Page 21 of Hers To Command
Perhaps therewassomething he could teach their men, and they could certainly use a heavier hand when it came to discipline. Besides, such occupation would also keep the handsome Sir Henry busy and away from the hall, and Giselle. She hadn’t seen any signs that Giselle was attracted to him, but he was a very fascinating man. “Very well, Sir Henry. Thank you.”
He bowed. “Thankyou,my lady. I shall endeavor not to disappoint or,” he added with a roguish wink, “cause you to regret that decision.”
He was so handsome, so cheerful, so charming, so appealing even when he spoke of serious matters. He made her feel that all would be well, the way her poor papa had.
The father her vanity and foolish desire had helped to kill.
This time, she got to the door. “Now I give you good night, Sir Henry,” she said, her hand on the latch. “I hope you can go back to sleep.”
“I wish a restful night to you as well, my lady,” he replied.
Before she could leave, he came behind her and his hand covered hers, warm and strong. She could feel his body close, the heat of it. The scent. “Sleep well, my lady.”
Already knowing she would not, she pulled her hand away and slipped out of the door, closing it firmly behind her.
CHAPTER FIVE
“THOU WOULDSTput that Norman over me?” Cerdic demanded with stunned disbelief.
Mathilde had not expected him to be happy with her decision, but that didn’t make this any easier. He regarded her as if she’d knifed him in the back, while Giselle, who’d arrived in the solar with him and glided to a seat, stared at Mathilde as if she’d taken complete leave of her senses.
Leaning casually against the wall, his arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankles, Sir Henry watched the confrontation as if he were only mildly involved in the scene unfolding before him, and not the one who’d suggested he be put in command of the garrison.
“It is only temporary,” Mathilde assured Cerdic, trying not to pay any attention to the distracting Sir Henry. “When he leaves, of course you will resume command.”
“You cannot be serious!” Giselle protested, rising from her chair to stand beside Cerdic. “Resume command? Why should he lose it?”
“Roald may bring an army if he comes to claim Ecclesford,” Mathilde explained. “We must do all we can to be prepared against that possibility. Sir Henry has offered to train the garrison to make them more capable of defending the estate, and I think we should accept his help. It is no criticism of you, Cerdic.”
Cerdic’s hostile gaze darted to Sir Henry, then back to Mathilde. “He told thee that he beat me, didn’t he? ’Twas only luck. I’d have had him—”
“Perhaps it was luck, or maybe it was skill,” she interrupted. “He’s been taught by one of the most famous knights in England. Why not take advantage of that, too?”
Giselle glared at Sir Henry before addressing her sister. “How much money does he want for this extra help?” she asked, her voice dripping venom and her normally mild blue eyes gleaming with hostile mistrust.
“I require no payment,” Sir Henry said with suspicious placidity, for Mathilde remembered how angry he’d been in the inn when she’d made the mistake of offering to pay him for his help. Either he had been uncharacteristically enraged then, or he was keeping a very tight rein on his temper now. There was something in his eyes that told her it was the latter. If so, she was both impressed by his self-control and relieved. She didn’t want him arguing, too.
“I don’t trust him,” Cerdic defiantly declared.
“Neither do I,” Giselle said, as if daring Mathilde to contradict her.
Mathilde was disappointed, but not surprised, by their responses. After all, she had felt the same at first, and even now was loath to trust him completely.
Sir Henry shrugged his broad shoulders and said, “You need only trust my hatred for Roald.”
Ignoring him, Giselle clasped her hands like a nun at prayer and fixed a pitying, pleading gaze on her sister. “Oh, Mathilde, how can you be so credulous after all that you’ve been through?”
For a terrible moment, Mathilde feared Giselle was going to proclaim her shame to Sir Henry.
“I amnotgreedy, and when I say I require no payment, that is precisely what I mean,” Sir Henry said with more than a hint of indignation, and preventing Giselle from saying more. “I must say, my lady, that I find it interesting that you can leave all the work of running the household to your sister, and apparently all the preparations for defense, and then have no qualms about questioning her judgment and criticizing her decisions.”
Now it was Mathilde’s turn to be stunned. And, secretly, pleased that he had come to her defense.
Giselle flushed, but didn’t back down. “Mathilde is in charge of the household not because I am lazy, Sir Henry. After what happened the last time Roald was here, I thought if she was busy, she would not think so much about…she would not dwell so much upon his villainy.”
Guilt stung Mathilde. Giselle had indeed left more and more of the daily duties to her after Roald had gone, and it had never occurred to her to question whether Giselle really enjoyed all that sewing and tending to the minor ailments of the household and village while leaving the other matters of the household to her younger sister—and at the same time, giving away the respect that went with those duties. “Giselle, I didn’t—”
“Never mind that now,” her sister interrupted. “It’s more important for you to realize that Sir Henry shouldnotbe in charge of the garrison. It is an affront to Cerdic, if nothing else.”
