Knights Divided by Suzanne Barclay

Author:Suzanne Barclay [Suzanne Barclay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459267954
Publisher: Harlequin

Chapter Eleven

“Do you need help?” a familiar voice inquired.

“Jamie!” Emmeline spun away from the pot she’d been stirring over the fire, “I’m so glad you’ve…” She stopped when she saw who stood in the doorway of the solar. “Oh, ‘tis you, Lord Hugh.”

“Women are usually disappointed when they find ‘tis me and not my brother,” he muttered.

“I did not mean…that is, I am not disappointed, but I’ve put Mariot to bed.” The poor girl had fainted before the tailor’s stall, and they’d brought her back to Penryn in a litter. “She must stay quiet, and asked me to run the household for her, but I’ve no experience in such things. Not that the maids would follow my orders if I knew what to say. They are so worried about Mariot they do naught but cry and wring their hands. I—I thought Jamie would know what to do.”

“Jamie, see to some domestic matters?” Hugh strolled over to the hearth, his freshly scrubbed face and clean clothes making her aware of her tangled hair and dusty skirts. “He will not even manage his own estates. I fear he is not interested in anything but fighting, sailing and wenching.”

Emmeline flinched at the last. “He would help me.”

“Your loyalty does you credit. I hope he appreciates it”

“He does,” Emmeline snapped, worried about Mariot and in no mood to listen to Hugh’s carping. “I know you do not approve of me, but that is no reason to go looking for faults in Jamie.”

“I’ve never needed to. He has them aplenty.” Hugh studied her a moment. “But I should not take my wrath at him out on you. I do not disapprove of you,” he added. “Indeed, I am pleased he has decided to wed, and you seem a most sensible girl, not at all the frivolous sort he usually consorts with. I was impressed with the way you reacted when Lady Mariot took ill. Lord Petrok was no help, and we might still be milling about in Penryn had you not taken charge. Though my parents would have preferred he wed an heiress with land and money, you have much to recommend you.”

How cleverly he’d managed to insult and praise her at the same time. “Thank you, I think.”

“Not at all.” He gave no sign he’d even heard her little jest. Jamie would have grinned and teased her. “I have some skill at managing an estate. If you like, I will go down and set the servants to their tasks.”

“It might be best…if we hope to dine today,” she added with a smile. That, too, went over Hugh’s head, and she keenly missed Jamie’s sense of humor.

“I’ll see there is dinner,” he said so grimly she felt obliged to move the potion off the fire and follow him. He set such a brisk pace she had to lift her skirts and run down the steps to keep up.

The great hall was crowded with Killigrews. Abnormally quiet Killigrews. They huddled together in small groups, the men bleak faced and worried, the maids red eyed from weeping.

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