Very wounded.
In that wound, something began to fester.
Mira wasn’t going to have the last word in this, Astoria decided. What started out as mild jealousy had now turned into something darker. I’ll get her,she thought. Douglas or no Douglas, now it was a situation between her and Mira. Of course Mira was prettier. She was beautiful. Everyone thought so. But no one thought that of Astoria. She was first made aware of thatby none other than Raymond de Honiton himself several years ago, when Raymond had eyes for Mira and Astoria had eyes for Raymond. When she tried to press her affections, the boy actually called her ugly.
Now he was back.
And that gave Astoria an idea.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He was onthe hunt.
Not really a hunt, but Douglas was most definitely looking for Mira. Having arrived back at Axminster a short time earlier, he had been tied up helping Eric settle the escort of Lord de Honiton. Douglas had heard the name of de Honiton before but never had any direct dealings with the man. He knew he was a great supporter of the king, but little more than that. Douglas finished helping Eric settle the de Honiton troops and then went on his hunt for a certain young lady.
She wasn’t hard to find.
With unexpected visitors at Axminster, Douglas suspected he’d find Mira preparing the great hall, and he was correct. She was there with some of the other girls, supervising the preparation of the hall. The advent of unexpected visitors had thrown the well-trained women into a frenzy. They wanted to make sure the hall was perfect for their visitors because nothing was more uplifting than a compliment on one’s housekeeping skills. A happy visitor would spread the word of the lovely hospitality at Axminster, directly reflecting upon Lady Isabel and her wards.
Therefore, this was serious business.
Because there were so many women at Axminster, the great hall never really deteriorated into a men-only chamber. Douglas had been at many halls in his lifetime and, more often than not, they were a man’s domain. The men gathered there, told their stories there, and shared meals and camaraderie. If they did it before battle, sometimes it was the very last time that friends would see each other in this lifetime. Therefore, some halls tended to be slovenly places with old rushes on the floor, smelling of old ale and old memories.
But not Axminster.
Axminster was clearly a woman’s hall because the rushes were fresh, there were no dogs to be seen, and the floors were swept clean. And it wasn’t a hard-packed earth floor, either. It was stone currently in the process of being scrubbed. There was a small army of servants and young ladies making sure the floor would be clean for Lady Isabel and her visitors.
And Mira was in the middle of it.
As Douglas stood at the door, he found himself watching every move she made. He thought that she was an ethereal, lovely creature at the best of times and now, in the midst of hard work, he realized she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Douglas had grown up with a mother who was quite industrious, and his sisters had followed her lead. He had four sisters in total, all of them hard workers and brilliant women. He had grown up learning to admire a woman for her ingenuity and dedication, and as he watched Mira, he could see the same qualities in her that his mother and sisters had. Because of that, the feelings that he’d been experiencing for her were only growing stronger.
It was odd, really, for a man who had perpetually put off any kind of marital suggestion from his parents. He wasn’t exactly young anymore and knew, at some point, that he was going to have to find a wife. Even though he was the son of an earl, anda wealthy one at that, the truth was that he did not own any property. He didn’t have a title like his brothers did and, being the fifth son, unless he married very well, there would be no title for him. His older brothers had married well and one of them had inherited an earldom through his wife. All of his older brothers had titles and property.
But Douglas didn’t.
Truthfully, it didn’t really bother him. He’d never had great aspirations for power for money or control. He was content serving his father and carrying out the man’s orders, although that didn’t mean he was a follower. Not at all. He was quite a leader, and he was well liked by his men, but he simply didn’t have the ambition some men had—and when he married Mira, the possibility of his marrying for a title would be gone.
Considering the prize, it didn’t matter to him.
Mira…
Thank God for her nickname because he honestly couldn’t envision himself calling her by the name she’d been christened with. Frankly, he was surprised the priests even allowed such a thing, but her middle names were appropriate and that must have satisfied them. To name a set of twins Payne and Misery certainly reflected the mindset of the mother. A mindset that continued to be detrimental because the woman remarried and then banished her daughter based on her new husband’s whims. He found that quite shocking, to be truthful, and quite terrible. Mira didn’t deserve what she’d been given in life, at least not as far as a mother was concerned.
He hoped to change that.
He would give her an entirely new family that would love her and cherish her in the way it was meant to be. He already knew that his mother would love her and that she would blend in well with his sisters. Douglas’ four older brothers were all married to women who were quite fine, and he thought that Mira would bea proud addition to the collection of de Lohr wives. In fact, that was how he felt about her.
Proud.
He was daydreaming about bringing Mira home to Lioncross Abbey when the very woman in question caught sight of him and paused in her sweeping to wave at him. She was near the hearth, sweeping out the ashes for the servants to collect, and as he went to her, Isabel and the rest of the young women entered the hall. A small army had arrived to help, and that included Astoria. When she realized Douglas was in the hall, she focused on him, but Douglas only had eyes for Mira.
“Well?” she said as he approached. “What happened with the Tatworth men?”
“What do you think happened?” he said, grinning. “I beat them within an inch of their lives and tossed them into the river.”
She chuckled. “You did not.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
