“You’ll have to wait to do that,” Mary spoke up. “When I returned home a widow, we stored my belongings in your chests and armoire. We have packed yours up.”
Ewan refused to look at the woman who flirted with him, offering him coy glances as she passed an assessing gaze over him. Ewan felt dirty, and it wasn’t from days of being on the road and camping in the woods.
“If that is the case, perhaps you could show me the gardens, Lady Allyson. I imagine you’d like to stretch your legs after the ride.” Ewan offered.
“Thank you. That would be most pleasant,” Allyson murmured. They turned, but Lady Margaret’s voice stopped them.
“I’ll send Berta to tend to you and ensure everything is as it should be.”
Allyson’s neck and face flooded with color and heat. She nodded before Ewan led her toward the doors of the keep. They wandered to the gardens, and Allyson passed through the gate Ewan held open with her head ducked. She’d been able to bathe each day while at Chillingham, but her mother’s few words about sending the midwife to examine her made her feel filthy.
“Allyson?” Ewan brushed hair away from her shoulder. Her hair had been in a tight braid when he entered her chamber at Chillingham, but now wisps and strands lay around her shoulders and ears. She’d been so vibrant at court, both when they danced together and went head-to-head. A few minutes with her family, and she’d retreated into an invisible shell.
“Hmm?” Allyson stared into the distance, but didn’t seem to focus on anything. Her listlessness troubled Ewan, but he realized he didn’t know her well enough to know what to say or do.
“Shall we walk, or would you prefer to sit in the sun, or maybe the shade?”
“Whatever you prefer.” Allyson wandered toward a patch of lavender, and Ewan realized that was the scent he’d recognized when he whispered in her ear that day that their futures became entwined. He cut a stalk and handed it to her, and the smile she offered was genuine, even if a little shy. “Thank you.”
“Is Berta your clan’s midwife?” Ewan murmured as he shifted to block the sun from Allyson’s eyes. She nodded but turned away.
“Regardless of what happened, you have grounds to break the betrothal after the way I acted. If that isn’t enough, I’ll have Berta say what she needs to, so you’ll be free of me.”
Ewan eased her around and tilted her chin up. “Ally, you made a mistake, but it’s not the end of the world or your life. I believed you when you said you were untouched. And even if that weren’t the case, no matter how ill-advised running away was, no woman asks to be assaulted. It wouldn’t be your fault.” He was uncertain where the diminutive came from–it seemed to suit her–but she didn’t react. It was as though she hadn’t heard it.
“Thank you, but that doesn’t mean you want to marry me any more than you did in the Privy Council chamber.”
“Mayhap I didn’t say it, but I’m warming to the idea. I never thought you were a coward, and I don’t like you thinking you are one. You withstood a test that would break a lesser woman. I can’t imagine what Sage made you witness, and if ever you need someone to share that burden, you need only look to me. But you aren’t damaged or ruined. No matter what your family suggests. That’s not enough to turn me away.”
Allyson squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. She fought to push the lump in her throat down far enough to speak. “Thank you, Ewan, but my sister, Mary, would be a better match for you. She’s beautiful and a widow. She possesses the experience you prefer.”
Ewan straightened and looked over Allyson’s head to ensure no one watched them before he pressed his mouth to the corner of her lips. He kissed each side before nudging her lips apart and deepening the kiss. She swayed into his embrace as he pulled her closer. He’d assumed the power of their first kiss came from the fraught situation around them, but this kiss was even more intense. Ewan felt himself fall headlong, and for once, he didn’t shy away from his feelings. He trailed kisses along Allyson’s jaw and neck, then back to her cheek.
“I don’t want any Elliot but you.” Ewan whispered against her ear.
“But she’s the type of woman you prefer,” Allyson reasoned before Ewan pulled away.
“How would you know what kind of woman I prefer? You saw me leaving one woman’s chamber and now you understand me?”
“I may have seen you leaving Lady Bevan’s chamber, but it’s not as though I haven’t heard of the other women attached to your name. Mary has more to offer a man of your--- tastes than I do.”
“I believe I was just tasting you and enjoying it.”
Allyson’s eyes flew wide open, and she huffed at Ewan’s arrogant grin.
“You know that wasn’t what I meant. It’s obvious everyone else sees it, too.”
“Could your mother and sister have been testing my honor? Were they waiting to see if I took the bait?”
“Hardly.” Allyson’s laugh held no mirth as she shook her head. “It must have shocked my mother to learn the king intended us to wed. She wouldn’t have volunteered me first when Mary still needs to remarry and my other older sister, Alice, is still unwed.”
“You have a sister named Alice?”
“Yes, she’s the sibling closest in age to me, but you can see they’re all quite a bit older than I am. I was an accident. My mother couldn’t think of another name, so she accepted Allyson when someone suggested it. It’s so close to one she’d already used, she said it kept her from forgetting it.”
“Good God,” Ewan uttered. Having rhyming names was confusing at times, but he knew neither he nor his brother received their names as an afterthought to the other. “Ally--”
“Why do you call me that?” Allyson interrupted. “It’s the second time you’ve done it.”
