03 Knight of Passion by Margaret Mallory

Author:Margaret Mallory [Mallory, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446569224
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2010-05-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

“Are there no more dancers?” Linnet called out above the buzz of whispers in the hall.

When she gave Edmund a pleading look, he clapped his hands and shouted, “Music! Come, Sir Gerald, let us see if you can best me.”

Linnet sighed with relief as a young man took to the floor and the music of flute, harp, and drum filled the hall.

“God bless you, Edmund,” she said close to his ear. “Will you stay with Queen Katherine? I have something I must attend to.”

“Anything for you, my sweet,” Edmund said and kissed her hand yet again.

She really would have to have a talk with him, but not now.

As she made her way through the crowd, she caught bits of conversation and raucous laughter.

“Who was that in the queen’s lap?”

“Don’t know, but I’d say it was not the first time he’s been there!”

God help her, this was a disaster. With everyone looking for signs of an improper liaison between the queen and Owen, the truth could readily be discovered.

By the time Linnet reached the foyer, Jamie and Owen were nowhere in sight. After a quick look in the nearby rooms, she ran across the upper yard without a cloak. The chamber where she and Jamie usually met had most likely been given to one of the new guests, but she would check it anyway.

An instant after she rapped on the door, Jamie filled the doorway, towering above her.

“Where is Owen?” she asked as she scurried past him. Odd, but the room was warm, as if the brazier had been lit for some time.

“Don’t trouble yourself about Owen,” Jamie said. “He is safely out of the way for tonight.”

Linnet threw her hands up in exasperation. “How can the queen be so foolish over him?”

“It must be that she loves him,” Jamie said with an edge to his voice.

“What kind of answer is that?” Linnet said, turning around to face him. “She risks both their lives with this affair.”

“For a woman in love, no sacrifice is too great,” he said. “Or so I have been told.”

His tone was hard and angry, and she did not understand why.

“I did not wait here half the afternoon to talk about Owen and the queen,” he said.

Jamie had been waiting for her? Had he meant to break the news of his betrothal to her alone?

“And now, I want to know what in the name of all the saints you have been doing with Edmund Beaufort,” he said, his voice steadily rising. “Tell me, did you send for him to take my place the moment I was gone?”

His eyes were blazing. When he took a step closer, she had to fight the urge to step back.

“Could you not go a week without a man in your bed?”

This must be what he looked like when he charged at an enemy across a field. But now, she was just as angry. It welled in her chest and pounded in her ears.

“By what right,” she said in a low voice

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