Besieged and Betrothed
Page 73
To her surprise, he laughed. ‘And you said that being compared to a dog wasn’t a compliment?’
‘I wasn’t trying to compliment you. I just wanted to say that I was wrong. You’re not so terrifying after all.’
‘Not at all?’ He sounded disappointed.
‘Occasionally. When you threatened Sir Guian, for example.’ She gave him a pointed look. ‘I never thanked you for protecting me from him. I should have.’
‘You never told me what he did to you either.’
‘No.’ She held his gaze evenly. ‘I didn’t.’
‘Will you tell me now?’
She sucked in a breath. Would she? Could she?
‘It wasn’t what he did. It was what he tried to do. I was foolish enough to agree to a private meeting.’
‘You said he didn’t hurt you.’ His voice deepened menacingly.
‘He didn’t, not as much as I hurt him anyway. He didn’t count on my being able to defend myself.’
‘When I see him again...’
‘You can leave him alone, just like I asked you to.’ She reached out impulsively, placing a hand on his jaw to ease the tension there. She didn’t want to see the look of fury on his face again. ‘Besides, I think you did a good enough job of scaring him last time. Once he finds out that we’re married, he’ll be quaking in his boots.’
His jaw unclenched finally beneath her fingertips, though his gaze never left hers. ‘You’re right. I saw him in Devizes and he ran away like a startled hare. The next day I heard he’d ridden back to his estates.’
‘Then that’s all the revenge I need. I only want peace from now on.’
He took a few deep breaths before agreeing. ‘Very well.’
‘Thank you.’ She pulled her hand away, hardly able to believe her own daring in touching him. What must he think of her? Another part of her didn’t care. The sun was past its zenith and the raw winter air stung her throat, but it felt good to be outside and free. She felt almost alive again. She was even enjoying her husband’s company. He wasn’t so terrifying after all, and he was staying, until the spring anyway. No matter how he felt about Matilda, he was her husband and he’d come back to protect her. That was all that mattered for now—and suddenly she knew just how to thank him.
‘Come on.’ She twitched on her reins. ‘I need to show you something.’
‘Now? We ought to be getting back.’
‘It won’t take long.’ She was already galloping away. ‘You’ll be glad of it, I promise!’
Chapter Twenty-Four
‘There’s a ford?’ Lothar stared at the river in disbelief. ‘A ford?’
‘Yes.’ Juliana’s face was a picture of innocence.
‘It’s been here the whole time?’
‘For as long as I can remember. Only local people know about it.’
He jumped down from his stallion and made his way along the riverbank for a closer inspection. The ford was almost three cart-widths across and in better condition than most of the bridges he’d crossed on his journey through Herefordshire. A troop of soldiers could easily make it across.
‘Why didn’t you tell Sir Guian?’ He looked back at her in amazement. ‘You could have ended the siege and sent his army away.’
She gave a small shrug. ‘I thought about it, but it would have been the same as giving him the bridge. He was never going to attack us anyway.’
‘And when I arrived? I told you we were going to attack! You could have said something then.’
‘What was the point? You said that Sir Guian’s soldiers would attack us for plunder anyway.’