My Lord Viking (20 page)

     
“There are a few things I wish to speak of to you,”
Randolph
said.

     
“Of course.”

     
Those were the last two words she had a chance to say as
Randolph
launched into a list of all the reasons she should not delay the announcement of their plans for the future.
 
She listened, hoping that he would go on long enough for Jack to slip in and out of the water pavilion without
Randolph
noticing.
 
If
Randolph
became suspicious of what Jack was doing, the whole tapestry of unspoken lies could fall apart.

     
And then...

     
She did not know what would happen then.

* * * *

     
“Lady Linnea asked me to give you this.”

     
At Jack’s voice, Nils looked up from the picture in the book that Linnea had brought from the house.
 
He might not be able to read the words, but he could learn much from looking at the pictures of the city where his chieftain’s knife might be.
 
The strange buildings were so different from what he recalled from his single trip to
London
, although the winding streets appeared much the same.
 
The river was unchanged, although when last he had seen the
Thames
, it had not been as crowded with such grand buildings made of stone.
 
He wondered where the old Roman ruins had gone.

     
Jack was holding a basket.
 
As Nils reached for it, he asked the young man, “Why did Lady Linnea not bring this herself?”

     
“She is not here to run errands for you, sir.”

     
Nils closed the book and set it and the basket on the table.
 
Jabbing the crutch under his arm, he stood.
 
“I know that.
 
However, I was asking only out of concern for her well-being.”
 

     
“She looked fine when she gave me this basket and told me to bring it here.”
 
Jack rubbed one boot against the back of the other.
 
“It may not be my place to say so, sir, but she has done more for you than anyone should expect.”

     
“No, it is not your place to say so.”

     
Jack’s usually cheerful face tightened into a frown.
 
“I don’t know who you are, Mr. Bjornsson, but I do know one thing.
 
You cannot guess how hard she has been working to make sure you are tended to.
 
She hasn’t told me why she didn’t send you to the stables to recover as other vagabonds have been allowed to or why she wants no one else to know you are here.
 
But I do know that those decisions have added to her burden to help you get well and on your way.”

     
“Are you through?”

     
The lad flinched at Nils’s cool, tranquil tone.
 
“I guess so.”

     
“Good, then maybe you will listen when I tell you that I appreciate wholeheartedly all that she has done for me.
 
Just as I appreciate all that you and Olive have done for me as well.
 
However, it is not your place nor mine to say what she should or should not do.
 
That is Lady Linnea’s right.”

     
Jack’s eyes grew saucer-wide with astonishment.
 
“I thought...I mean...I’m sorry, Mr. Bjornsson.”

     
“It would be easier if you would call me Nils, as Lady Linnea does.”
 
He did not add that he was tired of hearing how the English failed to speak his name correctly.
 
His ears strained for the sounds of his own language when he was awake.
 
During the time he slept, he hoped he would not hear it.
 
He did not want another visit from Loki until he had learned more about what was going on here.
 

     
Shaking his head, Jack said, “I couldn’t do that.
 
It wouldn’t be right.”
 
He walked toward the stairs.

     
“Jack, I need you to do something for me.”

     
Nils watched Jack turn.
 
The lad was totally loyal to Linnea and her father.
 
Nils admired that fealty, but it would not suit his purposes now.

     
“Lady Linnea gave you my
sax
.”
 
Nils did not ask, for he had no doubts about who had ordered that the blade was to disappear.
 
That she had brought Jack with her to carry him from the sand made it clear that she had asked the stableboy to hide it for her.
 
The only question was where it was.

     
“Your what?”
 

     
“My knife.
 
She gave it to you the day she came to ask your help in assisting me from the beach.”

     
“Yes.”
 
The single word was reluctant.

     
“I want my knife back.”

     
“I shouldn’t.”
 
Jack squared his shoulders.
 
“Not without Lady Linnea’s say-so.”

     
“I don’t want her to know I have it.”

     
“Is that so?”
 
He walked again toward the stairs, halting once more when Nils called his name.

     
“Jack...”
 
Nils cursed his leg that nearly folded beneath him on that single step.
 
Locking his knee in place, he paid the devastating pain no mind as he went on, “I want to have it to defend her if the need arises.
 
I do not want her to guess she is in peril.”

     
“She knows.”
 
A sneer pulled back Jack’s normally smiling lips.
 
“How many times have you—?”

     
“I do not speak of me.”

     
“Then whom?”

     
“The man she calls
Randolph
.”

     
“Lord Tuthill?”
 
Jack laughed.
 
“He wants to marry her.
 
Why would he wish to hurt her?”

     
Nils smiled coldly.
 
“I did not say he would harm her.
 
I said she was in peril.”

     
Jack’s expression hardened again.

     
Nils waited for the lad’s answer which would reveal if Jack shared his disquiet over Tuthill.
 
The fingers of his right hand flexed at ready by his side.
 
He almost laughed.
 
As battered as he was, he doubted he could keep Jack from doing anything he wanted.
 
Yet Jack did not worry him.
 
Tuthill did.

     
Not long ago, Nils had seen Tuthill ride toward the house at a reckless speed.
 
It was not the first time he had observed the man’s comings and goings here at
Sutherland
Park
.
 
What he had noted was that each time the man’s chin had jutted farther.
 
Tuthill was resolved to get what he had come here for, and Linnea’s words had revealed it was her.

     
Just Linnea, or was Tuthill after a share of Lord Sutherland’s wealth?
 
Olive had suggested that might be so, but had refused to answer any questions after the one inadvertent comment.

     
That single comment had been the reason Nils had been trying to regain his strength with even more speed.
 
It had spurred him to push his ankle until he could walk across this small room without having to pause to catch his breath.
 
His arm was healing, and then...

     
To delay here and get more ensnared in the lives of these people would be stupid.
 
He had his vow to complete.
 
The visits from Loki were a reminder of his obligations and the honor that had not yet been restored.
 
He swallowed his groan at that thought.
 
Nearly a millennium of shame on his family because he had been ripped from his time and brought here for a reason that he could not understand.
 

     
If this was simply Loki’s idea of a prank...Nils swore under his breath.
 
This was too cruel even for that immortal trickster.
 

     
“Mr. Bjornsson, did you hear what I said?”

     
Again Jack’s voice drew him away from his own dolorous thoughts.
 
“No, I did not.”

     
“I said that if I were to return the knife to you, I would need your word along with the promise that I could trust it,” Jack said quietly.

     
“I never break any pledge.”
 
Nils fought not to smile.
 
The lad must despise Tuthill even more than Nils had hoped.
 
This might be the first good turn of luck he had had since he awoke here.
 
This and having Linnea find him.
 
He did not linger on that enticing thought, because he must concentrate on this conversation.
 
“However, I can give you no reason to trust me other than that you must.”

     
Jack jabbed at one of the stones with the toe of his boot.
 
“I do not trust you.”

     
“You are wise.”

     
“But I do not trust Lord Tuthill, either.”
 
Jack rubbed his sleeve against his cheek as he looked at the window that had given Nils a view of the road.
 
“He seems to think that he is due the right to marry into this family, that Lady Linnea should have no choice of her own.”

     
“Her father must be aware of Tuthill’s plans.”

     
Jack’s vehement curse amazed Nils.
 
“Lord Sutherland agreed to let Tuthill court her. I heard that Lady Linnea welcomed Tuthill’s calls, but she is smarter than that.”

     
“Courting and marrying are two very different things.
 
I doubt if women’s hearts have changed in a thousand years.”

     
“A thousand years?
 
What do you mean?”

     
Nils chuckled.
 
“Simply a turn of phrase.
 
What I meant is that I am certain a woman heeds her heart now as she did a thousand years ago or two thousand years ago or back to the beginning of time.”

     
“But a lady’s heart has no place in the negotiations for her marriage.
 
That is left to her father and her suitors.”

     
“True.”
 
He lowered himself back onto the bench by the table.
 
No matter how he tried, he could not reconcile spirited Linnea Sutherland with a woman who would docilely accept the man chosen for her by her father.
 

     
“Can I ask one question, sir?”

     
“Yes.”
 
He added nothing else, unsure what Jack was about to ask.

     
“When I bring you the knife, what do you intend to do with it?”