Chapter Eleven
He was on the hunt.
Not really a hunt, but Douglas was most definitely looking for Mira.
Having arrived back at Axminster a short time earlier, he had been tied up helping Eric settle the escort of Lord de Honiton.
Douglas had heard the name of de Honiton before but never had any direct dealings with the man.
He knew he was a great supporter of the king, but little more than that.
Douglas finished helping Eric settle the de Honiton troops and then went on his hunt for a certain young lady.
She wasn’t hard to find.
With unexpected visitors at Axminster, Douglas suspected he’d find Mira preparing the great hall, and he was correct.
She was there with some of the other girls, supervising the preparation of the hall.
The advent of unexpected visitors had thrown the well-trained women into a frenzy.
They wanted to make sure the hall was perfect for their visitors because nothing was more uplifting than a compliment on one’s housekeeping skills.
A happy visitor would spread the word of the lovely hospitality at Axminster, directly reflecting upon Lady Isabel and her wards.
Therefore, this was serious business.
Because there were so many women at Axminster, the great hall never really deteriorated into a men-only chamber.
Douglas had been at many halls in his lifetime and, more often than not, they were a man’s domain.
The men gathered there, told their stories there, and shared meals and camaraderie.
If they did it before battle, sometimes it was the very last time that friends would see each other in this lifetime.
Therefore, some halls tended to be slovenly places with old rushes on the floor, smelling of old ale and old memories.
But not Axminster.
Axminster was clearly a woman’s hall because the rushes were fresh, there were no dogs to be seen, and the floors were swept clean.
And it wasn’t a hard-packed earth floor, either.
It was stone currently in the process of being scrubbed.
There was a small army of servants and young ladies making sure the floor would be clean for Lady Isabel and her visitors.
And Mira was in the middle of it.
As Douglas stood at the door, he found himself watching every move she made.
He thought that she was an ethereal, lovely creature at the best of times and now, in the midst of hard work, he realized she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Douglas had grown up with a mother who was quite industrious, and his sisters had followed her lead.
He had four sisters in total, all of them hard workers and brilliant women.
He had grown up learning to admire a woman for her ingenuity and dedication, and as he watched Mira, he could see the same qualities in her that his mother and sisters had.
Because of that, the feelings that he’d been experiencing for her were only growing stronger.
It was odd, really, for a man who had perpetually put off any kind of marital suggestion from his parents.
He wasn’t exactly young anymore and knew, at some point, that he was going to have to find a wife.
Even though he was the son of an earl, and a wealthy one at that, the truth was that he did not own any property.
He didn’t have a title like his brothers did and, being the fifth son, unless he married very well, there would be no title for him.
His older brothers had married well and one of them had inherited an earldom through his wife.
All of his older brothers had titles and property.
But Douglas didn’t.
Truthfully, it didn’t really bother him.
He’d never had great aspirations for power for money or control.
He was content serving his father and carrying out the man’s orders, although that didn’t mean he was a follower.
Not at all. He was quite a leader, and he was well liked by his men, but he simply didn’t have the ambition some men had—and when he married Mira, the possibility of his marrying for a title would be gone.
Considering the prize, it didn’t matter to him.
Mira…
Thank God for her nickname because he honestly couldn’t envision himself calling her by the name she’d been christened with.
Frankly, he was surprised the priests even allowed such a thing, but her middle names were appropriate and that must have satisfied them.
To name a set of twins Payne and Misery certainly reflected the mindset of the mother.
A mindset that continued to be detrimental because the woman remarried and then banished her daughter based on her new husband’s whims. He found that quite shocking, to be truthful, and quite terrible.
Mira didn’t deserve what she’d been given in life, at least not as far as a mother was concerned.
He hoped to change that.
He would give her an entirely new family that would love her and cherish her in the way it was meant to be.
He already knew that his mother would love her and that she would blend in well with his sisters.
Douglas’ four older brothers were all married to women who were quite fine, and he thought that Mira would be a proud addition to the collection of de Lohr wives.
In fact, that was how he felt about her.
Proud.
He was daydreaming about bringing Mira home to Lioncross Abbey when the very woman in question caught sight of him and paused in her sweeping to wave at him.
She was near the hearth, sweeping out the ashes for the servants to collect, and as he went to her, Isabel and the rest of the young women entered the hall.
A small army had arrived to help, and that included Astoria.
When she realized Douglas was in the hall, she focused on him, but Douglas only had eyes for Mira.
“Well?” she said as he approached. “What happened with the Tatworth men?”
“What do you think happened?” he said, grinning. “I beat them within an inch of their lives and tossed them into the river.”
She chuckled. “You did not.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“I am.”
He sneered at her, though it was lightly done. “If you do not apologize, I will not give you what I have brought,” he said. “I’ll give it to someone else and then you’ll be sorry that you were so cruel to me.”
She shook her head at him. “Poor lad,” she said. “Hurt and insulted by a cruel woman.”
“It is true. I’m going to tell everyone it is true.”
“They’ll think you a weak man, indeed, if you let me get the better of you.”
His grin was back. “And I gladly submit to your whims, wishes, and words,” he said. “Anything you want to say is fine by me. Even nice things.”
He was flirting with her, and Mira could feel the flush in her cheeks because he was quite adorable when he did that. “Then I will have to think of some nice things to say,” she said. “I could possibly tell you that you are quite handsome.”
“Do you think so?”
“Conceivably.”
“Tell me that you think so and I’ll give you something for it.”
She leaned the broom against the stone of the hearth and held out her hand. “Let me see what you’ve brought and I will determine what nice words it warrants.”
She was clever. With a smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth, Douglas dug into the purse at his side and pulled forth the necklace. Carefully, he laid it in her open palm so that the cross was on the top, staring at her.
The smile immediately vanished from her face.
“Oh… Douglas,” she gasped, picking up the cross to get a good look at it. “This is magnificent. Wherever did you find it?”
“A merchant in Axminster,” he said. “There is a story behind the cross.”
“What is it?”
He watched her as she inspected it. “Evidently, it belonged to a young woman who had decided to take the veil,” he said. “Her father gave the cross to her as a token of her decision, but when she went to the cloister, she could not take it with her.”
Mira turned the cross over to see the inscription on the back. She held it up in the light to get a better look.
“Meum arbitrium,” she murmured. “My choice? That’s a curious inscription.”
“Not really,” Douglas said. “Her choice was the cloister. The merchant said that the father gave it to her to celebrate her choice, but the more I think on it, I would wager he gave it to her to remind her what her choice was going to cost her—fine things, jewelry, her family, and possibly even a husband. I think he was reminding her of what she was going to leave behind.”
Mira nodded as she turned the cross over again to admire the jewels on the front. “So it is a token with several meanings,” she said. “What does it mean to you?”
He lifted his eyebrows. “That should be obvious,” he said. “You are my choice.”
She fought off a grin. “Did you give me this to brand me, then?”
“Of course I did,” he said with muted sarcasm. “You will wear it every day and show everyone that you are my choice. Wear it like a flag, Mira, and wave it for all to see. You belong to me and I want everyone to know it.”
She glanced up at him. “But I’ve not yet agreed.”
That was true. She hadn’t technically agreed to anything. Therefore, he sighed heavily, hands on hips in an unhappy gesture. “If you have not yet agreed, then give it back to me,” he said. “I’ll find someone else to give it to.”
She was fighting off laughter now because he was close to pitching a fit. He was easy to taunt and they had a good rapport between them. In fact, she knew he wasn’t serious, and he knew she wasn’t serious. It was simply a formality for her to consent.
And they both knew it.
“You will not give it to anyone else,” she said, putting it over her head and letting the necklace settle around her neck and chest. “I’ll wave it like a flag, I promise. Why wouldn’t I? You are my choice, too.”
He cast her a sidelong glance, unable to keep the smile from his lips. “It is about time.”
“You were from the start.”