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She didn’t tell any of those things, but Lady Corliss sensed them anyway.

When she finished, Lady Corliss leaned forward, folded her hands on the table before her, and asked Hugh, “Why did you do these things to discredit Lady Edlyn?”

“I had no wish to discredit Lady Edlyn,” he said with evident sincerity. “I only wish to marry her. She is alone. She needs a man to protect her.”

Edlyn snorted. “Now there’s nonsense if I ever heard it! I grew up as the chattel of first my father, then my husbands. See the protection they’ve given me.”

Hugh took her hand in his before she realized his intention. “I will not fail you.”

She jerked and twisted her wrist, trying to get free. “Only when I was forced to fend for myself did I find any security. A security which you have destroyed, I might add!”

He let go of her wrist, and she looked down at the mark his grip had left and rubbed it. Only out of the corner of her eye did she see him stand, and even then she didn’t expect him to scoop her up into his arms. She squawked and flapped. “What are you…?”

Sitting down in her chair, he settled her in his lap. He clasped his arms around her waist and held her firmly when she tried to leap to her feet. In that firm, measured tone that so annoyed her, he said, “I will not allow you to escape me, nor will I let you hurt yourself trying.”

She tried to elbow him, and he moved her so her back rested against his chest. Grabbing each of her wrists in his opposite hand, he pulled them tight so they were wrapped around her own waist.

“We’ll sit still now,” he said.

Her legs dangled. She kicked at him, but her soft leather slippers made no impression, and he retaliated with a sharp nip on the shoulder. With a cry, she tried to swing around, but he held her helpless.

“Sit still,” he reiterated.

Sit still? On his lap? With her legs resting one on each of his and her rear nestled against his crotch? “I don’t have any intention of making you that happy.” She tried to wiggle down but succeeded only in moving so she slumped on her spine. His hands, with her wrists still trapped, rested tight under her breasts. She felt stupid and squirmed up again. He helped her, adjusting himself and pulling her close into the same position she’d been in before. Now, however, his lap had developed an uncomfortable bump—long, hard, and impossible to ignore. “Just let me go,” she muttered.

“I don’t ever intend to let you go.” His breath caressed her neck as he spoke. “But most certainly not now. The sight that would be revealed is not proper for a nun’s eyes.”

Edlyn froze. Lady Corliss. She’d been so involved with wrestling with Hugh, she’d forgotten about Lady Corliss. She’d forgotten about dignity, she’d forgotten about anything but the need to get away from Hugh before he made her want to stay. Her eyes burned with embarrassment as she looked across the table and saw the abbess observing her in the same manner she utilized when observing a patient. Trying to salvage the situation, Edlyn said, “See how ill he treats me?”

“Well, Lady Edlyn.” Lady Corliss smiled faintly. “Your lips are swollen, and you have a most becoming color in your face.” She rose. “You will let me pray for an answer to this dilemma.”

She moved no farther than the window that overlooked the square, but she withdrew so completely into prayer she left Edlyn and Hugh alone.

Edlyn had seen Lady Corliss pray before. She was familiar with the warmth of holiness that permeated the air, the fragrance of joy, and the sense of blessed peace. Hugh was not, and he watched keenly as the abbess communicated with God. The result of that prayer, Edlyn knew, would be final, and Edlyn prayed, too. Prayed in a frantic jumble for freedom and for assistance.

But when Lady Corliss moved away from the window, she didn’t go to her seat again, as Edlyn expected. She came right to Edlyn. Extracting Edlyn’s hands from Hugh’s grip, she held them firmly and Edlyn’s hopes plunged.

In the tender tone of a mother speaking to her daughter, Lady Corliss said, “I believe that this lord is the answer I have prayed for.”

“He is not!” Edlyn’s objection was instinctive and accompanied by an attempt to stand—an attempt Hugh easily thwarted.

“Protesting against God’s will does not make it less God’s will.” Lady Corliss seldom rebuked, giving this chiding all the more weight. “I believe it is God’s will that you wed this man.”

Forgetting where she sat, Edlyn slumped, then straightened again when he rubbed her back.

“Then the Lord remains at my side.” Hugh chuckled, well pleased. “I pray to the Lord He continue to hold me in His favor.”

His complacency sat ill with Lady Corliss, and she looked straight at him. “God does not take sides, Lord Hugh. He does what is best for us, His children. And I cannot approve of the manner in which you have wooed this gentle lady.”

Beneath her, Edlyn felt Hugh’s whole body reject Lady Corliss’s admonition.

Lady Corliss continued. “Such reckless disregard for her reputation and her peace of mind speaks ill of the man who would keep her as his life’s mate. Once damaged, a reputation is not easily repaired, and the fragile trust Lady Edlyn might have shared with you, Lord Hugh, lies shattered at your feet. It is up to you to mend both, for you, with your disregard for the conventions of courtship and kindness, have broken them.”

Edlyn could tell he didn’t like that. He didn’t like any of it. Probably what he really hated was that a woman reproved him; he surely didn’t care whether he’d destroyed Edlyn’s reputation and her trust. He just wanted his own way and got it by any means he could.

“Nevertheless, Abbot John is prepared to call the banns. They’ll be called three—”

Hugh interrupted. “I don’t have time for banns.”