He nodded. “Aye, you do,” he insisted. “Although it is my intention to see you a great deal, there may be times when my duties make that impossible. I do not want you to forget me.”
A smile spread across Vesper’s lips as she looked up at him; she’d spent the past six hours with the man, leisurely traveling, speaking on everything from the weather to the new additions to Eynsford Castle. She’d come to know a man of sharp wit and great intellect, but a man who seemed somewhat challenged by the thought of pursuing a woman.
At times, he seemed uncertain about what to say, and how much to say, and Vesper thought that was infinitely charming. He had pride and a grand knightly arrogance when it came to his position as Itinerant Justice. But when it came to his feelings or anything personal, that was where he was most untried.
Truth be told, Vesper was untried, too, so it was a little like the blind leading the blind. All they could do was what came naturally and what propriety allowed. But the more they became acquainted, the more comfortable with each other they became.
The moments, like this, were turning into magic.
“How could I forget you?” she wanted to know. “You took my father and me into your home, fed us, entertained us, and now you are escorting us home because my father has given you permission to keep company with me. Surely, I will never forget you. There is no need to give me a gift to ensure that.”
The corner of Val’s lips twitched. “I cannot be certain that a handsome man on a dashing white horse will not ride up and steal you away.”
Vesper laughed. “If he does, I will tell him to go away because the Itinerant Justice of Hampshire will run him through if he does not.”
“Would you really tell him that?”
“I swear that I would.”
Val beamed. He took her elbow again, continuing their journey to the table where he pulled out a stool for her to sit upon. “Then I am grateful and honored, my lady,” he said. “Will you still allow me to purchase a small token for you? Not much, but a little something.”
She had to chuckle at him because he looked so sincere. “If you absolutely must.”
“I absolutely must.”
“But what about your mother? Do you truly intend to buy her nothing at all?”
He grunted. “Let McCloud buy her something. He wants to court her, after all. That is his business now.”
Vesper’s smile faded, knowing that her father purchasing something for Margaretha was impossible because of his lack of coinage. She seriously wondered if Val understood that, although he had offered her father a fine job that paid very well. Perhaps, that was his way of ensuring her father had money to spend on his mother or, more than likely, it was because he was a truly generous individual. She sensed that about him.
A fine and generous man who was about to find himself in a family full of vipers.
Vesper had been increasingly wrestling with that thought on the ride from Selborne. It was true that she had vowed not to tell him anything about her father’s conniving and her brother’s murdering, but only because she didn’t want to lose what they were building between them. But the more she came to know him, the more her thoughts began to shift in his direction– was it fair that so fine and true a man unknowingly enter into a deal with such unsavory characters?
As much as a marriage to the man thrilled her, she could only imagine that look of horror on his face when he discovered what her father and brother truly were. Val was too noble, too accomplished to associate with what her father and brother hadbecome. Worse still, would he believe she had lied to him by omitting the truth about her family?
Because that was exactly what she was doing– lying by omission. More and more, she was coming to realize it wasn’t fair to Val.
… but what abouther?
Was she not entitled to marry a fine knight with a prestigious post? She’d done nothing wrong. It had only been by misfortune that she’d been born into this family but she certainly had never participated in their deeds.
It was a dilemma that was starting to overwhelm her.
Mulling over thoughts of right versus wrong, Vesper was distracted when the old man with the strange hat emerged from the rear of the stall, bringing forth a wooden box which he laid carefully upon the table. As Vesper and Val watched, the old man unfastened the hinge on the box and carefully opened it.
Vesper couldn’t help but gasp. The case contained several fine necklaces of gold and pearls and colored stones, all of them exquisitely made. She looked up at Val, almost in a panic.
“These are far too expensive,” she whispered. “Please… you do not have to….”
Val ignored her protests. “These are perfect,” he said to the old man. “Do you have more? The lady might not like any one of these.”
The old man nodded eagerly. “Aye, I do,” he said. “Shall I get them?”
Vesper would not be ignored any further. “Nay,” she said loudly, somewhat embarrassed when both Val and the old man looked at her as if surprised she had asserted herself. Val grinned as she appeared contrite for yelling. “I will look at these. I do not need a vast selection.”
Val simply shrugged, pleased he’d forced her to his will, and Vesper bent over the case, not touching anything. But her eyewas drawn to a necklace of pearl and a blue stone that flashed red in the light. It was an unusual stone and the old man saw where her attention was.
