She shook her head. “That is nonsense,” she said. “You are not to blame. I am, for being clumsy.”
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he was peering intently at her ankle, which was rather scandalous. Naked feet and ankles were off limits as objects of study for unmarried men and women.
“I am not particularly accustomed to modes of healing, unfortunately,” he said after a moment. “I am better with battlefield wounds. Most knights are, in truth. We all receive basic training in such things, but this… I wish I had some knowledge to utilize.”
He seemed somewhat pensive and concerned, which Lista thought was sweet. She’d told him that if there had never been a Julian, she might very well allow Louis to court her. She could see that he was a kind individual and she didn’t sense that it was a pretense.
But he wasn’t sweet enough for her to throw over Julian.
He had all of her attention.
“Truly, you needn’t worry,” she said. “I am a fast healer. I am certain I will be walking tomorrow with ease.”
“I hope so.”
“That is kind of you to say so.”
He looked up at her as if he wanted to say something more. There was a glimmer in his eyes that was curious and intense. Lista lifted her eyebrows expectantly, prepared for something to come forth, when Addington suddenly entered the chamber.
Her focus was on Louis.
“You will leave us,” she said.
It was a command. There was no mistake. Louis’ gaze moved to her and, obediently, he stood. But he was looking at Addington strangely.Challenging.As if he took her command as a challenge. Suddenly, there was something strange in the air,something tense. It was there for a moment, quickly gone as he left the chamber, as silent as the grave.
Lista looked at Addington curiously.
“Why did you order him out like that?” she said. “What is amiss?”
Addington went to the chamber door and shut it, throwing the bolt. When she turned to Lista, it was with a good deal of restraint, of contemplation, and of limited patience.
She was a woman with a good deal on her mind.
“Lista,” she said. “I want you to tell me what happened in the vineyard.”
Lista could tell by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. “I slipped in the mud,” she said, pointing to her foot in the bucket of hot water. “I wrenched my ankle. Why?”
Addington listened carefully, still standing at the door. When Lista was finished, she came closer, her gaze intense.
“But why were you in the vineyard?” she asked.
“Because my mother said she wanted some grapes so I went to fetch them,” she said. “Addie,whatis wrong? Why the questions?”
Addington wasn’t finished with her interrogation yet. “And why was Louis there?”
Lista was becoming the least bit perturbed that Addington seemed to be avoiding her questions. “He said my mother sent him to say farewell to me,” she said. “Nay… that is not exactly what he said. He said my mother told him that I wanted to bid him farewell.”
“And did you?”
“I am not answering another question until you tell me what is wrong.”
It was a standoff. Lista was taking a stand against Addington, who was behaving most strangely. Addington could see that she wasn’t going to go any further, but she was still brittle from herconversations with Julian and, subsequently, Louis. She didn’t sense any evasiveness or deception on the part of Lista because the woman genuinely had no idea what she was talking about.
“Julian saw you in Louis’ arms,” she said simply. “He thinks you’ve been deceiving him the entire time.”
Lista’s eyebrows lifted. “Me?” she said. “Deceiving Julian? Why, that’s ridiculous. I’ve never deceived him with any thought or action, not in the entire time I’ve known him.”
Addington was starting to relax a little, realizing that her take on the situation had been right all along. Julian had simply seen something and took it out of context.
