To Seduce a Sinner (Legend of the Four Soldiers #2)(45)

And still, his mind furiously worked as he sat, planning his next assault against the fortress of her soul. Perhaps this was a kind of madness, for he was as fascinated by her as if she were a magical fairy come to lure him into another world.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, her voice dropping into his thoughts like a pebble into a pond.

“I’m wondering if you’re a fairy,” he replied.

Her eyebrows arched delicately upward. “You’re bamming me.”

“Alas, no, my heart.”

She looked at him, her light brown eyes unfathomable. Then her gaze lowered to his hand. He’d wrapped a handkerchief around the bite as soon as they’d entered the carriage.

She bit her lip. “Does it still hurt?”

He shook his head, even though his hand had begun to throb. “Not at all, I assure you.”

She still frowned down at his hand. “I should like Mr. Pynch to bandage it properly when we return. Dog bites can be ugly. Do make sure he washes it properly, please.”

“As you wish.”

She looked out the window and clasped her hands tightly together in her lap. “I’m so sorry Mouse bit you.”

“Has he ever done it to you?”

She stared at him, puzzled.

“Has the dog ever bitten you, my lady wife?” If the animal had, Jasper would have it put down.

Her eyes widened. “No. Oh, no. Mouse is terribly affectionate with me. In fact, he’s never bitten anyone else at all.”

Jasper smiled wryly. “Then I suppose I should be honored to be the Kredghtfirst.”

“What will you do with him?”

“Merely let him stew for a bit.”

Her face was once again expressionless. He knew how much the mongrel meant to her; she’d all but confessed that it was her only friend in the world.

He shifted on the seat. “Where did you get him?”

She was quiet so long that he thought she might not answer.

Then she sighed. “He was one of a litter of puppies found in my brother’s stables. The head groom wanted them drowned—he said they already had enough ratters about. He’d put the puppies into a sack while a stable boy went to fetch a bucket of water. I came into the stable yard just as the puppies escaped the sack. They scattered and all the men were running about and yelling, trying to catch the poor things. Mouse ran to me and immediately caught the hem of my dress between his teeth.”

“So you saved him,” Jasper said.

She shrugged. “It seemed the thing to do. I’m afraid Harold was not best pleased.”

No, he doubted her stodgy brother would’ve been happy with a mongrel in his house. But Melisande would’ve ignored any complaints and simply done as she pleased, and poor Harold would’ve had to eventually give up. Jasper was learning that his wife was almost terrifyingly determined when she set her mind to something.

“We’re here,” she murmured.

He looked up to find they were drawn up in front of his town house.

“I’ll have the footman bring Mouse inside.” He caught her gaze to impress upon her his inflexibility in this matter. “Don’t let him out or touch him until I say you may.”

She nodded, her face as serene and regal as a queen. Then she turned and descended the carriage without waiting for his help. She walked to the town house steps and climbed them unhurriedly. Her head was erect, her shoulders level, and her back straight. Jasper found that back oddly provoking.

He frowned, cursed under his breath, and followed in his wife’s wake. He may’ve won that round, but in some ways he felt as if he’d been ignominiously routed.

Chapter Nine

Princess Surcease stood high on the battlements of the castle and watched as her suitors arrived below. Beside her was Jack the Fool. She’d become quite fond of him, and he accompanied her everywhere. He stood now on an overturned piece of masonry, the better to see over the wall, since he was only half her height.

“Ah, me!” sighed the princess.

“What troubles you, o fair and gusty maid?” Jack asked.

“Oh, Foo Nckql, I wish my father would let me choose a husband of my own liking,” the princess said. “But that will never happen, will it?”

“More likely that a fool marry a beautiful princess royal,” Jack replied. . . .

—from LAUGHING JACK

Mouse was barking.

Melisande winced as Suchlike set a pin in her hair. The sound was muffled, true, because it came from three floors below. Vale’d had the dog locked in a little stone storage room off the cellar. Mouse had begun barking shortly after he’d been locked in. Probably when he realized that he wasn’t going to be let out again right away. Since that time—late this morning—he’d barked steadily. It was evening now. Once in a while, he’d stop as if listening for a rescue, but when none came, he’d start up again. And each time the barking seemed louder than before.

“Loud little dog, isn’t he?” Suchlike said. She didn’t sound particularly put out by the racket.

Maybe the household wasn’t as affected as Melisande thought. “He’s never been locked up before.”

“Do him good, then.” Suchlike set another pin and then stepped back to eye her handiwork critically. “Mr. Pynch says he’ll go stark raving mad soon.”