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Matlock.”
    Madeline swallowed and snapped straight as
Aubrey presented her to the haughty woman.
    “Matlock?” Lady Wyndham raised a thin eyebrow
and tilted her head back to look even further down her nose. “I
know the Matlock girls but I have never met you.”
    Madeline stiffened and met the woman’s eyes
with serenity. “I have been away at the Abbey of St. Mary in
Coventry.”
    A smirk twitched at the corner of Lady
Wyndham’s wide mouth. “Oh, that Matlock girl.” Her glance turned
mocking. “You’re the girl that had to be pulled out of our
well.”
    Madeline fought not to wither under the
comment. “That was twelve years ago. I was seven.”
    “Yes, your sister is a friend of mine. She
told me something about your father dragging you off the roof where
you’d hidden after that incident and beating you silly.” Madeline
could do nothing but stand there and swallow her pride as the woman
spoke to her like she was still a wild and willful child who
deserved what she got. “I didn’t think they ever let your sort out
of convents once you’d been shipped off.”
    Her cheeks stung pink with anger and shame.
“The Countess has invited me to stay with her.”
    “Madeline is my best friend,” Aubrey
confirmed with a smile designed to flatten Lady Wyndham.
    “It’s a good thing that she has friends,”
Lady Wyndham smirked and turned her back on Madeline and Aubrey,
facing Crispin. “My lord,” she made a bare curtsy before launching
into a complaint, “I find it most distressing that our party would
be attacked on the road through the Derbywood while on our way to
the castle. Really, these outlaws are completely out of hand.”
    “Every effort is being made to control the
problem,” Crispin growled at being addressed like an errant
schoolboy.
    “Is it?” Lady Wyndham pursed her lips. “We
shall see about that. My husband has the ear of many important
ministers in London who would-”
    “Good for him.” Crispin nodded once to her
then stormed off as he asked Aubrey, “A drink?”
    Aubrey didn’t hear him. She was too busy
looking down into the Great Hall, a wide smile lit her face.
“There!” She grabbed Madeline’s arm and steered her to the edge of
the balcony.
    Jack swept into the room below dressed in a
fine tunic with a huge grin on his face. Madeline’s heart soared
into her throat for half a second of joy before plummeting into the
pit of her stomach. The woman from the courtyard was hanging off
his arm. She glowed as she strode into the room. Every eye turned
towards her and she stood straight and tall, smiling back.
    “This was a terrible mistake,” Madeline
sighed, pulling away from Aubrey and the balcony.
    “Oh no you don’t!” Aubrey stopped her from
fleeing. “You’re not going anywhere until we find out what this is
all about. Jack!”
    Madeline’s heart dropped like a rock into her
stomach as Aubrey shouted. The assembly of nobles turned their
attention away from the beautiful woman and onto Aubrey as she
waved to Jack. Madeline had no time to worry about the garishness
of the gesture. Her eyes met Jack’s.
    His jaw went slack in surprise and his eyes
flew wide. “Oy! MP!” he shouted, face flushed, bursting with
laughter. He dropped the beautiful woman’s arm and pushed through
the confused nobles, mounting the stairs to the gallery two at a
time.
    A heartbeat later he was there, in the
gallery, face to face with her.
    “Jack!” she exclaimed as he ran to her and
pulled her into his arms and off her feet. He spun her around,
laughter ringing in her ears as his familiar, masculine scent
filled her at last. When he set her down she had to cling to him to
keep from falling over in relief.
    “What are you doing here?” He held her at
arm’s length so that he could take her in. His eyes swept from her
poky hair to her fancy green kirtle to the gold slippers that poked
out from the hem. That look alone made her feel beautiful and she
smiled, confident warmth