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who believed she was worthy of his protection. The reminder that he did not completely believe in her innocence helped calm her. As deeply grateful as she was for his help, that irritated her.
    â€œMy family believed that DeVeau was an excellent match, gaining our family both power and wealth,” she said quietly. “I must believe that such things are also of importance in a marriage arrangement in Scotland.”
    â€œAye,” he admitted reluctantly.
    â€œIt is often difficult to make people believe that something is terribly wrong with what they all thought was so perfect. And, to be fair to my family, they are not strange in their belief that a man has the right to discipline his wife. I suspect that not all men, or women, in Scotland believe as you do.”
    â€œNay, but what DeVeau did to you wasnae discipline, ’twas torture.”
    â€œBut my family only had my word on that. Is the rabbit cooked now?”
    Nigel grinned. “Ye end a discussion with little subtlety, lass.”
    She returned his smile and shrugged. “I find talk of my family’s betrayal and lack of trust very uncomfortable.”
    â€œWeel, fill your belly with this fine meat. They say a full stomach can cure many an ill.”
    â€œAnd they sound most wise.” She laughed softly as he lifted one spitted rabbit from the fire and gently waved it back and forth to cool it. “If you drop that in the dirt one of us is going to go hungry.”
    He laughed and handed her the rabbit, taking the second one for himself. Gisele did not think she had ever tasted anything so good, or eaten with such a complete lack of delicacy before. She found it both sad and amusing that sitting in the wood with a man she barely knew, tearing at a cooked rabbit like a savage, could make her feel so alive. Gisele began to wonder if she had been alone and running for her life for too long. It had finally given her a fever of the brain.
    Too full to eat any more, Gisele went to where their saddlepacks were, carefully wrapped what was left of her meat, and tucked it in the pack with the rest of their food. She washed her hands and face with a small amount of water, then returned to sit by the fire. Suddenly, she was very tired, and she hastily raised her hand to hide a huge yawn.
    â€œI feel the same, lass,” Nigel said as he wiped his face and hands with a dampened scrap of cloth. “’Tis best if we seek our beds now. I will stand watch if ye wish to slip into the shadows for a moment.”
    Gisele hoped that the darkness hid her blushes as she nodded and slipped away. She was finding the lack of privacy hard to endure, although she was not sure why. Privacy had become a rare privilege since she had fled her husband’s lands. She had thought that she had become accustomed to the loss. Somehow, being with Nigel had made her painfully aware of it again.
    When she returned to the fire Nigel slipped away, and Gisele lectured herself yet again on her foolishness. He had no privacy, either, and it had to be difficult for him as well, although she suspected that men were less troubled by such a thing. It was time, she decided, to stop thinking about herself so much and try to consider Nigel a little more. He had freely offered his protection, but she doubted he had fully considered all of the complications that could arise while racing across France with a woman. She swore that she would try to stop thinking of how hard it was for her, and try to make it easier for him.
    The moment Nigel returned he collected their bedding. Gisele quickly took hers from him and laid it out herself. She ignored his smile when he saw that she had made her bed across the fire from him. If he chose to think she was simply enforcing a distance between them, that was fine with her. Soon he would see that she intended to do her share of the work now, not to just sit around and wait to be cared for.
    Nigel banked the fire, yanked off his boots, and