He nodded. “Both men have spies here.”
“I suspected as much,” she said. “I will do my best to convince Queen Katherine to be sensible. Will you warn Owen to keep his distance?”
“I will caution Owen and keep my eye on him.”
“So it is agreed we shall work together?” she asked. “Aye, I am all for joining forces,” he said, still hoping this would include more tonight than scheming on the queen’s behalf.
Tomorrow he would worry about the consequences. Her eyes grew wide as he closed the distance between them to stand a hairbreadth from her. When he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, she backed away.
“I told you once,” she said, her voice sharp with anger. “I will not have you touch me and regret it after.”
When he opened his mouth to deny it, she held up her hand. “I know you, Jamie Rayburn, so do not try to lie to me.”
Would he regret it? Surely it would be better to have her in his bed, rather than to think about bedding her all the time. A thousand times better.
“I will choose a lover who is not so harsh in his judgment of me,” she said.
He clenched his jaw at the thought of her with another man. “So it is a lover you are seeking again, and not a husband,” he bit out. “Tell me, what are you looking for in the man you choose this time?”
She raised her eyebrows and blinked those wide, innocent blue eyes at him. In a falsely sweet voice, she said, “Who is to say I expect to find all I want in one man?”
Chapter Ten
Linnet glanced at the queen’s ladies, stitching and talking quietly by the brazier on the other side of the parlor. When one of the Joannes—there were three of them—caught Linnet looking at her, the woman made a sour face.
Linnet accepted the ladies’ resentment of her close relationship with their patron and did not hold it against them. They had no life beyond their position in the queen’s household. Further, they disapproved of her familiar manner with the queen.
Linnet turned back to the window and watched the rain pelting the river below. What could have possessed Jamie and Owen to ride out to hunt on a day like this?
In sooth, she understood their restlessness. She, too, found it trying to be trapped indoors for days on end. If she were in London or Calais, she would be too busy to notice the dismal weather. But here at Windsor, she had little to occupy herself. She was never one to sit for hours doing needlework. Being motherless had at least spared her that.
Linnet started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find Queen Katherine standing beside her.
“ ’Tis dull without them, is it not?”
“Without whom?” Linnet asked, though she knew perfectly well who her friend meant.
The queen gave a light, lilting laugh. “Come, Linnet, I see you in conversation with that handsome Sir James Rayburn every time I look.”
Linnet bit her lip. Was she using her concern for the queen as an excuse to spend time with Jamie? ’Twas a dangerous business, that, and she suspected he was doing the same.
“Do not attempt to tell me I am imagining what I see between you,” the queen said.
Linnet pressed her lips together.
“Pray, do not deny it. The air is so hot between you, I fear you will singe the tapestries. They are quite valuable.”
“I admit there is a base attraction between us,” Linnet said in a tight voice, “but nothing more.”
Queen Katherine squeezed Linnet’s shoulder. “It would be such a delight to plan a wedding.”
A wedding?“Your Highness, I fear I must disappoint you.”
“You never disappoint, Linnet.”
Linnet put a hand over the queen’s. “You are too kind to me. But I assure you, there is nothing between Jamie and me now, nor will there be.”
“Would you care to make a wager on that?” the queen asked, her eyes twinkling.
