Harlequin Historical March 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: Morrow Creek Runaway\Lord Gawain's Forbidden Mistress\A Debt Paid in Marriage by Lisa Plumley

Author:Lisa Plumley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Elise stood before the hall fire. She was dizzy with the heat even though the fire was low—it had been lit to give light rather than warmth. Her pulse raced as she resisted the urge to move further into the great hall. This was where she had been told to stand, next to Baderon.

Perspiration beaded Elise’s brow and her palms felt damp. Panicky chills ran down her back. Nerves. She smiled in the general direction of the dais. It was odd how minor discomforts became large before a performance. It happened every time. Her nerves were on edge because she must pour her soul, all of it, into her singing. It wasn’t easy. She had to allow herself to feel and tonight there were too many feelings. Some of them were far from pretty. The hall was packed with people, yet she was conscious of only one man.

God help me.

Elise kept her gaze unfocused. It was a mercy that Baderon was experienced enough to lead her into the song without her having to look at the top table. Baderon would see Count Henry’s signal. Count Henry was sitting too close to Gawain for Elise to risk looking in that direction again. She was afraid of what might happen. So many emotions were rolling about inside her, it was a struggle to hold them. Love. Anger and fear. Regret. Jealousy. Elise started to shake. These feelings were a gift, she told herself firmly, they must be contained. These feelings must be felt—she would need them when she sang.

A thousand butterflies were trapped in Elise’s stomach, but she ignored them. She was holding a spray of wild roses to her breast. Deliberately, she pressed her thumb against a thorn. It was needle sharp. Elise allowed herself to fully absorb the tiny stab of the thorn—it would keep her mind on the songs. It would stop her attention drifting towards the handsome, fair-haired knight sitting on the dais.

She’d seen him slip back into the hall with Lady Rowena. Lady Rowena’s cheeks had been as pink as the setting sun. There was no doubt in Elise’s mind as to what they’d been doing—kissing. Composedly, Lady Rowena had taken her place at the board and now she was chattering away nineteen to the dozen while Gawain sat beside her, twirling a princely silver goblet round and round.

A hush fell. A bench creaked and the hush seemed to deepen. Elise drew in a deep breath and in a heartbeat she was no longer Elise, she was Blanchefleur.

Blanchefleur exchanged glances with her lute-player. She kept her thumb on the thorn. This was for Gawain. As the first notes led her into the song, her training took over. In order to give the impression she was singing for the Count and Countess of Champagne, she looked towards the griffin on the wall hanging behind the dais. The griffin was a blur.

As Blanchefleur, Elise sang about Tristan and Isolde and of love won and lost. She sang about betrayal.

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