Claire Delacroix (54 page)

There were no windows in the bath chamber and the ceiling was low. A pair of wooden tubs deep enough for a man to immerse himself to the shoulders stood in the middle of the stone floor. The room had need of a good sweep, for it was seldom used in these days since her aunt and cousins had taken to bathing in their rooms. Alys filled the tub with hot water, then set to work as it steamed.

’Twas true that few knights visited Kiltorren, though
no
knight had ever come this way without a squire. That was a scheme of Burke’s, Alys knew it well. No knight, especially one of Burke’s wealth and success, rode without a squire, if not several. The man meant to seduce Alys fully, and that before he
took his bride. Perhaps he would even expect her to continue providing his pleasure afterward. No doubt Burke had abandoned his entourage in the last village.

Alys swept and fumed at this knight’s cavalier disregard. She had been sorely deceived by this man’s charming manners and smooth persuasiveness before, but his deeds told of his true intent. Burke was not the knight of her dreams and Alys would not surrender to his touch.

’Twould be best to make that inarguably clear.

Alys halted and smiled at a sudden wicked thought. She could ensure that this bold knight was at her mercy, a most tempting prospect indeed. That would turn the tables upon him, for Burke was always one to hold a situation in the palm of his hand.

Aye, then when she had her say, Burke would have no choice but to listen. Alys chuckled under her breath at the tempting prospect, pivoted to sweep the last corner, and froze.

For the knight in question leaned in the doorway.

And Alys’s resistance to him began to crumble the moment she met his silvery gaze.

This was no good sign.

Burke’s arms were folded across his chest, a wry smile twisted his lips, and he was watching her with that intensity that made her tingle from head to toe.

“Ah, Alys,” he murmured, the very sound of his voice prompting her heart to race. “How can you be even more fair than I remembered?”

The words brought Alys back to her senses as naught else could have done. His compliment could have been paid to any maid, and, indeed, Burke uttered it so smoothly that she had no doubt he was confident of its success. She would show this man the value of his charm!

But she would have him where she wanted him first.

Alys smiled with all the sweetness she could muster. “I
must get more water,” she said with a softness she was far from feeling. “Perhaps you might begin to disrobe?”

Burke flashed a smile and then caught her arm with gentle fingertips. His touch launched a shiver across Alys’s flesh. She caught her breath yet she could not pull away.

Indeed, his gaze seemed more piercing when they stood so close. Alys’s mouth went dry.

“Alys,” he whispered. “Would you be so kind as to bolt the door on your return? I would not have us interrupted.”

While he claimed what he desired of her. The request was yet more evidence that she had read his thoughts in truth. Heloise had oft said that it was the mark of a woman of sense never to make the same mistake twice. She would heed that advice on this day.

Alys stubbornly kept her smile in place. “ ’Twas my thought exactly,” she managed to say. Burke might have pulled her closer, his gaze falling pointedly to her lips, but Alys hauled her arm from his grasp. She hastened to the kitchen, knowing he watched her retreat, but did not look back.

Her heart was hammering and her hands were shaking, though Alys could not say whether ’twas because of the warmth of Burke’s touch or the boldness of what she meant to do.

She certainly would not admit that she had hoped for three long and lonely years that matters had been otherwise than they had seemed, that Burke had had good reason to abandon her, that Aunt had been wrong and that Burke would return.

Aye, her knight in shining armor would still come one day to Kiltorren, but Burke was clearly not that anxiously awaited man.

’Twas better to know the truth, even if it did sting.

Burke frowned, uncertain what to make of Alys’s manner. She was no longer angered with him, yet she had ducked the
kiss she must have known he intended to share. There were shadows lurking in the golden depths of her eyes, and Burke had an unwelcome sensation that he was responsible for their presence.

’Twas confusion at root, no more than that. He had done naught to insult or hurt Alys, and she soon would know the truth of it. Burke’s lips curved in a smile of anticipation as he imagined the kiss they would share then.

Indeed, should his fortune hold, he and Alys might have all resolved between them before leaving this chamber. Burke could announce their betrothal at the evening repast and they could leave Kiltorren at first light.

’Twould be perfect.

Burke whistled to himself as he unbuckled his belt and laid his scabbard aside. He doffed his tabard, flexing his shoulders beneath the weight of his mail. Contrary to his earlier comment, Burke had no intention of burdening Alys with the task of removing his hauberk. The chain mail was simply too heavy.

And, ye gods, the woman had worked hard enough in Kiltorren, by the look of it. Burke doffed his boots, knowing he could shed the mail on his own. He had done it oft enough in the past year.

Burke pulled the hauberk up to his underarms, working it free of the padded aketon he wore between mail and chemise, then bent over, almost grasping his own ankles. He wriggled his shoulders and the hem of the hauberk slipped over his neck, the hard mail rings landing against the back of his head. Burke rolled his eyes at the indignity of it all, glad ’twould shortly be done. He gave his shoulders a shake.

And naught happened.

His mail was caught on the aketon.

Burke muttered a curse and stood up, quickly discovering that the hauberk was not prepared to fall back into place either. It was fairly wrapped around his neck, snagged on that
cursed aketon, and hanging over his head like a monk’s snood. Burke could not even put his arms down; his elbows were trapped around his ears. He bent over with a growl and set to some serious squirming, determined to work his way free in short order.

’Twas thus, of course, that Alys found him. He knew ’twas her by her surprised laughter. Indeed, Burke had always striven to make the lady laugh, but not at his own expense!

“ ’Tis hardly amusing from this perspective,” he said with a growl.

“Oh, I might argue that,” Alys said easily. “ ’Tis not often you are found at disadvantage.”

The thread of humor lingering in her tone rankled. “And what does that mean?”

“Only that you are a man who sees his own desire fulfilled, if naught else.”

Burke did not know what to make of that comment. He heard the bolt slide home and was relieved to know that, at least, none other would see him in such ignoble circumstance. ’Twas not precisely the way he had hoped to meet his lady, but there was naught for it now.

“Alys, you have but to pull the mail free of the aketon to see it fall clear away.”

There was a stillness in the chamber, as if she considered him. “And that would be … convenient?”

“Alys, this is no prank,” Burke said sternly. He had little patience with her teasing in this moment. He wriggled with vigor, his teeth clenching when the cursed mail did not move. “Surely ’tis not too much to ask for a simple gesture of assistance in this …”

Alys crossed the room to stand before Burke, then moved no further, as if she wanted to ensure he could see that she did naught. He studied her through the tunnel of chain mail, and she returned his gaze evenly.

And she did not lift a hand. Indeed, Alys folded her arms deliberately across her chest, the move emphasizing the soft curves of her breasts.

“On the contrary, sir,” she said solemnly, “it seems to me that you have no right to expect anything from me, after all you have done.”

Burke blinked. “What nonsense is this?” He fidgeted but made no progress, his temper rising with the obstruction of both hauberk and maiden, “Alys, I have done naught amiss!”

Her eyes flashed golden. “Naught amiss? You abandon me in shame, you return to court my cousin, you expect me to submit to your touch immediately upon your arrival, and, failing
that,
you would ensure that my reputation is completely sullied!” She arched one fair brow. “Truly, if that is naught, I should hate to see what you consider to be a deed of merit.”

Burke could not even think with the weight of the mail caught over his head. Indeed, Alys might have been speaking in tongues. He wriggled with new persistence and something tore. Certainly his temper was wearing thin.

A pox on this hauberk!

“Alys, you make no sense. ’Twas
you
who sent me from Kiltorren’s gates, if you care to recall the truth of it”

“I?
You
left! And that with nary a word to me.” Alys leaned closer, her eyes snapping. “And you can well imagine what my aunt made of that, after she found us with
your
hand on
my
breast!”

Burke exhaled in frustration, then fought to keep his tone even. “Alys, ’twas a misunderstanding …”

“Aye, ’twas that!” the lady declared. “For I believed you would treat me with honor.”

“I did!” Burke cried ’Twas she who had spurned his suit,
after all. “What else was a man of honor to do after all that occurred but depart?”

Alys gave a short hoot of laughter. “No man of honor would conduct himself as you have done.”

Burke fixed his lady with a steely glare through the tunnel of his mail. ’Twas hardly a position in which a man could make a concerted appeal to a woman, but it seemed he had little choice. “Alys, I believed that there was tenderness between us, that my regard for you was returned in kind …”

“Aye!” Her eyes flashed like amber in the sun and she stepped closer, but only to shake a finger at him. “You desired me, ’twas clear, and I was fool enough to believe ’twas more than a mere rutting you desired!”

Rutting? He was no barnyard animal!

“What vulgar nonsense is this?” Burke bellowed, writhing with newfound vigor against the mail.

The aketon tore, the hauberk moved, and Burke shook it over his head with a snarl. It clattered to the floor just as Alys jumped away, and Burke gave the unworthy pile of metal a hearty kick.

Then he glared at the woman backing away from him and propped his hands on his hips.

’Twas time to have the truth of it.

“What is this nonsense you spout, Alys? ’Twas no rutting I desired of you, and you know it well.”

“Hardly that!” the lady replied, her eyes snapping. “Even now you would try to compromise me while you court my cousins.”

“I am not courting your cousins!”

“Nay? Then why did you return to Kiltorren?”

“For a bride, Alys, I told you well.”

“And you also confessed that you did not expect me to be
here.” Alys glared at him. “Which can only mean that my cousins are sole candidates for that role!”

“Nay, Alys, I came for
you
!” Before she could protest, Burke hastened to clarify. “I meant to find word of you and seek you out. I meant to make
you
my bride.” He stepped closer, offering his hand to the wary damsel. “Alys, you know that I am a man of honor.”

“Nay, I do not.” Alys danced backward defiantly, her eyes snapping in a most intriguing way. “There was no honor in your pursuit of me three years past, and so there can be none now.”

“No honor?” Burke shoved a hand through his hair. “What, then, of my offer for your hand? How is that a dishonor to you?”

“You made
no
offer for my hand!”

“I most certainly did!” Burke did not know how she could deny this simple fact. “ ’Tis not a matter a man readily forgets.”

But Alys was clearly unconvinced. She tossed her braid over her shoulder, lifted her chin, and eyed Burke so pertly that he longed to kiss her senseless. He certainly did not recall that she had fired his blood so thoroughly before.

“Perhaps you have confused your many courtships with those days at Kiltorren,” she suggested with soft challenge. “I have no doubt you have found much success in noblewomen’s chambers.”

Burke shook a finger before her, not at all caring for the tone of this conversation. “There has only
been one
proposal to cross my lips, Alys, and only one that has been spurned.”

“Aye?” She arched a brow. “And to whom did you propose?”

“ ’Twas to you!” Burke bellowed.

Alys leaned closer and whispered the charge. “Liar!”

“I am no liar!” Burke roared, half believing that volume would make her listen. “I offered for your hand in good faith.”

Alys was unpersuaded. “That cannot be true,” she said crisply. “For surely I would have known of such an offer.”

Burke was incredulous. “You did not hear of it?”

The lady shook her head. “Because there was none.”

How could this be?

Burke lowered his voice in appeal, sensing that something was amiss. “But, Alys, I assure you that there was! I offered for you, I swear it. I grant you my word of honor.”