He actually looked surprised. “She is a part of that place?”
Katharine nodded, eyeing her son and realizing the information was having its desired effect. If nothing else, she knew her son well; he was hot-tempered and conceited, but he was not afraid to admit when he was wrong. It was a good trait.
“Not only is she a part of that place, but she has seen to its operation since her mother passed away,” Katharine said. “Doyou remember that epidemic that swept through the town about five years ago?”
He nodded. “I was in London at the time. I remember you told me of it.”
His mother dark eyes were piercing. “Do you know that she nursed a great many people during that time?” When he shook his head rather weakly, she continued. “While others fled the area, including her father, your wife and her mother stayed to nurse the sick. Eventually Devereux and her mother were taken ill with the same affliction; the mother died but Devereux was spared.”
Davyss stood there, staring at his mother as he processed what she had told him. Eventually he found a chair and sat, struggling to come to grips with the situation.
“Then I am sure she is selfless and true,” he replied. “But she holds no respect for me at all.”
“What do you think of her?”
“Are you seriously asking me that question after all I have told you?”
“I am asking what you think when you look at her. Is she beautiful?”
He thought on the silken blonde hair and gray eyes. “Aye,” he admitted. “She is damn beautiful, in fact. I have never seen such beauty.”
“And if you had seen her in London, would you have pursued her based upon her beauty alone?”
“Absolutely. She is a fine prize for any man. I will be the talk of court when people see the beauty of the woman I have married.”
Katharine cast her son a rather disapproving look. “Based upon her appearance alone she is worthy to be seen on your arm, eh? Was there nothing else you found attractive about her?”
He pursed his lips irritably, thinking on their brief encounter. “She… well, she was rather humorous.”
“Humorous?”
“She made me laugh.”
“I see,” Katharine looked down at her sewing so he would not see the smile on her lips; he sounded utterly distressed that the woman had the power to make him laugh. “So she is beautiful and humorous. And this distresses you because she does not view you in the same light?”
He could hear a mocking note in his mother’s tone and he refused to look at her. “She despises me. She said as much.”
Katharine shrugged. “Perhaps she will overcome that with time,” she said softly. “Give her a reason to respect you, Davyss. Sometimes esteem is more than simply handling a sword better than most or bearing the honor of the king. It comes from the heart, not the hand.”
He looked at her. “She is not perfect, either. She is proud and arrogant.”
Katharine picked up her needlepoint and resumed. “Perhaps,” she said faintly as she began to sew. “If I were you, I would try to get to know her before making such judgments.”
He lifted an eyebrow, hearing his own words in them. Rising from the chair, he exhaled sharply and puffed out his cheeks. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
“What would you suggest I do, then?” he ventured. “You started this. What brilliant stars of wisdom do you have for me in dealing with my new wife?”
Katharine scrutinized her son; he favored her with his dark hair and hazel eyes, something that his father had lamented. Grayson Davyss de Winter had been a handsome man, no doubt, but his son’s handsome appearance had eclipsed him. Davyss was a spectacular example of the male species and he was well aware of the fact which was why, his mother suspected, he wasso baffled at Lady Devereux’s reaction to him. The possibility that the woman would not swoon at his feet had never occurred to him.
“Shave off that forest on your face and cut your hair,” she told him. “You are not usually so shaggy in appearance”
“I have been traveling for weeks.”
“That is no excuse for your lack of attention to your appearance,” she sniffed. “You may want to bathe as well. I can smell you from here.”
Davyss gave her a look that suggested he thought her to be ridiculous. “I apologize that I am so offensive.”
His mother fought off a grin. “And bring her a gift,” she said. “Go into my chamber upstairs and collect what you will for her.”
