it?”
“Perhaps I should leave the lying to Lisette,” Rian said quietly, shaking his head. “Very well, Jasper, the truth. I think someone is after me. I don’t know who, I can’t be sure as to why, but someone definitely wants something from me.”
“But not the woman?”
“To a degree, yes, the woman as well. But there’s more than that. More that I really can’t discuss with you now. I need to get to my home, Jasper, the woman and me both, and we need to get there as quickly as possible, without being followed. For your help, you will be rewarded. That’s all I can say.”
“Jasper does want to go back to England. Haven’t had a decent raisin puddin’ in a long time. And there ain’t hardly nobody what speaks the good King’s English, not no more. Not since Willie left for New Castle last month, saying he’d had enough of foreigners bein’ knee-deep all over the place.” He slapped his meaty palms on the tabletop and got to his feet. “It’s settled then. Jasper will take you home.”
Rian closed his eyes for a moment, relief flooding him. “Thank you, Jasper. We’ll meet here again, in the morning. Is that time enough for you?”
The big man nodded. “Jasper moves easy enough. Can’t be waitin’ for customers to come to you, right?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will, tomorrow mornin’. Jasper will be out behind the inn, waitin’ on you and the lady.”
“With the pistol, and the small sword.”
“With a lot more’n that, Lieutenant,” the big man said, grinning. “A whole lot more’n that. A fine thing, this, meeting up with you. Ah, Jasper’s already tastin’ good English ale!”
L ISETTE LAY VERY STILL , her back to the door, holding her breath as Rian stumbled about in the near darkness.
She could imagine he was having trouble loosing the buttons on his borrowed buckskin trousers, as her papa might be nearly Rian’s height, but he was so very thin that even Rian’s slender frame was putting a strain on those buttons.
There was a bootjack nailed to the floor in the corner of the room, and she’d placed one of the small candles on the table just beside it, hoping he’d see the thing, use it. But he was a man, and men didn’t often look beyond the ends of their noses when it came to finding ways to help themselves.
“Lisette? You’re in bed? But it’s just gone nine. I need help with my boots.”
She sighed quietly. Like now.
“Lisette, are you awake?”
“No, I’m asleep. I’m even snoring. Go away, Rian Becket. Leave a sore and sorry woman in peace.”
“Still tender, are you?” he asked, his voice close to the bed. Her side of the bed. The side she planned to cling to, even if that meant digging her fingertips into the mattress and holding on for dear life. She had to think, and she couldn’t allow herself to be muddled by Rian’s lovemaking. Not tonight.
“If I had a pistol I would shoot that horse. His hindquarters were no more than a bag of bones that dug into me with every slow, clumsy step he took.”
“ She wasn’t the finest mount I’ve ever sat, no. And I’ll admit, she’s perhaps a bit swaybacked. But she was also biddable, and uncomplaining. Unlike some I could mention.”
Lisette sat up in the bed, wincing only slightly, as the hot tub had helped more than she would admit to him. “And now you compare me unfavorably with a horse? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I would never say such a thing, Lisette. You’re a wonder, truly. And, to prove the thing, I’ll ask you now to please help me off with my boots, knowing full well you would never refuse a wounded man. You’re too good, too caring, too kind. I could go on, and will—at length—if you don’t help me.”
She threw back the covers and slid her feet down to the bare floor, for this was another small inn, and carpets seemed beyond it. “I begin to believe, Rian Becket, that I liked you better when you were fevered and morose. Happy, you become
“Perhaps I should leave the lying to Lisette,” Rian said quietly, shaking his head. “Very well, Jasper, the truth. I think someone is after me. I don’t know who, I can’t be sure as to why, but someone definitely wants something from me.”
“But not the woman?”
“To a degree, yes, the woman as well. But there’s more than that. More that I really can’t discuss with you now. I need to get to my home, Jasper, the woman and me both, and we need to get there as quickly as possible, without being followed. For your help, you will be rewarded. That’s all I can say.”
“Jasper does want to go back to England. Haven’t had a decent raisin puddin’ in a long time. And there ain’t hardly nobody what speaks the good King’s English, not no more. Not since Willie left for New Castle last month, saying he’d had enough of foreigners bein’ knee-deep all over the place.” He slapped his meaty palms on the tabletop and got to his feet. “It’s settled then. Jasper will take you home.”
Rian closed his eyes for a moment, relief flooding him. “Thank you, Jasper. We’ll meet here again, in the morning. Is that time enough for you?”
The big man nodded. “Jasper moves easy enough. Can’t be waitin’ for customers to come to you, right?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will, tomorrow mornin’. Jasper will be out behind the inn, waitin’ on you and the lady.”
“With the pistol, and the small sword.”
“With a lot more’n that, Lieutenant,” the big man said, grinning. “A whole lot more’n that. A fine thing, this, meeting up with you. Ah, Jasper’s already tastin’ good English ale!”
L ISETTE LAY VERY STILL , her back to the door, holding her breath as Rian stumbled about in the near darkness.
She could imagine he was having trouble loosing the buttons on his borrowed buckskin trousers, as her papa might be nearly Rian’s height, but he was so very thin that even Rian’s slender frame was putting a strain on those buttons.
There was a bootjack nailed to the floor in the corner of the room, and she’d placed one of the small candles on the table just beside it, hoping he’d see the thing, use it. But he was a man, and men didn’t often look beyond the ends of their noses when it came to finding ways to help themselves.
“Lisette? You’re in bed? But it’s just gone nine. I need help with my boots.”
She sighed quietly. Like now.
“Lisette, are you awake?”
“No, I’m asleep. I’m even snoring. Go away, Rian Becket. Leave a sore and sorry woman in peace.”
“Still tender, are you?” he asked, his voice close to the bed. Her side of the bed. The side she planned to cling to, even if that meant digging her fingertips into the mattress and holding on for dear life. She had to think, and she couldn’t allow herself to be muddled by Rian’s lovemaking. Not tonight.
“If I had a pistol I would shoot that horse. His hindquarters were no more than a bag of bones that dug into me with every slow, clumsy step he took.”
“ She wasn’t the finest mount I’ve ever sat, no. And I’ll admit, she’s perhaps a bit swaybacked. But she was also biddable, and uncomplaining. Unlike some I could mention.”
Lisette sat up in the bed, wincing only slightly, as the hot tub had helped more than she would admit to him. “And now you compare me unfavorably with a horse? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I would never say such a thing, Lisette. You’re a wonder, truly. And, to prove the thing, I’ll ask you now to please help me off with my boots, knowing full well you would never refuse a wounded man. You’re too good, too caring, too kind. I could go on, and will—at length—if you don’t help me.”
She threw back the covers and slid her feet down to the bare floor, for this was another small inn, and carpets seemed beyond it. “I begin to believe, Rian Becket, that I liked you better when you were fevered and morose. Happy, you become
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