Free Lynette Vinet - Emerald Trilogy 02 by Emerald Enchantment Page A

Beth.”
    “Was she truly horrible, ma’am?” The long unasked question slipped out, and Beth was a bit ashamed of herself for asking it. She barely thought about the woman who was her mother any longer and had no clear memory of her. Mrs. Lacey was her mother in deed, if not in actuality.
    The older woman turned to the girl and gave her a penetrating look. “I don’t think your ma could help herself, child. She loved a man who didn’t love her. He used her, I suppose, but she let him, and proud she was of her love for him.”
    “You mean my father.”
    “Aye, but I can’t be certain if he was your father. I only had Peg’s word for it, and, well…” Mrs. Lacey looked down at the ground, back at Beth’s pretty, serious face, then blurted, “She bedded any man who would have her.”
    “I wish I hadn’t asked,” Beth whispered, and turned her face upwards to the morning sky.
    Patting her arm, Mrs. Lacey smiled gently. “I think you should know about her, to understand that you were better off with us. You’re a good girl, very different from Peg and the McConnells.”
    Beth wondered suddenly if she was different. Hadn’t she permitted Sir Howard to bed her, and loved every moment of their coupling? Wasn’t she still sneaking off at night to meet him in the stables like some trollop? She bit her lower lip. “I want to be good, ma’am.”
    “ Aye, and you are, Beth,” Mrs. Lacey reiterated like it was a forgone conclusion and the subject closed. “Now could you please go fetch Patrick and tell him his lunch will soon be ready?”
    “I heard him tell Mr. Sean that he’ll be in the hills today, looking for stray sheep.”
    “Aye, you’re right. Perhaps you could take his lunch to him, Beth. He’d be ever so pleased to see you delivering it to him than me. And I admit that my bones ache too much today for hill climbing.”
    If Beth hadn’t loved the woman so much, she’d have refused to go. She hated seeing Patrick when she didn’t have to see him, but Mrs. Lacey was indeed too old to climb the steep hills. Mrs. Lacey ran into the cottage and came out a few minutes later with a packed basket. “There’s enough food for the both of you,” she said.
    Reluctantly Beth took the basket and padded through the meadow to the hills. The late morning grew warm, but a slight breeze caressed her cheeks and ruffled her hair as she reached the top. She surveyed the emerald valley below, enchanted by the lushness of the waving grain in the fields. Then her eyes flew to the road which led to the Granger property. Anticipation, mingled with shame for what the night would bring, spread through every pore of her body, and she wondered if she were indeed wanton like her mother.
    “Beth.” Patrick’s deep voice, filled with surprise and delight, when he saw her.
    “I’ve brought your lunch.” A breeze stirred loose tendrils of hair in a becoming fashion about her face.
    “This is good of you. Would you care to be joining me?”
    She knew there was enough food for two in the basket, but Patrick unnerved her with the soul-searching looks which emanated from his sky blue eyes. “I don’t think I have time, Patrick.” She moved away, but he stopped her with a tight grip on her wrist.
    “Please. I get lonely sometimes, Beth.”
    “You? Patrick Lacey, I’ve never known you to be without companionship, especially of the female kind,” she added, not quite certain why this bothered her,
    He grinned but had the good grace to flush. “I don’t ask for the women to like me, Beth.”
    Her heart fluttered, because she knew this was true. Despite Patrick’s good looks, he didn’t seek out the girls, and she found herself taking an odd comfort in this. “All right, I’ll eat with you,” she agreed.
    Patrick didn’t bother to conceal his delight as he pulled her down beside him on the grass and opened the basket. They ate in silence, and when they had finished the slab of cheese and day old bread and the small