Free The Ground She Walks Upon by Meagan McKinney Page B

bedeviled as to the reason why.
    Horror crossed his face as his gaze flickered between her expression and their locked hands that wore identical rings. Suddenly the anger he held in check raged to the surface.
    "Get out of here before I beat you senseless and see you most assuredly hanged for a thief!" He clambered from the bed and slammed his fist into one of the bed's thick black oak posts.
    "But—but why do I have a ring like yours? There must be a reason... " she stuttered, unable to figure out the puzzle of it.
    He took hold of her like a rag doll, pulling her to her feet by the rough fustian fabric of her gown. His eyes flickered down at her body and lingered almost imperceptibly at her chest where two small breasts swelled like springtime buds. The fury on his face was a terrible sight. "Get out of here! You're a child! You have no business in my bedchamber! Get out of here before I have the hangman take you out!" He threw her toward the two doors and stalked her as she scrambled to flee. She flung the doors open, a sob caught in her throat. With a renewed burst of terror, she ran down the winding stone steps. And never once looked back.

Chapter 6
    G et me Father Nolan. Now," Trevallyan ranted to the unwitting footman who had come to light the hearths. The young man scrambled to exit almost as quickly as Ravenna had minutes earlier.
    An hour later, Father Nolan sat in the Trevallyan library, sipping Greeves's famous warm whiskey.
    "She was in my bedroom," Trevallyan announced, his anger barely in check. "Some kind of children's prank. She wanted to know why she and I both have the same ring." He pierced the priest with one of his frigid stares. "Why do we have identical rings?"
    Father Nolan took a long, deep sip of his whiskey. His hesitation showed in his eyes. He seemed to brace himself for the other man's anger. "The night we were all at the cottage, I gave the babe my ring, the one that matched yours. 'Tis part of a gimmal that you and the child both wear. A medieval wedding ring."
    "Explain what you mean by wedding ring," Niall demanded.
    "A gimmal is given out during a betrothal. It is a ring in three sections. The bride and the groom each wear a ring and a third party wears the last one. During the wedding ceremony, all three rings are united on the bride's hand."
    "This ring was given to me by my father. My mother did not wear it."
    "You forget, Lord Trevallyan, your parents fell in love. Your father married before his twentieth year. They had no need for the geis."
    Trevallyan glanced at a black Grecian urn on the mantel. His fist shot out and shattered the priceless antiquity into oblivion. "This geis is driving me mad. I cannot hear the word again."
    The priest watched him, grim and silent. Slowly he said, "What would you have us do?"
    "Send her away! Get her out of Lir! I don't want to lay eyes on the child ever again. She's only bound to grow older. I don't want to see her."
    "It can be done."
    Niall faced the priest as if he didn't quite believe him. "If getting rid of her were so easy, why could I not accomplish this before?"
    "I can see to it you never lay eyes on the child ever again, as you wish, but I cannot make the promise that you won't lay eyes on her as a woman."
    Trevallyan stared at the ring on his small finger as if he hated it. Slowly he removed it and made to throw it in the fire.
    "I would not do it if I were you," Father Nolan whispered.
    "My father gave me this ring. He told me to wear it until I was wed. I'll be wed in two weeks. I haven't any use for it now."
    " 'Tis only a ring, Trevallyan. Destroying it will not destroy the geis. And you will not be wed in two weeks. You don't love the girl. You know it."
    "I want a wife," Trevallyan groaned, laying his forehead on the stone edge of the mantel. "I want someone to share my bed and this home. I want someone to dine with of an evening and to help me enjoy the riches this cruel and vindictive God has placed within my grasp only to keep