Chapter Eight
No one was speaking to her.
With the exception of Davina and Helen, none of the ladies would speak to Mira, nor had they since yesterday.
There was a pre-scheduled trip into the town of Axminster on this fine morning, part of their education on bartering and trade, and Mira chose to ride a palfrey rather than ride in the carriage with the rest of the ladies.
If they were going to ignore her, then she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt her feelings.
She’d rather be alone.
It had started yesterday after Douglas’ dazzling display of chivalry for all to see.
As he’d told Mira, he did it so the young women who had been lusting after him would finally leave him alone.
He’d done it to save his own skin, but what he didn’t anticipate was how they would turn on Mira.
Douglas’ only hope was that he would be left alone, as he had bluntly put it to Isabel, so he could piss in peace.
He had staked his claim on Mira and instead of respecting those boundaries, all of that unrequited lust focused on him had turned dark and ugly against Mira.
The feast the previous night was where it had started.
At first, Davina was the only one who would speak to Mira, and she told her what had happened and how the Astoria had reacted to Douglas’ gesture.
Helen had joined them at one point and told more tales of Astoria being hysterical that Douglas had chosen Mira and how she had convinced the younger girls that they were not to speak to Mira.
Using Astoria’s logic, Mira had seduced Douglas and she was a trollop, and the younger women were convinced that they didn’t want to associate with the trollop.
Astoria threatened to tell their families if they did.
Because she shared a chamber with the older girls, Mira had to sleep a few feet away from Astoria that night.
She wished she had the courage to smother her with a pillow.
Rather than sit and sulk, she was angry.
Mira was angry with Astoria and the girls, angry with Douglas that he’d pulled her into this.
The entire ride into the town, which wasn’t terribly far, he’d ridden at the head of the escort.
He’d never looked at her once. But he’d helped her mount her palfrey back at Axminster Castle, and when he smiled at her, she’d turned her nose up at him.
Now, they were heading into the heart of Axminster’s market district.
The city had a license to hold a market every fifth day of the month and Mira had been here many times as a result.
She was particularly good at bartering for goods, but she suspected Lady Isabel would do it this time.
Isabel was on a palfrey of her own, up near the front where Douglas was, while Mira rode at the rear with about ten other soldiers—staying to the rear away from Douglas and the girls who were angry with her.
She didn’t care in the least.
Not much, anyway.
Axminster’s market was set up in an enormous square with dozens and dozens of stalls from farmers, craftsmen, and more.
The dust of summer was kicked up once again as the party from the castle headed into the thick of the city.
Douglas was directing the escort off to the side, where a big English oak provided shade for the horses, and the carriage had been pulled aside as well.
Jonathan and Davyss, who had been riding in the rear near Mira, helped the ladies from the carriage while one of the soldiers helped her dismount.
But she waited.
She wanted to see how Isabel was going to organize the young women before she joined them.
Davina kept waving her over, but she wouldn’t go until she saw Douglas heading in her direction.
Given that she didn’t want to speak with him at all, she joined Davina and Helen, steering clear of Astoria and her little group.
When Isabel joined them, Mira took a step and pretended to twist her ankle.
She took on a noticeable limp until Isabel told her to stay with the carriage, which was exactly what she wanted.
Watching Isabel and Eric, followed by Davyss and Jonathan, lead the young women away, she waited until they were completely gone before turning for the carriage.
Douglas was standing behind her.
“Oh!” Mira gasped because she’d nearly plowed into him. “You startled me.”
Douglas’ focused lingered on her, those sky-blue eyes appraising. “You and I must speak,” he said quietly. Then he held out a hand to her. “Did you really hurt your ankle? Do you need assistance?”
Mira shook her head firmly. “If I did, I would not take it from you,” she said. “You want to speak? Then let us speak. You have caused a great deal of trouble for me, Douglas de Lohr, and I am not happy about it.”
He sighed. “I know,” he said. “And I am very sorry for that. I had no way of knowing those that profess their undying love for me would turn their jealousy upon you.”
“They have,” she said. “Unintentional or not, I am not going to continue with this farce any longer. I must live with these girls, and if they are ostracizing me, I am useless to Lady Isabel.”
“That is not true.”
“It is,” she snapped. “Douglas, I have nowhere else to go if Lady Isabel decides I am ineffective in my duties because all of the girls are jealous. I cannot go home because of the situation there with my stepfather and stepsister. I have told you about that.”
She was venting on him and he knew it. Contritely, he stood there and took it. “I know,” he said softly. “As I said, I am very sorry.”
That wasn’t good enough for Mira. She threw her arm in the direction of the marketplace, pointing.
“Mayhap you are,” she said. “But if you do not have a good plan to get me out of this mess with those girls, then I will take matters into my own hands. I must keep this position or I will be homeless and destitute.”
He shook his head. “You will not be, I promise,” he said quietly. “I will send you to Lioncross and you can serve my mother.”
That threw some water on her fiery temper. “You… you what?” she said. “Send me to Lioncross?”
“Aye.”
“But that’s madness.”
“Why?”
“Because I have no ties there,” she said as if he were daft. “You would simply thrust me upon your mother and insist she permit me to serve her? She would tell you to jump in the lake.”
He fought off a smile. “How would you know what she would say?” he said. “You do not know my mother.”
“I know you, and that is all I need to know about anyone in your family,” she said, rolling her eyes and moving away from him. “I am not going to be a burden on your mother, Douglas. You were generous to suggest it, but it will not work. Forget it.”
He watched her as she climbed, agitated, into the carriage. After a moment’s pause, he followed.
“Lady Mira, I am not sure what more I can say,” he said.
“I have apologized for misjudging the repercussions of my action. I have apologized that you must bear the brunt of it. I have offered to find you a position should Lady Isabel decide you are no longer suited to whatever it is you do for her, but you reject everything I say. Therefore, I will suggest one last thing and our agreement may be ended. When the ladies return from the market for the journey home, I give you permission to publicly humiliate me and tell me that you are not interested in me. You may do this in full view of the ladies. Since you need their support and admiration and you clearly do not want or need mine, that should put you back in their good graces. After that, I will not trouble you further.”
Mira was surprised that he’d suggest such a thing. To humiliate an elite knight in public was most definitely a serious matter. Yesterday they’d made a bargain, and even she thought it might work. It wasn’t his fault. But she was blaming him for her misery.
Misery.
That was her name, after all.
“Stop being such a martyr,” she finally said, backing down a little. “We had a bargain and we are sticking to it, no matter how it has come back on me. It wasn’t your fault. You did not do it deliberately.”
Douglas felt a good deal of relief that she wasn’t truly furious with him. He leaned against the carriage, his eyes twinkling at her.
“I really am sorry,” he said quietly, a smile on his lips. “But my offer stands—if you must break our pretend engagement in front of them, I will understand.”
They were fairly close together, her face about a foot from his. She looked at him, unable to be irritated in the face of his impish expression. He was so devilish that it was both endearing and irritating at the same time, and in spite of herself, she broke down in a grin.
“I should punish you by forcing you to marry me,” she said. “That will teach you not to make bargains like this. You will have to explain it all to your parents, and I am certain they would be very angry with you for such a deception.”
He shrugged. “Mayhap I will marry you anyway,” he said. “I do not need to be forced into it. And my parents would be delighted.”
She chuckled and sat back in the chair. “Of course they would,” she said sarcastically. “Douglas de Lohr, the fifth son of the Earl of Hereford and Worcester, marrying a woman with a small dowry and no property. They would chain you up and beat you until you regained your senses.”
He winced. “Ouch,” he said. “That is too painful. Besides, my father is not the beating kind, nor is my mother. You will like them when you meet them.”
She scowled. “Meet them?” she repeated. “I do not think the earl and the countess and I travel in the same social circles.”
“It does not matter,” he said, moving away from the carriage, distracted by something down the avenue. “When you are my wife, we will all be of the same social standing.”
Mira watched him, sensing that he was no longer jesting. He seemed quite serious and she didn’t like it.
“Stop,” she said quietly. “You go too far.”