“May I visit you on the morrow, Lily? Although life here in York is exciting, I cannot help but be a little homesick. I miss my father and my home at Rennoc, and I miss you. I have been worried about you.”
Lily smiled. “I have been worried about myself.”
“When I heard Vorgen had been killed I wanted to go to you, but my father declared it too dangerous. And then when we heard you were using my name . . . Oh Lily, I was most concerned. Are you really all right? Was Vorgen very cruel?”
Lily grimaced. “Vorgen was the worst sort of Norman.”
“And the worst sort of husband,” Alice added softly. “May I come to see you tomorrow?”
The girl was obviously dying to hear about Lily’s troubles, and Lily did not believe there was anything other than genuine concern in her purpose. “Of course you may. Only . . . we do not as yet have a house here. I—”
Alice, sensing her awkwardness, waved a dismissive hand. “Furnish me with the address and I will find it, Lily. I know York very well by now. I have been shopping every day and have more new clothing than you can imagine. My uncle believes if I am to catch a fine husband, I must put on a fine show.”
Self-conscious suddenly, Lily again smoothed her hands over her skirts as she gave Alice her address. It should not matter that she could not com-pete with Alice’s new finery, Lily told herself impatiently. There were far more important things to think of. And yet she could not help but envy Alice, a little.
Alice had been chattering on, but suddenly she fell silent. Lily glanced up and saw that the other girl’s smile had faltered and was trembling at the edges. Her already red cheeks had grown redder.
Lily did not have to turn her head to know that Radulf had come quietly up behind her.
Alice gave a low, wobbly curtsy, disclosing a great deal of cleavage over the top of her blue gown. Radulf reached past Lily to take the girl’s arm in a firm grip and help her rise. His glance to his wife was questioning but also amused. His mouth twitched.
“My lord,” Lily said with as much cool hauteur as she could manage, “this is Alice of Rennoc.”
His reaction didn’t disappoint her, although she doubted anyone else would have noted his sudden brief stillness and the transient gleam that disturbed the matte black of his eyes. He turned back to Alice. “I have heard of you,” he said in his low, husky tones.
Alice blinked, surprised by that seductive voice. “H-have you?” she managed. The girl was plainly in awe of the legendary Radulf, and Lily found herself looking at her husband through Alice’s eyes. So big and powerful, he must be an intimidating sight, and yet she was not afraid of him—at least not in that way. What did frighten her was the power he had over her, and if he were ever to ascertain it, how he could twist her thoughts and feelings into knots.
Meanwhile, Radulf was nodding at the breathless utterances of his wife’s friend. Alice, he had decided, was absolutely nothing like Lily. Her hair was too gold, her eyes too blue, her skin too pink and shiny.
His gaze, veiled by his lashes, slid over Alice’s clothing. The blue gown she wore would have suited Lily very well. A man who rarely noticed women’s attire, he had nevertheless noticed Lily’s embarrassment at the state of her dress as he approached the two women, and he had overheard Alice’s artless comment about her new wardrobe.
It made him uncomfortable to think that a little provincial miss could outshine the wife of the great Radulf.
Perhaps it was time he did something about that.
Lily, aware of Radulf’s eyes upon her, grew even cooler and haughtier than before. Behind her mask her pulse fluttered and her emotions dipped and dived, but Radulf would not know that. Alice, nervous enough in Radulf’s presence, sensed Lily’s tension and stumbled through another sentence. She rolled her gaze to Lily for help.
“Alice is coming to visit me tomorrow,” Lily said, taking pity. “We have much to talk of.”
“Not tomorrow morning,” Radulf replied quickly, and bit back a laugh when Alice turned to stare at him with shocked dismay. “No, it is not that I forbid you the pleasure of each other’s company. My wife will tell you, Alice, that I am not a husband to deny her her pleasures.”
Lily’s face colored delicately as she comprehended what “pleasures” he was alluding to.
Satisfied that his words had found their mark, Radulf went on. “You will have to postpone your visit. My lady wife has a very important matter to attend to tomorrow.”
“Well,” Alice glanced from Lily’s flushed face to Radulf’s impassive one. “This is all very mysterious, but I am sure another day will do just as well.”
She had regained some of her spark and with it her confidence. Radulf might still be an awe-inspiring sight, but there was something in his manner that made Alice believe he was no danger to her. Certainly he was nothing like Vorgen, whom she had hated on sight. Radulf’s eyes were watchful but entirely lacking the inhuman coldness of Lily’s first husband, and there was a warmth in them that made her feel quite breathless.
“Do you remain in York long, Lord Radulf?”
Instantly all the good points she had been gathering against Radulf’s name were erased. He gave her a scowl that made her want to shudder in her pointy-toed shoes.
“I go north all too soon,” he said tersely.
“Oh!” Alice swallowed. “I am sorry,” she felt compelled to add. “I-I expect you will miss Lily.”
Radulf raised his dark brows. He glanced down at Lily as if surprised by the thought and met her gray eyes gazing up at him. “Yes,” he said softly.
