“Yes, but she detained me just now.”
Gravenhurst chuckled. “Aye. For five whole minutes. How tedious for you. What’s really the matter?”
Grey shrugged. He wished he knew.
Gravenhurst grinned. “Is it because a certain lady is here at Court? Is Miss Prattle still under your skin? Have you tried to meet her again and she didn’t bother showing?”
“Shut up,” Grey snapped.
Gravenhurst frowned. “Kidding aside. Did things not go well with the king?”
“He was indisposed all day and night, but he refused to excuse me. I don’t comprehend why the king wants to speak with me—a mere equerry to a lesser land holder. I’m of no importance.”
Gravenhurst splashed water on his face before toweling it off and replying. “He honors you because of your father.”
Grey nodded, his irritation deepening. Never mind that he had wanted a commission. He was to be an equerry as his father commanded. The irony of his situation set his teeth on edge. His father had never taken any interest in him until Grey had told him he wanted to be a soldier. Then he’d taken enough notice to tell Grey “no” and give him orders to come here. After which the old bastard had ridden off with Grey’s older brother as usual. Resentment curdled in his belly like sour milk. “I better go. I’ll have just enough time to grab a hunk of bread and head to the king’s chambers by my appointed hour.”
By the time he reached the main floor, he’d worked himself up into the foulest mood he could recall in years. Not since his sixteenth birthday, when his father had promised to take him hunting, just the two of them, had Grey been so irate. And that day had been a black one, for certain. When his father had shown up near midnight with Edward, Grey had not been merely upset that his father had broken yet another promise to him without explanation and seemingly in favor of spending time with Grey’s older brother. Grey had been furious and vowed that night he would get his father’s attention, even if he had to do it by being the old bastard’s worst nightmare.
He laughed at what a foolish notion that had been. His father would have had to care first. The bastard didn’t. He didn’t blink an eye when Grey was thrown from Eton, or accrued a king’s ransom worth of gambling debt, or drank himself into a month-long stupor. The only time he’d batted an eye was when Grey had bedded one of the lady’s maids employed to care for Liz. That’s when he’d realized how to get under his father’s skin.
Grey rounded the last turn to the dining hall. When had he realized his actions weren’t changing a damn thing? He felt certain his little epiphany had occurred this past year. Yet he liked women. So he seduced the ones that were willing. But he would never get married. Let his father stew for the rest of his life on how he’d failed.
Grey pushed open the door to the dining hall. At this hour it would be empty, except for the servants preparing for breakfast. Good thing too. He was not in the mood for pleasant conversation, and the servants would be too busy to talk. The servants nodded toward him as he strode into the hall, but as he expected, they continued in their preparations for breakfast.
He ambled over to the far wall, where a different assortment of breads and cheeses should be laid out, but none was there yet. His stomach growled again. A servant came through the door with a large tray lifted above his head. The pleasant scent of warm bread wafted on the air. Grey smiled and was just about to call out to the man when the dining hall door swung wide again, and Lady Madelaine flew through the door, in a flurry of pale green silk which contrasted quite nicely with her honey hair that tumbled around her shoulders.
The exquisite picture she presented would have stirred his lust, but her dark eyes were round with fear and her hands grasped spasmodically in front of her.
From across the room, he raised his hand to get her notice, but the door swung wide again and hard footsteps rang in the otherwise quiet room. Grey narrowed his eyes as Thorton strode toward Madelaine. What the hell was that man doing up so early? Thorton was a liar, a cheat, and a lazy ass.
Lady Madelaine shot a glance behind her, and then swung toward Thorton, her gaze darting all over the room. What was this? If the lady was secretly meeting with Thorton, Grey would toss up his breakfast. Oh hell, he’d not eaten breakfast.
Lady Madelaine backed behind a table, and lifted her skirt. Bile filled Grey’s mouth. He’d not watch the woman he’d fantasized about being plundered by another. He turned on his heel to go, but a long flash of metal caught his eye. His jaw dropped at the gleaming dagger Lady Madelaine held in front of her. He’d seen stranger games between a man and a woman, but this had to be the strangest.
“Lady Madelaine, you wound me,” Lord Thorton said, coming to stand on the opposite side of the table from her. Grey stood still and silent, not sure whether to excuse himself or hide and save her the embarrassment of knowing he’d witnessed her and Thorton.
She squared her shoulders. “I’ve not wounded you yet, you swine, but I swear if you grab me again, I’ll use my dagger.” Now that was definitely an interesting choice of words to elicit a man’s desire. Maybe they played at prey and hunter.
“Come, Lady Madelaine. Don’t make me use force. This could be pleasant for both of us.”
Grey’s heartbeat sped up a notch. Something wasn’t right.
Lady Madelaine raised the dagger higher. “If your hands are on me, I vow it will not be pleasant.”
Thorton lunged across the table, and true to her word, Lady Madelaine plunged the dagger straight down toward the man’s leg. “You bitch,” Thorton cursed loudly, causing the only servant remaining in the room to flee.
Red covered Grey’s vision. He kicked the chair blocking his path out of the way. The wood splintered as it hit the table with the force of his anger. He was beside Lady Madelaine in four long strides. Her eyes smoldered, but her body shook. Grey pushed her gently behind him and faced Thorton.
Thorton jerked the dagger out of the wood and material of his trousers. The material ripped as the dagger let loose. “You saw it, Adlard. The bloody bitch tried to stab me. You’re my witness.”
“I did nottryto stab you,” Lady Madelaine spat. “I gave you a reprieve with my generous warning. If I intended to stab you, believe me, the dagger would have pierced flesh.”
Grey snatched the dagger from Thorton while studying Lady Madelaine’s grim face. Her words as well as her aim impressed him. “I saw you try to accost her.”
“The hell you say. She wants me.”
Grey glanced back at Lady Madelaine. “Do you want this man?”
