Chapter Five #5
Gage could feel the warmth from her, the hope in her request. He’d seen the light of hope in her eyes before when she looked at him, long ago when he thought he thought she was too young and she thought he was the only man in the world.
He had to admit that her blind adoration of him had fed his pride.
Every man needed a young woman or two who thought he was the moon and the stars.
But as he looked at her, the warmth he felt wasn’t feeding his pride.
It was feeding his interest.
“I would like to, of course,” he said. “But…”
“She told me you had returned but I did not believe it until I saw for myself.”
The somewhat low and rumbling voice interrupted them and they both turned to see Clark standing a few feet away.
He was looking straight at Gage.
“De Vries,” Gage acknowledged him steadily. “It is agreeable to see you again.”
Clark looked him over for a moment, inspecting the prodigal knight, before replying. “And you,” he said. “But dragging a young lady off for a private conversation is an ill-bred action. You should not have taken her away from the stall. Her mother is in a panic.”
“I brought him here,” Wynter said quickly. “Do not blame him, Clark. I brought him because I did not want my sisters to see him and swarm him. They would all be hanging on him and I would have no opportunity to speak with him.”
Clark lifted a disapproving eyebrow. “I see,” he said. Then, he held out a hand to her. “Come along, my lady. Your mother is fraught with worry.”
Wynter didn’t want to go but she knew she had no choice. She looked at Gage, feeling a good deal of disappointment that their time together was being cut short. She knew that Clark was right in separating them but, still, her disappointment was great.
“You will come to Ashleven, won’t you?” she begged softly. “Before you leave us again, please come.”
Gage’s eyes took on a faint twinkle. “I will, my lady,” he said. “I swear it.”
That one-sided warmth that always radiated from Wynter was now two-sided.
Gage had a hint of it, as well, but before Wynter could reply, a scream filled the air and Clark turned sharply towards the source, back towards the street of the merchants.
As he watched, he could see that there was a commotion going on and another scream pierced the air.
That was never a good sign.
He pointed at Gage.
“Keep her here,” he snapped quietly. “Let me see what that was about, but you protect her with your life, do you understand?”
Gage nodded, once, watching Clark tear off towards the street of the merchants.
They heard yet another scream and, this time, Gage took notice.
Something was happening right where Wynter had left her mother and sisters and by the sounds coming forth, it was something serious.
Gage grasped Wynter by the hand and pulled her with him.
“Come,” he said quietly. “Something is happening and I would see what it is.”
Wynter didn’t care what it was because those screams had caused Gage to hold her hand.
Stunned, she looked at him rather dumbly as he pulled her along, her hand wrapped up in his big and rough mitt.
It was the most blessed thing in the world as far as she was concerned.
She was so caught up in the sensation of his hand holding hers that she failed to see a man as he suddenly barreled around the corner of the stall nearest them with a host of Ashington soldiers chasing him.
He had Autumn in his grasp.
Autumn was squealing, unable to do much more because the man had her so tightly around the torso and neck.
He was carrying her awkwardly, with the hand around her throat also wrapped up in her hair.
Startled, Wynter immediately ran towards the man but Gage was faster.
He was also armed and he hit the man in the head with his gloved fist, like a sledgehammer, throwing him backwards as Autumn screamed in fright.
As the man landed on his back heavily, Autumn was loosened from his grip, but not entirely.
The man still had a hand tangled up in her hair and as Wynter grabbed her hysterical sister and tried to pull her away, Gage drove a dagger into the man’s throat.
Suddenly, the wild chase had come to an abrupt and deadly halt.
As Wynter watched in horror and fascination, Gage removed the dagger from the man’s neck and plunged it through his left eye, all the way through the skull, coming out the other side and pinning his head to the ground.
He did it without expression, without any hint of emotion.
He killed as easily as he breathed. Bile rose in her throat but she was distracted from becoming ill because Autumn was in distress.
Frantically, she tried to unwind the dead man’s hand from her sister’s hair, but it seemed to be tangled everywhere.
By this time, Clark, Etienne, and Dirk were standing over them trying to separate Autumn from her abductor.
Dirk finally took out a razor-sharp dagger and cut the hair to get it away from the dead man.
Once Autumn was free, Wynter pulled her away from the scene, practically carrying her as her mother and sisters rushed up.
“My God,” Wynter breathed, shaken. “What happened?”
Maryann threw her arms around her youngest daughter, hugging her tightly as tears streamed down her face.
“I do not know,” she said, squeezing her daughter a moment longer before releasing her and cupping the young woman’s face in her hands.
“What happened, Autie? How did that man manage to take you?”
Autumn was still hysterical, her hair askew and chopped away on one side by a few inches, but at least she was safe.
That had yet to really sink in. “I do not know,” she gasped.
“I was in front of the stall and he was in the road with a white kitten in his hands. He told me I could pet the kitten and then… then he grabbed me and started to run. Oh, where is the kitten? He must have hurt it when he grabbed me!”
She was weeping but Maryann was terrified to the bone, too terrified to entertain the thought of a random kitten somewhere.
She pulled Autumn into her arms once more, weeping with relief and fear, as Wynter looked at Spring and Summer.
They gazed back at her with utter terror and shock as Autumn sobbed over the kitten.
“Is she well?”
The question came from Gage, suddenly standing next to Wynter. He had blood on his hands and his jaw. Unsteadily, she nodded.
“She seems to be,” she said. “She is asking for a kitten. She said the man lured her with a white kitten and she is worried for it. Can we look for it? It might help to calm her.”
Gage nodded. “Where was it?”
Wynter pointed out to the avenue. “Out on the street,” she said. “The man grabbed her in front of the merchant stall where my mother and sisters were. Mayhap it is somewhere near the stall.”
Gage immediately headed off to search for the little cat as Wynter told Clark and Etienne about it, too.
They headed after Gage, taking soldiers with them as they went.
Wynter returned her attention to her trembling mother and sister, managing to walk them back to the merchant’s stall where the merchant and his wife were anxiously watching the activity.
They sat Maryann and Autumn down, giving them both cups of good wine to ease their nerves.
As they were calming, Wynter went to the front of the stall where Gage was heading towards her with a little white kitten in his right hand.
Wynter rushed to him.
“You found it,” she said, both grateful and surprised. “Is it injured?”
Gage lifted the little creature, looking it in the face. “I do not think so,” he said. “It’s a little muddy, but it does not seem to be hurt.”
Wynter quickly took it from him and rushed to Autumn, handing her the little kitten, which pleased her immensely. It helped her spirits tremendously and that, along with the wine, calmed her. As the frenzy of the situation began to die down, Wynter returned her attention to Gage.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “Had you not knocked the man down when you did, there is no knowing what would have happen. I am sure my mother will want to thank you, too, when she is not so consumed with comforting my sister.”
Gage could see Maryann hovering over her child. “Your thanks is enough, my lady, truly,” he said. “Your mother has more important things to worry about. Her thanks and her attention are not necessary, I assure you.”
Wynter thought it was rather humble of him not to need her mother’s gratitude, but it was true that Maryann only had eyes for Autumn. She hadn’t even spared a glance for the knight she once knew, a man no one had seen in years.
But Gage didn’t seem to mind.
“That man was running for the river,” Wynter murmured. “He could have… God only knows what he could have done once he reached it.”
She appeared sick at the mere thought and Gage was completely sympathetic. “How did he manage to grab her with all of these soldiers around?” he asked.
Wynter sighed heavily, looking over at her shaken sister. “I am not sure,” she said. “Autumn said that he told her she could pet his kitten and then he grabbed her. Why would he do such a thing?”
Before Gage could reply, Clark was suddenly standing there, a disgusted look on his face.
“This is why you do not run off to an inn following your reckless sister, my lady,” he said in an uncharacteristic burst of temper.
“There are men like that everywhere, simply looking for an opportunity to ravage a woman. Thanks to Gage, Autumn was fortunate, but that good fortune might not hold out for you and your sister should you try something so foolish again.”
Wynter was surprised at the scolding, but she couldn’t quite muster the determination to fight back. He was correct, in every way, and she was well aware. Without much to say to him, she gestured to her mother and sister.
“We must take them back to Aunt Sedelia’s,” she said. “I do not think Mama will wish to continue shopping after this.”
Clark held his angry expression for a moment longer before giving up the rage altogether and nodding wearily.
He, too, couldn’t muster much more anger than he already had because it wasn’t Wynter’s fault her sister was so stupid.
But this entire incident had unnerved him and the thought of Wynter and Spring cavorting about without any armed protection was giving him hives.
Without another word, he headed over to Maryann as she soothed Autumn, leaving Wynter alone with Gage.
“You saved my sister,” Wynter said softly. “I will never forget that, Gage, not as long as I live. You were very heroic today.”
Gage had been watching Etienne and Dirk haul the dead man up from the ground and hand him over to some soldiers to take over to the local parish church. But Wynter’s gently uttered words had him looking at her. He’d never realized how her voice could send chills up his spine.
There were a lot of things he’d never realized about her.
“It was an honor to be of service, my lady,” he said after a moment.
She smiled faintly. “I do believe we are leaving now,” she said. “Will you come to sup tonight at Aunt Sedelia’s and let us thank you properly?”
He couldn’t. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He smiled at her, but it was a gesture filled with regret.
“Alas, I cannot,” he said. “I wish with all my heart that I could, but I am expected elsewhere. In fact, I should not even be here right now. I should have moved on at dawn, but I wanted to bid you a proper farewell and ensure that all is well between us again.”
Wynter tried not to let her disappointment show. “I understand,” she said. “Will you tell me where you are going?”
“A task I have been paid to fulfill.”
That was all he was going to say about it and Wynter didn’t push. This had been a morning of extraordinary honesty and she knew that if he wanted her to know everything, he would tell her. But clearly, that wasn’t the case.
Gage de Reyne had returned to England a man of mystery.
“Will you be able to come to Ashleven and visit with my father when you are finished?” she asked. “I know he would like to see you. So would I before you leave again.”
He could hear the disappointment in her voice, matching his own.
This morning had been an odd yet exhilarating experience in becoming reacquainted with Wynter de Thorington.
He was coming to see, quickly, that she was most definitely not the young woman he’d left behind those years ago and he was rather kicking himself that he’d not given her another thought since then.
But the truth was that she had been a child.
As he’d told Laurence, he wasn’t in the habit of showing romantic feelings towards a child.
As of this morning, however, that very well may have changed.
Impulsively, he collected Wynter’s hand and brought it to his lips for a warm and gentle kiss.
“I will try,” he said quietly, releasing her hand. “It has done me a world of good to see you again, my lady. It will not be the last time.”
“Promise?”
“I do.”
With a smile tugging on his lips, he moved away from her, heading out onto the street of the merchants and disappearing from view.
For a moment, Wynter simply stood there, staring at the street, the last spot she had seen him.
She didn’t realize that she was still holding her hand aloft, the one he had kissed, and she found herself looking at her hand as if he had somehow marked her flesh.
She was in disbelief that he had kissed her hand so sweetly.
But more than that, his words were ringing in her ears.
It will not be the last time.
She was trying desperately not to read too much into it, but it was difficult. Surely he meant that he would see her again and, given that she was somewhat intuitive, she was quite certain he meant it in a most interested fashion.
Interested in her.
God, is it even possible?
With a smile on her lips, she turned for her distraught mother and shattered sister.