'Dear God,' Joanna whispered. She met Clare's gaze with dawning horror.
'Surely you do not believe?'
'Aye, I do.' Clare's mouth tightened. 'Think on it, Joanna. He is in the habit of giving ladies a single blood- red rose. He composes poetry for them. He is a courteous knight who studies the secrets of the Arabic texts. He is medium-sized and scoffs at large men who rely on their strength. And he does not care for perfume because some recipes make him sneeze.'
'And,' Gareth said quietly from the doorway, 'he knows a great deal about this isle and this hall.
Enough to send Dalian here with clear instructions on how to ingratiate himself into this household.'
'My lord.' Dalian leaped to his feet. 'I did not hear you come in.'
William scowled. 'I don't understand. Who is this magician?'
Clare looked at Gareth, whose gray eyes matched the color of the sky behind him. He watched her intently, waiting for her answer.
'We knew him as Raymond de Coleville,' Clare said.
'By the saints,' Joanna whispered. 'Your handsome Raymond?'
'Aye.' Clare did not take her gaze off Gareth's grim face. 'Well, that's a relief, is it not?'
'Why is it a relief?' Dalian asked.
'Because I know both Sir Raymond and Lord Gareth very well.' Clare rose to her feet and gazed at the expectant faces surrounding her. She smiled calmly. 'And I can assure you that the magician is no match for our Hellhound.'
Gareth stood at the window of Clare's study chamber and gazed out over the sea. There was an unpleasant gray mist pooling above the steel-colored waves. It had the look of a dense fog that could quickly shroud the isle.
'He was your ideal knight, the pattern of chivalry on which you based your recipe for a husband,'
Gareth said without any inflection in his voice.
'Tis true, I used Raymond de Coleville as a model.' Clare sat very straight in her chair and clasped her hands on top of her desk. 'A woman needs a basic recipe to work from, after all.'
'Does she?'
Clare sighed. 'I have not made the acquaintance of many knights, my lord. The few I have known were not very impressive. They tended to resemble Sir Nicholas or my brother. My father was a knight and I held him in great affection, but I certainly did not want a husband who shirked his responsibilities as he did.'
'And then the magician appeared here on your isle and cast his spells on you.'
Clare wrinkled her nose. 'I do not think I'd put it quite like that.'
'There is one thing that I would like to know,' Gareth said.
'Aye, my lord?'
'Do you still love him?'
Clare froze. 'Nay. I do not love Raymond de Coleville or Lucretius, or whatever he calls himself.'
Gareth turned to face her. His jaw was rigid. 'Are you certain? Because I shall very likely have to kill him, Clare.'
She shuddered. 'I'd rather you did not kill anyone.'
'So would I. But this magician is a murderer.'
'Beatrice?'
'It must have been he who strangled her.'
'Aye, I suppose it was, although 'tis impossible to think of Raymond as a murderer.'
'You must also face the possibility that he killed your father.'
'My father.' Clare was stunned. 'But my father was killed by thieves in Spain.'
'What did your father have that was worth his life?' Gareth asked softly. 'Think about it, Clare.'
'His book of translated alchemic recipes,' she whispered. 'The same thing that the magician seeks.'
'Aye. We know the magician has killed once for the book. Mayhap he has killed twice.'
Clare closed her eyes in pain. ''Tis hard to comprehend. I am very sorry that we here on Desire are proving to be such a great nuisance, my lord.
I know you had hoped for a quiet, peaceful life.'
'Nothing comes without a price. Not even a quiet, peaceful existence. I am willing to pay the cost for what I want.'
Clare opened her eyes and searched his face. 'Aye. I know that. I only pray that one day you find what you seek.'
'So do I.' Gareth lowered his lashes, veiling his gaze. 'You are certain that you do not love the magician?'
'I am very certain, my lord. In truth, I knew a long time ago that I could not ever love him.'
'How did you?' Gareth broke off as if to search for the words he wanted.
'What convinced you that you were not in love with him? How do you know that you are not still in love with him?'
'There are two reasons. The first one you will likely not comprehend.'
'What is it?'
Clare shrugged. 'He never smelled right to me.'
Gareth blinked. 'I beg your pardon? Did he fail to bathe regularly?'
'Oh, no. He was most fastidious in his personal habits.' Clare smiled faintly. 'But he just did not smell right to me, if you see what I mean.'
'Nay, I do not see what you mean, but who am I to argue?' Gareth paused briefly. 'And your second reason for being so certain that you do not love him?'
Clare took a deep breath. 'I cannot possibly be in love with the magician, my lord, because I am in love with you.'
'Me?' Gareth stared at her.
'Aye. You do smell right. I knew that the first day when you plucked me off the convent wall and set me down in front of you. I believe I fell in love with you at that very moment.'
17
Gareth stared at the soft smile that played around Clare's lips and felt his blood turn to ice.
'Do not jest with me.' He crossed the chamber in a few swift strides, circled the desk, and reached for Clare with both hands. 'Not about this.'
'My lord, what are you doingr' Clare's smile vanished in a heartbeat.
She struggled to escape from the chair.
Gareth caught hold of her arms and hauled her upright. He lifted her straight off her feet so that she was eye-to-eye with him.
'I have warned you that I do not find amusement in the clever japes and sly words that cause others to laugh.'
'By Saint Hermione's thumb, I was not jesting, my lord.' Clare braced her hands on his shoulders and glowered at him. 'Put me down at once.
This is precisely the sort of overbearing behavior that I find so objectionable in large males.'
He ignored the command. 'Say that again.'
'I said, this is precisely the sort of overbearing behavior?'
'Not that nonsense.' He looked straight into her eyes. 'The other.'
'The other nonsense?' She repeated weakly.
'Hell's fire, madam, I am in no mood for this.'
