Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman Page A

in a forest hideaway for nearly two years?”
    With a quick intake of breath, she gave him a little shove on the arm. “You did not!”
    Perhaps he should have weighed his words more carefully. Though the evil King John was long dead and never well loved, he had no idea where this woman’s loyalties might lie.
    But after a moment Gwendolyn sighed and gazed at Allen with a wistful expression upon her beautiful features. “I have only dreamed of such adventures. You have no idea how jealous I am.”
    Relief coursed through him. “’Twas not all fun and games.”
    â€œI assume not, but how I long for a great adventure.”
    He twisted his head and stared at her curiously. From the moment he walked through the grand archway, this confusing young woman had caught his attention, standing taller than the females around her. One second he had noted the confident tilt of her chin, then she had crouched over and stared at the floor.
    He’d watched as she oddly shuffled amid the crowd one moment, and agilely ducked through it with the grace of a huntress the next. Until, of course, he moved just enough to send her crashing into him. He held back a chuckle at the memory. She was a puzzle he simply must solve.
    Only one woman had ever surprised and delighted him like this. And unbelievably, Gwendolyn Barnes with her golden tresses and curving figure was even more beautiful than Merry Ellison—at least when she relaxed.
    However, he would never make the foolish mistake of losing his heart to a noblewoman again. Facing that sort of humiliation once in a lifetime was quite enough. He planned only to pass afew entertaining moments in Gwendolyn’s charming presence. Something about her suggested a kindred spirit. A person he might befriend in this sea of strangers.
    Gwendolyn glanced about, her gaze settling on the burly fellow she had indicated was her father. She tilted her head awkwardly to the side and stared at the bench between them. “Well, thank you for rescuing me, Sir Allen, but I suppose I should let you go now.”

Chapter   9
    Let him go ? Allen could not lose her so soon. He knew not a single soul in this place, and had yet to solve the mystery of Lady Gwendolyn Barnes. “Perhaps I could convince you to dance.”
    Gwendolyn’s aqua blue eyes, which contrasted so stunningly with her tan skin, set to sparkling, and her soft rosy lips lifted into that breathtaking smile once again. “Yes, a dance would be perfect.”
    He offered his hand, and her smaller one fit nicely in it. Unfortunately, that surge of warm energy he had experienced when they first touched pulsed through him again, but he attempted to ignore it. She continued smiling up at him for the duration of several heartbeats but then dropped her eyes and crouched into that strange position he had seen earlier.
    Had someone bid her to disguise her height? Why on earth? She was Venus. She was Aphrodite. A goddess in all her statuesque glory. But as they completed their bow and curtsey and took their first patterned steps, she remained in her awkward position.
    How could he right this travesty? He took her fingers lightly in his as they began their stilted progression across the floor. “You seem . . . rather uncomfortable, Lady Gwendolyn. I confess to being rather new to courtly dancing, but my teacher always insisted I stand straight and tall for ease of movement.”
    â€œOh!” Her cheeks turned pink. “’Tis . . . only . . . just that.” She dared to glance up at him. “Well, it is just that I am so very tall.”
    â€œNot next to me.” He chuckled.
    â€œTrue.” She appeared to relax. “How kind of you to mention it rather than avoid the subject. Although I have been told it is not a maidenly virtue, I appreciate directness.”
    He wrapped his arm around her slender but firm waist and turned her in the other direction.