Free My Lady's Guardian by Gayle Callen Page B

just a woman he was being paid to help; just an ancient oath he had sworn to a dead man.
    He heard a sudden muffled clatter in the hall and he froze, listening. It wasn't repeated.
    He crossed his room and opened the door to find the corridor dark, silent, empty. He walked toward Margery's bedchamber, three rooms down from his, put his ear against the door, and listened. He heard the faintest movement inside.
    Could someone be with her?
    Just before he touched the door latch, he heard the sound of booted feet echoing through the hall. He swore softly. It must be the patrol he'd had Desmond assign.
    As two men rounded the corner, Gareth nodded to them and stepped into the garderobe. Perhaps they'd think he just didn't like to use a chamberpot.
    The moment they passed, he burst into Margery's room.
    Chapter 7
    Margery felt sluggish, weary, as she changed into her nightclothes. She lit candles on the bed tables and mantel, hoping the cheery light would help. The fire crackled its warmth as she sank down amid the cushions scattered on the carpet.
    Her head ached in dull waves. Tomorrow all her noble young visitors would arrive. Only six months ago, before her infatuation with Peter, she would have been thrilled to be the object of so much attention, to have her choice of husband. Now all she felt was discouraged. She would have to be polite yet keep her distance, wondering which of the men would be desperate enough to try to force her hand in marriage. She felt as if she had long since lost any control over her own fate. She had to come up with a solution.
    The door was suddenly flung open, and Margery came up on her knees in shock to see Gareth Beaumont wielding a dagger, an angry scowl distorting his face. He slammed the door shut and gazed about the chamber. With a gasp, she scrambled to her feet, pulling her dressing gown tighter.
    "Gareth, what—"
    "I heard something in the hall," he said, moving farther into the room. "Did someone come in here?"
    "No."
    He checked behind the draperies and under the bed. He obviously didn't think her word was enough. When he approached her near the fireplace, she folded her arms below her chest and glared at him.
    "Did you think I was hiding someone?" she demanded.
    He slid the dagger back into his belt. "I could not be certain you were answering of your own free will."
    She relented with a sigh, but continued to eye him warily. "I suppose I can understand that. Thank you for your diligence."
    She waited for him to leave, but instead he studied the room, especially the cushions heaped before the fire.
    "Your bedchamber is.. .frilly," he finally said.
    She didn't take it as a compliment. "And you've never been in a woman's chamber before?"
    He arched a brow. "I didn't say that."
    "Oh, of course not." She raised both hands. "How dare I encroach upon your manliness?"
    Gareth scowled. "By the saints, what are you talking about?"
    "Nothing understandable, obviously." She slumped into a chair before the fire. "Never mind. A good evening to you."
    He didn't leave. They were alone in her bedchamber, in the silence of the night. She should force him out the door—but she didn't. She had behaved like this before, and it had brought her nothing but trouble, yet once again she couldn't stop herself. She sat with her eyes half-closed and let herself feel the dangerous thrill of not knowing what he would do next.
    He sat down in the chair beside her, and Margery held her breath. She noticed the width of his legs, the muscles that sloped and curved. As he stared into the fire, she studied his lips and the curve of his cheek. His blond hair fell forward, and she felt the urge to tuck it back.
    Gareth felt like a fool. There had been no intruder, no reason for him to burst in on Margery.
    There was nothing he wanted to say to her. So why had he sat down?
    It could only be his physical attraction to her— and that angered him all the more. Yes, she was beautiful, with long dark hair that tumbled about her