Alighting from the coach, Maxim paused a moment to let the cold air cool his mind. The guards were huddled near the campfire, talking and warming their hands, but when he reached up and swept Elise into his arms, he could feel the stares of the men come full weight upon them. Nicholas had made his claims upon the girl obvious to everyone, and it would not be long before word reached the captain of this encroachment.
Elise laid her arms about his neck, but when Maxim looked at her, her flitting gaze portrayed her shyness and a reluctance to meet his eyes. He could not blame her, for he had acted no better than that pompous oaf, Reland.
He trod through the rolling, motionless waves of white until he reached a still, silent clearing surrounded by a copse of evergreens. Only a light layer of snow covered the ground within the shelter of the trees. It was a place of peaceful enchantment, where green boughs glistened with a heavy frosting of white, where the snow squeaked beneath the feet, and where spirits soared as high as the birds that flew near the treetops.
Suddenly Maxim chuckled, feeling a need to lighten the moment, and whirled about in a circle, snatching Elise’s breath as he clasped his arms close about her. When he halted, she pressed her brow to his temple and, dizzy with delight, breathed out a plea. “Oh, please, my heart is spinning as fast as my head.”
“And thus I would have you swoon from my kisses, fair maid,” he murmured, turning his face to hers until their lips were nearly touching.
Unconsciously Elise threaded her fingers through the short-cropped hair that lay on his nape. “Are you so sure of your mastery over me, Maxim?”
“I’m certain of naught but your firm hold over me,” he avowed softly. “Would that you could feel the same.”
Elise felt the threat of blurted-out confessions and commitments that had not been thoroughly considered hovering near the tip of her tongue and spoke with more than a wee vein of truth. “Methinks I would do well to use caution when considering life with you, for I would be ever-fraught with the fear that you would whisk away another young maid to your palace far afield.” She chuckled. “There also looms a threat that you might be tempted to give Spence and Fitch the task of carting me off to some other foreign port to be rid of me. Should that ever happen, I vow to see you drawn and quartered ere my revenge be sated.”
“The deuce you say!” Maxim gave her a quick toss into the air, eliciting a gasp. When his arms closed about her again, his grinning face pressed close above her own. “Perhaps I should be wary of your intent?”
“As much as I should be wary of your purpose,” Elise rejoined. Once again feeling her defenses weakening, she pressed a hand to his chest and pushed herself away until she could look him squarely in the eye. “Now behave yourself, foul fellow, and my good behavior will stand. I would have a moment of privacy from you and all mankind.”
Maxim slowly grinned and jerked his head toward a thick growth of trees. “Might you consider that secluded spot sufficient for your needs, madam?”
“You are uncompromisingly bold and brash,” Else accused.
Maxim rubbed his nape against her soft fingertips as she unconsciously teased the curling ends of his hair. “I’ve naught to offer you but myself, fair maid,” he breathed warmly, touching her brow with his lips. “Flawed though I be, ‘tis all I have.”
An incredible warmth enveloped Elise’s heart as she searched his eyes and found a strange sincerity there. They stared at each other so long it seemed the world had ceased its motion. Then a shout from the camp echoed through the forest, shattering the spell.
“Maxim? Elise? Vhere are yu?”
Maxim let her legs slide beneath her until her feet reached the ground, and though her cloak, skirts, and petticoats were twisted askew, Elise became conscious of the presence of a booted knee between her own and, ever so boldly, a large hand sliding over her breast. She found no desire in herself to pull away, and Maxim battled his own mounting desires as he forced his hands downward to her narrow waist. Reluctantly he set her from him, and as she appeared somewhat befuddled, he bent and swept down her rumpled skirts until they swung free of his leg. Behind him he could hear Nicholas thrashing through the woods.
As if she were naught but a wooden doll incapable of her own movement, Maxim took Elise by the shoulders and, turning her about until she faced the thick growth of trees, gave her a gentle shove. “Go tend your needs, madam. We’ve been found out.”
Cooling his mind and his body, he watched her enter a thicket and then faced Nicholas as that one charged into view.
“There yu are!” the captain exclaimed, puffing from his swift advancement through the deep snow. It was obvious from his haste that he had been informed of their exit from the coach. He halted and glanced around in confusion when he realized the one he sought was not in sight. “But vhere is Elise? I thought yu vere together.”
Maxim indicated the lone tracks leading into the trees. “She’ll be back in a moment.”
Nicholas contemplated the small footprints, then twisted around to consider the pair of furrows opened through the drift, recognizing one as his own.
At his pointed stare, Maxim shrugged casually, hating to make an excuse, but knowing that any other declaration would have to come from Elise. “I could hardly leave the maid to struggle through the drifts by herself. She was reluctant to ruin her hem, and I offered her assistance.”
Feeling some annoyance at the other man’s boldness, Nicholas snatched the fur collar of his chamarre up close around his neck “I could have performed the service just as vell.”
“You were attending your own needs,” Maxim reminded him. “And the lady was in distress.”
The captain was hardly placated. “Yu needn’t vait for her. I can escort her back to the coach.”
“As you wish,” Maxim replied and swept his hand before him in a brief gesture of obeisance.
A piqued frown touched Nicholas’s brow as he stared after the man. The uncertainty of where he might now stand with Elise made him question his wisdom in asking Maxim to act as escort. He was not a fool to underestimate the magnetism of his lordship or the man’s attraction to women. It was just that he had sensed a great measure of security while the pair waged their battles and aired their complaints against each other. He had not even questioned the sincerity of their emotions, for they had good cause to hate each other, and he had certainly never expected a softening of their hearts.
Elise suffered a moment of disappointment when she returned and found Maxim gone and the Hansa captain awaiting her. She could find no solace for the sudden feeling of guilt that assailed her in his presence, and though she was reluctant to admit her love for Maxim, she knew she had to dissuade the captain from further involvement. She searched for the words that would gently sever whatever ties that had formed between them. Esteeming his friendship, she wanted to compose a rejection that was both tender and suitable, but she found nothing that seemed adequate, and for want of something better she gave comment on the weather. “It doesn’t seem to be snowing as much now.”
Nicholas peered upward into the hazy gloom and made his own conjecture. “It vill continue for a vhile longer, I think.” Tugging a glove more firmly over his hand, he lowered his gaze to her. “I’m here to carry yu back to the coach, vrouwelin.”
“Oh, but there’s no need, Captain,” Elise assured him hastily. She was reluctant to have him perform such a service for her, especially now when she was seeking to find a way to turn aside his affection. “I’m quite sound of limb.”
“I vould not see yu ruin yur gown in the snow,” Nicholas argued, advancing a step.
A soft rustling sound came from the growth of trees behind the captain, drawing their attention to the recently formed path, then a snuffling snort intruded into the stillness of the forest. Elise watched through the trees until she spied Maxim coming toward them leading the huge black steed, Eddy, behind him. When she saw him, she experienced a burgeoning relief that gave evidence of where her affection was solidly center
ed.
“The men are ready to leave,” Maxim announced as Nicholas met him with a sharply questioning stare. “They’re wondering whether to ride on ahead to patrol along the road or to stay with the coach. I believe they’re waiting for your direction.”
In some frustration Nicholas faced Elise. It was not the manner of a gentleman to seize a maid in a rush and carry her back to a camp full of men who would likely make much of the matter. After all, their curiosity had already been aroused by her rather noteworthy exit from the coach. Nor could he again press the advantage of being the only escort available when Maxim’s presence prevented such a claim. Thus he had to yield the day to his lordship when that one offered to take the girl back on Eddy.
“We’ll ride beside the coach for a space,” Maxim threw back over his shoulder as he lifted Elise to the back of the steed. A broad, flat saddle accommodated the pair of them as Maxim swung up behind her.
The animal flagged his tail and pranced sideways for a moment, making the captain retreat to a safe distance. Nicholas clamped a bridle on his growing irritation and kept his silence, realizing that any invitation for the maid to wait and ride with him would appear provoked by an overly possessive nature. Still, when Maxim tapped his heels against the steed’s flanks and set him into an easy canter, he was sorely tempted to act the outraged suitor, for the maid fell back against that sturdy frame and there she stayed within those encircling, protective arms as they rode back through the trees.
Maxim’s arm tightened about Elise, tucking her closer against him as he whispered close to her ear. “I was fraught with jealousy when I thought of another holding you close, even for such a service as carrying you back to the coach. I had to come back for you.”
Elise laid a hand upon his arm, tempted to confide in him that she had been much relieved that he had returned for her. “Nicholas has become a good friend. I would not see him hurt.”
“If you love him, Elise, then tell me, and I will go away.” Maxim’s voice rasped in her mind. “There needs be no word of explanation. But if what I sense is true and there is something growing between us, then a kind word spoken to him now is better than a belated apology. That, my dear, would lend the same effect as a full broadside from a large carrack upon a small cog.”
Chapter 17
THE RIVER TRAVE and the battlements laid out by Hansa burghers several centuries prior had made Lubeck an easily defended port. Before the walled city, the stout twin towers of Holsten Gate stood guard, its guns visible and ready to challenge whatever enemy would dare approach. Set beneath a sky inflamed by the lowering sun, the city gleamed like a multi-jeweled brooch, its steeply jutting rooftops and the lofty pinnacles of its churches reflecting the dwindling light and piercing the gloom with shards of radiant color.
“Lubeck! Unser aller Haupt!” Nicholas exclaimed as they approached the gates on horseback. “Head of us all! Queen of the Hansa!” He grinned at Elise who rode beside him on her mount. “She is a jewel, is she not, vrouwelin?”
“Truly,” Elise replied in much admiration and awe. Once past the Holstentor, Nicholas led the way through a confusing maze of streets and finally brought his troop to a halt before a large, timber-supported house. Inside the structure a young man pressed close to a lower window and peered out. A smile quickly broke upon his face as he caught sight of the approaching entourage, and he disappeared in an instant. Hardly a moment’s pause later, an upwelling of excited cries issued forth from the dwelling as the front door burst open to spill forth two women and the youth, all waving and calling out vociferous welcomes.
Nicholas slid from his mount and, spreading his arms wide, roared out a greeting. Rushing forward like excited children, the women gave glad cries and flung themselves into his embrace, while their young companion, of an age near, clapped the captain eagerly on the back. For a moment Nicholas seemed lost in a veritable tangle of reaching arms and clasping hands.
“Nicholas’s family appears to be as exuberant about life as he is,” Maxim observed with a chuckle as he lifted Elise from her mare. Setting the maid to her feet, he paused a moment to stare down at her as his eyes conveyed a volume of wondrous things. Though his outward manner was most decorous, she read the heat in his gaze, and it was like being hit with a full volley. An invading weakness began in the pit of her belly and spread like quicksilver through her veins. On its heels was born an exciting warmth that embraced her whole being. If she wanted to, a wayward thought slyly tempted, she could call him into her bed and have done with these childish pangs that left her hungering for something more. He could teach her all there was to know about . . .
Elise mentally shook herself, amazed at where her thoughts were leading her. With such suggestions flowing into her mind, she would be hard-pressed to resist his arguments. Her defenses would crumble like towers of sand, and passion would be allowed to range where it would.
Curbing what seemed to be a rather ribald wandering of her imagination, Elise took a secure hold of the arm he offered and strangely felt a growing ease with his nearness. When she remembered that Arabella had rejected the manly favor of this one for wedlock with a boorish clod, she could only wonder if the woman was made of stone.
“Arabella was a fool,” she breathed, hardly aware that she had spoken.
“Madam?” Maxim frowned at her in dubious wonder. “Whatever brings Arabella to your mind?”
Elise released a soft, quavery sigh. “I doubt if you would really understand, my lord. ‘Twould take a woman to fully fathom my thoughts.”
“You’re being most elusive,” he accused with a grin.
“ ‘Tis the way of women, my lord.” She cast a sidelong glance at him as her mouth curved upward. “ ‘Tis our only defense.”
“I’ll probably never know what goes on in that fine and lovely head of yours.” His hungering eyes caressed her face, prompting a blush to rise to her cheeks before she carefully lowered her gaze. His words came to her as a whisper. “Perhaps you do not completely share what I feel toward you . . .”—then his voice deepened as he continued—“but I can teach you many things . . .”
Elise’s head snapped up in surprise. He had penetrated so deftly into the pattern of her own musings, she was pricked by a sudden fear that he could read her mind. It was an immense relief to her when a young, fair-haired woman, of about a score or so years, separated herself from the welcoming party and approached Maxim with an exuberant smile.
“You must be Lord Seymour,” she greeted in crisp, fluent English. “Nicholas has told me so much about you I’ve been most anxious to meet you. I’m his cousin, Katarina Hamilton . . .” She paused and, giving a quick shake of her head, laughed as she corrected herself. “Actually, our mothers were very distant cousins, which makes us”—she chuckled again as if the
thought delighted her—“barely even kin.”
Maxim responded debonairly, showing a fine leg as he swept into a courtly bow. “The pleasure is mine, Fraulein Hamilton, I assure you.”
“And this must be Elise,” Katarina surmised, assessing the beauty of the younger woman. Though it gave her heart little ease, she could clearly see why the captain had become infatuated with the maid. “Nicholas wrote and said he would be bringing you here for a visit. Did you have an enjoyable journey?”
“Quite enjoyable, thank you,” Elise responded graciously, realizing her moment of panic was safely behind her, at least for the present. “I’m much relieved to be able to converse with someone. I was afraid I’d not be able to understand a single word that was spoken.”
“It must be difficult living in a foreign country when you’ve no knowledge of the language, but you seem to have fared well. You’ve obviously been well-protected by Nicholas and Lord Seymour.”
“Once upon a time I was sure I was watched too closely,” Elise quipped as she tossed Maxim an accusative glance. He inclined his head briefly to acknowledge her genteel barb, but Katarina frowned, somewhat bemused by the remark, and Elise rushed on to forestall
any inquiry by presenting one of her own. “But how is it that you speak English so well?”
“My father was an Englishman who chose to remain here after he married my mother,” Katarina readily explained. “My brother, Justin, and I were little more than children when my mother died, and when my father passed on much later, Nicholas’s mother took us in and treated us as her very own.” She lifted her slender shoulders in a casual gesture. “It has been dreadfully boresome since Nicholas left. I must confess I’ve been most envious of you.”
“Of me?” It was Elise’s turn to be bewildered. “How so?”
“Why, to be surrounded by so many handsome men has to be the fantasy of every maiden in the world. I’d leave Lubeck in a moment had I such an escort, but as you see, I’m naught but an aging spinster.”
“Katarina! Vhat vill Lord Seymour t’ink of yu?” The plunipish, white-haired woman who had greeted Nicholas came forward on his arm. Claiming Maxim’s gaze, she slashed her hand back and forth as if to erase all that the younger woman had said. “Nein! Nein! Yu must not take to heart Katarina’s vords, mein Herr. She know not vhat she say.”
“Oh, but Katarina has alvays spoken her mind quite vell,” Nicholas interjected, his eyes glowing with humor.
“And yu!” The ancient jerked on his sleeve as she scolded, “Shame on yu for encouraging her! Yu put ideas in her head effer since her poor Vater vas killed and she come to liff vit’ us. If yu vere not my son, I vould bar yu from t’is house!”
Justin was eager to join ranks in teasing the elder. “Ja, if not for Cousin Nicholas, Katarina and I would be a pair of blessed saints. He fills our heads with such wild notions, we cannot help ourselves.”
“Bah!” the old woman scoffed. “The two of yu haff no need for ot’ers to put vayvard t’oughts in yur heads, Justin Hamilton. Yu make t’em vell enuff on yur own.”
Justin grinned as he reached out to gently tweak the elder’s nose. “You shall ever be our conscience, Tante Therese, especially since your eyes throw sparks when you’re angry!”
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