Chapter Fourteen #3
Unless she wanted to be rude and tell him to go jump in the well and drown, she had a feeling the man would beg until she opened the door.
Peeved, she jabbed her needed into the fabric with the intention of answering the door when Eefha suddenly stood up and moved very quickly to the panel.
Emllyn didn’t even have the opportunity to call her off because the woman had moved rather swiftly.
She opened the panel, hiding behind it, as de Noble stood in the doorway.
He was tall and very distinguished in his clean tunic and clean boots.
He had even combed his graying hair and greased it down.
He looked very much like a man who had carefully prepared himself to call upon a woman.
When his gaze fell upon Emllyn still seated behind her loom, he turned in her direction and bowed gallantly.
“My lady,” he said in his deep, authoritative voice. “You are looking very well today. Very well, indeed.”
Reluctantly, Emllyn stood up and curtsied before sitting back down again. “My lord,” she greeted with a hint of disappointment. “What did you wish to speak to me about?”
De Noble took a few steps into the room, heading in her direction.
He was seemingly very nervous, for his hands were clasped together and he was fidgeting with his fingers.
Emllyn would have felt some pity for the man had she not been so adverse to his overtures.
She didn’t want to give him any false hope.
If de Noble sensed her resistance to him, he didn’t let on.
He smiled politely and bowed again. “Are you comfortable enough in this chamber, my lady?” he asked kindly.
“If not, we could move you to the larger chamber on the floor below. I realize that it is right off the feasting hall, but the door is good and solid, and I am sure no one would bother you.”
Emllyn shook her head. “I like this room quite sufficiently, my lord,” she replied rather stiffly. “Was that all you wanted to speak with me about?”
She was polite but she wasn’t warm. De Noble could see that and it was difficult not to let her attitude deter him.
As he fumbled for more words, Emllyn could see Eefha moving from behind the door, emerging from the shadows.
She had something in her hand and Emllyn could see it reflect in the weak light.
A bright, silver, and sinister flash. It took her a moment to realize that it was a dagger, and the old woman was sneaking up behind de Noble with the intention of using it.
Startled, Emllyn bolted to her feet and bumped into the loom, sending it crashing to the floor.
De Noble instinctively bent over to pick up the fallen loom.
As he did so, Emllyn frantically waved off Eefha, who was just preparing to lift the dirk and stab the man in his back.
But Emllyn’s desperate gesture had the old woman sheathing the dirk and fleeing from the chamber just as de Noble was righting the loom.
“Here you are, my lady,” he said, righting one of the legs. “No harm done.”
Heart pounding in her chest with the sheer fright she had just experienced, Emllyn forced a smile from what must have surely been a grimace of terror on her lips as she repositioned her loom.
“How clumsy of me,” she said. “Thank you.”
De Noble smiled in return; he was a genuinely handsome man and would have been an excellent prospect had Emllyn’s heart not already been spoken for. As it was, he simply made her cringe with his eager attitude.
“My pleasure, my lady,” he said, but he could see she was expecting him to come to the point of his visit.
“I… well, I have come to see if you would honor me by allowing me to escort you on a walk into the village. You see, they are having a sort of farmer’s faire there today and there will be many things to see and to purchase.
I have even been told there will be entertainment in the form of a puppet show.
I thought mayhap that you would like to escape this dreary keep and take in some fresh air. ”
He said it so courteously; in fact, Emllyn realized that she was very tempted simply at the prospect of getting out of her room and seeing something new, but she was terrified that it would give the man encouragement. She forced a cough and delicately covered her mouth.
“It sounds very lovely, but as I mentioned, I have not been feeling well,” she said. “I would prefer to stay to my room today.”
De Noble’s hopeful expression fell somewhat. “Elyse is in town with Connaught so I thought that you might be lonely for companionship,” he said. “I am not as witty or as pretty as my daughter, but I would be deeply honored if you would allow me to stay a few minutes and make conversation.”
It was another polite request and Emllyn was coming to feel sorry for the man that she was repeatedly rebuffing him. But it could not be helped.
“Mayhap another time, my lord,” she said, forcing another cough. “I am simply not up to it today. If you would please leave me in peace, I would be grateful.”