A Love Worthy

Chapter Twenty-Eight

            Pierino shoved the girl aside and dragged Ginelle over the threshold. “Ye may tell yer lord that I will see him now.” Pierino exclaimed.

            Frightened by his brusque manner, the girl merely nodded and fled the hall. Pierino turned and seized Ginelle roughly by the arms. “Ye will remain silent, understood?”

            Ginelle lifted her head, her brown eyes glinting challengingly beneath the rim of her hood. “If I don’t?”

            His fingers tightened and she resisted a whimper as he leaned in close, his black eyes penetrating her calm reserve. “If ye do not abide, I will see yer child dead before it sees the light, understood?”

            She paled beneath his accosting stare, her body jolting in alarm at his jarring words.

            He sneered, “Aye, I know ye carry a bastard in yer belly, so take note and remember my warning.”

            He shoved her away and her hand lashed out to steady her sudden quaking frame. He stood a pace apart but she felt his nearness like a black cloud intending to suffocate the very life from her body and that of her babe. She kept her distance and remained silent, fearing if she angered him, he may retaliate. She had little choice but to submit.

           

            Lord Alfred Sterling, baron of Cambridge, paced the lavished carpeted floor, his arms entwined at his back as he waited anxiously for the unexpected visitor to appear in his study. He was livid to have a visitor calling at this hour, more so that the man had demanded his presence.

            A knock sounded at his door and he turned as the maid tentatively opened the door, their eyes connected and he nodded curtly, allowing her to bid the man entry.

            When the man stepped into the light of the study, Alfred froze, his limbs stiffening with a maddening fury. “Basilotta.” He hissed the name with underlying malice.

            Pierino smirked as he strolled casually into the room, the maid closing the door firmly behind him as he crossed the floor to the brandy sitting atop a glass table. “Ye are not pleased to see me?”

            Alfred’s hands curled into fists at his sides until his knuckles turned white with pain. “You are a fool to come here, Basilotta.” The baron hissed, “You have misled me for the last time, diminishing my finances with your deceit. If you think I’m going to allow you to walk unscathed from my estate, you are mistaken.”

            Pierino slowly turned, his fingers curling around the glass in his hand to still the concealed tremors declaring his unease. “If ye think to kill me, Sir, ye would be wise to reconsider yer threats.”

            Alfred paused despite his frosted anger, “You best have a good reason for your presence, Basilotta, if I have to endure another one of your lies, I will end you here and now. I’ve wasted precious time and money relying on your incompetent methods.”