“Then you must simply keep me engaged in conversation.”
He sighed. “I fear I have spoiled you.” But he gamely talked to her about the training of the men and other household activities that had occurred during her illness.
When Matilde checked on the high table for the third time, Isabel called the older woman to her side. “Everyone is enjoying the meal. Please rest and find someplace to enjoy it yourself,” she said severely. Matilde opened her mouth to protest but Isabel stopped her and spoke in a softer tone, “Promise me.”
“As you wish.” Matilde gave a stiff curtsy before she headed toward the lower tables.
“You should be kinder to her, my lady. You had her so worried,” Captain Thomas said after Matilde left.
Before Isabel had a chance to respond to his admonishments, Alexandre’s shadow fell over her. “What did you say to Matilde? She seemed upset,” he said in French.
She had spoken sharply to Matilde out of concern, not anger. No doubt Alexandre misunderstood the exchange since he had no understanding of English. “I bid her to eat something. There are more than enough servants to administer the meal. She makes more work for herself than is required.”
Isabel turned toward Captain Thomas, but Alexandre drew her back with a warm hand on her elbow. “I also wonder why you speak with Captain Thomas so long.”
She bit down on her lip, reminding herself to remain civil. “He is my father’s advisor. There is much to discuss.” She thought she made it clear she was not interested in speaking with him. Captain Thomas’s words came back to her. This was her fault since she made all his men sit elsewhere. She would not feel sorry for him. He could not expect her to be happy to have him as a guest.
“Why is he not with your father?”
“At the time, Captain Thomas was of better service here.” Tired of Alexandre’s probing questions, she tried to recapture Captain Thomas’s attention, but he was suddenly in deep conversation with the man sitting next to him.
“Surely you would have been of better service here as well,” Alexandre said, his voice impossibly close to her ear. Isabel stiffened. Captain Thomas saw her predicament and laughed. Alexandre leaned toward her once more. “What is so amusing?”
She faced him and was startled at how close he was. So close she could not concentrate on his face—just pieces of it. The small scar on his chin, his strong nose, his blue eyes… His gaze darkened, daring her to ignore him again.
She cleared her throat. “If you are so interested, why do you not ask him yourself?”
“You know very well I cannot.”
“Indeed?” Isabel smiled very sweetly at him before turning to Captain Thomas and asking him in French, “Would you please tell this Norman oaf what it is you find so amusing?”
Captain Thomas looked from Isabel to the puzzled Alexandre. Isabel nodded for him to speak. “The lady does not like you,” he said simply to the knight in serviceable French. “And I have no desire to be caught between the two of you, as she well knows.”
Isabel tried to hide her amusement as the Norman processed Captain Thomas’s words. Alexandre tightened his hold on his eating dagger and sudden tenseness squared his shoulders.
The knight sent her a sharp look but nonetheless feigned his good-natured reply. “That may be true, but she has the whole trip to London to know me.” She nearly scoffed at his proprietary tone.
Captain Thomas laughed and said with a shrug, “As you say, lad. As you say,” before he resumed his conversation with his neighbor.
People were finishing up with their meals. Isabel hardly touched her trencher, having long lost her appetite. She took a last sip of wine before she made her excuses. She was almost out of the hall, when she heard someone behind her. Alexandre, no doubt.
She refused to slow her pace or give any indication she knew he followed her. Their little trick had probably upset him. However, it had been a wise decision for Captain Thomas to command everyone to speak only English in her absence, and she refused to apologize for it.
She entered the hallway, readying herself for the coming argument. He would tell her how disappointed he was. She would explain how—
A hand grabbed her uninjured arm. Alexandre pulled her back and forced her against the wall. Her breath left her in a rush.
He put a calloused hand against her mouth and held her effortlessly immobile. Talking seemed like the last thing he wanted to do. He was angry. She saw the tightness in his jaw, the flash in his startling blue eyes. He wanted to hurt her, she realized, but he was too honorable to do so.
They stood there, scowling at one another, until a lute player began a cheerful tune in the main hall. Alexandre finally removed his hand from her mouth.
“Release me at once, you dog,” she said without heat. She did not bother to struggle or scream in protest. She would not give him the satisfaction. Nor did she want to risk injuring her arm again.
“I would speak with you first, my lady. And calling me names will not distract me from getting answers.” He cocked his head and looked at her for a long moment. “You know, you are cleverer than I originally thought.”
“You will forgive me if I do not thank you for the compliment.”
The arrogance of the man! She held herself as far away from him as she could, but still his taut, muscular body pressed into her. An inviting heat emanated from him. She tried to concentrate on the stone wall behind her and the way it dug into her body. It was no use.
All at once, the danger of Alexandre d’Évreux became astonishingly clear. How could such a hateful man have this effect on her?
* * * *
Lady Isabel looked down at his hands holding her in place before she met his gaze. “At least this time you have not hurt my injury,” she said, not bothering to hide a sneer.
Alex felt a brief stab of guilt but pushed it aside. “A terrible accident, my lady. You already have my apologies.” The girl frowned when he did not lessen his hold on her. So she would play games with him? He swallowed the blind anger rearing up inside him once more. He leaned into her face, holding her gaze. “You know I mean you no harm. Why can you not trust me? With all of your secrets?”
Isabel sniffed and twisted away from him. “What secrets? I have told you all you need to know.”
“But not what I want to know. Why did you forbid your servants to speak with us?”
“I gave no such order.”
Alex growled and squeezed her harder. “My patience grows thin, my lady.”
She faced him this time, eyes dark with anger. “I most assuredly did not give that command. If you remember, I was not here to do so.”
His grip on her lessened slightly. “Ah, yes. I still find it hard to believe you would willingly leave the safety of your home to fight the Welsh.”
“I told you we were following up reports of raids,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Yes, but why did you feel the need to be involved? Surely you could rely on your men to handle the situation.”
Her mouth worked silently before she found her voice. “In my father’s absence it falls to me to see to the safety of our lands. How could I stay behind and order my men into danger?”
“Because you are a woman, with no business being in battle.”
She scowled. “Then you are a bigger fool than I thought. If I had not provided cover with my arrows, we might not have taken the day.”
Jesú! What kind of woman had William promised him? One who would not cower at his greater strength and would boast