After gently removing Elen from his leg, Simon left. Ilsabeth suspected he was headed to the little room that held all his papers, the room where he wrote down all he had learned and needed to learn to find the answers he sought. She had sneaked a look into that room. It was small, dark, and eerily tidy. Simon probably thought it was a perfect reflection of the man he was but, in her heart, she knew different. The problem was that she was the one he was seeking the truth about this time, and that fact gave him the strength to keep her at a distance.
As she began to ready the children for the evening meal, she wondered if Simon would soften a little when he found out that she was no more than a pawn in Walter’s game, the innocent fool who had put herself in a position to be used. She hoped so for, the moment she found a chink in Sir Simon Innes’s armor, she was going to chip away at it until she found the heart of the man. If luck was with her, he would then give her the chance to win it for her own.
The soft rap at the door of his ledger room drew Simon from his dark thoughts. He knew it was Ilsabeth and he almost resented the way his heart skipped a beat in anticipation of seeing her. She was inching her way beneath his skin, he thought crossly, and he could not seem to stop it. The best thing he could do was solve the puzzle and get her out of his home as fast as possible. While it was true that he had lately been thinking of having a wife, he did not want one who could so easily unsettle him with just a smile.
“Come in,” he called as he did his best to shore up his defenses against her.
Ilsabeth entered the room and his defenses cracked as he politely stood up. Simon inwardly cursed but did his best to hide his irritation. It was not Ilsabeth’s fault that he was discovering a weakness for big blue eyes and long black hair.
“Ye said we needed to talk privately,” she said as she took the chair facing his worktable and he sat down. “Have ye discovered something that will help me?”
Simon sat down and studied her for a moment. He saw no harm in allowing himself to enjoy how pretty she looked in her dark blue gown, her thick hair tumbling wildly around her shoulders. He was just a man after all. This gown revealed her womanly curves as well. Full, high breasts, a small waist, and hips any man thinking of children would approve of. His palms itched with the need to touch all that softness. Simon struggled to rein in the lust that was getting harder and harder to control.
“I havenae found anything to proclaim your innocence to the world and set ye and your family free. Nay yet.” He fought the need to reassure her when the hope in her eyes abruptly dimmed into grim acceptance. “What I have discovered is that Hepbourn is no innocent fool tricked by a wicked woman.” He nodded when she made a scoffing noise. “Near every word out of his mouth is a lie. Tell me, when he asked for your hand, did he declare an undying love or something of that ilk?”
Ilsabeth thought Simon sounded far too cynical about such declarations of love and devotion. There was nothing to mock in such heartfelt emotions. Some men and women actually meant them. Ilsabeth wondered who had said them to him and then proven her words a lie.
“He did,” she replied. “I wasnae so certain I believed him. I had the thought that he was just saying what he felt was right when asking a woman to be his wife. Fool that I was, I still thought he would make a good husband. But why is what he said then of any importance?”
“I just wondered, for he is already at court and has never once spoken of how ye couldnae have done what they said ye did. He has given ye nary a word of defense. He hasnae e’en acted confused, uncertain, about what is said of ye. That isnae right.”
“What does he say?”
“A great deal about how he was a fool nay to see what ye had planned. He also makes certain to remind anyone who will listen to him that the Armstrongs are traitors and ye are nay only a traitor but a killer. ‘Tis a verra odd thing for a mon who was betrothed to you to do.”
“He is trying to protect himself and his family.”
“That could have been done by staying at home. Instead, he has come to court and makes certain that no one forgets what ye and your clan have been accused of.”
Ilsabeth was so angry she wanted to hit something. Going to the court and punching Walter in his elegant nose was a tempting thought. Only the sure knowledge that she would be immediately taken up by the king’s soldiers kept her from doing so. She would rather her innocence was proven before she was executed.
“ ‘Tis difficult to ken how I didnae see what kind of mon he truly was,” she murmured, and shook her head at her own idiocy.
“He is verra good at hiding his true intentions.”
“Ye saw them.”
“I wasnae looking for a husband,” he drawled. “Most of the ones he is wooing at the court dinnae ken that he is lying to them. Hepbourn uses his fine looks and smile to the best advantage. Your father ne’er liked him, did he?”
“Nay, not verra much.” Ilsabeth smiled. “He said he thought the mon was too good at saying what others wanted to hear, but my father’s greatest worry was the mon’s mother. He didnae think I would be allowed to take my rightful place in Walter’s household. My mother convinced him that I would.”
“Do ye think his mother is part of all this?”
“I am nay sure. She does see herself as being of far more importance than she is and she does rule Walter in many ways. I cannae believe she has no idea of what he is plotting and yet I cannae think she would easily ignore something she didnae agree with. What I can see is that, if power and riches were promised, she would believe she and Walter deserve them.”
Simon nodded, thinking it might be time to have someone speak with Walter’s mother. “I also saw your cousin Tormand.”
“Is he weel?” She frowned. “And shouldnae he be staying away from the king and all his people for a while?”
“He should stay far away but he willnae. I have set him to finding David. Do ye happen to ken what David’s last name is and where he lives?”
“ ‘Tis Hepbourn and he mostly lives with Walter. I had the feeling he has done so for a verra long time.”
“Good.” It would be the first place Tormand looked, Simon thought. “Tormand also said that your family is still safely hidden away. The soldiers hold Aigballa and I fear a few of those who stayed behind were killed when the soldiers came through the gates.”
Ilsabeth fought back an urge to cry. She would save that for when she was private. The ones who had stayed behind at Aigballa had chosen to do so knowing the risks. They had undoubtedly bought her family a little more time to get away and for that they would be forever honored. She just prayed that she would have a chance to make Walter pay dearly for their lives.
“I want him dead,” she whispered, shocked at her own words.
