The Blacksmith's Wife by Elisabeth Hobbes Read Free Book Online Page A

She wrenched herself free and folded both arms tightly across her chest, staring moodily at Hal. ‘Besides, I thought we agreed we had offended each other enough to merit parting company.’
    ‘Offended or not, I insist,’ Hal said calmly. ‘You are here at my whim and therefore you are my responsibility. I would not see you come to harm.’
    ‘My hopes are dashed and my heart is broken. What further harm could befall me?’ Joanna sniffed.
    ‘Do you really want me to list the ways?’ Hal asked darkly.
    Joanna scuffed her foot and pretended to consider her answer. He was right; the city was no place to be walking alone, however much she wished to be rid of his company.
    ‘Are you going to stop behaving like a foolish child or shall I throw you over my shoulder and take you anyway?’
    ‘You wouldn’t dare!’
    The skin at the corner of Hal’s eyes crinkled with amusement. Against her will Joanna smiled.
    ‘Very well, as you give me no choice,’ she said.
    ‘You will have to direct me as I don’t know where you live,’ Hal reminded her.
    As she slipped her arm through his Joanna suppressed an involuntary smile. Uncle Simon would have long since finished his business and she took great pleasure in anticipating the surprise in Hal’s arrogant eyes when he discovered whose house he had arrived at.
    * * *
    ‘Where are you leading me?’ Hal grumbled as Joanna turned down yet another snicket. ‘We could have walked to Whitby by now.’
    ‘You are free to leave me any time you wish,’ Joanna replied curtly.
    They were the first words she had spoken, the first acknowledgement she had given that he existed at all since reluctantly submitting to Hal’s demand to accompany her. Occasionally what might have been a sob escaped but was quickly stifled. Hal could not pretend to be anything other than relieved that she was keeping her emotions in check.
    Presumably she would give vent to her feelings once more when she was home, wherever that might be. Hal stared down the narrow street leading off into a warren of alleyways and grimaced.
    ‘I swear we have passed this way three times already,’ he said. ‘These alleys are no place to be walking at night.’
    Joanna stopped walking abruptly, causing Hal to bump into her. She finally met his eyes. ‘You can defend us with your fine sword, can’t you?’ she said. The faintest trace of a smile curved about her lips, challenging rather than amused. ‘Are you worried you’ll get lost?’
    ‘I don’t like cities and this is the least welcoming I’ve been in for a long time,’ he answered. Though it could equally be the company influencing my mood , he thought darkly.
    ‘You’ll recognise where we are soon enough,’ Joanna replied. She motioned to carry on walking.
    Her head barely came to Hal’s shoulders. If she had not been holding herself stiffly at arm’s length she would nestle in the crook of his arm quite satisfactorily. Hal glanced down at Joanna’s bowed head. He preferred his women to be tall and willowy, but he decided Joanna’s curves would be a pleasure to bundle up against in an evening that was rapidly becoming chilly. Perhaps he should have made good his threat to throw her over his shoulder after all.
    Lost in thoughts he knew should be forbidden, Hal barely registered when Joanna stopped again. He found himself in the square where they had first met opposite the Guild Hall.
    ‘So you were leading me in circles,’ he said irritably. ‘Why?’
    ‘Because I had no wish to return home so soon,’ Joanna said. ‘I said you were in no danger of losing your way.’ She dropped his arm and stalked past the hall, rounded a corner and stopped in front of an imposing house on the end of a row.
    ‘You live here?’
    She nodded.
    ‘Yet you were sitting alone in the square?’
    Another nod, this time accompanied by a loud bang as she lifted the ornate iron doorknocker and released it.
    ‘I told you I was waiting for someone and I was.’ Her eyes