
    “We have guests, I suggest you set yourself to rights and join us as soon as possible." Turning, he strode down the hallway without another word or a backward glance.
    Jana stared after him, torn between residual anger and a sudden onslaught of debilitating terror. He’d told her to hurry. She knew it was not wise to provoke him further by ignoring what had, clearly, been a command, but she was so in dread of what she would find downstairs that it seemed worth the risk of annoying him further.
    Blane had been so accepting of her that she had ceased to consider that, in actuality, she was practicing deception only by her presence here. She was not the woman everyone seemed to think that she was. She did not have the right to be here.
    Up until Alain’s arrival, she had not really considered that she had far more to worry about than the possibility that Marty might discover where she’d gone. She had enjoyed herself, looking upon her situation almost as if it was a game—far more elaborate than any she’d played before, and different, of course, because she was playing the part for many, instead of an audience of one—but still a game.
    Alain she realized, however, would not be at all amused if he discovered her game of deception. He was far more likely to be furious than to chuckle at her cleverness, pat her on the head, and assure her he was very satisfied at the substitution of herself for the woman he’d chosen—which she now realized that in her infinite ignorance of the ways of the outside world and men in general, she had expected.
    She dawdled over ‘setting herself to rights’ a full half hour and was on the point of sending down word that her headache had returned and she didn’t feel up to entertaining Alain’s guests when he sent a maid to fetch her. She went to greet their guests with far more dread than at any time previously.
    Her anxiety intensified by several degrees when she discovered the visitors were none other than Mrs. Knight and her daughter, Katryn.
    Even before Alain’s arrival, she'd begun to see Katryn as her nemesis. Katryn Knight, more than any other except, perhaps, Judeau Mahew, had forced her into confronting Alain's neighbors with her deception. She would have far preferred to hide herself away at Briar Hill since she had lacked the confidence that she would be able to convince everyone that she was who she was supposed to be, Jana of Orleans, but Katryn had, through verbal coercion, forced her into the position of having to entertain.
    She knew Alain would not be pleased when he learned of it.
    Blane had warned her that Alain would not want them to entertain the neighbors, but he had not told her how she might discourage them from coming to be entertained, nor helped her fend Katryn off when Katryn and Judeau had ‘helped’ her to organize parties for her unwanted guests.
    Considering how very unpleasant he could be when displeased, she shuddered to think how he would react to the news.
    She found it very difficult, therefore, to concentrate on emulating the behavior of the guests, as Blane had advised her, for fear that any moment Katryn or Mrs. Knight would say something that would bring Alain’s wrath down upon her. She was further unnerved, though not surprised, when the two women extended their visit until it would've been downright rude not to invite them to dine. It was typical of Katryn, who exuded an almost proprietary air whenever she visited.
    Strangely enough, however, about mid-way through the visit, Katryn’s behavior began to annoy Jana to the point that irritation gained the upper hand. She was, blatantly, flirting with Alain, giggling over nothing in particular, leaning close to speak in almost a conspiratorial whisper, touching his arm, brushing imaginary lint from his jacket.
    Jana might be ignorant of many things, but she was well versed in the art of subtle, and not so subtle, flirtation.
    She wasn’t entirely certain