Free Becket's Last Stand by Kasey Michaels Page B

was surprised. Oh, I know he was surprised. But then, just for an instant, you know, he seemed to…he seemed to soften toward me, as if he didn't really mind all that much. That's when he got angry!"
     
     
"Angry with himself," Eleanor concluded, nodding her head as if this made perfect sense to her. "Poor, poor Courtland. He loves you so much, and has always loved you. What a surprise it must be to him that this love has been slowly shifting from the avuncular to the…ah…never mind. Do you know what I think? I think you should ignore him, Cassandra, just for a few days. Let him think you're upset at his reaction to your kiss."
     
     
"Well, I most certainly am not happy about his reaction. But what good will that do?"
     
     
"I can't be sure, but I think it might make him begin to reconsider your association. The baby he helped care for hasn't been a baby for a long time. He may need, however, to be introduced to the adult Cassandra. Because they're two different people, aren't they?"
     
     
"Sometimes," Cassandra admitted, sighing, for if nothing else, she knew her own faults. "Sometimes I still act like an idiot child. Chasing after him, teasing him, driving him to distraction— all the things he's always told me I do."
     
     
"Then don't do them anymore. It's that simple. He is accustomed to reacting to the way you act— behave, that is. But, if you no longer behave as he has come to expect, then he will also have to change his own behavior and conclusions as they concern you. That only makes sense, doesn't it? It could, actually, be rather delicious to watch. While I'm stuck up here, drat it all."
     
     
Poor Eleanor. Cassandra decided she'd suffered enough. "Let me comb your hair. It's all tangled in the back, from lying against those pillows."
     
     
"Oh, I suppose so," Eleanor said, sitting up. "Jack must think I've got birds nesting in my hair at times. But aren't I keeping you from something?"
     
     
"Not a bit of it," Cassandra said, grabbing the brush from the dressing table and climbing back up on the bed, kneeling behind her sister. "I can't think of anything more enjoyable than spending time here with you."
     
     
"Which explains why you're pulling my hair out of my head— ouch!"
     
     
"Sorry," Cassandra mumbled, trying not to giggle. But she'd talked so long with Eleanor that she'd lost track of time, and Jack would be coming into the bedchamber at any moment, while Mariah kept Odette occupied checking on young William Henry's supposed putrid throat. "Oh, see how pretty you look now? Let me get you that bed jacket over there, and put it around your shoulders. I think I feel a chill."
     
     
"Cassandra," Eleanor said sternly as her sister dashed away, running back with the lace-edged bed jacket, " what are you doing? And don't tell me you invited everyone in here to my prison to entertain me, because I'm in no mood to be cheered by a gaggle of people who can come and go as they please while I'm stuck here like some— Jack? I thought you were all meeting over at The Last Voyage to decide who next goes out on maneuvers with the Respite. "
     
     
"Yes, I imagine you do think that, since that's what I told you," her husband said, smiling at Cassandra.
     
     
He'd changed his clothes since she'd last seen him, and his dark blond hair was still damp from his bath. Jack always had a rather lean yet rugged look about him, riding out on the Marsh daily, his skin darkly tanned, making the laugh lines around his mouth and eyes stand out in relief when he smiled. He looked dangerous, while Eleanor looked the Compleat Lady. And they loved each other very much. "Thank you, she looks beautiful. Not that you aren't always beautiful, darling, so don't go pulling a face at me. Now, are you ready to go downstairs?"
     
     
"Down— Downstairs?" Eleanor shook her head, looking incredulous. "What did you all do, lock Odette in the cellars? She won't let me leave this bed."
     
     
"What Odette doesn't know