“’Tis a sad excuse for chivalry that such a rude boar ever earned his spurs,” she retorted.
“I beg your pardon, my lady,” he said, apparently contrite.“’Tis the wine that loosens my tongue.”
“I think not.”Alienor was startled when the knight threw back his head and laughed.“I fail to see the humor in deceiving others.”
“Indeed,” he agreed, sobering with an immediacy that told her he was mocking her.“’Tis a rare woman who takes the time to look closely or has the intellect to understand a feint.”
Alienor turned back to her meal, certain she had heard enough from this man.
“Chevalier Jordan de Soissons,” he confided.His voice had softened and deepened, as if he meant to entice her.That tone might have brought many wenches to his bed, but it would not lure this one.
Alienor granted him a cold glance.“Alienor de Perpignan,” she replied, rising immediately to quit the hall.She was determined to give this man no more of her attention, for he had taken more than his due.Jordan rose to his feet and his hand landed on her elbow.
Alienor glared at the offending hand, then retreated when he did not lift it away.
The man was rude beyond belief.
“If you will excuse me,” she said, taking the unicorn’s tether and standing tall.Alienor had to acknowledge that she was learning much from Iolande and she almost smiled at the unexpected thought.
“This time, my lady,” Jordan murmured as Alienor passed him, but she refused to meet his gaze.“But should you grow tired of coupling with a goat, I should be glad to teach you the ways of men.”
That last comment earned him a glance that would have pierced armor but he only chuckled, then raised one hand as Alienor gained the stairs.
“Sleep well, my lady,” he called after her, feigning his drunkenness again as he raised his voice above the clamor of the hall.Alienor’s cheeks burned with humiliation.“Until the morrow.”
With such a prospect as that, Alienor could almost wish that the morrow might never dawn at all.Hateful man!Why was his presence suffered in her husband’s hall?
“I like it not,”Eustache muttered as he mounted the stairs alongside Dagobert.
The younger man smiled to himself in the darkness at this expected argument.
“’Tis not worth the risk with so many strangers in the keep,” Eustache continued.
“There is little enough that you find worthy of risk,” Dagobert replied quietly, granting his friend an assessing look.“Perhaps I should find you a bride to show you the way of things.”
Eustache snorted with indignation, but his lips curved into a reluctant grin.“Should she muddle my thoughts as much as this one does yours, I am better without,” he replied and Dagobert sobered slightly at the truth of it.“I am unconvinced as yet that she is not at the root of our troubles this hour...”
Dagobert silenced him with one raised hand.“I will hear no more of it.”
“Hear no more of it if you will,” Eustache replied as they entered the antechamber.His voice dropped to a mere whisper.“Butthinkupon it, ere you face yet another surprise.”
With that and a grunt of approval for his own wisdom, he dropped to the floor, sitting with his back to the wall.He drew his blanket around himself then fixed the younger man with a knowing eye.
Those words launched a chill around Dagobert’s heart as his doubts blossomed anew.He stood for a moment, reviewing his conviction in her innocence.
Eustache jerked his head toward the inner door impatiently.“On with you, then,” he said gruffly.“You know well that I have always been inclined to be suspicious, but I would have some semblance of rest this night.”
Dagobert suspected that would be the full extent of any concession he might hear from Eustache.Perhaps ’twas enough to know that this man who saw shadows lurking at every turn was not entirely sure of Alienor’s guilt either, regardless of the uproar in their plans since her arrival at Montsalvat.
The door swung silently inward when he pressed it with his fingertips.He surveyed the chamber with satisfaction, the glowing embers of the fire in the brazier, the seat on the window ledge where one could look out over the hills in daylight.It was a haven, and doubly so when his lady awaited him there.
The bed curtains were drawn against the coolness still clinging to the spring nights.The soft sound of Alienor’s breathing prompted Dagobert’s smile.He enticed the goat with a morsel of food and the beast came to him.If only he could openly retire and awaken in these rooms; if only he could be done with subterfuge once and for all.It was both a simple hope and a complicated dream.
It was a wish that chilled him with its implications.Surely the execution of their plan would be complete within a year.Should he not regain his rightful heritage in twelve months’ time, he undoubtedly would die in the attempt.The reality of his situation filled him with dread for the future of the woman who would become his widow.
What bargain had Alienor unwittingly made with him, even now unaware that she might spend her life on the run, with or without his babe?But there could be no turning back at this late date and Dagobert sighed, feeling anew the dissatisfaction with his lot that seemed lodged so firmly in his heart of late.
He shed his garb and slipped between the bed linens, then pulled the dozing Alienor into his embrace.Her skin smelled of the sweet warmth of sleep and sandalwood; her lips were soft and tasted faintly of wine.She sighed with contentment as she became aware of him and reached to wind her arms around his neck.Dagobert’s heart melted at the flurry of kisses she pressed gently against his throat and jaw.
