Free Bond of Blood by Roberta Gellis

had no other son and as time passed … God Himself has punished him sufficiently; he fears damnation without hope of redemption, and he thinks he bears the mark of Satan on that lame leg."
    Gaunt snorted contemptuously and continued, "With such things may a man torture himself if he chooses to meddle with his own soul. I will say for him though that he bears the pain that keeps the memory green bravely, and he is not free of it day or night. That I taught him; I have that satisfaction. And in other ways too he is a good son, but I cannot forget the bitterness he brought with him. I have helped him remember also; I named him Cain for the fratricide he is."
    "My lord." Edwina was shocked at the words although there was a puzzling note in the voice that she did not take time to try to understand. Enmity between father and son was common enough in these terrible times, but not for this reason. "I speak as a woman who has borne, and I say that it is no fault of the child if the mother— Ah well," she said as the Earl turned away angrily, "you know your own affairs best. My concern is with my daughter only. Will he be kind to her?"
    "When he is so hot for her that he cannot sleep? Oh yes, he will be kind—at least while the heat lasts." Edwina grew pale, but Gaunt did not notice, absorbed by his own thoughts. "No," he said with a frown, "I do him an injustice. He holds hard by his word and is in no way changeable in his affections. Doubtless as he begins he will continue. If your daughter is not as a queen in her own keep and as happy as mortal lot can be, the fault will be in her, not in him. Look at him, he is besotted."
    Edwina could not help but feel that this was true, although it did little to comfort her. Lord Radnor was talking soberly enough with her husband, but something about his manner, his expectant glances at the door, an eagerness in his expression, all betrayed that his interest was centered elsewhere. Edwina motioned to a page idling about and told him to fetch Leah. When the girl entered the room, Cain saw at once that she had been crying in spite of the bright red bliaut she had donned to help conceal her blotched complexion. He limped across to her to hand her through the room.
    "You are not still concerned for that silly jest of mine?"
    "No."
    "Then why are your eyes so heavy? There are tears in them still."
    "Oh … Oh, it is a woman's foolishness to cry for joy."
    Thus far in his life, Radnor had not found that to be true, but then he had not found a girl like this before either. "I know little enough of the ways of such women as you. If you say this, I will believe you, but I urge you to speak the truth to me. As things are with me now, I will forgive you anything—if you tell me plainly—almost anything. If you lie to me, I warn you, you will be sorry for it."
    In her naiveté Leah did not realize that what Lord Radnor said did not apply to the type of lie she had told. She took his words quite literally, as she had learned to take her father's statements. Her hand trembled slightly on his, yet her reply took a liberty she would never have dared taken with her father.
    "Later, I will tell you later. Please, not here, not now."
    Their low voices had not carried in the noise the servants made setting up the tables for dinner. Only Edwina was watching, and she could make nothing of what she saw. If Leah was unwilling to take Lord Radnor as her husband, the girl was displaying a duplicity Edwina had never believed to be part of her character. Yet it was apparent that her crying had not been caused by any quarrel with Lord Radnor, for there she was speaking with him in the low, intense tones of intimacy. Of course they had been together all day. It was barely possible, in the light of what Gaunt had said, that Leah had yielded willingly or been forced to yield to him and was suffering the revulsion which Edwina was sure came with that. Even this notion did not seem to be correct, because when Lord Radnor