A young man stepped out of the inn across the badly rutted road and abruptly captured all of Gisele's wandering attention. She tensed, torn between hope and fear. There was no mistaking her slender, almost beautiful, cousin David. What she was not sure of was whether or not she should approach him. He had not rushed to her defense when her troubles had begun, but she could not believe that he would hand her over to the DeVeaux, either. When he started to walk away, she impulsively hurried over to him, catching up to him just outside of a small, dark alley.
"Here, boy, what game do you play?” David demanded when Gisele shoved him into the alley.
"David, it is your cousin, Gisele.” She yanked off her cap and ruffled her curls. “Do you not remember me, cousin?"
She waited, standing stiffly before him as he stared at her. Suddenly, he gaped and grabbed her by the shoulders. After a long moment of silence, Gisele shifted on her feet and tugged free of his hold.
"Are you completely mad?” he said, his voice hoarse and softened by shock.
"I was beginning to fear that you were. You were staring at me as if I were some vision you were ill-pleased to see,” she grumbled as she tugged her cap back on.
"What have you done to your hair, and why are you dressed like that?"
"I never thought you lacking in wit, cousin. I am trying to look like a boy.” She glared at him when a look of pure derision settled on his beautiful face. “These clothes belonged to Guy's page."
"I am not surprised that fool Guy is behind this madness.” He paced back and forth for a moment before facing her again. “You nearly got Guy killed."
"Ah, so you have spoken to our sweet-tongued cousin, Maigrat."
David grinned briefly, then frowned, dragging his long fingers through his thick black hair. “She has no great love for you, that is true enough. She does not like people who speak their minds as sharply as she does, especially if what they say disputes her truths."
"I may have disagreed with her a time or two,” she said, ignoring the mocking sound he made, “but that is not reason enough to decry me as a murderer, or believe that I would do anything that would hurt Guy."
David put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a brief hug. “I found it hard to believe that you would hurt Guy, and he was most adamant in his support of you."
"He is well?"
"Almost healed enough to walk out of Maigrat's demanse, just as he threatens to every day."
Gisele laughed and then watched David closely as she said, “Guy was one of the few people who believed in my innocence."
He blushed and took a step back. “I wish I could deny that, but I fear you speak the ugly truth. The only defense we all have, and it is a very weak one, is that you had made your loathing of the man evident to anyone who would listen to you, and you often threatened him with some heinous punishments. There is no pardon for us. You should never have been given to him. We were blinded by power and wealth, I think. No one of such a high standing had ever joined our family before, and we hungered for it."
"You keep saying we and us. Do you speak for the others?"
"Most of them. A few, like Maigrat, have their own reasons to refuse to change their minds, and I fear that refusal has more to do with their dislike of you than the truth.” David watched her a little warily as he said, “You can be curt, Gisele, and are cursed with a sharp, bitter tongue that can stir some people's anger and dislike."
"They are but humorless, and I have no need of them. Is my family going to help me now?” She waited tensely for his reply, knowing she had let her hopes spring to life and afraid that they were about to be crushed again.
"We have already begun to try to find the truth,” he replied then returned her impulsive hug. “We have also been trying to find you. You must come with me now. You can no longer be allowed to run about France alone and unprotected."
"Alone?” Gisele frowned as she moved away from him. “Did Guy tell you that I was alone?"
"He said something about a Scotsman, a knight who survived by selling his sword. He has obviously deserted you. One can expect little else from a man of his ilk."
"No, Nigel would not desert me.” Gisele felt as surprised by her sharp defense of Nigel as David looked. “He is gathering some fresh supplies and having our horses tended to."
"You are still with the man? That will not do, cousin. You cannot travel alone with a man, especially one no one knows. I will pay this man his fee and send him on his way."
Gisele stared at her cousin, eager to tell him that he was a complete idiot, but knowing that this was not the time for an argument. Here was a trouble she had not foreseen, and she cursed her blindness. Men were always eager to defend their women against the sinful thoughts and inclinations of other men, and since he had done nothing to protect her from her brutal husband guilt could easily make David very hard to turn aside. Nigel would soon be looking for her, and Gisele was sure her cousin would not be greeting Nigel cordially when he met him. Gisele lightly chewed on her bottom lip and wondered how she could pull Nigel out of the confrontation she had unthinkingly thrust him into.
Nigel stepped out of the baker's too warm shop, took a deep breath of the cool outside air, and immediately knew that something was wrong. He felt the first stirrings of panic when he could not see Gisele where he had left her. His hand on his sword, he began to search the small village. He stopped and stared when he found her just inside a narrow, shadowed alley not far from the inn.
The young man she stood with presented no clear threat, yet Nigel disliked him immediately. He inwardly grimaced, ruefully admitting, that some of that dislike was born of jealousy. The youth was tall, lean, dark-haired, and dark-eyed, and even Nigel could recognize his beauty. None of that diminished the danger Gisele could be putting herself in, however. Her safety depended heavily on her remaining hidden. When Nigel heard the youth say he would pay him and send him on his way, dismissing him like the basest of mercenaries, he stepped forward.
"Keep your wee purse tied to your belt, laddie,” Nigel said as he stood next to Gisele. “I ask no coin for protecting the lass."
Gisele looked from Nigel to David and inwardly cursed. Both men were tense, their expressions ones of cold anger, and their hands resting on their swords. One wrong word or step, and she would have to watch her protector and her cousin try to cut each other down. Men, she decided, were very odd creatures, and even these two had to know that no one would gain from such a confrontation, least of all her, the one they both claimed they wanted to protect.
"Nigel,” she placed a hand on his arm, “this is my cousin, Sir David Lucette. David, this is Sir Nigel Murray, the man who has gallantly offered to protect me from my enemies."
"Aye, doing what her kinsmen dared not,” Nigel said, then grunted softly when Gisele nudged him hard in the side.
"Her family can care for her now,” David said in halting English, easing his taut stance only slightly when he saw how Gisele was glaring at him.
"Ye have ignored her peril for nearly a year,” Nigel responded in a cold voice. “Ye left her alone to fight her enemies and try to prove her innocence. And now ye want me to cast aside my pledge and just leave her in your inept care? Nay, I think not."
"This is a woman of good birth and honorable name. She cannot ride over the land alone, with a man not related to her by blood."
Before Nigel could respond to that, Gisele cursed and placed herself directly between David and Nigel. “Must you behave like ill-weaned children fighting over a toy?"
"Ah, lass,” Nigel said, placing his hand over his heart, “ye wound me. Ye should have more care for a mon's pride."
Gisele ignored his foolishness. It had not taken her long to see that Nigel could be almost nonsensical at the oddest of times. The look on her cousin's face, however, told her that he was completely confused. Gisele idly wondered if that was why Nigel did it. A confused foe was probably easier to defeat.
"Cousin,” she said in what she hoped was a
calm but firm voice,” Sir Murray has sworn upon his honor to be my protector."
"Gisele, I understand that we have failed you,” David said in French as he took Gisele's hands between his. “We have insulted you with our suspicions and disbelief. It is all different now. Let us care for you."
Nigel tensed. He found it hard to closely follow the youth's rapid French, but understood enough to know that David was trying a gentle persuasion to take Gisele away. There was not much he could do if she decided to return to her family, to accept their belated offer of help. He could not even be sure if his protests would be born of an honest belief that she was safer with him, or out of a fear of losing her.
It was hard but Gisele stared into her cousin's beautiful, beseeching eyes and knew she would say no. She just wished she knew all the reasons why she was about to turn her back on the chance to reunite with her family. They had hurt her with their betrayal, but here was a chance to heal those wounds and she was going to refuse it. Gisele had the unsettling feeling that, muddled up with all of the very good reasons to stay with Nigel, was simply a strong reluctance to leave him. She prayed she was not about to make a serious misstep just for the sake of a handsome face and sweet kisses.
"Non, David. I will stay with Sir Murray,” she replied, speaking in English so as not to exclude Nigel from the discussion, knowing that was what her cousin had been trying to do. “I chose this path and I will stay on it."
"I swear you will not be treated in the same shameful manner you have been,” David replied in English, his reluctance to use the language clear in his deep voice.
"I believe you. That does not matter."
"Are you certain you are not allowing hurt feelings to guide your steps?"
She smiled briefly and shrugged. “I will not deny that those feelings are there, but they do not lead me. This is for the best, believe me.” Gisele could tell by the dark look on David's face that he thought she and Nigel were already lovers, but was probably not sure who to blame for that. After all, she was no longer some naive virgin. “We have a good plan. You need not worry about me."
"Not worry? How many times must I say it? You are traveling all over the land dressed as a boy with a man none of us know. Do you have no thought to how you are blackening your name?"
Gisele laughed—a short, bitter sound. “Blackening my name? For a year now even some of my own family has decried me as a murderer, a woman who not only killed her husband but mutilated him. I doubt what I do now could stain my precious name any deeper than that.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Sir Nigel is taking me to a safe place. That is what is needed now."
"We could find you a safe place, cousin,” David said, but his deep voice carried a hint of uncertainty.
"Non, you cannot, and we both know it. The DeVeaux watch every member of our family very closely. What happened to poor Guy is hard proof of that. There is nowhere amongst you that I can truly hide. Whomever I abide with I will put in danger. Do you truly wish to pull our whole family into a war with the DeVeaux? A war that could easily set you against the king himself? I did not think so,” she murmured when he frowned.
"But, now that we have come to our senses we can do nothing else except help you, or we risk our honor."
"Then do help me. Find out who truly killed my husband. Now is the perfect time to do that. All DeVeau eyes are turned upon me, and all of their strength and interest is aimed at me. That should give someone a very good chance of discovering exactly what happened to my husband."
"It will not be an easy task,” David muttered as he rubbed his chin.
"Non, it will not be. If it were easy I would have found out the truth myself by now. I have had little chance to ferret out the real murderer myself, and now that the DeVeaux offer a hefty purse for my miserable head I will have no time at all. I have no time for anything except running and hiding."
"That is no life for a woman."
"Non, it is not, so find out who really cut up my loathsome worm of a husband and free me from it."
She waited with some apprehension as David considered her words. He could cause her a great deal of trouble if he refused to accept her decision, and she felt she had more than enough to deal with already. Although a part of her was still not completely sure she could trust Nigel, she knew she could not leave him. Every instinct told her to hold firmly to the path she was on, but she did not want to push away the family that had finally come to her aid.
"I do not like this,” David muttered, sending Nigel a brief, hard glare before tightly hugging Gisele. “I will honor your wishes. Stay with the man, and your family shall set its mind and heart to getting you exonerated."
"Ye made the wise choice,” Nigel said as he tugged Gisele to his side.
"I do not believe I was given much of a choice at all,” David replied, fixing his gaze on Gisele after one brief glare toward Nigel. “I hope you do not regret this, cousin.” He bowed and strode away.
Gisele sighed, suddenly unsure of herself, but she repressed the urge to call her cousin back. She could not let herself waver simply because she missed her family. Although she was ready to forgive them, she could not really ignore the fact that Nigel had been more steadfast than they had. David had assured her that they had joined her cause now, but a lingering hurt and an all too clear memory of their betrayal kept her from fully believing him. She was fighting for her life. She could not afford to gamble on anyone or anything.
She looked up at Nigel, who was watching her closely, and decided that she had indulged in all the gambling she dared to for now, and that was putting her trust in him. David's complaint that she was hurting her reputation by traveling with Nigel was foolish, but he had been right about one thing. No one really knew Nigel Murray. He was a Scot who sold his sword to the French and, amongst his fellow soldiers there were few who spoke ill of him. It really was not much to bet one's life on.
"Are ye regretting your decision, lass?” Nigel asked, fighting to hide the unease he felt. Her gaze was intent, considering, and he feared she was about to change her mind. “We could easily call your cousin back,” he said, hoping she would never know how hard it was for him to choke out those words.
"Non.” She frowned, then shook her head. “This is best. I but faltered for a moment."
"It is nay an easy choice to make."
"Non, it is not. I have missed my family. As I told you, I dearly want to go home. Not yet. And not with him."
"Ye dinnae think he spoke the truth?"
"Oh, he spoke the truth as he sees it. It is not him I doubt. In truth, I do not wish to doubt the others, but I cannot stop myself."
He gently tucked a stray curl back up under her cap. “They turned their backs on ye when ye most needed them. ‘Tis a hard betrayal, one not easily set aside just because they say they are sorry for it."
She smiled at him, touched by his understanding. “Non, it is not. I was torn, wanted to believe in him, to trust in my family again, and then felt like the basest of traitors because I could not, not with a whole heart."
"Ye dinnae need to don the hair shirt o'er it, Gisele. They may be kinsmen, but they betrayed you, and they must earn your trust again."
"And now, in the midst of fleeing for my life, is not the time to play out that game."
She stared in the direction David had gone and fought a sudden urge to cry. She could see her home, the mossy stone walls and high towers. She could almost smell the roses her grandmother had taken such care of, of which she had taken charge when the old woman had died. The urge to return home and curl up in her soft bed was so strong she ached with it, but she had to fight it. At home there was no safety for her, and she could easily bring danger to those she loved.
Gisele smoothed her hand over Nigel's sleeve, then crossed her arms over her chest to stop herself from clinging to him for the strength she lacked. She had refused David's offer—in part, because it would put her family in peril—yet she chose to put Nigel there. It made no sen
se, and she was suddenly ashamed of herself. He had willingly offered to be her protector and take her to safety in Scotland, but he had not truly known how much trouble that would bring down on his head. Since she had just been given a choice it was past time she gave him one, she decided, and she took a deep breath and looked at him.
"I was just thinking,” she began.
"Ah, and why do I get the feeling that I willnae like it?"
She just frowned at him and doggedly continued, “I speak of not wishing to endanger my family, that I think of their safety, too, when I refuse to rejoin them. I also think of your safety, Sir Nigel."
"Now I am sure I willnae like this."
"May I be allowed to finish?” When he feigned a bow she said, “I was just blessed with a choice, and I believe it is past time I offered you one. When you first offered to help me you may not have realized how large and deep a quagmire you were stepping into. You now have a better idea of the trouble I bring. I will understand if you wish to leave."
"Ye might, but I wouldnae think many others would,” he murmured, smiling faintly, for her taut stance told him she was finding it hard to offer him this chance to step down as her protector. “I gave my word of honor, lass."
"To me, so you can lose none if I say I release you."
"Many might think so, but nay I. I will stay. I said I would get ye to Scotland where ye can safely work to clear your name, and that is what I mean to do."
She was weak with relief, but struggled not to show it. “You are a very stubborn man, Sir Murray."
"That I am.” He took her by the arm and led her out of the alley. “I am also most thoughtful, kind, and generous."
"And vain."
"I prefer to think of it as having a simple knowledge of my strengths."
Highland Honor [Murray Brothers Book 2] Page 8
