Page 20 of The Noble Servant

He could ask her the same question.

“You do not speak like a peasant or a servant,” he said.

“And who do I speak like?” She lifted a brow.

He had a rather large nose, and as she recalled, the Duke of Wolfberg also had a slightly larger-than-average nose. This man had a forehead much like the duke’s. His hair was dark brown with a pleasant wave on top. And this man had the same brown eyes as the duke.

“I don’t like geese,” he said, the wrinkle in his forehead getting deeper, giving him the same vexed look he’d had when she saw him in the dining hall. “The sheep don’t like them either.”

She sighed as he spoke to her as if she were a fellow servant, just like everyone else. She had been foolish to think he could be the duke.

“I shall allow my geese to go where they like.” She turned her back on him. “They want no part of you and your sheep.”

She walked over to the nearest goose, sat down, and started stroking its back. It didn’t even make a sound, just kept on eating.

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t be touching that bird.” His voice was different, high-pitched and nervous.

She turned to look at him. “There are only two or three ornery ones. I can attest to their bite.” She showed him her forearm where the bite was still scabbed over and healing. She wasn’t sure why she was speaking with him, except that she had been alone with no one to talk to every day for a week.

“Dastardly creatures!” The man scowled quite ferociously. “You should be careful that doesn’t fester.”

“Thank you for your concern. I shall.”

It was perversely enjoyable to speak in such an impertinent and saucy way to a young man, to not worry about being polite or well spoken. She sat on the ground, keeping her back to the shepherd. Finally, she lay down and gazed at the trees farther down the side of the hill, listening to the strange roaring sound in the distance.

He had said his name was Steffan. Too bad she did not know the given name of the Duke of Wolfberg. She might come right out and ask him if he was the Duke of Wolfberg, at the risk of him laughing her to scorn, but how could a duke who was forced to watch sheep possibly help her regain her place as a baron’s daughter?

“How close are we to the sea?” She turned in the direction where he sat, not even sure if he was still there.

He actually had a book in his lap, and she wished she had the courage to ask him where he got the book.

“The sea is just beyond those trees.” He nodded below them. “Are you not from Wolfberg?”

“No.” There didn’t seem to be any reason not to tell him. “I am from Mallin.”

His gaze grew sharper. “What brings you to Wolfberg?”

“That is a strange tale, and you would not believe me if I told you.” She stood. “Will you watch the geese? Only for a few minutes? I want to see the ocean.”

“Have you never seen it before?”

She shook her head.

He stood and tucked his book in a leather pouch. “I shall walk with you. There is a steep cliff just beyond the trees. If you aren’t careful you can fall over the edge.”

“Will the geese and the sheep be well if we leave them alone?”

“Truthfully, I know very little about sheep, and only slightly more about geese, besides the fact that they are fiendish creatures. But I can’t imagine they will wander off if we are only gone a few minutes. But I would understand if you do not trust me enough to go with me where you have never been before.” He bowed to her, a gallant and humble gesture.

“I have a gift for reading people’s intentions.” She looked him in the eye, searching his face. “And you, I believe, are an honest person without evil intentions.” Truly, she did not know if she had a gift for reading people’s intentions. But she wanted to say something equally magnanimous.

He bowed again. “You are safe with me, my lady.”

His words made her mind race back to the ball at Thornbeck Castle. She looked askance at him, but he was glancing back at the sheep and geese.

“Let us go. We shall return before they can have moved far.”

They walked down the hill and into the coolness of the thick stand of trees.