“I am an agent for William Marshal.”
She stopped pouring. He could see her outline as she sat there, pondering what he’d said and trying to make sense of it. “What does that mean, exactly?” she finally asked.
He leaned back against the wall, watching her as she resumed her bath. “Simply put, it means I am a spy,” he said. “I have spent two years in the Scottish royal court, as a personal guard of William the Rough. That is why I do not live at Foulburn. I go where The Marshal sends me and on the rare occasion that I am home, I stay at Pelinom.”
Slowly, she resumed her bath. She set down the pitcher she’d been pouring water with and picked up the soap. “A spy?” she repeated. “Cole, are you serious? You are a spy for William Marshal?”
“Aye.”
She resumed scrubbing her arms. He could smell the scent of the lavender soap as she rubbed it all over her skin. “Oh,” she said simply. “This is quite… surprising.”
“I know.”
“How long have you been a spy?”
“For ten years.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment and he watched her figure as she rinsed off her arms and torso. “That is a long time,” she said. “But ten years of serving The Marshal as a spy? And the past two years in Scotland? You’re not even Scottish.”
He smirked. “Chan fheum mi a bhith Albannach airson seirbheis ann an Alba.”
“What in the world did you just say?”
“I said that I do not need to be Scottish to serve in Scotland,” he said. “My Gaelic is perfect. I speak without an English inflection, so no one suspects that I am not Scots. Had it not been for me and Addax and Essien, we would have never known about The Rough’s plans to invade England with the help of the Earls of Orkney. This entire army is because of me and afew brave men, doing our duty for our country. My work is important to the safety of England and I do not take it lightly.”
“I should think not,” she said, washing her torso and legs. “It does seem very important.”
“It is.”
“And you like this work?”
“I do.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, rubbing her hands over her wet legs. “And… and this is something you intend to do forever?” she asked. “Even after we are married? It is very prestigious work, I think.”
He moved his chair so he could lean against the wall. “It is only prestigious to those who know about it,” he said. “But there are very few, which is why you must never tell anyone. If it becomes known, my service with him would be ended. A spy is no good if everyone knows he is a spy.”
She rinsed off her torso and body. When she sat straight, he could see the silhouette of her breasts, full and round and firm, and it was far more of a show than he had been anticipating. The gentlemanly thing to do would have been to tell her she was casting shadows on the thin wood, or leave the room altogether, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it. It was the experience of a lifetime as far as he was concerned, and given what was going to happen tomorrow, possibly his last. He wasn’t one for morbid thoughts, but Corisande had been right when she had saidat least give me this memory to reflect on.
He needed that memory, too.
Of her.
But watching her breasts against the screen was arousing him, so he looked away, trying to think of something other than her silky, nude form.
“I would never tell anyone, I swear it,” she said, breaking into his thoughts. “I think what you are doing is a fine and honorablething. You are protecting all of us from those who would see us come to harm. But you did not answer me.”
“Answer what?”
“Will you continue serving The Marshal after we are married?”
He paused a moment before answering. “Serving the man as I do, it is well and good because I have no dependents,” he said. “Spying is not for married men. Take my mission to Scotland, in fact– I was there for two years, only coming home on rare occasions. I do not think I could be away from you for two years, Cori. I do not think I could be away from you at all.”
“I do not think I could be, either,” she admitted. “What you do is very dangerous.”
“No more dangerous than being in an unmarried lady’s chamber while she is bathing and her brothers are nearby.”
He heard her giggle. “I shall not be unmarried for long,” she said. “When this battle is over, promise me you will speak to your father about Lady Audrie. Tell him that he must tell the Earl of Teviot that you do not wish to marry his daughter.”
