Lady Thief - By Rizzo Rosko Page 0,76

heavy snowfall and grey sky aged the house, made it tired and unfamiliar, but only because she knew that another man owned it.

Robert drove the cart to the stables. No one familiar to Marianne came into view, and even though she made no effort to hide her tied hands, no one came to her aid.

When inside, she immediately noted the change in the smell. What had once been familiar to her, a constant reminder of her brother’s love when her father was too caught up in his games, now smelled of Ferdinand’s cruelty.

The walls were bare and stripped of everything of value her father spared when he paid her dowry, giving off the appearance of emptiness. Marianne could not help but think that the lack of objects suited Ferdinand’s hollow-hearted nature.

This was no longer the place she had played in as a child, nor was it where she wished to be. She wished to be in her real home with William. Even a shouting match with Blaise would be preferable to this.

When they reached the house, a servant Marianne did not recognize was sent to fetch Ferdinand. Like the men and women working outside, the servants inside seemed not to notice or care that her hands were bound in front of her, or that Robert continued to push her along.

Despite his eagerness to be rid of her, he made what could be a genuine effort to soothe her. “I would not fret, milady. Sir Ferdinand is old and will pass into the next world soon, until then, being his mistress will not be such a horrible thing.”

William’s words of Ferdinand’s liking for sexual torture came back to haunt her. Even if they had not, she knew Robert’s attempt would have been wasted on her.

She was no one’s mistress.

“Fool!”

Marianne and Robert shot their heads up to the source of the hateful voice. Ferdinand stood at the peek of the stairs, his gnarled hands clenching the rail and staring down with stunned fury directed at Marianne.

“What is she doing here? Why are her hands tied?”

Marianne relished his confusion. He could punish Robert and send her on her way and she would never have to think of this horrible experience again.

He descended the stairs at a speed she would not have thought possible of him. When he reached the bottom, he came towards them both and glared up at Marianne before turning his monstrous stare to Robert. Though Robert was taller, sir Ferdinand’s face and horrid stare prompted Robert to look at anything but the man in front of him.

Robert opened his mouth, stunned by his welcome. “I…I,” He cleared his throat and gathered his courage. “I have brought Marianne Holton here for your pleasure, milord.”

Ferdinand barked a laugh. “Lord? You must have hopes that your flattery will save you. What makes you presume I want her?”

Robert’s grip on her arm tightened, and Marianne felt his pulse quicken in his grip. “I overheard sir Holton mumbling to himself of the reward you offered him should he bring her here. Since he has failed I have taken his place and wish to collect what he could not.”

Ferdinand’s back stiffened, and he eyed Marianne with cold interest. There was a promise in his eyes, a promise to himself. Whatever it may be could not be good, for it brought chills to her flesh, and she tried to move away. Robert halted her with a jerk on her arm.

“I see,” said Ferdinand.

Robert sputtered. “Lord Gray does not know I have taken her, not so soon, and when he discovers what I have done I will be away with the reward you will pay. He will never know she is here.”

Robert did not see the men who surrounded them while he tried to sell her. Marianne did. Ferdinand signaled one of them with a small movement of his head.

Marianne felt a splash of warm blood spread across the back of her neck.

She shrieked and stumbled away, slapping the wetness away. But now she had it soaking her hands, which was far worse.

She spun to look at Robert, who held the spurting wound in his throat. The man holding the dagger used Robert’s tunic to clean the blood from the blade before Robert fell to the floor.

Marianne’s face ran cold at the sight. She had never seen a man killed before, and the sight would forever haunt her nightmares.

She looked down at her bound hands, covered in his drying blood, and she felt as dizzy as she had