“Silly, foolish chickens,” she said, disgruntled. “I’ll show them what honor is. What character is. They’ll not get the better of me.”
Douglas could see the marketplace ahead, too. “I would not say they are entirely foolish,” he said. “They do have an eye for me, after all. They have good taste.”
She looked at him in exasperation. “God’s Bones,” she muttered. “You are not supposed to say that. I may say it, but not you.”
“Why not?”
“Do you truly need your pride fed so badly?”
“If you are not going to flatter me, then I must flatter myself.”
Mira broke down in snorts. “Poor man,” she said. “It’s not enough that nine other young women think you are handsome. You must hear it from me, too.”
“That would help.”
“Then I am concerned,” she said, growing serious. “Is that enough? Should I go to the church and have the nuns tell you that also? What about the children playing down the avenue? Shall I have them sing your praises, too?”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Easy, lass,” he said. “No need to get nasty.”
She looked at him as if she had no idea what he meant. “I am only trying to bolster that great and fragile pride you have.”
“Fragile?”
“It must be if you put such stock in only one woman’s opinion.”
He fought off a grin, scratching his forehead. “You certainly know how to put me in my place,” he said. “I suppose I should be grateful.”
She flashed a grin when he couldn’t see it. “You should never put so much weight on one woman’s opinion.”
“I will do as I please, especially if it is the woman I have proposed marriage to.”
They were coming to the middle of the intersection now, still moving through the crowd, but now avoiding cross-traffic.When a cart came too close, Douglas reached out and grasped Mira’s arm, pulling her back to avoid being hit. They were about to continue when Jonathan abruptly appeared.
“Douglas,” he said. “Good. I’ve found you.”
Both Douglas and Mira looked at him. “So you have,” he said. “We were just returning to the group. I hope Lady Isabel is not wondering where we went. Truly, we just went to find food. Nothing scandalous.”
Jonathan shook his head. “Not that,” he said. “Everyone is heading back to the escort quickly. It seems there are Tatworth men in town, and we are concerned they might start something.”
Douglas went from relaxed man to professional knight in the blink of an eye. His expression tightened and he took on the look of a hunter. “Have they seen us?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
“Where are they?”
Jonathan pointed off toward the southeast, where there was an entire row of two- and three-storied wattle and daub homes, neatly in a line.
“Over there,” he said. “There is a group of about seven of them. Eric recognized them, so we are hurrying everyone back to the castle.”
Douglas couldn’t really see who he was talking about because there were a lot of people in town on this day.
He frowned.
“What in the hell are they doing here?” he wondered aloud. “Axminster is not their town. They have no business being here.”
“Unless they are scouting for Lord Tatworth, simply to get the lie of the land.”
Douglas looked at him. “To see if we’ve let our guard down?”
