Free Falling for Her Captor by Elisabeth Hobbes Page B

Duncan said, wielding the name like a whip, ‘I’ve known you for over twenty years. I know why you owe him your loyalty. But listen to an older and wiser friend for once. In just two years Stephen has nearly ruined the province with his reckless decisions. How much longer will you let him act this way?’ Duncan asked the question quietly.
    ‘I guard the interests of the province as best as I can—you know that. I am bound by my vows and I’ll do what I always have: try to counsel him wisely and temper his impulses.’
    Duncan looked at him for what seemed like eternity before he spoke. ‘He’s getting worse, isn’t he? Stephen may be Duke, but the people would follow you willingly and you know it.’
    ‘Are you suggesting treason?’ Hugh glared at the old soldier.
    Duncan pursed his lips and shrugged. He shook the reins and the carthorse redoubled its efforts.
    Moodily Hugh wondered what his life would be when he was no longer of use to the Duke. Would he share the fate of many of Rufus’s old advisors and find his end with a knife in the back? He sat hunched over, brooding on Duncan’s words, his mood worsening by the minute.
    They rounded a bend to discover the horses standing patiently, where a knot of trees began to thicken into forest. Aline stood on a low bough, throwing down greengages to Jack, who caught them in his saddlebag.
    ‘I thought you might like some fruit, sir,’ he called to Hugh.
    He reached up to Aline, who was now standing on the lower branch. She jumped down into his waiting arms and the boy caught her round the waist to steady her. The sight of her in Jack’s arms hit Hugh like a punch to the stomach.
    ‘We’ll stop for ten minutes. Water the horses,’ he instructed Jack curtly.
    He climbed down from the seat and held out his good arm to Aline. She hesitated briefly before accepting, and together they walked into the forest. Hugh bit his lip, racking his brains as to how to warn Aline of the threats she might face. He rejected his words four or five times before he began to speak.
    ‘Lady Aline, I want you to understand how sorry I am for my part in this business. You saved my life; I don’t believe I have thanked you properly for that. I am in your debt.’
    Aline said nothing but continued walking, her pace steady. When she spoke her voice was so low Hugh had to strain to hear.
    ‘Then set me free. Say I escaped, or that you never found me.’
    That scenario had crossed Hugh’s mind so many times that to hear it from Aline brought home the treachery it implied. He dropped her arm and rounded on her crossly. ‘Do I seem so dishonourable a man that you think I would break my oath just on a whim? Would you be so quick to betray
your
province, my lady?’
    Aline recoiled as though he had slapped her. She broke away from him and stumbled back towards the cart.
    ‘Aline! Stop—please!’
    She leaned against the trunk of a tree as though to steady her legs. Hugh desperately fought the urge to pull her into his arms. Instead he took her hands in his, resisting her attempts to pull free.
    ‘Please,’ he repeated.
    Aline stopped struggling but Hugh kept hold of her hands. He brushed his thumb lightly across her knuckles.
    ‘You know I cannot do that,’ he explained, his voice softer now. ‘I have made promises I am honour-bound to keep, and for ill or good I must do my duty. I swear, though, I will protect you as much as I am able. I offer you…’
    Aline looked up at him with such an intense expression in her grey eyes that Hugh’s heart began to race. For one moment he thought she might kiss him. If she did he would be lost.
    He looked away. ‘I offer you my friendship,’ he finished.
    Aline’s eyes clouded. Wordlessly she twisted free and pushed past him. She stalked back to the cart, ignoring the mug of ale Duncan held out, and climbed inside, pulling the curtains closed behind her. The guards looked at Hugh, but he held his hand up to forestall their