A Dangerous Love Read Free Page B

One man did look enviously at their horses, but Elsbeth’s hand went immediately to her belt, where a large knife was visible, and Beiste growled menacingly. The man lowered his eyes again and passed by.
    After almost two weeks of travel they had the good fortune to come upon a convent just at sunset. The nuns took them in, and when they had heard the story Elsbeth told them—although she was wise enough to leave out Adair’s natural paternity—the sisters invited them to remain for a few days to rest their animals and regain their strength. They bathed Adair, fed her a good hot meal of vegetable potage and buttered bread, then put her in a comfortable bed, and Elsbeth wept as she thanked them for their kindness.
    They remained two full days, and then departed. Elsbeth had dug out two silver pennies from her little hoard and left them on the altar of the convent church, as was the custom for visitors. She knew the nuns would   be surprised to find them, and she smiled to herself as they rode along again. The farther south they traveled, the more difficult it became to keep from the roads, which it seemed were everywhere. And villages—there were so many of them. Elsbeth had never been more than five miles from Stanton, and as they traveled she realized how different the rest of England was from the wild Northumbrian countryside along the Scottish border. It frightened her, but she would show no fear before her charge. And Adair was fascinated and intrigued by what she saw. Especially the towns. But Elsbeth would not go into them. Seeing them from a distance, she would circle about them until she could head south again.
    The autumn was almost upon them. The days were growing shorter, and their hours of travel were fewer.
    Adair had caught a cold, and Elsbeth was worried it might develop into something worse if they did not reach the king soon. The child had always had good health, but these past weeks of long travel, little food, and sleeping outdoors on the damp ground were beginning to take their toll. They both needed an end to their journey, and warm shelter. Then one afternoon they were forced to cross a wide, high road, and Elsbeth saw a sign. Unlike many women of any class, Elsbeth could read. It had amused her ancient father to teach her in the months before his death, when he had grown too frail to do anything else. The sign read LONDON, and pointed toward one of the four roads before her. Elsbeth considered. Perhaps now that they were so far south it would be safer and quicker to follow the road, especially considering Adair’s worsening health. She turned their horses in the direction the sign indicated.
    They saw only a few folk as they moved along the road, and as with those they had seen in the woodlands and fields they traversed, everyone was minding their own business. Elsbeth began to feel that perhaps she had made the correct decision. And then she heard be hind her a troop of horses. Reaching out to grab the reins of Adair’s animal, she struggled to get out of the way, but she was not quick enough. They were quickly surrounded by mounted men. Elsbeth pulled her mount and Adair’s to a halt, that the others might at least pass them by. But to her surprise the others came to a halt too.
    The gentleman leading the troop—for by his apparel she could see he was a gentleman—detached himself, and rode over to where Elsbeth and Adair now sat upon their horses. “Woman,” the gentleman demanded, “what are you doing out on the road in these dangerous times?
    And with a little maid. Where are you from, and to where are you journeying with only this great wolfhound for your protection?”
    Elsbeth opened her mouth, but she was so frightened she could not speak for the life of her. What had she done, coming onto the road? Why had she not obeyed the earl’s directive? Would they now be killed for her foolishness? But the gentleman addressing her was very handsome, and of slight stature. He was