Free A Knight Of Her Dreams (Knights of Passion) by Evie North

 
    A KNIGHT OF HER DREAMS
    (KNIGHTS OF PASSION)
     
     
    1151AD
     
    Lady Rowena closed her eyes in the hot, swaying litter that was carrying her home. Her days at the London royal court had been hectic and it was always nice to see friends, but now she felt rather low. That was because Rowena had loved Lord Wulfrich for what seemed forever and now, finally, it was over. Wolf had found another woman to love, one who obviously loved him, and Rowena must relinquish any hope she’d had in that direction.
    Why did she hold on to her flight of fancy for so long? In her heart she’d always known he was not for her and yet still she’d hoped. Nights spent dreaming of her life with him, days longing for a smile, a glance, a word from him to show he cared.
    Pathetic.
    Rowena shook her head in disgust, capturing the attention of her maid, Nell. For a moment the girl watched her, narrow eyed, before turning back to the curtains that protected them from the dust and the weather, but trapped the heat inside with them. Nell had made a little hole in the heavy cloth and when she put her eye to it she could watch the soldiers of the guard riding by.
    There were times when Rowena wished she was more like Nell. The maid was content with her lot. She laughed when she was happy and cried when she was sad, and when she saw a man she admired then she thought nothing of sharing her bed with him. “Because who knows if I may live to see another day,” was her reply, when Rowena spoke to her about the possible consequences of being so free and easy with her favours.
    Rowena expected Nell thought her cold and unfeeling, perhaps even unable to feel! But it wasn’t true. Rowena’s upbringing had been full of rigid rules and frigid distance, and with very little love, and now she was wed to a much older man who was unable, or unwilling, to bed her. She was lonely and untouched, a beautiful woman with no prospect of being loved unless she found herself a lover.
    Well, her most recent p ossibility had preferred to love someone else, and the odd thing was she wasn’t all that heartbroken—had she loved him truly after all? Or had she loved the idea and not the man?
    “Lady, you don ’t need to be miserable.”
    Rowena turned to her maid, and saw that Nell had given up watching the men at arms go by and now had her attention focussed entirely on her mistress.
    “Don’t I, Nell?”
    “ Of course you don’t. Have you thought on what I said when we left home for the court, my lady?”
    “What was that, Nell?” Rowena said pleasantly.
    “For me to find you a man for the night, lady. One glorious night of love. I reckon that would do you for a while.”
    Rowena knew colour was staining her cheeks. Now she remembered that Nell had spoken some nonsense about Rowena needing a man and Nell planning to find just the man she needed. Rowena had played along, bored with her own company and the pretence that she was content with her lot. But she hadn’t meant it. Such a thing was impossible, and she opened her mouth to say so.
    “I found one,” Nell said matter of factly, before Rowena could utter a word. Her dark blue eyes grew wide and she saw the echoing sparkle in the maid’s dark eyes.
    “ What do you mean you found one ?”
    “A man. The perfect lover for you, my lady. One glorious night, remember?”
    I won’t ask, Rowena told herself firmly. I just won’t ask! But it seemed that her mouth had other ideas. “Who is this man, Nell?”
    Nell grinned, unrepentant. “Oh no, my lady, no telling. You’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll bring him to you tonight to get acquainted.”
    “You will do no such thing!” she gasped. And then once again, as if her blasted tongue had a life of its own, “Do you mean he is here , riding with us? Now? This man? He is out there somewhere?” She waved her hand vaguely at the curtains that surrounded their litter.
    Nell nodded. “Aye, that’s right. And he’s not the sort to blab and boast, my