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Authors: Anne Herries
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use it all sooner or you might damage your friend further.’
‘He is a little better since you tended him.’
‘I am glad to hear it, but the fever may return.’
‘Go back to the house. Send Jonas to the hut with food tomorrow, but do not risk it yourself. I will come for you when it is safe. Take care, Sister. I would not have you suffer for our sake.’
Babette thanked him and ran back to the house. Finding the kitchen still empty, she went through it and up the stairs to her room; she gathered her sewing, hurried back downstairs and re-entered the parlour, breathing deeply. Captain Colby looked at her hard, deep suspicion in his face. His look made her quail inwardly, but he made no comment. After a few moments, she thought she saw frustration enter his eyes. She thought it might be because her uncle had kept him talking longer and he had not been able to follow her and see what she did. Bending her head over the seat cover she was embroidering, she matched her threads and began to make the tiny neat stitches that made her work so attractive.
‘You are industrious, mistress,’ Captain Colby said, watching her intently. ‘Do you enjoy your work?’
‘Yes, sir. I like to be busy. I have been embroidering a set of cushions for the chairs in my aunt’s bedroom. She finds my patterns pleasing and I wished to thank her for making me welcome here. I hope to have the set finished before I leave—’ Breaking off abruptly, she cursed her slip.
‘You are leaving us?’ Sir Matthew frowned at her. ‘Does your aunt know? This is the first I have heard of this.’
Babette berated herself silently for her mistake. She’d spoken without thinking, because she had not meant to mention her intention to leave until her brother came for her.
‘I came only for a visit, Uncle,’ she said, a little lamely. ‘I must return to my home in time.’
‘Perhaps—’ he frowned ‘—though my wife is your only blood relative, I think?’
‘I have a brother, Uncle. If—if John returns home, he will expect to find me there.’ She was feeling warm and uncomfortable, her skin flushing all over her body as she felt both Sir Matthew’s and Captain Colby’s eyes on her.
‘Should Lord Harvey return you would have to go home,’ Sir Matthew said, ‘but until then, you must not think of leaving us—unless it was to a home of your own. It might be that I was able to arrange a respectable match for you.’
Babette kept her eyes downcast and held her silence. She did not wish to speak defiantly to her uncle unless she were forced—especially in front of Captain Colby. She wished Sir Matthew would not interfere in things that did not concern him. Her brother was the only one who could legally give her away, and she hoped she might persuade him to wait until she met someone she liked well enough to marry. Indeed, she believed he would be happy to have her remain single for the moment, at least until Alice had given birth to her child. Time enough to think of her marriage then. Now that John was back in England he would bring friends and fellow officers to the castle when he visited Alice—and perhaps Babette would meet a man who could make her heart race and her body tingle in a way that gave her pleasure.
Meeting the cool gaze of the rebel captain, she was aware that her heart was racing wildly and a spasm of something half pleasure and half fear in her stomach made her feel quite weak. The way he looked at her...and the clean scent of his skin as they had ridden through the woods...
Realising where her thoughts were taking her, she brought them to an abrupt ending. Had Captain Colby been for the King he might have been just what she would like in a husband—but he was her enemy and she must never forget it.
Chapter Four
J ames Colby frowned as he looked out of the window of his bedchamber. It was plainly but adequately furnished and the bed was comfortable, but for the moment he was too restless to lie down. He wondered
‘He is a little better since you tended him.’
‘I am glad to hear it, but the fever may return.’
‘Go back to the house. Send Jonas to the hut with food tomorrow, but do not risk it yourself. I will come for you when it is safe. Take care, Sister. I would not have you suffer for our sake.’
Babette thanked him and ran back to the house. Finding the kitchen still empty, she went through it and up the stairs to her room; she gathered her sewing, hurried back downstairs and re-entered the parlour, breathing deeply. Captain Colby looked at her hard, deep suspicion in his face. His look made her quail inwardly, but he made no comment. After a few moments, she thought she saw frustration enter his eyes. She thought it might be because her uncle had kept him talking longer and he had not been able to follow her and see what she did. Bending her head over the seat cover she was embroidering, she matched her threads and began to make the tiny neat stitches that made her work so attractive.
‘You are industrious, mistress,’ Captain Colby said, watching her intently. ‘Do you enjoy your work?’
‘Yes, sir. I like to be busy. I have been embroidering a set of cushions for the chairs in my aunt’s bedroom. She finds my patterns pleasing and I wished to thank her for making me welcome here. I hope to have the set finished before I leave—’ Breaking off abruptly, she cursed her slip.
‘You are leaving us?’ Sir Matthew frowned at her. ‘Does your aunt know? This is the first I have heard of this.’
Babette berated herself silently for her mistake. She’d spoken without thinking, because she had not meant to mention her intention to leave until her brother came for her.
‘I came only for a visit, Uncle,’ she said, a little lamely. ‘I must return to my home in time.’
‘Perhaps—’ he frowned ‘—though my wife is your only blood relative, I think?’
‘I have a brother, Uncle. If—if John returns home, he will expect to find me there.’ She was feeling warm and uncomfortable, her skin flushing all over her body as she felt both Sir Matthew’s and Captain Colby’s eyes on her.
‘Should Lord Harvey return you would have to go home,’ Sir Matthew said, ‘but until then, you must not think of leaving us—unless it was to a home of your own. It might be that I was able to arrange a respectable match for you.’
Babette kept her eyes downcast and held her silence. She did not wish to speak defiantly to her uncle unless she were forced—especially in front of Captain Colby. She wished Sir Matthew would not interfere in things that did not concern him. Her brother was the only one who could legally give her away, and she hoped she might persuade him to wait until she met someone she liked well enough to marry. Indeed, she believed he would be happy to have her remain single for the moment, at least until Alice had given birth to her child. Time enough to think of her marriage then. Now that John was back in England he would bring friends and fellow officers to the castle when he visited Alice—and perhaps Babette would meet a man who could make her heart race and her body tingle in a way that gave her pleasure.
Meeting the cool gaze of the rebel captain, she was aware that her heart was racing wildly and a spasm of something half pleasure and half fear in her stomach made her feel quite weak. The way he looked at her...and the clean scent of his skin as they had ridden through the woods...
Realising where her thoughts were taking her, she brought them to an abrupt ending. Had Captain Colby been for the King he might have been just what she would like in a husband—but he was her enemy and she must never forget it.
Chapter Four
J ames Colby frowned as he looked out of the window of his bedchamber. It was plainly but adequately furnished and the bed was comfortable, but for the moment he was too restless to lie down. He wondered
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