Free A Knight to Remember by Christina Dodd Page A

being watched. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and she heard the crack of a branch beneath a man’s shoe. When she’d run into Wharton, bloody from skinning the rabbit, she’d been daunted until she recognized him. Then she’d been embarrassed, and he had enjoyed that.
    Still, he had denied following her, and she was left with the fear of having been someone’s prey. After that, she had kept a stout oak walking stick close by her side.
    She stood. Why was she worried about an imaginary presence? She had two big worries of her own.
    She started toward the door when a drop of water struck her cheek. Looking up, she sighed in disgust and relief. Disgust that she had to bring the trefoil in again. Relief that the rain would set the new plants she’d placed in the garden.
    She gathered the blossoms and walked back toward the door. As long as Hugh de Florisoun lived in her dispensary, she would have no peace.
    He scarcely waited until she crossed the threshold before he said, “I mean for you to come, too.”
    “What are you talking about?” She feared she knew, and she dumped the cloth of blossoms onto the table before she gave in to temptation and threw them at him.
    “I’ll foster your sons, and you will live with us.”
    She had trouble catching her breath. “ Live with you?”
    “I will be good to you, Edlyn.”
    “Good to me.” She tapped her foot, irritated and insulted.
    “I’ll need a woman to tend the house, and you know how to do that, and right well, too.” He dredged up a charming smile—clearly he was used to getting his way. “You’d like that better than this task of digging plants out of the dirt and having to boil decoctions for strangers.” He spoke matter-of-factly, as if he knew what she liked and what she didn’t.
    “I would?”
    “Of course you would,” he said confidently. “Edlyn”—he held out his hand, palm up—“you and I would be an invincible couple.”
    “A couple of what?”
    His hand dropped and his brows lowered. “A married couple.”
    Panic hit her, twisting her stomach, making her want to retch. “Married?”
    A tinge of irritation colored his tone. “What did you think I meant?”
    “Not married, that’s certain.” Never married. Never again.
    His voice rose. “You thought I would propose you stay with me as my mistress while your sons looked on? You thought I would take advantage of your lower status to dishonor you with a suggestion of impropriety?”
    She subdued the panic and let irritation sweep her along. “In the past, I have not been impressed with any man’s integrity in the face of a woman’s misfortune.”
    In a surge of fury, he rose to his feet. “I am Hugh de Florisoun. I am the living embodiment of chivalry!”
    “Sure you are.” It gave her great satisfaction to layer her words with derision. At the same time, she hustled toward him and wrapped her arm around his. “Now lie down before you start bleeding.”
    “You doubt me?”
    His knees began to shake, and she answeredhastily, “I don’t doubt your honor, Hugh. Now let me help you to lie down.”
    “I offered you marriage in all seriousness and in solemn belief in the justice of my suit”—he sank to the floor, dragging her with him—“and you mock me?”
    She eased him around until his rump touched the mat. “’Twas my mistake. I have seen men who live by the code of chivalry.” She guided him back toward that hated pillow. “But not for a long, long time.”
    She had her arms around his shoulders, one hand supporting his head, just as if he were a baby—or a lover. She should have grasped the simple truth—that he hadn’t lived so long or prospered so well by not seizing opportunity when it manifested itself.
    In a tone heavy with sensuality, he whispered her name. “Edlyn.”
    When she looked down and caught the expression on his face, she knew she was in trouble. She had presented herself on a platter.
    Should she drop him and run? Or should she tend to