“Broken leg,” Guy muttered brusquely, trying to avoid her stare. Why did she have to look at him as if he were the fabled unicorn? “Best that you mount up and ride quickly to the priory. You do ride, do you not, my lady? You will catch a chill and fever if you stand here. You are wet through.”
Before he realized what he was doing, his gaze slid down from her face to her slender white throat, and from to her soaked bodice. The wet burgundy velvet molded her high breasts, boldly outlining the delicious promise that lay scarcely hidden there. Another fiery bolt impaled him. He nearly groaned with the painful pleasure. A mere night on the chapel floor would not suffice. He vowed a full day of penance, as well.
“I thank you for your concern, Father,” she murmured in a low, slightly husky voice that reminded Guy of hickory smoke—and hot passion between fresh sheets.
God forgive him for the unholy thoughts that whirled about his fevered brain. He would wear a hair shirt when he did his self-imposed vigil in the chapel.
An impish smile curled the corners of her full cherry mouth. “And I do ride quite well — like the wind. Not very ladylike, they tell me.” As she turned toward the horses, the back of her hand brushed against his. He jumped as if he had been caressed by a burning brand.
“Oh!” Turning her wide eyes upon him once more, she lifted her hand to her mouth, as if she, too, had felt the fire.
Their glances locked for an eternal instant. Guy felt himself plummeting into an abyss. Her gaze spoke unvoiced poetry to his heart. He could not tear himself from her power until she blinked; then he turned quickly away.
A hair shirt, and twenty-four hours on the hard flagstones—and fasting. Yes, he must fast, as well, Guy decided as he watched the grizzled old retainer lift the girl into the saddle of her palfrey. Hitching up the trailing hem of his oversize robe, Guy followed after her down the road. Tonight, he would pray that she would ride out of his safely ordered life as quickty as possible.
As he watched her back sway rhythmically in the saddle, his mind wandered from his holy intent. “Lissa,” the aunt had called her. What sort of name was that?
Chapter Two
“’T is not often we have the opportunity to entertain such charming company as yourself, Lady Celeste.” Father Jocelyn Pollock, prior of Saint Hugh’s, wiped his fingers free of chicken grease on his rough linen napkin. Nor was it often that he dined so richly, and he wondered if his digestion would pay the price for this indulgence in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the opportunity to exercise his French. Brother Giles, acting as servitor, poured more wine into a simple pottery cup, which he offered to the lady.
“Merci, ” she murmured, her long, dark lashes fluttering like a butterfly on a midsummer’s day.
Father Jocelyn noted how the lady’s eyes sparkled in the candlelight, and he made a mental note to keep his novices and younger monks out of her sight. On second thought, he should keep most of his charges within the confines of the cloister, lest they be beguiled by this extraordinary creature. Already, in the space of an hour at supper, Lady Celeste had transformed solemn Brother Giles into a blushing, stammering schoolboy. Praise be to the entire heavenly host that the young woman had no idea of the power of her charms. Father Jocelyn sighed into his napkin. She would learn soon enough.
“’Tis most unfortunate that your aunt has suffered a fractured hip, as well as a broken leg,” Father Jocelyn continued. His unexpected guests presented him with a number of problems, the least of which was Lady Marguerite’s injuries.
“But she will recover, oui?” Placing her eating knife across her trencher, Lady Celeste raised her eyes in supplication.
The prior nodded. “Aye, my lady. She will be made whole again under the care of our gifted Brother Cuthbert.” Frowning slightly, he swirled the dregs of the wine in his cup. “However, ’tis out of the question for her to travel anywhere before Christmastide. At which time, it would be advisable for her to return to your home in France, where the weather is kinder to knitting bones.”
For a moment, Lady Celeste did not speak. Then she sighed. “I suspected as much, good Father. Indeed, I am hardly surprised. ’Tis merely one more misadventure we have suffered since... we left L’Étoile.”
Father Jocelyn crumbled the crust of his trencher between his thumb and forefinger. “There have been other accidents, my child?”
“Accidents?” Her dark brows arched to a point. Her lips curled into a half smile. “This entire journey has been one long accident, Father.”
The prior snapped his fingers to attract the attention of Brother Giles, who looked as if he had been kicked in the head by Daisy, the monastery’s infamous donkey. Coloring, the brother began to clear the board. Yes, Father Jocelyn decided, watching Brother Giles trip over the hem of his robe, he definitely must send the Lady Celeste on her way as soon as possible.
The prior cleared his throat. “Traveling is always difficult. I am surprised to find you accompanied by so few retainers, and so late in the year.”
The lady dabbed the corners of her lips with her napkin before answering. “It was not so in the beginning. We left my home in late August. My father provided me with my aunt as chaperon. I also had good Gaston, a dozen men-at-arms, my maid, Suzette...” Here, she faltered and bowed her head for a moment. Father Jocelyn had the distinct impression that the lady’s tale was not a pleasant one.
“There were also two wagons, and the drivers,” she continued in a soft throaty voice.
Father Jocelyn cocked one eyebrow. “Two wagons? Pray, go on, my lady.”
“All went well—in France.”
“Ah, ’twas the crossing of the Channel?” The prior had done that once himself, when he visited Italy in his youth. He had vowed if God would let him live through the experience, he would never leave England again.
“Oui!” Her eyes flashed. “We were all sick, even the poor horses. In truth, good Father, I prayed for death over and over as our ship pitched and dived among the waves. Is that not wicked of me?”
Father Jocelyn shook his head. “Understandable, given the circumstances.”
“It was over a week before we landed safely in a place called Bristol. I must confess that I fell to my knees and kissed the ground.”
“Also understandable.” Father Jocelyn had done the same thing upon his return to England.
“Pah! Had I known what was in store for us here, I would have turned right around and ordered that miserable boat back to France!”
Brother Giles tittered. The prior flashed him a scorching look. Father Jocelyn wished he could send the younger man back to the kitchen; however, the lady’s reputation, as well as the prior’s, required that a third party be present at all times. Who would have expected that sober-minded Giles would be reduced to a quivering mass of suet pudding by a smoky voice and a pair of violet eyes?
“Once our stomachs returned to their rightful places, we set out, going north toward Chester, I believe. I fear I am not acquainted with the English countryside.”
“No one would expect you to be,” interjected Brother Giles with feeling. Father Jocelyn glared at him.
“Oui! You have grasped the very kernel of the truth. Our party wandered over hill and dale, because it amused the common folk to misguide us—even when we paid them for their directions. I am sure we looked a fool’s progress as we turned in circles at their whim. Indeed, at one point we discovered we were headed in the opposite direction, when we found a milepost pointing back toward Bristol!”
“Surely there must have been