Read Online Lady Isobel's Champion by Carol Townend - Free Book Online Page A

took that relic will be looking out for you.’
    ‘He won’t see me. I will be discreet.’
    Lucien snorted. ‘I doubt you know the meaning of the word. Isobel, I forbid you to attend. I won’t have time to watch out for you.’
    ‘But, my lord—’
    ‘Isobel, I do not wish you to attend. Do I make myself clear?’
    Isobel heard obduracy in his voice, but she had met male obduracy before and knew what to do. She dealt with it in the way that she dealt with it when encountering it in her father. ‘Yes, my lord,’ she said, giving him a limpid look. ‘Perfectly clear.’
    * * *
    Sister Christine met her at the convent gate. ‘Lady Isobel, what were you thinking, tearing out into the town like that?’
    With a bow and a thin smile, Lucien turned on his heel. The gate clanged shut and he was lost to sight. I hope he sends for me soon. Isobel had seen enough of the inside of a convent for one lifetime, and even the company of an obdurate man was preferable to a life lived behind convent walls.
    The nun’s silver cross was bright against her dark habit. ‘My lady, I should warn you, the Abbess is most displeased.’
    Isobel bit her lip—she liked Sister Christine, and it wasn’t pleasant to realise that she had caused her trouble. ‘Sister, please don’t tell me you have been waiting here all this time?’
    ‘Of course—I had to miss Office.’
    ‘Oh, Sister, I am truly sorry.’
    Sister Christine tucked her hands into the sleeves of her habit. ‘You were out a long time; I cannot think what you were doing.’
    Isobel opened her mouth to explain that Lucien had been with her every moment, but the nun shook her head. ‘Don’t tell me, tell Reverend Mother.’ She gestured towards the Abbey church. ‘You will find her in the Lady Chapel.’
    Swallowing down a sigh, Isobel went into the church, pausing by the wooden screen that separated the Lady Chapel from the nave. The Abbess was sweeping up damaged fragments of stone, along with Elise and a couple of novices, and when she noticed Isobel, she thrust her broom at a novice.
    ‘Lady Isobel, I realise you were shocked at the loss of the relic, but you went into the town without your cloak. Without a maid. What were you thinking?’
    ‘I am sorry, Reverend Mother, there was no time to fetch my cloak. And Count Lucien did act as my escort.’
    ‘Apparently, you ran off at such a pace, you did not wait to see whether the Count had followed you or not. It is your good fortune that he did, although I am sure he must have been appalled by such unseemliness. Lady Isobel, you must learn to curb these impulses, and comport yourself with decorum. You cannot forget your status for a moment. Soon you will be the Countess d’Aveyron—you should not be running about Troyes like an unruly child. And most certainly you should not rely on Lord d’Aveyron to chase after you and see you safe.’ Her nostrils flared. ‘I trust you are unharmed.’
    ‘I am.’
    ‘Praise be. You are fortunate that Count Lucien is an honourable man. A less scrupulous one might have seized the opportunity to take advantage of you.’
    Isobel stared at the cross on the Abbess’s breast . What would she say if she knew we followed the thief into a brothel? What would she say if she knew that Lucien—this honourable man—had seized on the chance to kiss me? In public. In the Black Boar.
    Isobel caught Elise’s sympathetic gaze on her and resisted sending her a smile. Abbess Ursula was treating her like a naughty child, but she refused to be cowed. As the Abbess had said, she would soon be the Countess d’Aveyron.
    ‘Reverend Mother, I ran from church because I saw the thief. I hoped to catch him.’ The words tumbled out. ‘He was lurking by the north door—stuffing something into his pouch. I swear it was the Limoges reliquary—I saw blue enamel, gold—’
    ‘Be that as it may, it is not your concern. You should not have run out in so unladylike a manner.’ Abbess Ursula turned to