My Lady's Guardian by Gayle Callen Read Free Book Online Page B

see their
    eyes soften and their expressions grow dreamy. His smiles must be few, to be so potent.
    When the meal was over, Margery waved goodbye to her two suitors, surprised at the frowns they directed at her as they rode away. Then she turned and saw Gareth standing just behind her, hands linked behind his back, his expression victorious.
    She made a low sound of disgust and tried to stalk past him. He took her arm and pulled her to a halt.
    "What is wrong?" he asked, his mouth close to her ear.
    "I felt like a child's toy between you and those men." She shook off his hand and stepped away, feeling angry and unsettled.
    He lifted an eyebrow. "I was only playing my part."
    "Too well. What if they return to slit your throat?"
    His smile didn't touch his eyes. "They hardly seem to have that much bravery, even between them."
    "Do you want to make enemies of all the men who come to court me?" she demanded, fisting her hands on her hips, heedless of the fact that they stood in the center of the ward. "Then you 77 need your own guard."
    Gareth frowned. "You said you have your choice in husband. But those two—"
    "And are you the man who shall make my decisions for me? You are supposed to know my own heart better than I do?"
    He didn't reply.
    "Just do as I ask," she said, softening her voice as she realized how silent the ward had become, how they were being watched by people who didn't bother to hide their amusement. "Let me choose the path of my life—I know what I'm doing."
    After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "I will stay out of it, unless you put yourself in danger."
    "I am not in—"
    He narrowed his eyes, and she suddenly remembered being chased by Lord Fogge around the bench.
    Gareth was a true reminder of the privacy she'd lost. Every time she looked at him, she thought of the men who would be coming, the men he'd promised to protect her from.
    And they were coming sooner than she'd thought. She sent a silent prayer to the heavens that Peter Fitzwilliam would not be one of them.
    Margery stifled a shiver of dread. She wanted to mount her horse and ride through the Severn Valley until her problems were far behind her. But her
    freedom, her choices, were gone, lost in the grass along with her virginity.
    Why couldn't she keep on pretending that she could solve all her problems and live her life as she wanted? Why couldn't she be left alone?
    But there was Gareth, looking too deeply, seeing things he had no right to see. Even Peter had never made her feel that she had no privacy.
    Walking beside Margery, Gareth noticed how distracted and pensive she was. She wore her hair like a maiden, with long waves of curls falling forward over her shoulders and breasts, as she kept her head bowed. He quickly looked away.
    He didn't understand her. Hawksbury was an impressive castle, and her people already seemed loyal to her. She should be content with such wealth —he certainly would be.
    But something else was bothering her, something buried so deeply she showed no one. As long as her girlish secrets didn't interfere with his duties, she was welcome to them. After all, what could be so terrible in her sheltered life?
    They stopped before the massive double doors leading into the casde. She gave him a brisk, impersonal smile.
    "I have duties to attend to, Sir Gareth," she said.
    "I will join you."
    "It is but women's work. You would be bored."
    "Then I'll have to be bored."
    She studied him for a moment, her blue eyes direct and assessing. He felt an uncomfortable urge to squirm like a boy caught following a dairymaid. Though he told himself he was merely doing his duty, he was relieved when she finally led him toward the rear of the inner ward. An extensive series of gardens began as square beds of kitchen herbs and vegetables, and ended in an elaborate, tree-shaded lady's garden, full of blooming flowers, graveled paths, and vine tunnels. Low fencing of entwined hazel branches separated the gardens.
    She opened a small gate