Saxon Lady. Margo Maguire
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Название: Saxon Lady

Автор: Margo Maguire

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Историческая литература

Серия: Mills & Boon Historical

isbn: 9781472040435

isbn:

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      “None of this is yours!”

       Aelia exclaimed.

      Her father had been dead merely a month, yet this usurper had moved in as if he had every right to do so. As if her father had never been lord here.

      “You think not, my lady?” Mathieu Fitz Autier took hold of her arm and led her roughly to the window. “Observe. All that you see is mine. You are vanquished, Saxon.”

      Aelia turned to slap his arrogant face, but he caught her hand and pressed it against the cool metal hauberk covering his chest. ’Twas a place where no normal heart pulsed, but a cold and cruel one.

      Yet he did not strike back. He lowered his head, his face, his lips coming but a breath away from hers.

      And then he kissed her. He slid his hands around her waist as he lowered his mouth to her jaw, then her ear and her throat, sipping, tasting Aelia.

      Praise for Margo Maguire

      The Virtuous Knight

      “These are memorable characters whose story plays out against a well-researched backdrop.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKclub

      His Lady Fair

      “You’ll love this Cinderella story.”

      —Rendezvous

      Dryden’s Bride

      “Exquisitely detailed…an entrancing tale that will enchant and envelop you as love conquers all.”

      —Rendezvous

      Celtic Bride

      “Set against the backdrop of a turbulent era, Margo Maguire’s heart-rending and colorful tale of star-crossed lovers is sure to win readers’ hearts.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKclub

      Saxon Lady

      Margo Maguire

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      This book is dedicated to Kate Blessing, a reader, musician and scholar. May your last high school years be as full of grace and brilliance as your first.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Chapter Twenty-Two

      Chapter Twenty-Three

      Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter One

      Northern England

       Early Autumn, 1068

       I t was all Lady Aelia could do to keep her men calm before the battle ensued. She walked the perimeter of the palisade and spoke to the archers, bolstering their courage, praising their prowess in battle.

      “’Twas not for lack of skill that we’ve survived against the enemy these past months!” she called to them. “You are worthy warriors, you are Ingelwald’s heroes! Fear not the Norman bastard, Fitz Autier, who invades our lands. He is no different from Gui de Reviers, or any of the others whom you killed in battle—he is powerless against our might!”

      Aelia hoped it was true. The tales of Mathieu Fitz Autier’s conquests were many and terrifying. He had become a legend in Northumberland with his ruthless ways, sent by King William to conquer where other warriors had failed. No Saxon man, woman or child was spared when Fitz Autier won the day.

      Aelia would just have to make certain that he won naught at Ingelwald.

      It was nearly dawn, and a hazy mist hovered below. She could sense more than see the activity on the ground beyond Ingelwald’s stone walls. Fitz Autier, no doubt, was marshaling his men into position. But Aelia refused to be unnerved by the enemy she had not yet seen.

      Many formidable thanes of Northumberland had come to Ingelwald when their own smaller holdings had fallen, swearing fealty to Wallis, Aelia’s father. Now that Wallis and so many of those Saxon warriors were dead, it fell to Aelia to deliver her people from the Norman peril.

      A sudden, hard yank on her arm nearly pulled her off her feet. She whirled ’round and faced the angry countenance of Selwyn, her betrothed. His bearded face lacked the comeliness of a younger man, someone closer to Aelia’s age. And now he lacked even the lands that had swayed Wallis’s decision to give the man his daughter.

      Wallis had wanted to ally himself with his closest neighbor, who had a fine estate to the south. And to keep Aelia near him after she married. ’Twas the СКАЧАТЬ