Waiting for Chetwynd to continue, Isabel watched him through narrowed eyes. Impatient, she stood up and began to pace the small room. “All right. I’ll assume my request offended your delicate sensibilities. You being such an innocent,” she said, thinking about his affair with the queen. “So you allowed me to believe you weren’t going to take me along. Even though you hoped to do just that.”
As Isabel paced the room, her loose hair swaying behind her, Chetwynd found himself losing track of what he had hoped to accomplish. He had never imagined a woman could be so desirable and provoking at the same time.
“Why did you agree to my grandmother’s suggestion that we marry? All you had to do was tell her that Justin wished me to join him in Aachen.”
She stopped abruptly and turned to stare down at him. “Wait, let me guess. Would it have anything to do with your desire to have a wife in order to create a cover for your love affair with the queen?”
Chetwynd jumped to his feet. When Isabel saw the fierce expression on his face, she was torn between being happy to get a reaction from him and afraid she had gone too far. Determined not to back down, she stared at him, waiting for a reply.
“I was afraid you might have heard some tales. I did wish to deflect gossip, but not cover a love affair. There is no love affair,” he said hoarsely as he stared into her eyes, willing her to believe him.
“If that’s true, why didn’t you just tell me that? Instead you acted as though I had offended you in some way,” she whispered.
Chetwynd looked away for a few minutes; then he turned back and said, “I saw you at the pond. I knew you were no longer the innocent maid Justin hoped to join him. You were a beautiful water nymph, and I wanted to join you. The problem was you were awaiting a lover, and it wasn’t me.”
Isabel was amazed at his assumption. “I wasn’t awaiting a lover.”
“There is no need to lie. I saw the way you moved in the water. No innocent maid moves that way.”
Embarrassed by what she had been doing when he came upon her, Isabel wondered how she could make him understand. “I was just imagining a lover. I saw Emma and her husband once. I’ve never been with anyone,” she said, watching his puzzled expression. “I would not lie about that, my lord.”
Chetwynd shook his head, trying to adjust his thoughts. Had he been mistaken about her from the very beginning? “Are you saying you’ve never had a lover?”
“Yes,” she whispered, hoping that was about to change.
Surprise was the emotion Isabel now saw on his face. “But you’re twenty years old,” he said.
His tone of voice made it clear he thought she was abnormal. “I know how old I am. I’m also unmarried and haven’t been with a man.”
He believed her, but her words changed everything. “I’d better go,” he mumbled. His body was still hard for want of her, but there was nothing he could do about it now but escape.
Isabel grabbed his arm. “You can’t run away now. You already did that at the pond, remember? What is it? Are you disappointed that I haven’t been with anyone?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that it changes things.”
“Just tell me this. Are you afraid if you stay and take me to bed, you’ll make our marriage real?”
Chetwynd looked away from her eyes and the hurt he saw there. “I told you I didn’t want a real marriage. But I’m thinking of you, too, Isabel. As a maid it will be easier to obtain an annulment, and your chances of making an excellent match will be better. I don’t wish to compromise you.”
“Aren’t you the noble one,” she scoffed.
“It’s late, Isabel. We’ll talk more tomorrow. I need to think this through, and it’s hard to do that just now.”
Isabel moved in front of the door. “Because you still want to take me to bed,” she said. “You’re disappointed to learn I’m a maid.”
“Of course not. I’ve explained that it changes things.”
Isabel had never felt so angry. She moved out of the way. “You’re right, you should go.” As he reached for the door, she added, “I’ll see if I can arrange it so I’m not a maid next time you feel the urge to bed me.”
Chetwynd stopped, turned to glare at her in disbelief, then rolled his eyes and laughed. “To think I believed I could control you.”
His laughter died as quickly as it had erupted. “If you so much as look at anyone in a seductive manner, I’ll tie you up and you’ll ride in a litter for the rest of the journey. Don’t think for a moment I won’t.”
When Chetwynd closed the door behind him, Isabel sank to her knees. Why did she have to say that? Because Chetwynd was able to reduce her to an idiot, she decided. Physically exhausted from the range of emotions she had experienced, she curled up on the pillows on the floor. Too tired even to weep, she soon gave up and fell asleep.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AS HER JOURNEY TOWARD AACHEN AND the court of King Louis continued, Isabel settled into the routine of the caravan. Everyone was up at first light, personal matters were quickly attended to, and the horses were packed for travel. If they had stopped for the night at a monastery or a manor house with a chapel, they would attend worship before starting out. Since hearing reports
