you in this again, but…”
“I would have it no other way.” Her fingers werelike ice and fine tremors shook her. He folded her hand in the warmth of his own as he stood gazing down at her, gauging the depth of her fear. She was upset by the turn of events, he thought, rather than undone by terror. “Take heart. Halliwell can do nothing to harm you here among the king’s men.”
There was no time for more. The peer and his son were upon them.
Halliwell bared yellow teeth in a fierce grin. “This will be your Golden Knight, I suppose,” he said to Lady Marguerite with malice in every drawling syllable, “your gallant rescuer.”
Hectic color flared across her cheekbones, but she remained composed. “May I present Lord Halliwell, David. My lord, this is David, known to all by the title you give him.”
“And no other, I believe, nor even a family name of his own.” Halliwell looked him up and down in a way David had not endured in years before turning back to Marguerite. “No doubt that explains why you are not wed to him. The question, of course, is what reward he demanded for preventing our marriage.”
Her posture became rigid. “No reward was asked or given, I assure you.”
“You will pardon me if I choose to doubt it?”
“Nay, she will not,” David said with fire in his heart and rasping steel in his voice, “and neither will I. Lady Marguerite speaks naught but the truth.”
The narrow face and head of Lord Halliwell turned toward him as swiftly as a striking snake. “And what might the word of a nameless knight be worth?”
David smiled with menace in the slow curl of his lips. “Are you saying I lie, Lord Halliwell?”
Marguerite turned even paler than she had been before. “Sir David was most protective of my virtue, my lord. He slept across the threshold of my…my chamber on the night that I was taken. Any of his company will tell you it’s so.”
David felt his face heat at the reminder. Before he could speak, however, there was a shift of those behind him.
“And a sorry sight it was for his men, and them thinking him such a great hand with the ladies.” Oliver stepped forward, moving nearer until he reached David’s side “That would be on top of being a champion known across Europe for his lethal art with sword, lance, bow and every other weapon you may name.”
Threat sounded beneath the genial lilt of the Italian’s voice. David only hoped the enraged peer had the wit to heed it.
Astrid did without doubt, for she stared up at Oliver with startled approval before giving a decided nod. “Good man.”
Lady Marguerite smiled a little, but seemed otherwise unaffected. “Since that night,” she went on with simple clarity, “I have naturally been under the protection of the king.”
“Who has apparently put you together with your knight at every opportunity, from what I have heard. One wonders if you are meant to be a reward of some sort, after all.”
“Idiot,” Astrid said.
David advanced a slow step. There were times whenhe didn’t mind using his size to intimidate. “You are offensive, sir.”
Halliwell jerked back, jostling his son. That gentleman, far from a youth at near fifty, slapped his empty scabbard. His father stopped him with a sharp gesture. “I am surely allowed some degree of choler after being robbed of a bride,” he said in grim complaint. “But it doesn’t stop there. I was promised Lady Marguerite and her dower lands. I’ll settle for no less.”
“What you will have is your death,” Lady Marguerite said with a lift of her chin. “Recall the curse of the Three Graces.”
“Bah! When you are my wife, I will teach you not to prate such nonsense.”
“I understood,” David said, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by others around them, “that the betrothal was a sham and you knew it well. Why pretend otherwise this late in the business?”
“I knew little of the lady, so had not reckoned the worth of the prize
“I would have it no other way.” Her fingers werelike ice and fine tremors shook her. He folded her hand in the warmth of his own as he stood gazing down at her, gauging the depth of her fear. She was upset by the turn of events, he thought, rather than undone by terror. “Take heart. Halliwell can do nothing to harm you here among the king’s men.”
There was no time for more. The peer and his son were upon them.
Halliwell bared yellow teeth in a fierce grin. “This will be your Golden Knight, I suppose,” he said to Lady Marguerite with malice in every drawling syllable, “your gallant rescuer.”
Hectic color flared across her cheekbones, but she remained composed. “May I present Lord Halliwell, David. My lord, this is David, known to all by the title you give him.”
“And no other, I believe, nor even a family name of his own.” Halliwell looked him up and down in a way David had not endured in years before turning back to Marguerite. “No doubt that explains why you are not wed to him. The question, of course, is what reward he demanded for preventing our marriage.”
Her posture became rigid. “No reward was asked or given, I assure you.”
“You will pardon me if I choose to doubt it?”
“Nay, she will not,” David said with fire in his heart and rasping steel in his voice, “and neither will I. Lady Marguerite speaks naught but the truth.”
The narrow face and head of Lord Halliwell turned toward him as swiftly as a striking snake. “And what might the word of a nameless knight be worth?”
David smiled with menace in the slow curl of his lips. “Are you saying I lie, Lord Halliwell?”
Marguerite turned even paler than she had been before. “Sir David was most protective of my virtue, my lord. He slept across the threshold of my…my chamber on the night that I was taken. Any of his company will tell you it’s so.”
David felt his face heat at the reminder. Before he could speak, however, there was a shift of those behind him.
“And a sorry sight it was for his men, and them thinking him such a great hand with the ladies.” Oliver stepped forward, moving nearer until he reached David’s side “That would be on top of being a champion known across Europe for his lethal art with sword, lance, bow and every other weapon you may name.”
Threat sounded beneath the genial lilt of the Italian’s voice. David only hoped the enraged peer had the wit to heed it.
Astrid did without doubt, for she stared up at Oliver with startled approval before giving a decided nod. “Good man.”
Lady Marguerite smiled a little, but seemed otherwise unaffected. “Since that night,” she went on with simple clarity, “I have naturally been under the protection of the king.”
“Who has apparently put you together with your knight at every opportunity, from what I have heard. One wonders if you are meant to be a reward of some sort, after all.”
“Idiot,” Astrid said.
David advanced a slow step. There were times whenhe didn’t mind using his size to intimidate. “You are offensive, sir.”
Halliwell jerked back, jostling his son. That gentleman, far from a youth at near fifty, slapped his empty scabbard. His father stopped him with a sharp gesture. “I am surely allowed some degree of choler after being robbed of a bride,” he said in grim complaint. “But it doesn’t stop there. I was promised Lady Marguerite and her dower lands. I’ll settle for no less.”
“What you will have is your death,” Lady Marguerite said with a lift of her chin. “Recall the curse of the Three Graces.”
“Bah! When you are my wife, I will teach you not to prate such nonsense.”
“I understood,” David said, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by others around them, “that the betrothal was a sham and you knew it well. Why pretend otherwise this late in the business?”
“I knew little of the lady, so had not reckoned the worth of the prize
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