Forbidden: Claude (Second in Command #2)(9)

“Felix, hurry to the great hall and find my sister. Tell her I will give her the present now,” Claude commanded.

“Aye, my lord. Right away,” Felix answered. Then he looked over to Evelina and winked, holding a finger to his lips. She giggled again as he ran off to the great hall.

Watching him go, she paid little attention to where she was walking and crashed right into someone. Putting out her hands to steady herself, she looked up to find she was touching Sir Claude’s chest. His arms wrapped around her and he glanced down at her with partially hooded eyes.

“Sir Claude! I didn’t see you,” she said, stepping back and straightening her gown.

“You are not very trained in your duties, Nursemaid.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him.

“You giggle at silly compliments and are not even aware where you are going.”

“I didn’t think Felix’s compliments were silly at all. And it wasn’t the compliments that made me giggle. I am sorry I crashed into you, but the last I knew you were headed for the great hall.”

“Well, I changed my mind as well as my direction. Does that bother you?”

“Nay, my lord. It just surprises me that a man can’t make up his mind. After all, that is more of a trait of a . . . girl.” She giggled again and stepped around Claude, hurrying to catch up to Lady Rose.





Chapter 3





“Thank you for my doll, Claude.” Charlotte reached up and kissed her brother, holding tightly to the rag doll he had given her for her birthday. It was dressed in a velvet gown that looked like a lady’s. It even had a golden cloth crown sewn to its yarn-covered head.

“Please, everyone be seated as the meal is about to begin,” announced Conlin, lord of the castle. Claude looked up to the very crowded dais table. There was an empty seat next to Rose, and she was waving him over. Toft sat at her other side.

“You’d better hurry, my lord. They want to start the meal,” Felix told him.

Claude groaned inwardly. He didn’t want to sit next to Rose because it was too much to bear.

“I would rather sit below the salt right now,” mumbled Claude.

“Ah, I see,” said Felix. “Too hard sitting on one side of Lady Rose while her husband is on the other?”

“Something like that.” Claude dragged a hand through his hair wondering why he had ever come back to England after all. How was he going to endure the fact that Rose wanted him at her side every minute of the day?

“You can always sit down here with me,” offered Felix. “I’ll be eating with the nursemaid, Evelina.” He nodded toward the table.

Evelina sat on the bench, not talking to anyone. The children of the nobles were all up at the dais with their families and she had nothing to do. She didn’t seem to have any friends, either.

“What did you say to her earlier?” he asked.

“To Evelina?” asked Felix.

“Yes, Evelina. Tell me what you said that made her laugh.”

“I was just rambling on, my lord. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what I said.”

“She commented on me changing my mind.” His eyes drilled into her although she didn’t know he was watching. She daintily broke off a small piece of bread, dipped it in her soup and brought it to her mouth. Then she proceeded to take a little square of cloth from her pocket and dab at the corners of her mouth. Odd, that a commoner acted so refined.

“Really? What did she say?” asked Felix.

“She compared my indecision to . . . to that of a . . . girl.”

“Oh,” said his squire, swallowing hard. “Perhaps I rambled on too much about your earlier years. I’m sorry, my lord.”

“God’s eyes, please don’t tell me you told her that everyone used to think I was a girl?”

“Well, not exactly everyone. But I might have mentioned that your father thought so.”

“What is the matter with you, Squire? I told you that in confidence. If I wanted the world to know, I would have had the herald shout it from the battlements. When I went back to France, I thought I left those and other memories behind.”

“She looked lonely and I wanted to make conversation.”

“Well, couldn’t you have talked about the weather instead?”

Felix made a face and shrugged his shoulders. “She asked about you, my lord. I only thought it polite to answer.”

“She asked about me?” Claude tore his eyes away from the girl and stared down at his squire. “What did she want to know?”

“It’s hard to remember.” The squire’s eyes roamed over to Evelina. When Claude glanced back to her, she was smiling at Felix and waggling her fingers in the air. Felix smiled and waved back to her.

“Then think harder,” Claude growled. “I want to know what she said about me.”

“I believe she mentioned you looked uncomfortable. I told her that was only because you were around Lady Rose and used to be in love with her.”

“You didn’t.” Claude squeezed his eyes closed, feeling things going from bad to worse.

“It’s not as if everyone doesn’t already know you are still in love with Lady Rose.”

Claude’s eyes popped open. “What do you mean? I’m not still in love with her. That is in the past.”