A half a mile outside of Kestven, he ran into Hugh. Alan halted his horse on the pathway and waited for Rufus to come up to him.
“Lord Hugh,” he said a little breathlessly. “I am so glad that I have found you!”
Hugh’s straight black brows were drawn together as he regarded Richard’s squire. “Why are you looking for me?”
“Sir Richard sent me, my lord. I am to tell you that Lady Cristen Haslin has arrived in Lincoln and she desires to see you.”
A light flared in Hugh’s eyes. “Cristen is in Lincoln?”
“Aye, my lord. She arrived late yesterday. And Lord Guy of Wiltshire is in Lincoln as well. He arrived in Lincoln two days before Lady Cristen.”
Hugh began to laugh.
Alan regarded him in amazement. There was a flush of color across his high cheekbones and his gray eyes glittered between their black lashes. “Is Guy looking for me as well?” he asked the squire with genuine amusement.
“Aye, my lord, I believe he is.”
Hugh gestured that they should move forward, and Alan turned his horse to accompany Hugh.
“Where are Sir Nigel and his daughter staying?” Hugh asked. “In the bishop’s guest house?”
“Er…Sir Nigel did not accompany Lady Cristen, my lord,” Alan replied a little nervously.
Silence.
“She came alone?” Hugh asked. His voice sounded ominous.
“She was escorted by one knight, my lord. And she brought a lady companion.”
Hugh swore.
“She is perfectly all right, my lord,” Alan hastened to assure him. “She is staying in the castle with Lady Elizabeth de Beauté.”
The face Hugh turned to Alan registered complete disbelief.
“She couldn’t stay at the bishop’s guest house, my lord,” Alan babbled on. “Lord Guy is there, you see.”
Hugh’s incredulous look did not fade. “Guy is in the bishop’s guest house and Cristen is in the castle,” he repeated.
“Aye, my lord.”
Hugh shook his head.
“I can’t wait to get back to Lincoln,” he said.
Alan did not know if he was being ironic or not.
12
Cristen was sitting in the castle solar with Elizabeth de Beauté and Lady Sybil when Hugh came into the room. Later he would notice that there were other people present, but in that first moment he saw only her.
Happiness filled his heart.
“You didn’t bring the dogs?” he said from the doorway.
She had sensed his presence even before he spoke and was already looking at him.
“I came in rather a hurry,” she said. “It seemed best to leave them home.”
No one else had eyes like Cristen, he thought. They saw right into your very soul.
He lifted a slim black eyebrow. “Which hapless knight did you coerce into escorting you?”
The hint of a dimple dented her cheek. “Thomas.”
He walked toward her. “I don’t quite understand what has happened. Where is your father?”
Her eyes were steady on his. “Guy put him in charge of the feudal army he called up to go with Stephen to Cornwall.”
Hugh’s stride checked briefly and his own eyes widened.
“Precisely,” Cristen agreed.
Hugh reached her chair, and for a moment he stood there, struggling with his desire to catch her up into his arms.
She read his thought and smiled.
He laughed softly.
“How nice to see you again, Lord Hugh,” a feminine voice said frostily.
With enormous effort, Hugh dragged his eyes away from Cristen and focused them on Lady Elizabeth’s annoyed-looking face.
“It was most kind of you to offer Lady Cristen shelter, my lady,” he said formally.
“Considering that she arrived here as night was falling and had no place to stay, it was the least I could do.” Elizabeth’s long green eyes were as cold as her voice. “She said she was looking for you.” There was a definite note of accusation in her comment.
“Well, now she has found me and we shall burden you no longer,” Hugh said with perfect pleasantness. He turned back to the only person in the room who had any reality for him. “Have your maid pack up your things,” he told Cristen. “I’ll take you to Ralf’s town house. You can stay there.”
An outraged voice announced, “She will do no such thing.”
It was Lady Sybil. “Lady Cristen will remain right here, under my chaperonage,” Elizabeth’s companion continued. She glared at Hugh. “It is impossible for her to reside in your house in the absence of her father or a suitable female companion.”
“I am not staying in the house, my lady,” Hugh explained impatiently. “I am staying with the sheriff. There is no reason why Lady Cristen cannot have the use of my foster father’s house while she is here.”
A masculine voice interrupted from the direction of the doorway. “Hugh! Thank heavens you have returned.”
Everyone turned to look at Richard Canville as he came into the room.
“As you see, Richard,” Hugh replied in a flat, expressionless voice. “I have indeed returned.”
Sybil appealed to Richard to champion her cause. “Sir Richard, will you please tell Lord Hugh that he cannot take Lady Cristen to live in his town house. She doesn’t have a chaperone. It isn’t proper.”
Hugh and Richard looked at each other. Hugh’s gray eyes were perfectly shuttered. After a moment, Richard shrugged, leaned casually against the door frame, and looked at Lady Sybil. “I don’t see the difficulty, my lady, as long as Hugh continues to reside with my father and me.”
“It isn’t proper,” Lady Sybil repeated firmly.
“I have one of my ladies with me,” Cristen said, “but if you feel I need another chaperone, Lady Sybil, perhaps one of your own ladies would not mind bearing my company for a few days.”
“I am so glad that you feel comfortable enough with me to make arrangements for my ladies,” Elizabeth said to Cristen in an arctic voice.
Hugh’s eyes narrowed.
Cristen gave him a warning look.
“I beg your pardon, Lady Elizabeth,” she said gently. “I wasn’t thinking. Of course I cannot deprive you of the comfort of one of your ladies.”
Everyone looked at Elizabeth, whose eyes glittered like twin emeralds. She was obviously furious.
“I don’t see why you just can’t remain here,” she said to Cristen.
“Well, I can if you don’t mind taking in my dogs as well,” Cristen replied. “They will be coming shortly, and I must have them with me.”
“Dogs!” said Lady Sybil in a tone of horror.
“They are perfectly safe as long as you don’t show that you are afraid of them,” Cristen said guilelessly.
Hugh thought of Cedric and Ralf, and smothered a grin.
Cristen’s face was beautifully innocent. “They should be here sometime this afternoon, along with my page and two more of my father’s knights.”
“Well,” Lady Sybil huffed. “If you are to be surrounded by all those people, and if Lord Hugh is indeed staying with the sheriff, then perhaps it would be all right for you to reside in his town house.”
Hugh steadfastly refused to look at Cristen. He knew if he did, he would start to laugh.
“Is the house fit for Lady Cristen?” Richard said to Hugh. “It has been closed up for over a year.”
“It just needs a little airing out,” Hugh said.
“I’m sure I shall manage,” Cristen said. “I shall have Mabel and Thomas and Lord Hugh to help me.”
Lady Sybil still looked upset. Obviously she did not approve of this transfer of residence, but just as obviously she did not want to live with Cristen’s dogs.
“Do not worry, the dogs will make excellent guards, my lady,” Cristen said ruthlessly. “They are very protective of me.”
Hugh began to cough.
“Why don’t you come along with me now, Lady Cristen,” he said when he had recovered his breath. “I will show you the house and you can decide what needs to be done.”