[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
with a hand. Rising, he brought the chair over behind her and murmured in
perfectEnglish , "Sit, please, my dear lady."
His switch from NormanFrench toEnglish made her blink in astonishment.
"You are surprised to hear me speak the tongue of theEnglish people whom I
would rule someday. But why so? Of all the sons of the Conqueror, I am the
only prince born in that foggy land."
"I--I speakFrench , your grace." She felt it necessary to remind him.
"Of course, I have already heard you do so," he told her, "but I wanted you
to feel at ease."
She felt the force of his charm like a warm ocean wave. No wonder he had
held her beloved's allegiance. But she reminded herself that this very charm
had made Ranulf wary of trusting him with her identity.
He leaned back and studied her, his gaze as piercing as that of his gyrfalcon.
"Of course..." he murmured, speaking to Ranulf.
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"How could I ever have been so blind7 Oh, I thought her rather a delicate
lad, to be sure, but how could I have missed those long eyelashes... that
sweetly curt ted throat...." His gaze roved lower, musing Aldyth to blush,
the heat spreading up from the neckline of her un- dergown.
Her breasts still felt strange, released from their binding, and she could
see that the prince's eyes lingered on them.
"My prince, I'm sure an explanation is necessary as to why I deceived you
about Lady Aldyth's gender," Ranulf interposed from his position behind her
chair. Henry chuckled.
"Not at all, my lord. I was beginning to worry about you actually, thinking
my elder brother's... differences... might have rubbed off on you, while all
the time you found it titillating, I'm sure, to have such a secret. By day,
to the world, she was your page Edward, seeing to your comforts as any
well-trained page boy would. At night, in the privacy of your bed--ahem!
She saw to, shall we say, other comforts?"
Aldyth sensed Ranulf stiffening behind her.
"Your grace, the lady has plighted her troth to me. We are to marry."
Henry looked nonplussed for only a moment, then backed away, hands raised,
palls outward.
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"So, my lord! Why don't you just come right out and say it-- " Take your
lecherous eyes off the lady, for she is minel' See how easy it is? Oh, and
my congratulations to you both," he added with a grin.
"Thank you, your grace," said Ranulf, still sounding somewhat strained.
"I know myself to be very fortunate that the lady honors me with her love."
"Indeed," Henry countered dryly.
"You were going to tell me why you felt it necessary for such a winsome lady
to accompany you dressed in the rude clothing of a page?"
Aldyth felt Ranulf had borne enough of the blame. '"Twas not entirely his
idea, my lord. I fled to him--actually, to court--dressed as a boy in an
effort to elude my betrothed."
"Your betrothed? You have two of them?" Henry questioned, mused. He sat
back down.
"Say on, dear lady. This better and " I found out on the eve of my wedding
that my betrothed, Turold of Swanlea, was a brutal man whom I could not
marry. I fled him and came to court, where my brother Warin was a page to my
lord. "
"You then appealed to Lord Ranulf's chivalry to help you? You must have been
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known to one another, since your father is his father's vassal," the prince
commented, making a tent of his fingers and regarding her over them.
"Not right away," she admitted, then blushed anew as she added, "we had
quarreled the last time we had seen each other, before I became betrothed.
I... I felt I should not reveal to Lord Ranulf who I was."
Henry clapped his hands together gleefully.
"There's more here than you're telling me, I'll warrant. But keep your
secrets. Tell me, though, my lady, how long did it take Ranulf to discover
your sex? Did he see the truth with his own eyes, or did some spiteful wench
have to tell him, as Desiderata did to me?"
"He saw it rather swiftly on his own, your grace," Aldyth said with a shy
glance behind her at Ranulf. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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with a hand. Rising, he brought the chair over behind her and murmured in
perfectEnglish , "Sit, please, my dear lady."
His switch from NormanFrench toEnglish made her blink in astonishment.
"You are surprised to hear me speak the tongue of theEnglish people whom I
would rule someday. But why so? Of all the sons of the Conqueror, I am the
only prince born in that foggy land."
"I--I speakFrench , your grace." She felt it necessary to remind him.
"Of course, I have already heard you do so," he told her, "but I wanted you
to feel at ease."
She felt the force of his charm like a warm ocean wave. No wonder he had
held her beloved's allegiance. But she reminded herself that this very charm
had made Ranulf wary of trusting him with her identity.
He leaned back and studied her, his gaze as piercing as that of his gyrfalcon.
"Of course..." he murmured, speaking to Ranulf.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"How could I ever have been so blind7 Oh, I thought her rather a delicate
lad, to be sure, but how could I have missed those long eyelashes... that
sweetly curt ted throat...." His gaze roved lower, musing Aldyth to blush,
the heat spreading up from the neckline of her un- dergown.
Her breasts still felt strange, released from their binding, and she could
see that the prince's eyes lingered on them.
"My prince, I'm sure an explanation is necessary as to why I deceived you
about Lady Aldyth's gender," Ranulf interposed from his position behind her
chair. Henry chuckled.
"Not at all, my lord. I was beginning to worry about you actually, thinking
my elder brother's... differences... might have rubbed off on you, while all
the time you found it titillating, I'm sure, to have such a secret. By day,
to the world, she was your page Edward, seeing to your comforts as any
well-trained page boy would. At night, in the privacy of your bed--ahem!
She saw to, shall we say, other comforts?"
Aldyth sensed Ranulf stiffening behind her.
"Your grace, the lady has plighted her troth to me. We are to marry."
Henry looked nonplussed for only a moment, then backed away, hands raised,
palls outward.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"So, my lord! Why don't you just come right out and say it-- " Take your
lecherous eyes off the lady, for she is minel' See how easy it is? Oh, and
my congratulations to you both," he added with a grin.
"Thank you, your grace," said Ranulf, still sounding somewhat strained.
"I know myself to be very fortunate that the lady honors me with her love."
"Indeed," Henry countered dryly.
"You were going to tell me why you felt it necessary for such a winsome lady
to accompany you dressed in the rude clothing of a page?"
Aldyth felt Ranulf had borne enough of the blame. '"Twas not entirely his
idea, my lord. I fled to him--actually, to court--dressed as a boy in an
effort to elude my betrothed."
"Your betrothed? You have two of them?" Henry questioned, mused. He sat
back down.
"Say on, dear lady. This better and " I found out on the eve of my wedding
that my betrothed, Turold of Swanlea, was a brutal man whom I could not
marry. I fled him and came to court, where my brother Warin was a page to my
lord. "
"You then appealed to Lord Ranulf's chivalry to help you? You must have been
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
known to one another, since your father is his father's vassal," the prince
commented, making a tent of his fingers and regarding her over them.
"Not right away," she admitted, then blushed anew as she added, "we had
quarreled the last time we had seen each other, before I became betrothed.
I... I felt I should not reveal to Lord Ranulf who I was."
Henry clapped his hands together gleefully.
"There's more here than you're telling me, I'll warrant. But keep your
secrets. Tell me, though, my lady, how long did it take Ranulf to discover
your sex? Did he see the truth with his own eyes, or did some spiteful wench
have to tell him, as Desiderata did to me?"
"He saw it rather swiftly on his own, your grace," Aldyth said with a shy
glance behind her at Ranulf. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]