Page 224 of Historical Hotties
“I will.”
She turned her gaze to the tavern again, pondering his question, before finally answering. “Give me some money and I will go,” she said. “When you wrested me from Gomorrah, I left my purse behind. I require coin.”
Daniel dug into the purse at his waist and produced a handful of silver coins for her. As he put them into her palm, he looked her in the eye.
“Deviate from your agreement and I will hunt you down,” he growled. “When I find you, it will not be pleasant. My trust is given only once. If you violate it, there will not be another chance.”
Caledonia stiffened, preparing a retort, but she ended up simply nodding. Without another word, she headed over to the Wren and the Willow as Daniel and the other four knights watched her go. Once she disappeared into the tavern, Daniel turned to Thor.
“Go,” he said. “See if you can convince her that you are not a fool or an idiot.”
Thor lifted a wry eyebrow. “Or a trained dog.”
Daniel couldn’t help it. He burst into soft laughter as the knight standing to Thor’s right slapped him on the shoulder.
“You kept your composure, old man.” Clayne le Becque, Thor’s cousin, was grinning. “I was waiting for you to lay your hand on her backside. You showed more control that I would have.”
Thor looked at the man he’d grown up with. He looked very much like his father—shorter, but powerfully built with huge shoulders and arms. It was all he could do not to roll his eyes.
“Trust me when I tell you that physical violence crossed my mind more than once,” he said. “I have no idea why I showed such restraint.”
“Because neither you nor the lady can refuse Henry, so it would be futile to start off a relationship by beating her,” Daniel said. “I do not think she has had an easy time of it.”
Thor looked at him in disbelief. “What about me?” he said. “She tried to beat me quite thoroughly when I took her from Gomorrah. The lady tried to gouge my eye out.”
Daniel’s eyes glimmered with mirth. “I will tell you what was told to me, once, when I met my wife,” he said. “This marriage will be what you make of it. If you treat her with a lack of respect and indifference, then you’ve already set the tone for failure. And Thor de Reyne does not fail, not at anything. Especially not at a marriage that will see him assume the Earldom of Tamworth.”
Those were wise words but Thor wasn’t convinced. “She is already set against it,” he said. “It will be difficult to combat that.”
“Then combat it with kindness,” Daniel said. “Show her the worth of the man she is to marry. Change her mind.”
The last three words were stressed. Thor still didn’t think it was that easy, but he didn’t argue because Daniel was right about one thing—neither of them had any choice, so unless he wanted to be in a miserable marriage for the rest of his life, he was going to have to make some kind of effort.
But he wondered if the lady would as well.
He would soon find out.
CHAPTER TWO
Oh… she’d beento this place before.
Caledonia wasn’t quite sure why she wasn’t completely honest with Canterbury other than the fact that she didn’t want him to know justhowfamiliar she was with the taverns in London. Most of them, anyway. It wasn’t proper for a noblewoman to admit she regularly visited taverns, on her own no less, and most especially not a countess. An heiress to one of the largest and most ancient earldoms in all of England.
That would be her.
Seated near the window facing the street, Caledonia could partially see Canterbury and the knights who had come with him. They were mostly out of her sight, but she could see the tall form of Daniel de Lohr. He was speaking to his men. As she continued to watch, a serving wench brought her a pitcher of spiced, warmed wine and a cup without her even asking for it. That was how familiar most of the taverns on the east side of London were with Lady de Tosni, who traveled alone and had never once, in all that time, been molested or in need of protection.
Mostly because she was quite good with a knife and her foot-to-groin aim.
Not to say that a few hadn’t tried. She was a beautiful woman who reeked of sultry allure, so a few had been foolish enough to approach her. She ignored them until they forced themselves upon her, which had happened more than once, and anything she could use as a weapon would come flying out at them—knives made great deterrents and so did spoons. A cup of wine could be thrown into eyes because they made very effective targets, and when all else failed, a boot to the groin would serve as the final blow. It really wasn’t all that difficult and Caledonia was bold enough, and fearless enough, to carry it off. But because she was a good customer, usually the tavernkeeps would get involved and throw out the offender.
Still, she’d never once met a man she couldn’t get rid of.
And here she was, yet again, in the Wren and the Willow. They had particularly good stews here because the tavernkeep’s wife was a good cook. Even now, Caledonia thought she could smell something delicious in the air. Given that it was nearing sunset, her stomach was rumbling a bit. The mushrooms had worn off but the wine hadn’t, and she needed something in her stomach before she drank anything more. She had just whistled to the nearest serving wench when the door to the tavern opened.
A massive knight appeared.
She recognized him immediately as one of the men who came with Canterbury. In fact, it was the man who had hauled her over his shoulder. And broad shoulders they were. There was nothing about the man that wasn’t big and intimidating. He stood there a moment, surveying the room like a conqueror surveys his domain, before his gaze finally came to rest on her.
