Lords of the Kingdom

by Le Veque, Kathryn

  He took her ungloved hand and squeezed it. The warmth of his fingers curled deliciously around her cold hands. However did he manage to smolder like fire with the cool wind now blowing? “Time spent with you, Lady Madelaine, will not be wasted.”

  Lord help her, she wasn’t sure if he was trying to seduce her or not, but how easy it would be to fall prey to him if he was. She shouldn’t take up his offer of help. The sensible thing to do would be to politely decline. But what if he was interested in her for more than seduction? Heavens! She was just as bad as the other ladies-in-waiting who thought they would be the one to win Lord Grey’s heart. Yet if someone could win it, why not her?

  “Shall we look together?” she asked, trying her hand at boldness. The cool blue of his eyes warmed instantly as a grin lit his face.

  “Together sounds perfect.” He offered her his arm.

  Madelaine slipped her arm into the crook of his, but she couldn’t quite settle on where she should rest her fingers. To clutch his upper arm would be too bold. She wouldn’t mind a bit seeing if he was built as powerfully as she was imagining. She could link her own hands together. That would be uncomfortable. Before she could decide what to do, he placed her hand over his. More butterflies assaulted her stomach.

  “You two go to the tea house where the walk started and search there again,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll start here, and we can meet back in the middle at the lake. And don’t worry—” she continued, cutting off Madelaine voicing the impropriety of being alone with Lord Grey. “Her Majesty cannot disapprove. We are in the open, for heaven’s sake. I can see the tea house from here, so it’s not as if you’re alone.”

  Madelaine nodded and held onto Lord Grey’s arm as they started down the hill. There was nothing weak about him, as far as she could tell. His arm could have been crafted of steel. He could easily be a soldier. Curiosity made her speak. “Why did you choose to be an equerry rather than a soldier?”

  He paused and gave her a strange look. “I did not choose it. My father told me I was going to be an equerry and that was the end of the discussion.”

  “You don’t seem a man to be told what to do.”

  He laughed. “I’m not.”

  “But here you are doing as your father has commanded.”

  “Only because I planned to be the worst equerry ever. I had every intention of bending my father to my will eventually.”

  “I don’t understand. You speak as if you’ve changed your mind.”

  His eyebrows raised a fraction. “I’ve decided being an equerry may be more adventurous than I previously thought.”

  “Really?” Madelaine startled when he took her hand again and started back down the hill. “It’s hard to imagine that watching over some preening lord’s horses could be that adventurous.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  She had no idea how to interpret his statement. It seemed to her he wasn’t being truthful. Yet why would he lie? Maybe he wanted to impress her. The thought both excited and worried her.

  What was she thinking? He surely could care less about impressing her. If the most beautiful and accomplished women at Court had failed to win his heart, then she certainly had no hope with her oddness. “Lord Grey—” She paused in her step. “—I—” Blast. A searing flush covered her face and neck. “I don’t want to mislead you with my agreement to let you look for the queen’s ring with me. I want your help, but I still don’t wish to be seduced.”

  “That’s good.” He twined his fingers with hers for a second before releasing her hand and looking straight at her. “I don’t wish to seduce you anymore.”

  “Why not?” Her blush grew hotter. “Is it because I lack feminine accomplishments?”

  When he threw back his head and laughed, embarrassment swirled in her belly. Blast him! She hated being laughed at. Everyone was always laughing at odd Lady Madelaine. She straightened her shoulders and forced herself to look him in the eyes. “There is no need to laugh at me.”

  “I’m not laughing at you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m laughing at the absurdity of the situation.”

  “You find me absurd?” She barely knew the man and already he stirred her ire. Of course, she knew better than anyone that igniting her temper was no hard task.

  “No.” His smile vanished and his eyes became serious. “I find you refreshing, beautiful and honest. It’s because you lack normal feminine accomplishments that I want to get to know you. I’m afraid I’ve been too long living a life of debauchery, but I’ve recently discovered I would very much like to change.”

  She wanted to believe him, but really did the man think her a fool? Did he think she’d forgotten his earlier attempt to get her to meet him in the stables for a rendezvous? “When did you have this epiphany? Five minutes ago?”

  “No.” He raised her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across the back of her hand. The beat of her heart echoed in her ears. “I knew I wanted to change my wicked ways the moment you told me you wanted a husband and not a seduction.”

  His words made staying mad out of the question. A pleasant warmth settled low in her belly. “So you expect me to believe you decided to change your ways just because of meeting me and learning I don’t desire to be seduced?”

  “Certainly not. That would be foolish of you. I recently found myself unleashed by former self-imposed chains of stupidity. And I find I am no longer driven to do certain things.”

  That foolish part of her that had always hoped her mother had been wrong and someone might find a woman who was different refreshing felt flattered that he truly seemed interested in her and curious as to what exactly had altered in his life to make him want to change. “I don’t understand.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t expect you would. Might I ask you to indulge me? Let me prove to you I only want honorable things from you.”

  “Only honorable things? You’re sure?” It was hard to believe it was possible, but she wanted to believe. She wanted her mother to have been wrong.

  He nodded. “I’d also like to kiss you, but I don’t consider that dishonorable. And I won’t ask yet.”

  “You won’t?” Her lips tingled at the thought of his mouth pressed against hers.

  “No. Not yet.” He ran a finger down her cheek. She had the overwhelming desire to lean into his touch, but he pulled away. “Not until I am sure you don’t think I’m merely still trying to seduce you.”

  With her blood roaring in her ears and her heart pounding, saying she believed him so his lips would find hers was on the tip of her tongue. But before she could speak, he took her hand. “Come on. The sun will go down in the next few hours and finding the ring will become much harder.”

  She nodded and followed him silently down the hill. It wasn’t until they were at the very bottom that she realized she had not once glanced down to look for the queen’s ring.

  Chapter Nine

  “Look there.” Lord Grey pointed to the ground before tugging Madelaine down beside him. “Do you see that?”

  “I see grass. Is that what I’m supposed to see?”

  “No. Really look.” He rested his hand at her nape and cradled it. She tried to study the blades, but it was hard to concentrate with Lord Grey’s warm fingers against her skin and his body so close to hers. She abandoned the ground and focused on listening to the hiss of his breath. Gads. She had to do better than this. Doubling her efforts, she focused all her attention on the grass. What was different? What did he see? She sucked in a surprised breath. “Some of the blades are mashed.”

  “Bravo!” He lightly squeezed her neck before his hand fell away. Moving lower, so that his face almost laid against the ground, he traced an outline repeatedly. “This is a man’s tracks.”

  Madelaine scrambled lower until she was once again side-by-side with him. “How do you know?”

  “Look at your slippers.”

  She immediately obliged.

  “There are two ways I can tell. One, wo
men have much smaller feet than men.”

  “Not all women,” Madelaine said. “My father’s cook hails from German stock, and her feet, like the rest of her body, are enormous.”

  Lord Grey chuckled. “All right. Most women have feet that are smaller than men. Satisfied?”

  “Yes.” But she was more than satisfied. She was happy. Being here with him made her feel carefree. The realization came as a shock. She hadn’t been happy since the day she came to Court.

  “Lady Madelaine, might I ask another favor of you?”

  The blue of his eyes had darkened as he spoke. And his voice had become husky. She didn’t think she had the power to deny him anything in this moment. So, she nodded.

  “When we are alone, will you call me Grey?”

  A rushing sound filled her ears, making her blink. She took a calming breath and said, “Yes. And you may call me Madelaine.”

  “Madelaine.”

  The way her name rolled seductively off his tongue made gooseflesh raise on her arms. “Lord Grey—”

  “Grey,” he corrected.

  “Grey.” A strange tension was mounting within her. As if something coiled inside her body and one touch of Grey’s lips to hers would make the coil release. She had to get them back on track. “What is the other way you can tell that these footprints are a man’s?”

  “They’re deeper than a woman’s would be because men are heavier.” He grinned. “Except for German women, that is.”

  An irrepressible smile tugged at her lips. Grey was not only handsome, but he was funny and smart. No wonder he’d never had a bit of trouble finding women who wanted his attention. She could imagine the pleasure a seduction by him would bring. A dull ache, unlike anything she had ever felt before pulsed within her.

  She curled her fingers into the grass. Pleasure from a seduction would be temporary. She needed to remember that fact, and the reality that Grey may say he did not want to seduce her, but she still needed to be careful. He knew no other way to woo a woman than to his bed, and she was apparently as vulnerable as every other harebrained lady when it came to him.

  She sprang to her feet and shook the wrinkles out of her dress. He stood in one fluid motion and reached toward her. Her muscles tensed. Was he going to kiss her? Pull her against his chest? Wrap his arms around her and—good grief. She had to get control of her imagination. He plucked something from her hair, and then held it up between them. “I was just getting the grass out of your hair.”

  “Yes, of course.” A hot blush warmed her cheeks.

  He chuckled. “You can stop worrying.”

  “I’m not worried.”

  “You looked worried. In fact, with your eyes rounded you looked much like a fox being hunted. I swear I’m not trying to seduce you.”

  “Perhaps claiming that is your ploy to reel me in.” Gads. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. But he had her confused and unsure. He had her wanting to believe someone liked her, oddness and all.

  He frowned. “What must I do to prove I’m a man of my word?”

  Should she be coy? Lie? No. If they were to really know each other and have a true chance, she had to be truthful. She prayed she wasn’t being utterly foolish. Her mother had always told her she’d need to hide what she liked if she truly couldn’t change, and here she was still not doing what her mother had said. “We must be friends before we can be anything else.”

  “I want that. I vow I do.”

  His words were so earnest that she believed him. God help her, she did. Nothing would be worse than falling for Grey only to be humiliated if he proved himself false. The hell she had previously endured at Court would seem a dream when compared to the nightmare Grace would undoubtedly put her through if she ever learned Madelaine had been so foolishly stupid. She would take the chance though. “All right. I promise to take you for your word unless you prove that you take me for a fool.”

  He leaned closer, his pupils dilating. “I take you for many things, Madelaine, but a fool is not one of them.” His husky voice made her melt inside.

  “You’re doing it again.” Her voice was trembling.

  “Doing what?” His tone was like a caress.

  “Sounding seductive,” she said with a racing heart.

  He grinned. “It must be my natural sound. I’m afraid you’ll just have to live with it.”

  She laughed. “I bet you were a handful as a child.”

  “I was indeed. I’ll tell you some stories eventually. Come.” He waved his hand toward the east side of the lake. “You ladies walked this way, correct?”

  “That’s very impressive.” She trailed him. “Maybe you’ll get to use your tracking skills when you’re an equerry to find a rogue horse.”

  He turned and gave her the same strange look he had when they’d spoken earlier on the subject of his being an equerry. “That’s odd,” he said.

  Was he talking about what she’d said? Her stomach twisted into knots as self-doubt flooded her. Wait a second. He wasn’t even looking at her. She stared across the great park and breathed slowly. She needed to try to have more confidence, but it was so hard. “What’s odd?”

  “There.” He pointed toward the grotto that lay across the wide expanse of grass and trees.

  For a moment, she saw nothing, and then a flash of red caught her attention. “That’s the upstairs chambermaid! What on earth—?”

  A man emerged from the grotto. She didn’t know him. And if she’d ever seen him she would have remembered. The burn scars that covered the right side of his face were visible, even from this distance. She shuddered. As if sensing her stare, he pulled a dark hood down. Grey chuckled before speaking. “Now I see what the chambermaid is up to. Do you know that man?”

  Madelaine glanced behind her at Grey’s face. His eyes were narrowed on the couple.

  She’d grown up sheltered, but she’d learned many shocking things since coming to court. Still… Her curiosity couldn’t be denied. “Grey, do you mean to say she—with him—there in the cave? She wouldn’t.”

  “I beg to differ. I’m sure she shares a room with another servant, which means she’s restricted in where she can accept companionship. I’ve met the woman. She’s got a healthy appetite. And if the man she’s with is also sharing a room and it is currently occupied…” He shrugged.

  “You bedded her.” Gads. She’d not meant it to come out so irritated and accusing. She had no right to be angry. It was none of her business who Grey had slept with.

  “Not me. I swear.”

  His blunt denial and the foolishly hopeful part of her that wanted to trust him overcame her sensible side, and she decided to believe him.

  “Do you recognize the man?” Grey asked.

  Madelaine squinted into the distance. “No, but they’re so far. Did you see the scars on his face?”

  Grey nodded. “He dresses oddly.”

  “Perhaps he’s from the village.”

  “Perhaps.” Grey’s brow furrowed. “I wouldn’t have thought her to be a woman to give herself to a commoner though. She seemed rather scheming when I met her.”

  Madelaine was dying to know exactly where Grey had met her, but they stood in silence as the chambermaid and her companion disappeared toward the castle. Once they were gone from sight, Grey swaggered ahead. She pressed her lips together on her curiosity. If he didn’t want to offer explanations, she had no right to ask. She had to double her steps to keep up with his long strides, but falling slightly behind had definite benefits. His breeches hugged his derriere and powerful thighs and his morning coat displayed his broad shoulders rather nicely. She was so busy staring at him that she forgot to watch where she was going and stubbed her toe on a broken tree branch. She bit down on her lip to avoid crying out, but she must have made some noise because Grey stopped.

  “What’s the matter?”

  There was no point in lying. Besides, she was a terrible liar. She tended to stammer when she lied. “I stubbed my toe.”

  �
��Weren’t you watching where you walked?”

  “Oh yes.” Half embarrassed and half irritated, she smirked. “I was indeed. I saw a rock and thought to myself ‘I’ll walk right into that to see if it hurts.’”

  “Beautiful and sharp-witted. I like that.” He winked and continued with his swaggering.

  The scoundrel! He knew she’d been staring at him. Grey stooped down at the edge of the lake under the same tree the queen had stopped to rest under. “You paused here?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “The flattened footsteps lead here in a pattern that shows someone was walking, but here they become jumbled together and unless you were all walking into each other, you had to have stopped.” He looked around and stood before walking to the tree the queen had sat under. “Did Queen Charlotte rest here?”

  “Yes. We put a stool there for her. Oh! And she took her gloves off here!” Madelaine rushed over to where Grey was bent over. He reached down and came up with the queen’s ring grasped in his fingers. The ruby stone shined in the sunlight. “You found it!” Overcome with gratitude, she threw herself into his arms.

  The force of her collision sent their bodies swaying backwards toward the tree, and for a breath, she thought they would fall in a tangle of arms and legs. Grey’s grunt rumbled in her ear as his solid arms encircled her waist and pulled her firm and tight against a wall of hard muscle. He righted them but made no move to release her.

  Embarrassment heated her as she stared at his chest. “I’m sorry. I was overcome with excitement. Thank you.” Too mortified by her impulsive actions to look at him, she tried to pull away, but his arms tightened like bands of steel around her waist.

  She glanced up.

  Amusement danced and flickered in his gaze, and pleasure tipped up the corners of his mouth. “If you don’t want me to have thoughts of seducing you, then you cannot go throwing yourself into my arms. You’re quite simply irresistible.”

  The world around her grew quiet and murky, and then one thought crystallized. He thought her irresistible. She was the oddball. The lady who did not fit in. She had to say something and cease staring like a simpleton. “You’re irresistible too.” Gads! What a stupid silly thing to say.