Free Cast Love Aside by Flora Speer Page B

these unfair accusations at
once! Alice and I are not to blame for what has happened to you.”
Lilianne stalked over to the bunk to glare down at him. “Alice and
I are here because we dared not remain alone and unprotected at
Manoir Sainte Inge after you were gone.”
    “In point of fact,” Magnus said to Erland,
“both ladies are my prisoners. They had no choice but to accompany
you on your voyage.” He hoped the excuse would provide some
protection for the two women after they and Erland were all safely
returned to France. After Desmond was free. After Lilianne was gone
from his life forever.
    “They will not be ransomed,” Erland declared,
adding with considerable venom, “Neither wench is worth the cost of
a scrap of parchment to carry a ransom demand. Do with them as you
will.”
    While Magnus clenched his fists at his sides
to prevent himself from punching a man who couldn't strike back, he
sent a warning look at William, lest that overly emotional young
man should decide to challenge Erland for Alice's sake. Meanwhile,
Lilianne planted her hands on her hips and bent forward until her
nose was almost touching Erland's.
    “Understand this well, Uncle,” she said in a
tone that nearly matched his for dislike, “I don't care how low
your opinion of me is. Hate me if you will. Despise me, as you
despise all women. Just tell me where you have hidden Gilbert.”
    “You will never see your brother again,”
Erland informed her.
    “What do you mean?” She was pale as sea foam,
but she kept her voice steady, and Magnus's respect for her
increased to a remarkable degree.
    “So long as I am bound hand and foot and kept
far from France, no one will care for Gilbert. Delicate as the boy
is, he will not live long.” A cruel smile curled Erland's thin
lips.
    “You didn’t know I was watching,” Lilianne
declared, “but I saw him leave Manoir Sainte Inge with you and
Norbard.”
    “Did you?” Erland's smile was chilling.
“Still, you don’t know where he is now, do you? Or even if he’s
still alive.”
    “The lad had better live,” Magnus stated
firmly, “or it will be all the worse for you, Count Erland.”
    “Go ahead and kill me,” Erland said, managing
to shrug in spite of his bonds. “Once I am dead, Lilianne will
never find her precious brother's bones, and you English will lose
by my demise whatever it was that you planned to demand as my
ransom.”
    “ Where is Gilbert?” Lilianne
cried.
    “In a safe place,” Erland said, “where you
will never find him. Or, if you do, it will be too late for that
puny child.”
    “If it's Manoir Sainte Inge you want,”
Lilianne said, sounding desperate, “you may have it. I'm sure
Gilbert will give it to you in return for his freedom, and I know
our father would agree, if he were still alive.”
    “But Paul de Sainte Inge is not alive, is
he?” said Erland, sneering again, “and once Gilbert dies, my
brother Paul's former property passes to me, as the sole male heir
of our father's line. You, dear niece, have nothing with which to
bargain.”
    “I do have bargaining power,” Magnus said.
“We will discuss this later, Count Erland. For now, I leave you to
consider your plight. I suggest you also moderate your attitude
toward Lady Lilianne.”
    “Why?” Erland asked. “Lilianne matters not at
all in my plans. She is a nonentity.”
    Magnus thought that Erland could not be more
wrong. Lilianne's determination to locate and rescue her brother
made her a force that her uncle should have considered very
carefully, indeed. But he'd not tell Erland so. Better by far to
let Erland underestimate his niece. Erland's distain for the girl
might trip him up and, thus, make him vulnerable to the kind of
persuasion that Royce was planning to use on him. Erland wasn't
just a hostage for Desmond's safety and eventual release. As one of
King Louis's secret agents, Erland was also a source of valuable
information. Magnus did not doubt that Royce would find a way