'If you please?' She looked appalled by his suggestion. ' Duncan, I don't like you teasing me because it makes me think you're being kind to me. I want you predictably angry,' she muttered. 'And I'm going to break my neck looking up at you like this.'
The woman wasn't making sense. That shouldn't have surprised him, he told himself. Wives were more difficult to understand than he had suspected. 'You don't want me to be kind to you?' he asked, sounding incredulous.
'I do not.' Her voice increased in volume.
'Why the hell not?' Duncan didn't whisper his question. He had forgotten all about his family and his guest. All he could think about was getting this contrary woman into his arms, and making love to her.
Madelyne didn't want to answer him. She'd have to be honest.
'We'll stand here all night until you answer me,' Duncan promised.
'You'll laugh.'
'Madelyne, if I didn't laugh at your suggestion that I was like a blade of grass, I doubt I'll laugh at your next comment.'
'Oh, all right,' Madelyne said. 'When you're kind to me, I want to love you. There, are you satisfied?'
He was very satisfied. And if Madelyne had been watching him, she'd have known how her words had pleased him.
Dear God, she'd actually shouted at him. Madelyne felt like crying. She took a deep breath, stared at Duncan 's chest, and whispered, 'Then I'd get my heart broken, wouldn't I?'
'I would protect your heart,' Duncan answered.
He sounded very arrogant. Madelyne gave him an exasperated look. Duncan couldn't stop himself. Her mouth was too close to deny. All his discipline evaporated. He leaned down and captured her mouth in a searing kiss.
'For God's sake, Duncan, we're all waiting for Madelyne to play the psaltery,' Edmond shouted.
Duncan sighed into Madelyne's mouth before pulling away. His thumb slowly rubbed her lower lip. 'I forgot we weren't alone,' he told her with a grin.
'I also,' Madelyne whispered back. She blushed and tried to catch her breath.
Duncan took hold of her arm and escorted her to the one vacant chair. 'This is where you're supposed to sit,' Madelyne told him. 'It has the highest back,' she explained.
When it became obvious Madelyne wasn't going to begin until Duncan sat where she thought he should, he complied with her order. He even smiled over it.
Edmond pushed another chair toward Madelyne. 'You'll be more comfortable here,' he told her when she reached for a stool.
Madelyne thanked him and sat down. Gerald handed her the psaltery. Her hands shook when she placed the instrument in her lap. Madelyne was terribly nervous now. She hated being the focus of everyone's attention. There was comfort in being inconspicuous.
Gerald stood behind Adela's chair. His arm was draped over the back. Both Gilard and Edmond stood, leaning against the hearth at opposite comers. And every one of them was staring at Madelyne.
'It has been such a long time,' Madelyne said. She looked down at the instrument. 'And I sang only for my uncle and his friends. I've had no true training.'
'I'm certain your uncle and his friends thought you were wonderful,' Adela interjected. She had noticed how Madelyne's hands trembled and tried to encourage her.
'Oh, they did think I was wonderful,' Madelyne admitted, smiling at Adela. 'But then, they were all quite deaf.'
Duncan immediately leaned forward so that everyone could see him clearly. The look on his face suggested no one laugh.
Baron Gerald coughed. Gilard turned around to stare into the fire. Madelyne thought he was weary of waiting for her to begin.
'I could sing some of our Latin chant we use during Eastertime,' she suggested.
'Do you know any songs about blades of grass?' Duncan inquired.
Madelyne looked startled. Duncan grinned.
'A blade in winter can be broken in half when you stomp on it,' Madelyne told Duncan sweetly. 'And a blade in summer can be smothered if you keep your boot on top of it long enough,' she added.
'What are you talking about?' Gilard asked, puzzled.
'A sad tune,' Duncan commented.
'Predictability,' Madelyne answered at the same time.
'I'd rather you sang about Polyphemus,' Edmond interjected.
'Who or what is a Polyphemus?' Baron Gerald asked.
'A one-eyed giant,' Edmond answered, grinning at Madelyne.
'He was the leader of the Cyclops,' Madelyne said. 'Do you know the stories about Odysseus?' she asked Edmond.
'Bits and pieces,' Edmond answered. He didn't add that everything he'd learned had come from Madelyne when she raged with fever.
'Gerald? Madelyne does tell the most wonderful stories,' Adela said. In her enthusiasm she actually reached up and touched his hand.
'I've never heard of this Odysseus,' Gerald announced. 'Why is that, do you suppose?'
Madelyne smiled. Gerald sounded irritated that he was uninformed. He seemed to be looking for someone to blame.
'There's no shame in that admission,' Madelyne returned. 'Have you heard of Gerbert of Aurillac perchance?'
'The monk?' Gerald asked.
Madelyne nodded. She looked at Adela to give her explanation, certain Duncan 's little sister couldn't have heard of the man. 'Gerbert lived a long time ago, Adela. Almost a hundred years past, I believe. He left his monastery and went to study in Spain. When he returned to France, he led the cathedral school at Reims, and it was during that time that he gave his students some of the ancient stories he'd translated. It was another man named Homer who told the tales about the mighty warrior, Odysseus, and Gerbert who translated the tales from Greek to Latin.'
'Were Homer and Gerbert friends, do you suppose?' Adela asked.
'No,' Madelyne answered. 'Homer lived in ancient times, in a place called Greece. He died hundreds of years before Gerbert was born. Homer's stories were kept safe in the monasteries. Some of them would make our church frown, but I mean no disrespect when I repeat the stories. In truth, they're really too foolish to believe as fact.'
Everyone looked interested. Madelyne turned to Duncan, caught his nod, and then began to play the psaltery.
She made several ear-wincing mistakes in the beginning. And then the ballad of Odysseus meeting the Cyclops became the focus of her attention. Madelyne stared down at the psaltery, pretended she was sitting next to her uncle Berton and singing to him. Once she'd captured the pretext, her hands stopped shaking. Her voice grew in strength and purity as the tale about the warrior came to life.
The poem captured her audience. Duncan thought her voice was bewitching. It was a true reflection of the gentle woman he now claimed as his wife.
Madelyne spun a magical spell around all of them. Duncan, a man who wasn't given to linger, now leaned back in his chair and smiled with contentment.
She began the story when Odysseus and his men were taken captive by Polyphemus, since Edmond had specifically requested that tale. Polyphemus determined to eat every one of the soldiers. The one-eyed giant kept them imprisoned inside his cave by blocking the entrance with a large boulder. Since Polyphemus also kept his sheep in the cave every night, it was necessary for him to move the stone each morning to let his flock out into the fields to graze. Odysseus blinded the giant and then showed his men how to crawl under the sheep and cling to their bellies. Polyphemus let the sheep pass by but waved his arms higher into the air, trying to catch the soldiers. Odysseus's clever plan saved them all.
When Madelyne finished her recital, her audience begged to hear another.
