Chapter 8 #2
His smile widened at her unguarded answer. Really, this woman was too impulsive for her own good. She would never make a good plotter. And he… He was starting to enjoy himself.
“Why ever not?”
“What do you mean? Would you leave someone in such a state if you could do something to help?”
“No, I suppose not,” he agreed. “But weren’t you afraid of Lady Malpas’ reaction if she found out you had foiled her plans?”
She shrugged, the gesture of someone who could not have explained what was going on in her mind because she did not fully understand it herself.
Yes, she had to be telling the truth, in that instance, at least. Someone with nefarious intent would have had a story at the ready, whereas Katherine evidently didn’t know what to offer as an explanation for her gesture, except a natural, human reaction.
“I didn’t think that far,” she said eventually, proving his intuition right.
“All I knew was that I could not let you die. When her ladyship left the room, I had already decided to come to your aid. But I’m glad she never saw me in the end, because now there is no reason why she should suspect me, or indeed anyone to have interfered with her plans.
Your squire was the one who found you, and he will vouch that you were alone. ”
Yes. Gwyn’s arrival had been rather propitious. Too propitious, in fact.
“You sent him up to my room as soon as you left me, didn’t you?” He had a suspicion that was the case but he wanted to hear the confirmation.
“Yes. I could not stay, but I did not want you to be on your own in case you started bleeding again. Before going, I placed the sheet on the floor, to make it look as if you had found the strength to bandage your wrist yourself before passing out.”
“How very quick-witted of you.”
Katherine’s shoulders sagged in defeat. She had not missed the sarcasm in Siaspar’s voice. What would it take to convince him that she was not in league with the woman who, not satisfied with withdrawing her favors from him and treating him like a savage, had tried to kill him?
Apparently saving his life has not been enough to gain his trust.
The relief at seeing that Siaspar was alive and well, despite his weakness, had been dizzying. With proper care, she didn’t doubt he would recover in a few days. It would take more than lost blood to bring the strong, indomitable warrior down.
That relief had quickly dissipated at his questions, however. She understood why he would be suspicious but she couldn’t help but deplore it.
“You still don’t trust me,” she mumbled.
He pierced her with a dark stare. “I would not go that far. After what you did, I am forced to re-evaluate my opinion of you. But I think there is something you are not telling me.”
No doubt he was alluding to the fact that she had still not revealed the nature of the hold of Lady Malpas had over her.
But she was now keeping another, even greater secret.
She did not want Siaspar to suspect what she had come to feel.
Her reaction when she had understood that he might die had been stronger than it should have been and she was starting to worry that she had developed unwise feelings for him.
How could she fall for a man who believed her his enemy, who thought her in league with a wife he hated and who wanted to kill him?
The answer was simple: she could, because his powers of fascination were undeniable.
Siaspar ap Morgan was the most entrancing person she had ever met.
Not only that, but he had possessed her twice, taken her maidenhead, stroked every part of her body, kissed her breasts, made her melt with indescribable pleasure. Right now, he was fixing her with sparkling eyes. How could she not fall for him?
But Siaspar could not be allowed to know about the inappropriate feelings she was developing for him. He would mock her at best, think it another deception at worst.
When he saw that she was not going to offer any explanation, he gave a sigh.
“Rest easy. I will not tell Lady Malpas that someone helped me. We will go along with the pretense that I managed to save myself. Not that anyone will be told what happened. You and Gwyn are the only ones who know I was found in a pool of my own blood. Can you keep that fact a secret?”
“Of course.”
He nodded and Katherine was relieved to see that he seemed to believe her in this at least.
“She will be angry to see that she failed to kill you, I’m afraid,” she couldn’t help but add. Seeing that her plan had failed would enrage and worry Lady Malpas. With reason. Her husband’s revenge was likely to be terrible.
“Oh, I am certain she will be beside herself with fury and disappointment.”
Siaspar sounded delighted by the prospect rather than worried. His wide smile took Katherine’s breath away. How could this man be called an animal?
“But she has only herself to blame. If she really wanted to kill me, she should never have made the mistake of leaving me before ascertaining that I was really dead,” he added harshly, the smile vanishing from his face.
“I… I believe she was shocked by her own actions and scared to see you die under her eyes,” Katherine said, remembering the expression on Lady Malpas’ face when she had seen the blood ooze out of her husband’s wrist. She had looked horrified.
“How very generous of you to say so. For my part, I do not believe the lovely lady who married me capable of such human feelings. Far from being squeamish, I think she was about to slash my other wrist but heard a noise before she had time to go through with it. She only left the room because she was afraid of being found out.”
Katherine had not thought of that.
Indeed, Lady Malpas had looked startled and had fled precipitously, but at the time, Katherine had attributed her flight to the shock of actually doing what she had hitherto only imagined.
There had been a glint in her eyes when Siaspar had emptied his wine cup in one gulp, and she had not drunk a single drop of the drink herself.
It had all been carefully premeditated, not the gesture of a woman seizing an opportunity presented to her.
Which proved she was truly determined and heartless.
Dangerous.
“Do you think the letter you threw in the fire was sent by your wife?”
Siaspar arched an eyebrow at the question. Katherine reddened, realizing that she had just admitted to having spied on him whilst she was hiding.