The Raided Heart by Jennifer C. Wilson
Hello, and thanks so much for hosting an excerpt of The Raided
Heart on your blog today – I hope your readers enjoy it!
Here, we are with Meg, when she hears the news that her brothers have
been plotting her marriage. Not the best news, when you’re in love
with somebody else…
The Raided Heart, Excerpt Three
“What
did you think of young Henry, then?” asked Robert the next morning
as they broke their fast. As Lizzie had reported, the Cliffside group
had set off just after midnight, keen to make the most of the
possible advantage at the western fringes of their territory.
“Well,
he’s young, you’re right about that,” replied Meg, risking a
glance at Will to see whether he knew where this conversation might
be leading. He shook his head, out of Robert’s line of sight.
“Not
too young,” replied Robert.
“Not
too young for what?”
“Marriage.”
Meg
spluttered. Crumbs caught in her throat as she began to choke on
pieces of bread, on air, on what she feared her brother was
suggesting. “Not for me?” she practically squeaked.
“Well
obviously for you – Judd won’t give up the lovely Hannah, and I
can’t go offering the maidens of the village these days, can I,
like some ancient tyrant? Their menfolk would object, and none of us
would want that.” He chuckled at his words, then stopped when he
noticed his sister wasn’t joining in.
Meg
caught Will’s glance as she caught her breath. “But, you never
said anything,” she managed, in a hoarse whisper.
“I
wanted to see you together. We both did, Gray and me. He’s in
agreement, it seems an excellent match.”
“An
excellent match for you two perhaps, but not for me!” Meg
exclaimed. “He is little more than a child, what, sixteen years
old? A whole five years younger than me! And completely undermined by
his father on all counts. You must have seen the way they were
together? Alexander is a monster, a bully, and his son is completed
cowed. And besides, apart from civil greetings, I hardly spoke to
him. You couldn’t possibly have seen how we were together to make
such a judgement on whether we are remotely suited for each other.”
Meg
could hear the mix of anger and panic rising in her voice, not caring
whether her brother could hear it too. Henry Gray was not the man she
intended to marry – even if there were no other options presently
available to her, that her brothers would readily agree to.
“I
cannot marry somebody who appears to have no voice, no thought of his
own. You must see that?” Despite the residual ache in her ankle
from the forced merriment and activity of the night before, she rose
and rushed out of the room, leaving her brother and Will with eyes
wide.
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