Read Seduction In Silk: A Novel of the Malloren World (Malloran) for Free Online Page B

Then she picked up the cider and glasses and marched out.
    Mr. Perriam dislodged Yatta and rose.
    Oh, so gracefully.
    Claris set the glasses on the table and sat on the bench, right at one end. He took the hint and sat at the other end, leaving feet of space between them.
    Claris took a sip. “Now, Mr. Perriam, how may I help you?”
    He too sipped and then put his glass down. “As I said, Miss Mallow, my distant cousin, Giles Perriam, knew your father in their younger days. He required me to come here.”
    “For what purpose?”
    “May I ask what you know of the connection?”
    “You may ask, but I see no reason to answer.” Claris realized that was an error, implying that she did know. “Indeed,” she added, taking another drink, “how could I know? The acquaintance occurred before I was born.”
    “Stories are passed down in families. In mine, we gnaw on an event many generations ago, when the Perriam lands were divided between two sisters, which led to one part being lost from the whole.”
    He’d come to talk of his family’s history? At least that seemed safe.
    “Lost?” she said. “Weren’t both sisters of the same family?”
    “I salute your common sense, Miss Mallow, but property goes to the eldest son so that it may be kept whole. Keeping estates whole is a sacred trust.”
    “Among the grand perhaps. The Perriam family is noble?”
    She’d sensed it, but she still hoped it wasn’t true.
    “My father is the Earl of Hernescroft.”
    Heaven help her.
“Then I’m even more surprised that you think you have business with me, sir.”
    “Roots and branches can spread a long way. Your parents never spoke of the sad history of your aunt, Clarrie Dunsworth?”
    Claris wished she were a better liar. “I know she died young and that my mother believed the blame lay with the man you claim as cousin.”
    “Very, very distant cousin. The scion, in fact, of the younger of those sister heiresses, as I am a scion of the older. The two branches of the family are not fond.”
    “Yet you come here at his bidding? Enough, Mr. Perriam. I have work to do. What do you want?”
    Oh, he wasn’t used to being commanded, this fine gentleman, especially by a woman, and a woman such as she. Claris met his angry eyes.
    “I too have work to do. My cousin Giles is recently deceased, and his will requires that I marry you, Miss Mallow. I hope to do it as expeditiously as possible.”
    Claris stared, truly speechless.
    “Marry me?” she managed at last.
    “Marry you. I am Giles Perriam’s heir, but in order to claim the inheritance, I must marry you. It might be some deathbed attempt to put right an old wrong, or even to deflect a curse—”
    “A curse!”
    “—but it is assuredly an act of malice. Still, it must be done.”
    Claris rose to her feet, needing a hand on the table to steady herself.
    “I fear you are unbalanced, sir. Please leave.”
    He too rose but made no move to obey. “I’m as sane as any man in this demented world. Come, come, Miss Mallow, don’t cling to the conventional response. The marriage will give you all possible advantages, and I pledge to be an amenable husband.”
    “Amenable?”
Claris echoed. “Be amenable, sir, by leaving this instant!”
    For the first time she noted that he wore a sword.
    A sword!
    She moved to one side, putting the length of the table between them.
    “Miss Mallow . . .”
    She glanced around for any weapon but didn’t even see a trowel.
    “
Ellie!”
she shouted.
    Stupid, stupid. What could Ellie do?
    Then Ellie came out of the cottage, astonishingly with a pistol in her hands. Though it was a small gun, it seemed too large for her to manage, so Claris snatched it and pointed it, hands trembling.
    “Leave, Mr. Perriam, and do not return!”
    She’d never held a pistol in her life, and it was shockingly heavy. Could she bring herself to fire it?
    “You heard Miss Claris, sir,” Ellie said. “You’d best be off before she does something she’ll