The King's Courtesan by Judith James

Author:Judith James
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-04-15T21:59:03.091000+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

London

ROBERT N ICHOLS’S RETURN TO L ONDON was a good deal more circumspect then his last visit had been.

He wore nondescript clothing and kept the brim of his hat pul ed low over his eyes. It wasn’t easy hiding his height, but seated men al looked the same when hunched over a table. He had arrived in the city just in time to watch the new queen’s procession from Hampton Court to Whitehal .

Gliding down the Thames on a gilded barge surrounded by a grand flotil a, she and her train of black-clad monks and stern-faced ladies looked like a flock of starlings let loose amidst the peacocks.

He had felt a stab of pity. Confessors and duennas and somber dress would only bring her ridicule here. Even as he had watched, a smiling Lady Castlemaine stood among the king’s friends and retainers, draped in more jewels than the queen and the Duchess of York together. He wondered what Hope would have thought to see it al . She wouldn’t gloat like Castlemaine. She’d be more inclined to sympathy. His musings reminded him that she, too, belonged to the king. They say he feels no jealousy, but I do. I should never have allowed the other night to happen.

Any man would want her, but I didn’t expect to like her so much.

In truth their talk had gone much better than he’d anticipated. She real y didn’t seem that hard to please.

Common courtesy, a little respect, her Irish maid and a kitten. It was a smal enough price to see her smile. When she smiled everything lit up, even her surroundings. Her face glowed, her eyes shone with excitement and she awakened things inside him he’d long thought dead. I wish I could have stayed to take her back to Nottingham.

He’d certainly enjoyed their first visit…for the most part.

Watching her spinning glass, her thril at the tales surrounding the city and Sherwood Forest… He’d never real y understood how their argument had begun. Somehow he’d offended her, and she’d offended him.

“I will tell you how many men I have fucked if you tell me how many you have killed.”

Ah, yes. There was that. Three, she’d said. It was shocking only for its moderation. But she’d be shocked if she knew his answer, or what he did in London now, sitting in a secluded alcove in this Russel Street coffee house with its stink of tobacco and frantic bustle of overstimulated fools, waiting for Wil iam de Veres.

Robert disliked asking help from any man, particularly regarding a matter of personal honor, but it was a necessary evil. This wasn’t only about vengeance or redemption. For the first time in a long time there was something to protect. Harris was dangerous, and he had disappeared. So…highwayman, spy, whatever de Veres’s previous hobbies, hopeful y he had something of note to impart, because after two fruitless weeks, al Robert wanted was to be done with his business and go home.

A buzz of excited conversation drew his attention.

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