What A Rogue Wants (17 page)

“
Good luck,” she whispered
before dashing to the entrance and going inside. She floated
through the entranceway, but came crashing back to reality when
Grace walked into the room and glared at her.

“
Where have you been? The
queen’s beside herself. She was about to send one of the guards to
search for you.”

Madelaine brushed the snow off her
dress, took off her hat and gave it a little shake. “The stole was
not where the queen said, so I combed the cottage for it.” She
walked over to the entrance table and with her back to Grace,
carefully set her hat down and slowly removed her coat. Her ears
burned with her white lie. She had searched for the stole, but only
for a second. It was Grey who had detained her, but she wasn’t
about to tell Grace that. “I didn’t realize how long I searched.
I’ll go apologize―”

She forgot the rest of her sentence as
she faced Grace. The woman stared at her as if she knew her darkest
secrets. “I spied Lord Grey coming out of the woods on our way here
earlier, did you?”

“
Certainly not.” Thank God
she truly had not seen him, or she’d likely be a stammering mess
right now. Grey’s equerry training certainly was odd. She’d seen
her father train an equerry before and it had never seemed
difficult to her. In fact, the training was usually over in a few
hours.

“
Do you know what I
think?”

Madelaine pursed her lips. “I didn’t
realize you bothered with contemplation.”

Grace moved and stopped right in front
of her. “I think you’re lying.”

“
Which proves to me you
shouldn’t bother thinking. I’m telling the truth. I didn’t see Lord
Grey coming from the woods and even if I had, what of
it?”

“
I think you saw him and
then you met him. And that’s what took you so long. I doubt you
looked more than five minutes for the queen’s stole.”

“
Lucky for me I answer to
the queen and not to you.” Madelaine started to breeze past Grace,
but the woman grabbed her arm.

“
You’ve a certain look
about you, Madge.”

She squared her shoulders. “And what
look is that?”

“
You’ve the look of a
woman falling in love. Your eyes shine, your skin glows, and you’ve
had a smile on your face since the day Lord Grey rode into
Court.”

Madelaine’s breath caught in her
throat. She’d not stopped to truly examine her feelings toward
Grey. Was she falling for him? The mere question made her heart
constrict. She was afraid he would hurt her or worse yet, ruin her.
But she was also afraid there was no turning back.

When he was near, her
oddness seemed to hardly matter. Life with him, if things proceeded
as she hoped, could be all she had imagined. Grey was the knight of
her dreams. The valiant warrior who’d come riding into Court to
sweep her away from those who scorned her and save her from a
loveless marriage that she would have to succumb to. Except Grey
was no knight, but he
was
an equerry, so he was quite capable of sweeping
her up onto his horse and riding away. She laughed out loud at her
silly notions.

“
You’re a fool,” Grace
snapped. “Do you know how many silly women have had the same
ridiculous expression on their face as you do when speaking of Lord
Grey?”

Madelaine forced her smile away and
stared hard at Grace. She’d disliked Grace, but now she despised
her. The woman was planting seeds of doubt in her mind after she’d
just managed to rid herself of the doubt that had been there. No
matter how she wanted to ignore Grace, the doubt now niggled and
worried Madelaine. She’d rather die than show Grace she held any
power to worry her. Madelaine lifted her chin. “A good many, I
suppose.”

“
You suppose correct. And
do you know what they all had in common?”

“
A dislike of
you?”

“
You’re gaining quite the
barbed tongue, Madge. Good for you. You’ll need it when the
ridicule worsens. Believe me, just when you think things can’t get
worse, they do.”

The fleeting sadness of Grace’s face
touched Madelaine. “You sound as if you speak from experience.”
Grace softened and looked human, approachable, almost friendly.
Maybe they could call a truce? Perhaps Grace had painful reasons
for acting as she did. Before Madelaine could decide whether it
would be wise or foolish to offer a ceasefire, Grace’s expression
hardened. Her lips pressed together and her eyes
narrowed.

“
Oh, I have experience all
right. And knowledge. I can’t recall how many times I’ve seen Lord
Grey change tactics when the woman he’s after proves to want to be
chased. He’s a regular strategist.”

Madelaine ground her teeth together.
She’d not give Grace the satisfaction of a response.

“
You’re his latest prey.
And I imagine
you’re
proving less eager to bed him than he is used to. I daresay
he’s vowed he doesn’t want to seduce you. And then perhaps brushed
your hand or kissed you after
you
demanded it.”

Madelaine’s heart pounded in her ears.
She swallowed and spoke. “Is this warning derived from personal
experience?”

“
Of course, you silly
ninnyhammer. But Lord Grey wasn’t the man. Don’t say I didn’t warn
you when you find yourself used and ruined. If you’re lucky, your
father will promptly remove you from Court and marry you to some
aged friend who will die quickly and leave you a rich widow. If
you’re unlucky, he’ll leave you here to rot. Come, the queen awaits
us both.”

Grace swept out of the room before she
could respond.

Madelaine made her way to the library,
unsure of everything. Pity for Grace’s obviously hurtful past
dulled Madelaine’s dislike of the woman. The pity also lent Grace’s
words a ring of truth that sent Madelaine’s thoughts in a thousand
directions.

Voices carried down the hall from the
library. She paused, listening as the queen demanded to know what
was detaining her. Maybe she shouldn’t ask permission to go to
Helen’s apartments tonight. But if she didn’t see Grey and allow
herself the chance to get to know him, she’d never know for certain
whether he had wanted to court her or to seduce her.

She could find a lord who didn’t set
her heart to pounding. But that would undoubtedly be a man who
wanted the normal type of woman. She could spend the rest of her
life pretending to be someone she wasn’t, in order to make that
lord happy. She could never chance true love. But if she didn’t,
she was afraid her heart would become impenetrable, and then what
would be the value of life?

Tired but eager to see Madelaine, Grey
dressed quickly for dinner. He changed the bandage covering the
deep gash Gravenhurst had accidentally given him the second night
of training and then slipped on his boots. By God, he was sore from
the long hours of dagger, sword, and one-on-one combat training and
tracking. The endless romps through the pitch-black night searching
first for objects and then people Gravenhurst had hidden had left
Grey cut, bruised and stiff as a stick. If he tried to bend too
far, he might break.

But it was over. He’d bested
Gravenhurst in every test the man had thrown at him today. Tonight
he would enjoy the reward of spending time with Madelaine, even if
the mere act of sitting hurt his body. He’d forget the pain the
minute he saw her brown eyes light for him and a lovely smile of
greeting come to her beautiful face. One of the things that drew
him to her was the way she looked at him. Not jaded or knowing as
so many women of the Court he’d been with. Nor wary as the ones
who’d been warned against him, or lustful as the women whose favors
he’d declined to partake in for one reason or another.

Madelaine stared at him with an open,
trustful gaze as if he was good and true, which made him want it to
be so, even more than he’d already wished for since finding out
about his father and brother.

As he shrugged into his dinner coat,
the door swung open and Gravenhurst sauntered in pulling the door
shut as he entered.

Grey straightened his jacket. “You
needn’t have shut the door. I’m leaving for dinner.”

“
Change of plans.”
Gravenhurst stripped off his soiled shirt and strode to the wash
stand to clean himself. He tossed his shirt to the ground exposing
his back and the red, angry cuts Grey had given his
friend.

“
Sorry about the
cuts.”

Gravenhurst waved a negligent hand
before he dipped both of them into the water. “Don’t apologize.
Your training was necessary.”

“
And finished.”

“
Not quite,” Gravenhurst
replied while donning a clean shirt.

Grey crossed his arms over his chest
and glared. “I should’ve gutted you.”

“
Careful.” Gravenhurst
straightened his jacket. “That volatile temper could get you killed
where we’re going tonight.”

“
I’m not going anywhere
with you. My only plan is to see Madelaine.” Grey strode past
Gravenhurst and through the door.

He had one foot in the hall when
Gravenhurst said, “That’s a noteworthy plan. And I like it. I
really do. Yet the king has just taken me to task for not training
you in the art of subterfuge.”

“
I’m plenty deceptive,”
Grey retorted. “Just tell the king to ask around.”

Now fully clothed, Gravenhurst
sauntered from the room and held Grey’s overcoat toward him. Grey
shook his head. “I won’t be needing that coat. I’m going to dinner
and then I’m going to spend a lovely evening indoors in the warmth
of my aunt’s apartments with Madelaine. I’m going to drink wine and
get to know the woman who has intrigued me.”

“
A fine plan, as I said.
Off with you then.” Gravenhurst pressed his face near Grey’s. “I’ll
tell the king you don’t wish to be one of us.” He tapped discreetly
on his ring.

Grey’s thumb went immediately to the
king’s ring. He recalled his vow to protect and serve above all
personal wants, above all personal needs, above all else. “Damn it
to hell.” He snatched his overcoat from Gravenhurst and shoved his
arms in it. “What am I supposed to tell Madelaine?”

“
You’ve got me. But you’ll
have plenty of time to think of a believable lie by
tomorrow.”

Gravenhurst had already started down
the corridor. Grey caught him on the stairs. “I can’t allow her to
go to my aunt’s apartments, wait for me, and then I never show up.
I’ve got to give her some explanation before we leave.”

“
No time.” Gravenhurst
didn’t pause in his descent. “Pearson has just arrived, and if you
haven’t figured it out already here is how the chain of command
goes―the king commands us all.”

“
You’re enlightening as
usual.”

Gravenhurst flashed a smug smile. “The
king has commanded Pearson to test you in two hours at the Merry
Tavern. It’s my job to ensure you pass the test. From here to the
tavern I’m going to tell you every trick of our trade I know for
getting information out of someone.”

Grey was mad as hell. He had to excel
to make his father proud. To be the best, he needed to know
important information in advance. He had to be able to rely on
Gravenhurst. “You’re just now teaching me this? Did it not cross
your mind to impart some of this information sooner?”

Gravenhurst shrugged. “You’re a fast
learner, and as you so rightly pointed out, you’re already rather
deceptive.”

He pressed his lips together. He
couldn’t argue with his own words. “What am I supposed to
do?”

“
You’re to get information
out of Constance.”

“
The chambermaid you’ve
been bedding?”

“
I only bedded her once. I
found out she’s bedding some scar-faced blacksmith from the village
who pays handsomely for her favors, and the thought of plundering a
woman who just dallied with another man doesn’t sit well with
me.”

“
Your standards are
impressive.”

“
Much the same as yours
were not long ago.”

Grey didn’t like that Gravenhurst saw
that he wanted to change for Madelaine. It didn’t matter that it
was true. Nor did it matter he would have eventually told his
friend. He needed time. Having Gravenhurst recognize his turnaround
made Grey feel weak and vulnerable, much the same as he had before
he’d decided he didn’t need his father’s love. “I never paid a
woman for favors.” Old habits of self-preservation were hard to
quit. He was an ass.