Corisande was suddenly standing next to him, the sack of food in her hand. “Do not forget this,” she said, all but shoving it at him. “I wish you a pleasant journey, my lord, and Godspeed wherever your path in life takes you.”
She sounded so… hard. Cole took the sack, clutching it against his chest because she’d very nearly threw it at him. Their eyes met and the warmth he’d seen there just a few moments earlier was gone. The pale green eyes weren’t glowing anymore.
They were like stone.
Before he could say anything, Corisande pushed past him, heading from the stable, but Anteaus stopped her.
“Where did you come from?” he asked, surprised. “Why were you hiding?”
Corisande paused. “I was not hiding,” she said, sounding irritated.Hurt.“I brought Sir Cole some food for him and his companions to take on their journey. It is all part of my duties, as a good chatelaine.”
She didn’t really answer his question as to why she had just emerged from a darkened stall, but he didn’t press her. He let her go, turning back to his horse as she headed from the stable.
But Cole couldn’t let her go. God help him, he couldn’t. There was absolutely nothing spoken between them– no implication, no hint, no inferred intentions– but even so, he hadn’t wanted her to hear about Audrie. He kept telling himself there was nothing to hear, that it wasn’t anything of consequence, but the truth was that there was. He knew it. He knew that his family and her family expected them to marry. Everybody but Cole expected them to marry.
But it was quite possible he had other ideas about marriage.
He set the sack down and headed out of the stable.
He could see that Corisande was nearly out of the stable yard by the time he got outside. The sun was just peeking over the eastern horizon and the sky was shades of pink and blue and purple, with puffy gray clouds scattering in the gentle breeze. Cole could see her up ahead and he picked up the pace. He ended up running up behind her and the sound of his rapid footfallsstartled her. She turned around with a gasp when she heard the commotion, nearly tripping on her own feet.
“I am sorry,” he said quickly, reaching out to steady her. “I did not mean to frighten you.”
When Corisande realized who it was, she straightened up and pulled her arm from his grasp. “You didn’t,” she lied. Her gaze upon him was guarded. “What do you want? Do you require something else?”
He just looked at her, feeling an odd sense of desperation. He’d never experienced anything like it and he wasn’t quite sure how to answer her. He just ended up staring at her for several long seconds before sighing heavily.
“Aye, I do,” he said. “I require your attention, just for a moment. I am not entirely sure how to say this, or even if it is important to say, but I should like to explain something to you.”
Her brow furrowed, but not from curiosity. She appeared decidedly displeased and it was apparent that her guard was up. “Explain what?”
Cole was trying to think of a pleasant, believable way to explain away what she’d just heard, part of which involved calling Essien a liar, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. As he had told her once, he didn’t lie.
He wasn’t going to start now.
But he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain something that even he didn’t quite understand.
“Just a moment of your time, my lady, and if you do not like what you hear, you are free to walk away,” he said quietly. “I will not stop you. I am not sure where to start, but I will start with what happened yesterday with the Scotsman. I told my men this, but now I shall tell you. The way you handled yourself when he took you hostage greatly impressed me. You showed calm and reason in a situation that would have made most women hysterical. That speaks strongly of your character.And in speaking with you yesterday and even this morning, I am coming to know a witty, humorous, kind, and caring woman. I was so enchanted by you that I did not sleep last night because I could not stop thinking about you.”
Corisande’s eyes were wide at him. “But… Cole, I…”
He put up a hand to silence her. “Please let me finish,” he said. “If you do not feel the same way, I shall not trouble you further, but I want you to know what is on my mind. I know I am the son of Ajax de Velt and that does not make me a worthy suitor, and I am resigned to that. But you, my lady, are a very special woman and I wanted you to know that. My thoughts and feelings towards you will always be those of the greatest admiration.”
By the time he was finished, Corisande had lost some of the hardness in her expression, but she was looking at him with some doubt. Even so, no amount of doubt could stop the faint flush in her cheeks from his kind words.
“That is… kind of you to say so,” she said. “I have enjoyed coming to know you, also. But since this is a moment for honesty, I will tell you that for a betrothed man, you have been paying me an inordinate amount of attention and I do not appreciate that in the least. It is not fair to me and, most of all, it is not fair to your betrothed. It is…”
Again, he held up a hand, more firmly this time. “Stop right there,” he said. “I am not betrothed. Essien misspoke and your brother misunderstood. But I would be lying if I did not tell you the complete truth– that my family has expected me to marry Lady Audrie de Longley for some time now. I will be further honest with you by telling you that I have considered it, but I am in no hurry to do so. You see, I was married before, but I lost my wife and child a few years ago. Audrie is simply a prospect, I suppose. I am not in love with her, but she is pleasant enough.The marriage would be a political one, mostly, and not a love match.”
Corisande had an expression suggesting sorrow. “I am sorry about your family,” she said softly. “That must be a difficult burden to bear.”
“It was,” he admitted. “But I am moving forward with my life. There is no use dwelling in the past. Audrie has helped me do that in a sense, but then… then, I met you.”
“But we have only just met,” she said, sounding perplexed. “How can you know anything about me?”
He shook his head. “I do not,” he said. “It is a feeling more than anything, an instinct. My lady, I am not a charming man by nature and I certainly do not toy with women’s feelings and emotions, but there is something about you that is different from any woman I have ever met. That is why I told you I would return to visit you. I… I would be honored if you would allow me to get to know you better, Corisande. I could think of no greater privilege.”
Her cheeks were full-blown red by this point, flattered beyond measure by his calm, quiet words. “What about Lady Audrie?”
