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"My lord?" Wynekyn proh ain He picked up his ale to avoid aze "A week or so should do"

"A week or so?" Wynekyn looked amazed "But Richard wanted the deed done as soon as he died He - "

"Nay That is out of the question"

"Why?"

When Hugh sat silent, helpless to co his own blunder, Lucan smoothly intervened

"Hillcrest has only just died The poor girl is still grieving, as is Hugh himself Surely &039;tis not too much to alloo or three weeks to pass first? At the very least, it would allow them some time to prepare for the cereh&039;s relief, Wynekyn looked less appalled "I had not thought of that Perhaps a short delay would not be ahhis situation as the conversation drifted around hio speak to Willa now and attee he&039;d done However, he was thinking that allowing soht be the better idea How long would that take, he wondered He was guessing two or three ht do it, but knew he didn&039;t have that kind of tihts, he glanced up blankly "What?"

"Lord Wynekyn was just suggesting that perhaps Lady Willa and the hag er Eada," Lucan quickly corrected himself "That perhaps we should move them up to the castle in the h With Willa here in the castle, both Wynekyn and Jollivet were sure to realize there was so between them He was reluctant to allow that He would prefer the opportunity to well he supposed he would have to woo her now He berated himself for the idiot he was If he&039;d stayed to hear all the particulars of his uncle&039;s will in the first place, instead of storant announcement that she was beneath him

Odd how she suddenly wasn&039;t beneath hiht with self-derision She was the sao and yet suddenly she was a suitable wife And it wasn&039;t just the wealth which she had and he needed, but also the fact that Wynekyn assured him she was a lady by birth Odd the difference a word could old whether buried deep in the &039;s crown" Daht, of course Willa was a lady whether in a castle or a hovel, and he should have recognized that As Lucan had pointed out, she spoke well She also carried herself with the bearing and pride of a lady despite her sacklike clothes and bare feet And, he realized now, she&039;d sat straight before hirace rather than slapping about on his back like a sack of turnips She&039;d been taught to ride, he was sure But he&039;d ns and assuh?"

"What?" he asked, his irritation at hi that they were awaiting his response to the suggestion that Willa and the witch be brought to the castle, he frowned "Nay She&039;ll not be brought to the castle My uncle thought it unsafe She re"

Wynekyn pursed his lips thoughtfully over that, but he was shaking his head even as he did "I do not know The , I believe she will be at risk Would it not be easier to keep her safe here than in that hovel?"

"Uncle Richard thought not"

"Richard counted on the fact that everyone thought her dead &039;Tis why he sent her to live in the cottage with Eada, if you will recall"

Hugh shrugged i, "Wynekyn, how can Icontract irl knows her own name" Lucan peered at the older man in query

"Nay I do not think she does, and that is a problem, of course Richard said that he would leave a letter explaining all on his death But I have yet to find it"

" &039;Tis ?"

"Nay Well, I hope not I did look for it after his death, but there was very little ti, and" He shrugged "I shall search again now that I ah noticed that he did not look as certain as his words suggested

"In fact," the old o take another look now Perhaps you should ride back to the cottage and infor will take place in teeks and ask her where she would prefer to stay I really think that shewould be better perforht away, but first we do need the letter froh&039;s dull silence for acquiescence, he left the three younger men alone and headed for the stairs to the upper level

"Well" Lucan h&039;s other side "What do you intend to do now?"

Hugh grimaced at the question "What indeed?"

"About what?" Jollivet asked, reh scowled at his cousin, then straightened as a thought occurred to him "Jollivet, you spend a lot of time at court You knooh scowled "I said you knoomen like, not that you cared about it or even liked wohter "You do insist on seeing ht" He shook his head "Nohy do you e of the fairer sex?"

Hugh hesitated, then began haltingly "Well, iine you had insulted a lady at court Called her a well say a bastard"

He paused as Jollivet gasped "You did not?"

"I did not say I had I said you had," Hugh snarled, flushing guiltily

"I never would!" Jollivet said firmly

"Well, say you had!"

"Nay, I could not"

"Dammit! Just say you had"

Jollivet tsk tsked impatiently "Very well but I never would," he added just as his cousin opened his h paused then and the two had a sive in

"As I was saying," he got out between clenched teeth "Say you had Hoould you e?"

"Impossible"

"Iive you"

"Da to his feet It was Lucan who touched his aresture and leaned past hi Jollivet

"But you could try, could you not?"

"Aye But it would never work"

When Hugh tensed again, Lucan said, "Aye, but hoould you try?"

Jollivet heaved a h at the question and tipped his head to stare thoughtfully upward for a h was sure he would lunge for the htened and thrust one finger up in a victorious gesture "Ah ha!"

"Ah ha? Ah ha what?"

"Poetry," he said with satisfaction "An ode to her beauty"

"Nay"