The Warrior's Wife by Denise Domning Read Free Book Online

back his smile. Lady Amicia wore the same look his old nurse had used whenever she’d chided him.
    Had it been any other woman Rafe would have ignored her, but Amicia was almost a friend. During the first month the sheriff’s widow had dwelled at court, Rafe harbored hopes of marriage to the young, well-to-do, pretty woman. Over the duration of his pursuit, he’d come to know her as lively, interesting, and sensible. Any expectation of wedlock was destroyed when his dearest friend Josce FitzBaldwin discovered the king found the orphaned Amicia’s dower and dowry too profitable ever to allow her remarriage. That hadn’t stopped Rafe from seeking Amicia out on more relaxed court occasions for conversation’s sake.
    “Why is Lady de Fraisney lying to me?” Amicia demanded now, trading on their familiarity to pose so intimate a question.
    “Is she lying?” Rafe asked. Amicia could chide, but that didn’t mean he needed to admit wrongdoing. Not that Rafe didn’t want to know as badly as Amicia why his Kate was telling tales.
    After her threat to scream he’d fully expected her to shout out an accusation of assault, not shield what they’d done. That she tried to conceal it could only mean Kate was protecting someone or something. God knew it wasn’t him. Then who? More importantly, was there a way he could use Kate’s lie to aid him in taking her?
    Eyes narrowed, Amicia made a rude sound. “You know very well she is. There was no conversation in yon alcove. Nay, she looks well kissed. No surprise that, since ‘twas you with her in there.”
    “Do you suggest I’ve misused Lady de Fraisney when the lady herself said we did no wrong?” Rafe asked in the pretense of insult. “Why should you make such a charge? Was I ever aught but respectful toward you?”
    “Of course you were respectful to me. I’m under the king’s protection,” Amicia replied sharply, even as chagrin for the affront she thought she’d done him danced across her face. Worry followed, creasing her smooth brow.
    “You know as well as I that it doesn’t matter what you did, only who she is,” Amicia continued. “And don’t tell me you didn’t recognize her, for I know you better than that. Was it your plan to ruin Lord Haydon’s festivities with violence? The truce between your families would shatter if her father knew what had just occurred. Heaven help us, but her sire might well kill her for being alone with you.”
    This was a reminder of how careful Rafe must be to succeed in winning himself a wife and giving his family the vengeance they craved. Rather than deter him, it only fired his resolve to keep Kate for himself. As for Amicia, she had no right to an explanation so she got none.
    “Why do you complain?” Rafe asked instead. “Nothing untoward happened, and there was no violence to mar this evening. Perhaps you’re the one seeking to make trouble where there is none.”
    Amicia stamped her foot in frustration. “You always turn my words back on me when you don’t want to answer my questions,” she complained. “Well, this time it matters naught what you admit. I’m the one who must take the blame for what happened here.”
    She sent a quick glance in the direction Kate had gone. “Fie on me for playing so poor a trick on her and sending her your way. I truly never thought she’d tolerate as bold a man as you, upright innocent that she is.”
    Rafe frowned as Amicia’s words recalled the passive way Kate had accepted his kiss. “How can you claim innocence for her when she’s been a wife?”
    “Poor thing,” Amicia said, her quiet words only audible because in that instant the music fell away into the lonely trill of the pipe. “Married she was, but there are those here who say her childish husband spurned her.”
    Rafe’s surprise was sharp enough to tease him into throwing a quick glance at Kate. She and her father now stood near the hall door. Lord Bagot had his back to his enemy’s son. Rafe could see