He chose the second option.
“My lady, I am terribly sorry for the mishap,” he said in a tone that could usually get him what he wanted. “Had my comrades and I been paying closer attention, we would have seen you coming and we surely would not have nearly run you down. I assure you that it was quite an accident.”
Her pretty face was twisted with anger. “Accident or not, I have lost a good deal of money because of your foolishness,” she said. “What do you intend to do about it?”
“Will you allow us to make amends by helping you reclaim your money?”
It was like throwing water on a fire. The woman eyed him, not nearly so angry as she had been. But frustration lingered.
“I have no idea how much was stolen from me because of your carelessness,” she said, looking around to see the woman with the copper-colored hair and a second woman, petite and skittish, as they collected the coins from the road and from people who had tried to take some. “I had almost three pounds and a pence.”
Kress nodded patiently. “Count your money,” he said. “Whatever is missing, I will reimburse you. I hope that will atone for my clumsiness.”
He was being completely submissive, which served to cool her anger further. Surely the woman couldn’t be so furious with a man who had offered to return missing money to her from his own pocket. She still wasn’t completely happy, but at least she wasn’t being outright belligerent any longer. His calm, even tone had done the trick.
“That is the least you can do,” she said, holding out her hands as her companions came near, dropping handfuls of coins into her open palms. As the coins tinkled against each other, she eyed him a moment, looking him over. “I have never seen you before in town. Where are you from?”
Kress fought off a smile. So the pretty little thing was curious about him, was she? That was good, because so was he– about her.
“London,” he said. “Do you live in town?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “We were visiting the church.”
Kress noticed the two companions dropping coins into her hands and realized that one of them, the petite lass, had one of those prayer cards in her hands.
“Is it a feast day today?” he asked. “A local saint that is known only to those in Norfolk?”
The woman looked at him curiously. “Nay,” she said. “Why do you ask?”
He pointed to the wooden shingle that the woman’s companion was holding. “Because we saw women all over town with those prayer cards, acting in a strange manner,” he said. “We thought it was something local to Lynn.”
As the tall lass with the copper curls cleared her throat unhappily, the blonde looked up at Kress and the anger that had so recently creased her brow now morphed into something else. Humor, he thought. Whatever it was, her mood had changed quickly and the dark eyes glimmered.
“Those are not prayer cards,” she said. “They are something else.”
“What else?”
She grinned, revealing two big dimples, one in each cheek, and Kress felt his heart race at the sight. “It is most shocking,” she said. “I am not for certain that I should tell you.”
“You shouldnottell him, my lady,” the lass with the copper curls spoke up. “It is not for men to know.”
Kress glanced at the woman with the copper hair. She was tall, and had quite a strike, as she’d proven. There was something almost masculine about her, although she looked like a right and pretty young woman. Still… there wasn’t all soft femininity there.
“So it is some kind of woman’s feast day?” he asked, returning his attention to the blonde in the hope she would tell him. “The card is only for women?”
The blonde nodded, though it was clear she wasn’t telling him everything. “It is,” she said. She eyed him again in a most appraising way. “If I tell you, then you must swear on your oath as a knight that you cannot tell a soul.”
Kress was intrigued by a conversation that was turning slightly flirtatious. “I swear.”
“First, you must tell me your name.”
“Sir Kress de Rhydian, my lady,” he said without hesitation. Then, he indicated the men behind him, in order. “This is Sir Bric MacRohan, Sir Achilles de Dere, and Sir Alexander de Sherrington. May we know your name, my lady?”
“Nay.” The tall woman with the copper-colored curls stepped forward, putting herself between the blonde and the knights. Now she was being firm and unfriendly. “It is unseemly for the lady to introduce herself to you in public. You men will be on your way.”
Kress studied the woman for a moment, trying to decide whether to intimidate her into shrinking away or simply agreeing with her statement. She was correct, in truth. It wasn’t proper for a lady to introduce herself to a man, much less do it in public. He didn’t want to seem like a cad, or uncivilized, so unfortunately, he knew what the best course of action was.
He would have to surrender.
