Read Morning Song for Free Online Page A

Then he was releasing his grip on her left arm, wincing and flexing his right hand as though it pained him. Quickly she 35

    stepped back, but his left hand, which had also closed over her arm when she careened into him, retained its grip on her. Jessie's eyes snapped up to his as she prepared to let him have the rough side of her tongue without further delay. But something in his expression made her forget what she had been going to say. She found herself looking into eyes that were almost colorless in the shadowed gray gloom of the gallery, eyes that were hooded and watchful and as predatory as a wolf's. Meeting them, Jessie realized suddenly that this man was an enemy worthy of the name. Despite his handsome face and elegant clothes, despite the outward gentility of his manners, those eyes gave him away. This was no gentleman planter, no landed aristocrat softened by a cushion of wealth. Like herself, this man was a fighter. And, she feared, he was a far more experienced fighter than she.
    "Careful." He sounded amused, probably by the wide-eyed fixity of her gaze. Brought abruptly back to reality, Jessie snatched her arm from his grip and backed another few paces away, taking care this time to stay clear of the edge of the porch.

    IV

    You're not wanted here, Mr. Edwards. It would be easier on everyone if you would just get in your buggy and goaway." He stuck the cheroot back in his mouth with his left hand and looked her over for a moment without answering, resuming his indolent lounge against the pillar. His right hand hung motionless at his side, the fingers occasionally flexing as if the hand both36

    ered him. It occurred to Jessie that the very casualness of his attitude was insulting, and her hackles rose.
    "Polite little thing, aren't you? Well, I can't say Celia didn't warn me. Miss Lindsay, since we are being so charmingly frank, let me say this: I aim to marry your stepmother. What would make things easier on everyone, but most particularly on you, would be for you to just reconcile yourself to that, and spare us the histrionics."
    "I have no intention of making things easy for you. In fact, I plan to make things as difficult as possible."
    He sighed, and puffed at his cheroot. When he spoke, his voice was almost too gentle. "Miss Lindsay, it obviously hasn't occurred to you that after the wedding I will have some—no, a great deal of— authority over you. I would hope that our relationship can be at least marginally pleasant, but if not, you'll be the one to suffer. Make no mistake about that." Jessie gritted her teeth. "If you are determined to marry Celia—
    I don't care about that!— why don't you take her to your property to live? I thought a man was supposed to support his wife, not the other way around."
    That irritated him. Jessie could see it in the slight narrowing of his eyes. But that was the only sign of perturbation he revealed, and when he spoke, his voice was as untroubled as it had been before. "Not that it's any of your business, but my holdings do not include a property suitable for the installation of a wife. Besides, Celia is happy here, and I like the place, too—very much."
    "Mimosa is mine!"
    "You'll always be welcome here. Although your manners may need to be improved upon."
    37

    "You cannot really wish to marry Celia! Why, she's more than thirty!"
    " Agreat age, to be sure. But your stepmother carries her advanced years so charmingly. '
    "You don't love her!"
    "And how would a child like you know anything about love?"
    "You can't love her! Celia is—is—you can't love her! No one could! So why do you wish to marry her?"
    "My reasons, my dear, like my feelings, are none of your concern."
    "You're marrying her for Mimosa, aren't you? It's not Celia you want at all, but her money! You're nothing but a dirty fortune hunter!"
    There was a moment of pregnant silence. Stuart took a drag on his cheroot so that the tip glowed bright red. Then he pulled it from his mouth.
    "You really are