Chapter Five #4
Her smile returned, modestly. “Again, you are very kind,” she said. But her smile soon faded. “I do not know what I did to warrant attention from such a noble knight. I had forgotten such men existed in the world, my lord. Thank you for showing me that men with good hearts still live.”
It was his turn to fight off a modest smile. “We do,” he said. “There are many of us, believe it or not.”
“I was fortunate enough to find one in you, my lord.”
“And you will call me Magnus. We have become friends, and friends are not so formal with one another.”
Her grin blossomed. “I do appreciate that we have become friends,” she said. “You have been kind to me from the beginning, and I thank you for that. Even though you knew who I was, you were still kind. That is a quality I do not see much of.”
Magnus found himself staring into her eyes.
Her cheeks were pink from the warmth of the fire, giving her an incredibly alluring look.
But he didn’t dare let his attraction to her show because it would damage the trust they were building.
He’d told her he wanted nothing from her, and that was the truth, but if she realized he found her beautiful…
and there was infatuation there… it would ruin everything.
And he didn’t want to ruin it.
“It has been my pleasure, my lady,” he said, rising from the floor and returning to his seat because he was beginning to sweat. “Now, plans must be made. You cannot stay at The Pox for the rest of your life, so you must decide where you want to go and what you want to do.”
Delaina stood up too, swamped by the beautiful, flowing sleeping shift she was wearing. “I know,” she said. “We have spoken about a great deal this evening. May I at least have the night to think about it?”
“Of course,” he said, picking up the pitcher of wine only to realize that it was empty. He set it down. “Sleep on it. See how you feel come the morning. I will return at some point and we will discuss the situation.”
She nodded, putting her comb back into one of the satchels. “Sir Magnus,” she said, then realized she’d agreed to drop the formalities. “Magnus. I realize you may have no answer to this question, but I have no one else to ask. May I?”
“Of course.”
“What would you do in my situation? Do you think it wise to go to France and try to start a new life?”
Because the wine was gone and he was still feeling flushed being in her proximity, Magnus began leaning toward the door. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “This is a new situation for me, also. If you would like me to give you my honest opinion, then I must think on it, as you must.”
“I would very much like your opinion,” she said. “Truly, I have no one else to ask. I have no friends, no family to speak of. Being a Jewel… it is a very lonely profession in so many ways.”
He made it to the door, his hand on the latch. But his gaze never left her face. “I cannot imagine,” he said quietly. “You have endured much in your life.”
She headed in his direction. “And that is hopefully behind me now,” she said. “But you must have many friends and family. You have probably not known a lonely moment in your life.”
He smiled weakly. “I have three brothers and two sisters,” he said. “My mother, my father, a grandmother, a grandfather, grand-uncles, five additional uncles, two aunts, and their families. There are dozens and dozens of us. Nay, I’ve never been alone in my life, and I like it that way.”
“Are you the eldest son?”
He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “I am the third-born son. I have two older brothers, one younger brother, and two younger sisters.”
She stopped her approach when she came to within a foot or so of him. “You mentioned that you have sisters,” she said. “Are they married?”
He laughed softly. “Those two?” he said. “God help the men who marry them. They are as annoying as vermin, and there are times when I would like to swat them, but my mother will not let me.”
He meant it as a jest, because she could see the twinkle of warmth in his eyes. It was quite endearing.
“But you love them anyway,” she said.
“I do.”
She was smiling because he was. “That tells me a good deal about you,” she said. “Il cuore è fedele alla famiglia.”
He cocked his head. “What does that mean?”
“The heart is true to family.”
“What language is it?”
“The language of Rome,” she said. “One of the few I speak. But it means that a man’s heart is true if he loves his family. And you love yours, which means you are a good man.”
His smile waned. “I hope I am always considered a good man,” he said quietly. “On that thought, I shall leave you now, but I will return on the morrow. I will make sure they send you food in the morning so you do not have to leave your chamber. Stay here and do not wander.”
“I won’t.”
“Good,” he said, throwing the big bolt and lifting the latch. For a moment, their eyes locked and something passed between them. At least, Magnus thought so. Something warm and shocking that filled his veins with liquid fire. “Good sleep, my lady. Lock the door behind me.”
Delaina nodded, smiling at him as he quit the chamber. Throwing the bolt, she leaned against the door, visions of his handsome face lingering in her head.
She had felt something warm and shocking, too.