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“I heard you were killed.” Perrett allowed Allyn to refill his cup of mulled wine. “The rumors were flying!”

Hugh smiled grimly and took the cup Dewey offered. “De Montfort must have thought he’d had a stroke of luck.”

“Why is it luck if the battle goes well with Simon de Montfort and God’s grace if the battle goes well with you?” Edlyn asked.

Hugh shoved the cup under Edlyn’s nose. “Drink.”

As if she had a choice! He almost slopped the liquid down her chest to fill her mouth—and stop what it was saying. Well, if he didn’t like it, he could let her go.

“It’s hot!” she complained when he finally let her come up for breath.

“It’s likely to get hotter,” he warned in an undertone. To Perrett, he said, “My own dear lady wife cured me of that wound. I took that as a sign I should wed her.”

“A sign from God, of course?” Perrett asked smoothly.

Edlyn almost laughed. If Perrett was going to be amusing, she would be hard-pressed to dislike him.

“Of course.” Hugh must have felt her shudder of suppressed amusement, for his grip on her relaxed.

“How long will you be gone?” She hoped for an answer, that kind of solid reply on which she could depend.

De Montfort’s troops are in tatters, she imagined Hugh saying. All I’m going to do is chase them into the ocean.

She could almost hear it. I’ll be back before the new moon, he’d say. Don’t try to take all the responsibility for Roxford on yourself. Leave some for me.

Best of all—I couldn’t stay away from you. If I did, my step would falter and my eye would dim. Nay, Perrett, you must go to Prince Edward and tell him. Tell him I wish only to stay with my wife who has stolen my heart.

Instead he said, “We have to find the enemy first. Mayhap we will meet up with the prince and fight a battle with him. That battle will only last a day, but we must kill or capture de Montfort and his son. We’ll have to chase them as they retreat and engage them in another battle.”

He relished the thought, it was clear. His eyes twinkled, his smile, lavished on her so seldom, appeared and stayed.

Wharton slapped a loaf of bread on the table. “Then ye’ll free th’ king an’ then ye’ll have t’ go t’ court.” He shuddered. “I hate court.”

He would, Edlyn thought. No man could be more out of place than Hugh’s servant.

“Simon de Montfort has lost most of his support among the barons,” Perrett said.

“Then I’ll be back before the first snow flies.” Hugh leaned back with a sigh of what sounded like dejection.

Edlyn came off the bench so fast that his hand, when he reached for her, closed on nothing.

“Edlyn,” he yelled. “Come back right now!”

Edlyn didn’t want to cry. She wanted to beat on somebody. She wanted to go hide. She wanted to…to…cry. No instinct told her where to go. She hadn’t lived at Roxford long enough to seek refuge blindly. But she ran toward the stairs that led outside, heard Hugh’s steps behind her, and plunged instead up toward the solar. That bar on the door could be used to keep Hugh out as well as any intruders on marital privacy, and anyway, how hard would he try to get in? What he really wanted to do was talk battle strategy with Ralph Perrett, the royal weasel.

She darted up the stairs and hit the door with all her strength, then shoved it closed. She reached for the bar only to stumble back when Hugh smacked the door with all his strength.

He didn’t even notice when she sat down hard among the rushes. He just stomped over and stood above her. “What did you think you were doing down there? You broke every rule of hospitality.”

“Oh, hospitality.” She scooted back. “He doesn’t deserve my hospitality.”

“He’s a guest. Our first guest.” He paced away. “And my friend!”

Standing, she rubbed her sore rump and wondered what exactly she should say. The rules of hospitality were firm. With few inns, and those louse-ridden, and with men like Richard of Wiltshire on the road, the castle owners always opened their pantries and offered a place to sleep to the weary traveler. She knew the rules. She’d lived by the rules, even enjoyed the rules, for all her life. But being polite to Ralph Perrett had been more than she could do.

“Well?” Hugh tapped his foot.

For the first time, she realized why he got so irritated when she treated him like one of her sons. “I didn’t feel like welcoming Ralph Perrett.”