Page 21 of One Knight
It was a conversation Henry hadn’t intended to have with her yet, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“Can we not stay a few days and return together?”
Henry turned to face her. “Come with me.”
He held out his hand and waited for her to take it. Once hers was within his, he closed his grip and drew her into the garden the monks kept.
Henry sat on the stone bench. “Sit with me,” he said.
Elisande sat beside him. He hadn’t lied when he said she was beautiful. From the first moment he’d seen her face in the solarium, he had been awestruck by her beauty and his luck.
“My orders from the king were to secure the manor and its lands.”
“And you have.”
“Not until we return.” He turned her hand over in his. “If I could give you rest here and proper time to recover, I would. But I cannot. Three days,Elisande. Give me three days more, and you can rest.”
“And what of Hilda?”
“I will arrange an armed escort to bring her and Brother Benedict to the manor when she has recovered.”
“And Alger?”
Henry’s teeth clamped together at the man’s name upon her lips. “He is no longer your concern.”
“But I have known him since?—”
“No longer your concern,” he repeated.
“Sir Henry?—”
“He is a Saxon who fancies himself in love with my wife. He gets to keep his life, as long as it is away from you.”
Lady Elisande did not like his answer, he could tell.
“He helped me. With Hilda?—”
“And he gets to ride away, in any direction he chooses. You cannot ask more of me than that, Lady Elisande. It would not be wise to do so. Do we have an understanding?”
“Your generosity has exceptions, it seems.”
Henry couldn’t help but smile. “You took vows before God, binding yourself to me until death.ThatI take seriously, my lady. You are beyond his reach. I think I am being generous by letting him live, knowing he would gladly have fled with you and kept you for his own.” Henry paused. “Besides, if you are honest with yourself, you feel nothing but friendship for that man.”
Elisande looked surprised by his pronouncement. “How do you know?”
“You don’t look at him the way you look at me. Especially when I’m naked and you think I cannot see.”
She sucked in a breath as her mouth dropped open, and Henry’s smile grew wider.
“How dare you,” she whispered.
“Speak the truth? You and I both know it. There is no reason to deny it. As you told the monk, you believe I will make a fine husband.”
Her hackles were up, and he had an idea of what would shift her mood.
He had not kissed her in front of the priest. He had removed his gloves for the ceremony to hold her hands. With his bare hand, he cupped her cheek.
“You were right, my lady. For you, I will make a fine husband.” He stroked his thumb across her lips. “Let me kiss you to seal my vow.”
