They sat in silence, listening to the sounds of carts passing in the street below.
Finally, Francois said, “I must leave at once to take over the estates.”
“At once?” She swallowed.
“I thought you would be with Jamie, that you and he would…” Francois’s voice faded. “I hate to leave you here alone, especially now.”
She covered her face with her hands. “Now that Jamie has abandoned me, you will do the same?”
She was being childish and unfair, but she hated being parted from him so much she could not help herself.
“You forget you left me first to marry,” Francois said. “That made no difference between us, and you know it.”
Francois put his arm around her and patted her back. “I am sorry to be horrid about it.” She wiped her face on her sleeve and attempted a smile. “I know it is ridiculous, but I thought I would always have you, that we would always be together.”
“You can come with me.”
She ran her hand over the letters that still rested in her lap. “I missed my chance to reconcile with our father. It may be too late for me with Jamie, as well, but I cannot leave England until I am certain.”
“I thought that was what you would say,” Francois said, then he gave her one of his broad winks. “Jamie is the one who will not have a chance. What man could refuse you?”
She thought of Jamie’s last words to her:I shall be betrothed when next we meet.
“Pray I am not too late,” she said, gripping her brother’s arm. She would see Jamie at Hertford soon, and she would know then.
“The day Jamie weds another, I will board a ship for France.”
Chapter Thirty-two
“’The Lady Agnes cannot be the cold fish she seems to be,” Stephen said, putting his arm around Jamie’s shoulders as they walked out of the Staffords’ hall. “When you get her alone, ’tis a different story, aye?”
Jamie glanced over his shoulder to be sure they were out of earshot. “She is an innocent virgin,” he hissed. “You think I would violate her?”
Of course, Linnet’s virginity had not stopped him. He felt a twinge of guilt over that, but he could not pretend to regret it.
“I’m not accusing you of deflowering Agnes.” Stephen gave Jamie’s cheek a playful slap. “But surely a bit of license is called for before shackling yourself for a lifetime?”
Jamie had taken more than a bit of license with Linnet when she was younger than Agnes. But then, Linnet’s virginity had not stopped her any more than it had him. It did not even give her pause. She had given herself to him wholeheartedly that first time—even urging him on when he argued they should wait. What a wonder that first time was. He remembered how she looked beneath him, her face flushed and her legs wrapped around him…
“Come,” Stephen said, jarring him from his thoughts, “tell me you’ve at least kissed Agnes senseless a time or two.”
“Agnes?” Jamie was having difficulty pushing images of Linnet, naked and writhing, from his mind. He rubbed his forehead, trying to clear it, and found it was damp.
“Aye, Agnes,” Stephen said, sounding exasperated. “By Saint Peter’s bones, if you are not tempted to kiss her and a good deal more, you should not have come to see her father.”
The sooner he had another woman in his bed, the sooner he would stop thinking of Linnet.
“ ’Tis a shame Stafford is not here,” Jamie said. “Did you not deliver my message to him?”
Stephen waved his hand. “ ’Tis fortunate Stafford happened to be called away.” Then he waggled his eyebrows. “You should use the opportunity to find out if you and Agnes are ‘well suited.’ ”
“Are you suggesting I drag her under the bushes while I am a guest in her father’s home?”
“ ’Tis damp beneath the bushes this time of year,” Stephen said. “Behind a door would do.”
“We are here but a few hours,” Jamie protested. Stephen lifted his hands, palms up. “If you do not find her appealing…”
“Of course I do. I am a man and she is a woman. And a very pretty woman, at that.” He felt like punching his uncle. “Even if I meant to do it, I could not get her alone.”
