Ashley turned her most sugary smile on Quinn. “I’m going to make him wish he never laid eyes on me. By the time I’m done, he’ll wish he’d never fished me out of that river.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?” She arched a brow. “Ah what, Quinn?”
The girls followed behind her, whispering to each other as they left the castle gates, crossed the bridge, and found a spot that wasn’t too muddy.
Her guard looked wiser than his fifteen years. “You care forhim, and as he is to wed another, you want him to despise you and send you away.” He looked at his feet. “It will not be as you wish.”
“How do you know?”
“I too wished someone to no longer care for me. It did not go as I wanted.”
He looked so dejected that Ashley felt like the queen of the mean girls. She touched his cloak. “I’m sorry, Quinn.”
“He cares for you. We all know ’tis so.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Want to jump with us?”
As Ashley showed Quinn how to jump, she thought about how she’d acted. Maybe one of his brothers would hire her to teach people to read? They’d be coming for the wedding and supposedly to tell her how she might go home. She’d find out about both. Then she’d decide. Should she stay or should she go?
CHAPTER 22
Ashley had gotten usedto waking up early. As long as it wasn’t storming, she went out for a morning walk, finding she wasn’t as bothered by the weather. It was still cold, but she welcomed the fresh air and the open space.
It had snowed again last night. With all the greenery decorating the hall, it looked like a fairytale castle. Christmas in a real castle. It would be magical. How was it possible she’d been here almost two and a half months?
The men would be out training today as well. They dressed warmer and went about their business, though everyone drank more warm wine. Her perfectly climate-controlled world seemed far away.
It wasn’t like she could live off Christian’s hospitality forever. Especially once he was married. As she was trying to figure out what she might be able to do to make a living, someone interrupted her.
“Mistress Ashley?”
She brushed the snow off the sundial and turned to see the last person she’d ever expected. Christian’s fiancée.
“Hello.”
The girl was even paler, almost the color of the snow. Had she been ill?
“I am Helen. Might we have speech?” The girl looked miserable.
“Of course. Let’s go inside. I think we missed dinner, but Mrs. Smith will have saved us something.”
Helen followed but didn’t speak. Okay, what did she want to talk about? Had she heard the steward calling Ashley the mistress? Ashley glanced back at Helen—nope, didn’t look like she was hiding a dagger.
They stopped in the kitchens and Mrs. Smith said she’d send a tray.
“Have you seen my classroom?”
“What is a classroom?”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” Ashley opened the door to the room. Christian had had another table and a few benches made, and someone had cut greenery and tied it to the window with a red ribbon.
“Please, sit.”
Helen looked around, taking everything in. A servant brought them food and wine.
Ashley poured. “Drink. It’s warm.”
