Aloft in his arms, Courtly’s hands were around Maximus’ shoulders for support as he carried her through the yard. It was the safest, strongest place she could have ever imagined. The only man who had ever touched her had been her father, so to be in the arms of another man, a man she was wildly attracted to, was a new and thrilling experience. More thrilling still were his words.
“Intentions?” she repeated. “Will you explain your intentions?”
They had reached the street at this point and Maximus set Courtly carefully to her feet. “Is it not obvious?” he asked. “I just said that a dirty and foolish woman appeals to me, and you have called yourself those things.”
Courtly had indeed realized what he meant when he had first spoke the words, but she needed confirmation even if he didn’t want to give her a straight answer. It was nearly beyond her comprehension to realize that this man, this man she had dreamed about since the moment she had met him, was actually interested in her.
“Be plain, Sir Maximus,” she said. “Tell me plainly what you are declaring.”
He looked at her, his eyes crinkling with mirth. Reaching out, he grasped her gently by the elbow.
“I just did,” he said. “And I give you permission to call me, simply, Maximus. Or Max. I will answer to whatever you chooseto call me. Now, have you eaten yet this morning? Are you hungry?”
He was pulling her along, out into the street, but Courtly was still reeling from their conversation and unprepared for a change of subject.
“I… I suppose that I am,” she said, now thinking on the fact that he had not only declared his interest but that he had given her permission to address him informally. Perhaps even affectionately. “I have not yet eaten this morning. Have you?”
Maximus shook his head. “I have not,” he replied. “But we will find a seamstress first because you need something clean to wear. Then, we will find a baker and abagnio, or bath house, which is undoubtedly attached to it so that you may eat, bathe, and dress at the same time.”
Courtly looked at him, both hesitant and intrigued. “When I fostered at Prudhoe, Lady d’Umfraville said that bath houses were almost always located next to bakers because they used the big ovens to warm the water,” she said. “I have never visited a bath house, however. Do you truly intend to take me to one?”
Maximus pointed to her soiled right foot and the bottom of her skirt. “Unless you intend to walk about smelling like a livery, I do,” he said. “And you cannot wear this soiled garment any longer, so we must find you a clean one.”
Courtly wasn’t sure what to say to all of that. It was generosity beyond measure. “You seem to have everything planned,” she said. “I do not suppose there is one thing you have left out.”
Maximus shook his head. “There usually isn’t,” he replied, watching her grin. Her smile struck him, like an arrow straight to the heart, making him feel warm and giddy. “For a lady who has fought so hard to survive and thrive over the past day, I would not dare disappoint her on her trip to town.”
Courtly laughed soft at him. She very much like the feeling of his hand on her elbow. “I do not suppose you could ever disappoint me,” she said. “Except when you do not give me a straight answer.”
His brow furrowed. “When did I do this disgraceful thing?”
She looked up at him, eyes twinkling. “I asked you to explain your intentions,” she said. “You did not.”
“I did.”
“Nay, you did not.”
He sighed heavily, feigning annoyance. “Can a man not work up his courage to discuss such a thing?” he asked. “Suffice it to say that I have pulled my sister-in-law into my scheme of having you all to myself on a shopping trip. Shouldn’t that tell you my intensions?”
“It tells me that you are going to buy me bread, some manner of garment, and take me to a bath house.”
He pursed his lips wryly. “Does it not tell you that I wish to be alone with you, as we were briefly last night?”
Courtly picked up her skirt as she hopped over a water puddle, although she didn’t know why she bothered to try and keep her dress out of it. The garment was already ruined.
“It does,” she said. “But let us be clear. Simply because you offer to buy me things, does not mean that I will be less than proper with you, in any fashion.”
“What doesthatmean?”
“It means that if you expect some manner of physical demonstration of my gratitude, then I will not do it.”
He fought off a grin. “A simple word of gratitude will suffice,” he said, eyeing her. “I do not want anything else. In fact, I would refuse it.”
Her expression washed with insult. “You would?”
He could see that he had her miffed and it amused him. “Aye, I would.”
She paused, frowning at him. “That is a terrible thing to say,” she said. “If you do not want a physical demonstration of my gratitude, then why are you taking me on a shopping trip?”
