"Alice," Hugh said wearily, "I do not have time for this. There is too much to be done around here. I cannot afford an ill-trained steward."

"Sir, I ask that you allow him to become comfortable with his responsibilities while you are in London. I myself shall instruct him in those duties. When you return, you may judge him again. If you still find him lacking, you may dismiss him then."

Hugh leaned back slowly in his chair and studied her from beneath half-lowered lashes. "Another bargain, madam?"

She flushed. "Aye, if you wish."

"What have you to trade this time?"

She caught her breath at the sight of his gleaming eyes. Outrage swamped her fine manners. "I am offering to produce a good steward for you, sir. I should think that would be enough."

"Ah." Hugh's mouth curved. "That sounds more like the lady I have come to know. Very well. You shall have the next few days to turn Elbert into a master of his craft. When I return, I shall expect to have this household supervised by an expert. Understood?"

"Aye, my lord." Alice smiled confidently.

"Elbert?" Hugh prompted.

"A-aye, my lord." Elbert bowed several times. "I shall practice very hard, sir."

"Let us hope so," Hugh said.

Elbert fell on his knees in front of Alice, grabbed the hem of her skirt, and kissed it with fervor. "Thank you, my lady. I cannot describe to you how grateful I am for your confidence in me. I shall exert every effort to succeed in my quest to become a great steward."

"You will make a fine steward," Alice assured him.

"Enough," Hugh said. "Take yourself off, steward. I wish to be private with my betrothed."

"Aye, my lord." Elbert shot to his feet and bowed himself toward the door.

Alice winced when he accidentally backed into the wall. She saw Hugh raise his eyes toward the heavens but he did not say anything.

Elbert straightened abruptly and fled.

Alice turned back to Hugh. "Thank you, my lord."

"Try to keep him from demolishing the entire keep while I am gone."

"I'm certain that Scarcliffe Keep will still be standing when you return, sir." Alice hesitated. "I am told that you intend to take my brother with you."

"Aye. Benedict appears to have a talent for numbers. I can use an assistant with such skills."

"I had intended that he study the law," Alice said slowly.

"Do you object to his interest in accounts and business matters?"

"Nay. In truth, I have not seen him as happy as he is this afternoon for a long while." Alice smiled. " 'Tis your doing, my lord."

" 'Tis no great thing. As I said, it suits me to encourage his skills. They will prove useful." Hugh ran the quill through his fingers, aligning the feathers. "Will you miss me while I am in London, Alice?"

Sensing a trap, Alice took a quick step backward. She summoned a brilliant smile. "That reminds me, I must send word to Prioress Joan. I wish special prayers to be said at mass tomorrow morning before you leave."

"Special prayers?"

"Aye, my lord. For your safe journey."

Alice turned and hurried out of the chamber.

That evening, Alice paused in the act of moving one of the heavy black chalcedony chess figures and frowned at Hugh. "You do not appear to be paying attention to the game, sir. I am about to claim your bishop."

Hugh gazed down at the inlaid black crystal board with a brooding eye. "So it would seem. A clever move, madam."

"It was child's play." Alice studied him with growing concern.

Hugh was acting oddly in her estimation. He had invited her to join him for a game of chess in front of the hearth and she had accepted with enthusiasm. But it had been evident from the opening move that his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Let us see if I can recover." Hugh rested his chin on his hand and studied the board.

"Your preparations for the journey are all in order. You will be able to leave directly after mass tomorrow. What troubles you, sir?"

He flicked her a startled glance and then shrugged faintly. "I am thinking about my liege lord."

"Sir Erasmus?"

"I intend to visit him while I am in London. Julian tells me that he went there to consult some more doctors."

"I am sorry," Alice whispered.

Hugh's hand curved into a fist. "There is nothing to be done, but God's teeth, he seemed so strong and healthy only a few months ago."

Alice nodded sympathetically. "I know how much you will miss him."

Hugh sat back and picked up his cup of spiced wine. He gazed into the flames. "All that I have today is owed to him. My knighthood, my learning, my lands. How does a man repay such a favor?"

"With loyalty. And the whole world knows you have given Erasmus that, sir."

" 'Tis little enough." Hugh sipped from the cup. His face was shadowed in the firelight.

Alice hesitated. "What are his symptoms, my lord?"

"What?"

"The symptoms of his grave illness. What, precisely, are they?"

Hugh frowned. "I'm not altogether certain. Some are vague. He startles easily, as though he were a wary hart rather than a trained warrior. That is the thing I noticed most when I was last in his presence. He is always anxious now. He cannot sleep. He has grown thin. He told me that at times his heart pounds as though he were running."

Alice grew thoughtful. "A man of Sir Erasmus's renown must have known a great many battles."

"He has seen his share, beginning with the Crusade he undertook when he was barely eighteen. He once told me that his journey to the Holy Lands was the worst event of his entire life even though it brought him glory and wealth. He said he saw sights there, terrible sights that no decent man should see."

Hugh's words stayed with Alice until late that night. Unable to sleep, she got out of bed and slipped into her night robe.

She lit a candle and let herself quietly out of her bedchamber. Then she padded down the cold hall to her study chamber and went inside. Setting the candle on her desk next to the green crystal, she reached up and plucked her mother's handbook from the shelf.

She pored over it for an hour before she found what she wanted.

Chapter 13

" 'Tis a woman's natural weakness that leads her into temptation," Calvert roared from the pulpit of the small village church early the next morning. "In her silly arrogance she seeks to raise herself above man at every opportunity and thereby puts her very soul in jeopardy."

The crowd that filled the church stirred unhappily. Alice sat seething at the center of the uneasy waves. She had not been this angry since the day Sir Ralf had installed his eldest son in her family's manor hall.

This stupid lecture from Calvert was not what she had ordered for this morning's service. Yesterday she had sent word to Prioress Joan that she wanted special prayers said for Hugh's journey to London.

The news that the new lord and his betrothed would attend morning mass in the village church rather than in the keep's private chapel had spread swiftly. Virtually the entire population of the tiny hamlet of Scarcliffe and all of the nuns from the convent had turned out to enjoy the exciting event. It was not every day that they were invited to pray in the company of the lord of the manor.

Alice, seated beside Hugh in the front row, had been pleased with the turnout until disaster, in the form of Calvert of Oxwick, had struck.

Joan had just finished the opening prayers and was launching into a very nice homily on the dangers of the road when the monk strode into the church.

Calvert banged his staff on the stone floor as he forged his way to the front of the crowd. His brown robes billowed around his scrawny, sandaled feet. When he reached the pulpit he ordered Joan to sit with her nuns. The prioress hesitated and then, tight-lipped, obeyed. The Church insisted on a man in the pulpit when one was available.