hen a woman decides to ignore a man, matters proceed much more satisfactorily when the man is present to notice her slight.hen a woman decides to ignore a man, matters proceed much more satisfactorily when the man is present to notice her slight.
Four days without even the prospect of glimpsing Burke was weighing heavily upon Alys. She sat in her chamber, determined to enjoy it for every possible moment before Aunt snatched it away, and found herself often staring out the window.
“You are missing your knight,” Edana declared with a sympathetic pat on Alys’s shoulder on Thursday afternoon. “And I cannot blame you …”
“Burke is not my knight!”
Edana slanted a glance toward Alys, no doubt noting the heat in her words. “ ’Tis not the way he tells the tale.”
“Burke is mistaken.”
“He does not strike me as a man who is oft mistaken. And truly, Kerwyn says he talks of naught but you …”
“Kerwyn?” Alys asked, grateful for a chance to change the subject. “And what do you know of what Kerwyn says?”
Edana flushed and spun to face Alys. “Is he not the most wondrously mysterious man that ever you have seen?” she enthused. “Those dark eyes seem to hold a thousand mysteries, and truly, he himself declares that he can tell a horse’s secret name with but a glance.” She inhaled deeply and danced around the chamber. “I should swoon from a single kiss, I know it well.”
Alys smiled despite herself. “Kisses? But a week ago you did not even know the man was alive!”
“Aye, but that was before. Did you know that Kerwyn has been here at Kiltorren over two years? I saw him before, you may be certain of that, but was certain such a handsome man must be wed.” Edana smiled, her dimples making an appearance. “I have your knight to thank for the clarification.”
Alys rolled her eyes. “He is not my knight!”
“Nay?” Edana challenged. “Then why have you sadly dragged yourself about the keep since his departure?”
“He says himself that he seeks Malvina’s hand.”
“That is not what Brigid told me.”
Alys opened her mouth and closed it again. She frowned at the shuttered window. “ ’Tis the rain,” she said without enough conviction to convince the younger girl.
“Ha! It has never troubled you before.”
“ ’Tis the lack of labor. I do not know what to do with myself.”
“Nonsense! I should welcome a relief from labor.” Edana leaned closer. “Do you know that sorry excuse of a girl they summoned from the village has no skill with my ladies at all? They will not permit her to milk them—she was kicked this morning and bawled like a child. If you hunger for labor, Alys, you are welcome to some of mine.” Edana surveyed Alys with a frown. “Tell me truly what ails you.”
Alys pleated the wool of the gold kirtle between her fingers as she tried to find another excuse, then realized it was beneath her very hand. “ ’Tis the kirtle,” she declared. “I tire of Malvina’s leavings.”
Edana pursed her lips. She squinted at Alys’s garb, then tilted her head in consideration.
“We could at least improve it,” she suggested. “Aye, it could be taken in to fit you better.” She bent and turned over the hem. “And there is enough cloth to let the hem down. Indeed, Alys, it might look as if the gown was your own. You are better with such needle tricks than I, but I would help.”
“What a wondrous idea!” Alys fetched her needle and thread, delighted at both the prospect of change and something to do.
Working together, the pair made the adjustments more quickly than Alys might have believed possible. Edana retrieved half a dozen short lengths of embroidery she had culled from Deirdre’s castoffs, and they managed to piece it all together to add the last increment necessary to the hem. In candlelight, the patching would not be visible.
“We shall make you a lady fair yet!” the maid jested, and Alys laughed. Edana hummed as she braided Alys’s hair with care.
No sooner was Alys dressed than Brigid appeared in the portal. She gasped with delight then fled for her own chamber. She returned to shyly offer a gossamer veil wrought of deep gold and a slim silver circlet.
“But, Brigid, this is yours.”
“You wear it,” Brigid said with a smile. She touched the veil and the kirtle with quick fingers. “Matches.” Then she touched her own, the deep blue of her kirtle accented by the pale blue of her own veiling. “I have mine.”
Alys thanked her cousin profusely, feeling like royalty as she donned the fine veil and fitted the circlet over the top. She had never worn such finery, and it made her feel both feminine and pampered. Alys did not care that Brigid’s hems and cuffs were lavish with embroidery wrought to the proper length, or that her cousin’s circlet was set with gems while hers was plain. Malvina’s garb, indeed, was yet more ornamented than Brigid’s.
’Twas enough for Alys to have her ankles hidden from the breezes, enough to wear a veil like any lady of any hall.
“If only your knight could see you thus,” Edana breathed. “He would sweep you up on his great steed and ride away into the night with you.”
Brigid smiled sadly. “But then Alys would be gone,” she whispered, her smile fading. Her lips trembled, her words faltered anew. “And no one would remain to l-l-love me.”
Both Alys and Edana stared at Brigid, stunned by her conclusion. A lone tear slipped down the younger girl’s cheek, and Alys stepped quickly across the room.
“Nay, Brigid, nay!” She pulled her cousin into a tight embrace. The way Brigid clung to her made Alys’s own tears rise at her cousin’s vulnerability. “I am not going anywhere,” she whispered against Brigid’s veil. “I would not leave you.”
“But Burke loves you. I-I-I will never have a knight to love me.”
“Of course you will.”
“Nay, Alys.” Brigid shook her head and her tears scattered across both women. “I am not c-c-clever enough to have a man. M-M-Malvina and Mother told me.”
“That is not true, Brigid.” Alys took a deep breath and loathed her aunt for so injuring this maiden. “You will be wed happily one day, I am certain. Did Burke not say that a man would love you?”
Brigid blinked and seemed encouraged. She looked at Alys again, wiping at her tears with her fingertips. “And you will not leave me alone?”
“Nay.” Alys smiled for Brigid. “Never.”
When Brigid flung herself into Alys’s arms with relief, Alys closed her eyes and leaned against her trembling cousin.
By all that was holy, she hoped that Burke had not given Brigid false hope.
Alys was startled to find the knight who loomed large in her thoughts loitering in the hall. She froze on the bottom step, certain how he would interpret the improvement in her appearance. It took no wits at all to see that Burke would believe Alys had adorned herself for him. He would be encouraged, he would woo her with his charm once more.
Alys was not convinced that she could withstand the man’s allure.
For she had missed him. She watched him covertly for a moment, letting her heart hammer at the sight of him, knowing he would turn an intoxicating smile upon her at any moment. Alys secretly admitted that she was not only glad to look her best for his return but that she had no desire to avoid him this night.
Burke glanced up in the heart of that realization and smiled at her with his usual sunny confidence. Alys’s heart leapt in a way that was quickly becoming familiar. Burke’s gaze danced over her, warm with appreciation, and his smile broadened. Alys found herself unable to take a breath when he left his companion to stride toward her.
Indeed, her pulse positively thundered.
“You look wondrous!” Before Alys could think of a response, Burke caught her hand, leaving a burning imprint of his lips upon her knuckles. He lifted her hand high and turned her, and Alys did not doubt ’twas by design she ended up standing dangerously close to him when he was done.
“Magnificent,” he whispered, his eyes glowing.
“Burke! You should not utter such nonsense.” Though Alys intended to chide him, her words fell more breathlessly than she might have preferred.
Burke smiled into her eyes. “The truth is never nonsense,” he murmured, then his smile faded. “Do you still doubt my word, Alys?”
Alys dropped her gaze, surprised when Burke chuckled softly.
“Then might I ask your aid this evening?” he asked. Alys peeked to find an intriguingly wicked gleam in Burke’s eyes. “Events might well persuade you of my true intent.”
Alys withdrew her fingers, immediately suspicious. “What do you scheme?”
Burke caught at his heart as if struck by a blow to the heart. “My lady, you wound me!”
Alys laughed, for she could have done naught else. “You would make all dance to your tune this night.”
“Only for the greater good.”
“So you say.”
“Alys, listen to me well.” Burke leaned closer and Alys could not step away from the gleam in his eyes. “I had to feign pursuit of Malvina to ensure that your guardians did not dispatch me from the gates before I could win your favor. But on this night I bring the man who will take that honor in my stead.” Burke indicated the man he had abandoned. “Here is the man for Malvina.”
Alys choked back her laughter at this unexpected claim. “You cannot have found a husband for her!”
“Indeed I have.” Burke’s eyes twinkled. “Though the man does not know his fate as yet.”
“Burke, you cannot be so mean!”
“They deserve each other,” he said grimly.
Alys had to look. She peered discreetly past Burke’s shoulder and studied the dark-blond stranger. He was shorter than Burke, younger, though garbed as a knight. He might have been considered handsome if his lips had not been so tight with impatience.
Indeed, he snarled at his squire as she watched, and Alys had to concede that he shared some trait with her cousin.
“Alys!” Burke chided, his voice low with humor. “Such uncharitable thoughts!”
“I said naught!”
“You did not have to. Your eyes, my lady, tell a thousand tales. I doubt you could tell a lie to save your life. ’Tis another thing I love about you.” While Alys tried to accept that, Burke leaned closer, the warm fan of his breath making her shiver. “Indeed, I share your thinking on this. They two seem to have much in common.”
Alys looked again, liking despite herself that Burke considered her part of his conspiracy. She enjoyed the intimacy of discussing this with him, of having his confidence, no less the sense that they worked together to an end.
The new arrival had the manner of a petulant, indulged child. His garb was fine, his toe tapped impatiently, his gaze roved the hall. He noticed Alys and surveyed her from head to toe as if she were no better than a whore.
Alys stepped back. Burke pivoted and glared so pointedly at the other knight that the man flushed. Alys felt a thrill at Burke’s protectiveness, even as she eased closer to him.
The arrival studied his toe once more.
“A man of ambition with naught to his name,” Burke said with a growl, his fine mood dismissed. Alys did not miss the proprietary way he grasped her elbow, nor did she argue over his touch. There was something about this new arrival she did not like or trust. “He will suit perfectly.”
“But, Burke, Aunt believes Malvina should wed you, and you yourself have pledged to be courting her.” Alys felt compelled to make note of the facts. “Neither will be readily persuaded to let you escape.”
“Nay?” Burke arched one brow, his manner playful again. “Would you care to make a wager upon that, my lady fair?”
He looked so certain of himself that Alys longed to prove him wrong. Even so, she could not stop her smile. “I am ignoring you this week,” she informed him.
Burke grinned. “Aye, I can tell.”
“You would have noted it, if you had not been away.”
“Ah, so you did miss me!”
Alys felt herself flush. She might have stalked away from his cursed confidence and charm, but Burke’s smile faded. “I missed you, my lady fair,” he murmured, sincerity shining in his eyes. “Will you grant me a kiss for my return?”
Alys looked away, knowing she flushed furiously at the very prospect. She was not faring well in her decision to avoid this man, nor in her determination to be indifferent to his compliments. Truth be told, in this moment she did not care.
Indeed, she wanted that kiss with a ferocity that shook her to the core.
“What is this wager of yours?”
Burke’s thumb began to slide across her hand in a slow caress, as if he would ease her into agreement before he even spoke. “That if Deirdre accepts this man for Malvina, you will meet me in private again.”
“I think the prospect most unlikely.”
“She will. Of this I have no doubt.”
Alys shook her head. “Nay, she would never cast your suit aside. Burke, you underestimate her will in this.”
Burke grinned wolfishly, his voice dropped low. “Then you, my lady fair, have naught to lose in taking my wager.”
There was a challenge in his tone that made Alys wary. The folded her arms across her chest, wondering what Burke knew that she did not. “And naught to win,” she challenged. “What shall you grant me if I win this wager?”
Burke chuckled. “Your heart’s desire,” he whispered wickedly. “Indeed, it might be the same as my own.”
’Twas with difficulty that Alys stifled the urge to swat him, but Burke stepped quickly away is af he were not certain of what she would do.
There was some satisfaction to be had in that, at least.
“Well?” Burke demanded. “Have we a wager? Decide quickly, Alys!”
“Aye!” she declared with rare impulsiveness.
Burke’s grin flashed. “I assure you, my lady, that you will not regret your course,” he murmured, then stepped away.
’Twas as if he fled something—or someone.
In the next moment, Alys knew who.
For Aunt’s voice rose behind Alys. “Well! Who is this?” The older woman shoved Alys aside without waiting for an answer and strode across the floor, her best smile at the ready.
“Burke!” Aunt cried in honeyed tones. “What a delight to find you returned! And you do us even greater honor in bringing your friends to Kiltorren.” She studied the newly arrived knight openly from head to foot.
Evidently Aunt approved, for her smile broadened.
Burke winked at Alys before he bowed, but Alys did not grant him any victory for his quick progress. She knew her aunt could not be swayed from any objective. And Burke and Malvina were as good as wed to her aunt’s way of thinking.
Indeed, Burke had played no small role in that conclusion.
“Ah, Lady Deirdre, this knight is but an acquaintance met upon the road. When I learned he was without even a betrothed—such a fine knight as this!—I knew he had to come to Kiltorren.”
Aunt’s gaze sharpened, even as Burke touched his own brow. “But where are my manners?” he asked of no one in particular. Alys bit back her smile at his antics. “Lady Deirdre of Kiltorren, might I do the honor of introducing you to Chevalier Talbot d’Annoceaux?”
“Chevalier!” Aunt echoed with delight.
“Enchanté,” Talbot murmured, and bent over her hand. “You are most kind to lavish your hospitality upon me.”
Aunt caught her breath, then pivoted to shout. “BRIGID! Get yourself to my side!”
Alys heard her cousin stumbling down the stairs, that girl’s eyes widening when she came to a halt at their foot.
Edana nudged Brigid impatiently from behind. “Go on!”
Brigid took a deep breath and stepped into the hall, then hesitated. Alys wondered whether her cousin felt the same disquietude about this arrival as she.
Cedric trotted down to the hall, bellowed a greeting to Burke, and beamed as he strode across the floor. The Lord of Kiltorren earned himself a sharp glare from his wife when he reached her side. Alys knew ’twas a commentary on the knights’ fine manners—as compared to Cedric’s own—but her uncle blinked in characteristic confusion at what he had done.
“Brigid!” Deirdre snapped. “Get yourself here!”
Malvina burst into the hall. “Mother! Why must you always make such a hue and cry? We are not deaf, as you surely must know …” Malvina shoved past Brigid and Alys, her words faltering to naught as she saw this Talbot standing by her mother’s side.
“Oh! Who is that?” she whispered in evident awe.
Alys nearly laughed aloud to see Burke’s plan showing such promise already. “A knight Burke brought to the keep,” she supplied. “He is Talbot d’Annoceaux.”
“Indeed!” Malvina breathed. “A French knight! He is … handsome beyond all.”
Alys’s glance slid to Burke, and she noted how his lips quirked. ’Twas as if he were fully aware not only that he had made one convert to his cause but that he had never doubted the result.
But Talbot, Alys noted with dismay, was staring at her, not Malvina. Alys felt her flesh creep, for she had no doubt this knight had not an honorable thought in his head.
Then Malvina tossed her veil over her shoulders. “If I were not already being so ardently courted, I might grant this one the favor of my attentions.” She scampered to Burke’s side then, laying a proprietary hand upon his arm. “Did you bring me a gift?”
Burke’s grin flashed. “In a way,” he conceded, and Alys bit back her laughter. Oh, he was incorrigible indeed! “Perhaps you would like to be introduced to Kiltorren’s new guest.”
Aunt smiled for Burke alone and laid a hand upon his free arm. “ ’Twould be so inappropriate, Burke, for your betrothed to be the first to greet a knight new to our household.”
Burke’s brows lifted in feigned astonishment. “My betrothed? Truly, Lady Deirdre, you proceed ahead of matters. I have but confessed an interest in Malvina—we have not yet pledged any troth.”
“You would consider wedding this woman?” Talbot demanded, then he chuckled. He cast a glance over the hall. “Indeed, I did not know that Burke de Montvieux had been struck blind.”
His rudeness hung in silence for a long moment. Aunt glared at the knight, Cedric cleared his throat in obvious dismay. Burke turned a cold glance on the man.
And Talbot paled.
“Beauty is as beauty does, chevalier” Burke said in a chilly tone, “and there is no excuse for a failure to be courteous.”
“Of course!” The other knight inclined his head in acknowledgement, but hostility lingered in his eyes. “My apologies to all.”
Aunt eyed this man assessingly though Alys knew the very moment that her aunt dismissed him from her thoughts.
For Aunt turned a smile upon Burke, her fingers tapping companionably on the arm Malvina had not claimed. “Burke, you cannot blame me for saving the greater plum for my firstborn. And you, sir, are a rare prize for any maiden.”
Aunt’s manner was flirtatious. Cedric flushed to the roots of his hair, but he did not intervene. “We have all been most dismayed by your absence this week,” Aunt purred. “There is no need for you to be coy about your intentions.”
Talbot looked bored. “Is there any wine in this hall?”
“Ale, sir, we have good Kiltorren ale,” Cedric supplied, as if relieved to have another matter to discuss. “We have a talented alemaster …”
“Ale?” The knight grimaced. “How perfectly common. I believe my father’s serfs content themselves with ale.”
Cedric frowned.
Burke, seemingly oblivious to this exchange, shook a playful finger at Aunt. “With regret, Lady Deirdre, I must confide that you have sorely overestimated my worth.”
Aunt blinked, as did everyone else in the hall.
“Aye, Montvieux is worth several king’s ransoms,” Talbot commented with more than a thread of envy in his tone. “One might easily mistake the precise value of its wealth.”
These bitter words seemed to aid Aunt’s recovery, and she smiled at Burke once again. “You are too modest, sir! After all, you are heir to Montvieux. ’Tis a fine and prosperous estate, as your friend observes, and one that my Malvina will manage with ease.”
Burke shook his head and Alys had the distinct sense that he was enjoying himself. “Ah! Now, I understand the root of your confusion. ’Tis true that I was indeed the heir of Montvieux.”
“Was?” Aunt echoed.
“Was?” Malvina and Talbot echoed simultaneously.
Was? Alys frowned at this unexpected morsel of news.
Burke’s smile broadened. “My father and I argued six months past. He has disinherited me as a result.” He frowned slightly, though his eyes twinkled merrily. “Did I neglect to mention that? Surely you have heard of the tale, even here at Kiltorren?”
Aunt’s face went white then it flooded red. She pivoted, glared at Cedric as if the fault was his.
Burke had not confided this critical detail! No wonder he had been so certain he would win their wager.
And he wondered why she could not trust him fully! Alys would not concede victory readily to Burke, there was no doubt of that. She folded her arms across her chest and watched matters unfold precisely as Burke had insisted they would.
Of course. She would have guessed as much as well, had she known the truth. If indeed it was the truth. Had he truly lost Montvieux, or did he simply use this tale to see his will done?
Alys could not even guess and did not like that in the least.
Aunt’s voice was tight and her smile yet tighter. “Surely a man of your success must have other holdings …”
But Burke shrugged. “Not a one. Indeed, I have naught but my steed and my blade,” he confessed. His lips quirked wryly. “What is upon my back and between my ears.”
“But you call yourself ‘de Montvieux’ still.”
“I was born and raised at Montvieux and am of that estate, regardless of my status as its pending lord,” Burke said coldly. “Surely you cannot imagine that after parting ways so decisively with my sire, I would take the appellation Fitzgavin?”
Aunt straightened. “Surely you and your father will reconcile?”
At that suggestion, Burke’s countenance hardened as if ’twas wrought of stone. “Never.” His single word was uttered with such conviction that Alys knew this was the truth. “We shall never reconcile.”
Talbot stared at Burke, clearly aghast “You willingly ceded Montvieux?”
Malvina stepped away from Burke as if the touch of him had suddenly become vile and smiled at Talbot. Aunt looked from one knight to the other, then conjured a smile of unbelievable sweetness for Talbot herself. “Malvina,” she said with a snap of her fingers, and that daughter was right beside her.
Talbot became alarmed. “A moment, madame! I am not seeking a bride …”
“Nonsense!” Burke interjected heartily, his good humor apparently restored. “A man of such fine family as yours, Talbot, would do the world injustice by not taking a bride and bringing heirs into the world.”
The knight stepped backward, though he did not manage to summon a protest in time.
Burke had already turned to Aunt, his words falling fast, his tone confidential. “Do you realize, my lady hostess, that the lineage of Theobald d’Annoceaux, that legendary warrior and confidant of kings, courses through this man’s veins? What good fortune to find him on our doorstep! What an honor to have such a man as your guest!”
“But I have come on another quest altogether,” Talbot argued.
Aunt, however, needed no further encouragement to corner her wary prey. “Sir,” she said sweetly, “my eldest daughter, Malvina.”
Malvina flushed and curtsied low, even though her unwilling suitor’s chagrin was more than clear.
“But …”
“But naught, good sir. You may tell us of your desires after we have shown you our hospitality. Malvina would be delighted to share a trencher with you this night.” Aunt flicked her hands toward the table as if she would urge matters onward.
“I could not presume as much …” Talbot looked like a man prepared to chew off his own arm to escape a trap.
“ ’Twould be an honor,” Malvina declared breathlessly.
“Of course, anything for a guest,” Aunt confirmed. “Cronan! See what delays the meal.” She tapped impatiently upon Cedric’s shoulder, her voice dropping to a hiss. “And find some excuse for wine in this place. Our guest prefers wine.”
Talbot’s gaze flicked between mother and daughter in panic. He looked to Cedric, who strode to the kitchen without a backward glance. In desperation, Talbot turned to Burke, but to no avail.
“If you will excuse me, I should like a word with Alys,” Burke said smoothly.
Aunt waved her hand dismissively. “Do whatsoever you will. We have matters of import to discuss.” And ’twas clear from her manner that Burke’s marital fortunes were no longer of interest.
Burke winked at Alys and spread his hands, clearly proud of what he had wrought. A glint in his eye warned her that he meant to collect upon his wager, and her heart skipped a beat in anticipation.
Aye, Alys would keep her bargain and grant Burke the hearing he requested—but she would have the truth from this knight.
’Twas time enough he shared the whole of the tale of Montvieux—whatever it was.