He frowned, but he was jesting. “Thenyouare to blame.”
“I confess, I am.”
He quickly returned to a smirk. “To answer your question, I am Douglas de Lohr,” he said. “My father is the Earl of Hereford and Worcester.”
“Christopher de Lohr?”
“You know him?”
Mira shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “But I wrote the missive requesting his assistance. Since the death of Lady Isabel’s brother, the situation at Axminster has been… difficult. Tatworth has been persistent.”
“So it would seem.”
“Your presence is most welcome.”
His smile turned into one of those devastating gestures that had caused many a maiden to swoon, but for Mira, he meant it. He wasn’t trying to get something out of her or force her to his will, as he’d been known to do on occasion. Douglas liked women and they liked him in return. But for pretty little thing like Mira…
It was genuine.
“Thank you, my lady,” he said. “Your gratitude is appreciated. Would you do something for me?”
“Of course, my lord. How may I be of service?”
He pointed to the ceiling. “Can you check on my knight?” he asked. “That was a nasty blow. I would like for you to keep a close eye on him and report to me when I return. Will you do that?”
She nodded eagerly. “I will, my lord.”
“Thank you.”
With that, he dipped his head, silently excusing himself, and then turned for the entry door, which was still open. He paused a minute before heading out into the rain, pulling his helm down a little to help keep the water out of his eyes, but he couldn’t help himself from glancing over his shoulder to see if Mira was still standing there. Maybe he just wanted another glimpse of her before he headed out into the elements. To his pleasure, not only was she still in the entry, but she was right behind him as he headed out the door. When he looked at her curiously, wondering why she was following him, she indicated the soaked oaken panel.
“I must bolt the door after you leave,” she explained. “But I will see to your knight immediately.”
He simply nodded his head and continued on, out into the driving rain and down to the series of baileys where the Hereford and Norfolk armies had very quickly subdued Tatworth and St. Martin. With the added men from inside Axminster, it had only been a matter of time before Tatworth and his ally were finally forced to lay down their arms. By the time Douglas hit the gatehouse, he had reports from multiple men telling him multiple things.
Unfortunately for Douglas, his mind was still back in the keep.
Mira.
He would remember that.
CHAPTER THREE
“And he hasbeen harassing me ever since,” Lady Isabel told a roomful of men. “Tatworth wants to marry me, assume the earldom, and merge the lands. It would give him a very large property and make him quite wealthy, but I have no intention of marrying the man, and my rejection has driven him mad.”
In the great solar of Axminster Castle, a two-storied chamber with a small staircase that led to a catwalk around the upper portion of the chamber where records were kept, the men gathered about could easily believe Lady Isabel’s statement. They’d just spent three full days battling Tatworth, who had dug himself in and refused to move until Douglas and Grayson split the Tatworth-St. Martin army and conquered them. But given the prize of Axminster and the glory that was the castle itself, not one man could really blame Tatworth. Axminster was a fine prize.
But it was a prize that Lady Isabel retained.
“Tatworth and his men are prisoners,” Douglas said. His helm was off, his long hair tied up into a messy bundle at the back of his neck. “He wants to negotiate his surrender but, frankly, there is nothing to negotiate. I can demand that hesurrender his castle to you, and you would be a rich landowner, my lady. What is your pleasure?”
Isabel smiled weakly. “I do not want Tatworth Castle,” she said. “It is enough for me to manage Axminster, but I appreciate your sentiment, Sir Douglas. Mayhap… mayhap if de Lohr were to station men at Tatworth to help me oversee the place, I would consider it.”
“Then we must be clear on this, Lady Isabel,” Curtis spoke up. “Now that Tatworth is subdued, if you do not wish to confiscate the castle as the spoils of war, what do you want to do with Rickard Tatworth?”
Isabel cocked her head. “What do you mean by that?” she said. “What is there to do but send him home?”
“So he can attack you again?” Curtis said, trying to convince her to think the worst in a situation like this and plan accordingly. “May I be frank, my lady?”
