“With his heart?”
Instead of laughing, she gave a faint sigh. “Let us hope not.”
Robert handed her the bowl of sugared fruit he’d taken from the table. “I must see what is taking de Roche so long to escort Isobel to her chamber.”
“No need,” Claudette said, glancing toward the entrance. “The snake has returned.” Claudette had disliked de Roche from the moment she laid eyes on him.
From the way de Roche stormed across the room, Isobel had fended for herself well enough. De Roche went at once to join a small group in the corner, which included Marie de Lisieux.
“You know they are lovers?” Claudette said.
“ ’Tis a shame,” he said, popping a sugared fruit into his mouth, “that murdering him would cause political complications.”
She laughed this time—a lovely tinkling sound that always drew men’s attention.
How he would love to catch de Roche in some treachery against the king. He drummed his fingers on his knee. “Tell me, do you think de Roche both clever and brave enough to play two sides at once?”
She turned to him and raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Surely vanity and overconfidence would serve, as well?”
Claudette was right, of course. She always was about men.
“Tonight, however,” she said, “he is too absorbed with looking down the front of Marie’s gown to be conspiring about aught else.”
Robert took a long swallow of his wine. Damn, it was too much to hope he could catch de Roche in some treachery in time.
How else could he save Isobel from this marriage? He narrowed his eyes, considering. All he had to do was stir the pot a bit. But the risks were high. High for all of them.
He chuckled to himself. What was life without a little danger?
Chapter Fifteen
You are a handsome devil,” Stephen murmured, “the fastest of them all, a matchless wonder.”
Lightning nickered his agreement.
“I think he likes me now,” François said, brushing the horse with long, firm strokes, just as Stephen had taught him. “He only tried to kick me twice today.”
Stephen rubbed Lightning’s nose and fed him another carrot.
Sighing, he rested his head against the horse’s. “I know she is to be wed. And truly, I have tried to stay away. But she will think me rude if I do not see her.”
Lightning munched the carrot, unpersuaded.
It was not just good intentions that kept Stephen away. He hated to see her with de Roche. He did not want Isobel to suffer with a second husband who disgusted her, but did this Frenchman have to be so handsome?
Stephen thought of how Isobel’s breath caught when he touched her. How her head fell back as he kissed her throat. Oh, God, how she pulled him down on top of her.
Would she do the same with de Roche?
Lightning jerked his head up as quick, light steps approached.
“Linnet, do not run or make sudden moves around a horse like Lightning,” Stephen said as he patted the horse’s neck to reassure him.
As soon as Stephen stepped around the horse, Linnet jumped into his arms and kissed him on both cheeks. “Thank you, thank you!” she squealed. “I love Lady Hume. She is as kind and beautiful as you said.”
Her brother emerged from the horse’s other side, and she ran to embrace and kiss him, too.
Stephen stepped between her and the horse and hauled her back to a safe distance. “Does Lady Hume know where you are?”
