Page 5 of Lord of Deception

Chapter Four

Kit’s legs were folded uncomfortably beneath him as he snipped and picked at the low box hedges of the maze. The new plants set in at the beginning of the season were taking well, their leaves dark and glossy. Now they needed to obey the gardener’s knife.

He liked pruning. It was a mindless task, giving him time to think. So long as the head gardener wasn’t breathing down his neck, there was plenty of time to think in this job and to watch. Whatever nefarious activities were taking place in this house, he would expose them, sooner or later. The lives of everyone in, or associated with, Selwood Manor would be laid bare—a nest of vipers uncovered to be crushed by Walsingham’s boot.

Kit had peeped through a window and seen Kirlham comfortably settled to a game of chess with Mistress Aspinall—there was naught in that to arouse suspicion. Alys Barchard had left them to it and marched off towards the bakehouse, her shoulders stiff, her lovely mouth a grim line. What would she look like if she were to smile?

Sitting back on his haunches, he surveyed the remaining box plants. His shoulder blade ached. He reached up to rub it, then stopped as a shadow fell across his eyes. Recognizing the somber grey of Alys Barchard’s kirtle, he leapt to his feet, making a bow which he hoped didn’t appear too courtly.

She had a smudge of flour on her cheek—from helping out in the bakehouse? He’d wager Kate Aspinall never sullied her pretty pink hands with such toil.

His smile seemed to surprise her. Were servants not expected to smile at Selwood?

Mayhap if they knew their employers were in league with the Catholics or the Spanish, they had little to cheer them. He gave Mistress Barchard the look which had melted many a heart at court—he could learn more about her if he tipped her off guard.

Her gaze dipped to his mouth, then fixed itself rigidly beyond him.

“I would speak with you.” She stepped within the confines of the maze.

“Any wish of yours is mine also.” How fortunate she wasn’t looking at him, or she’d have seen him wince. Faith, he was meant to talk like a gardener, not a practiced courtier demonstrating his chivalry. “Aye, Mistress,” he amended, following her into the labyrinth of box plants.

At the first corner, she stopped, keeping her back to him. “Your behavior this morning was beyond the pale. If it were up to me, you’d be cast off for that. Acting as you did with Mistress Aspinall, and in front of our guest to boot. This household may lack a master, but it does not lack morals.”

He might debate that point. Gazing at her, he couldn’t help but admire her tiny waist, the dark, waving hair escaping from her hat to caress a neck as white as swansdown. If only she would turn around and grant him a view of the tops of those creamy breasts.

A pox on it! Kit thrust his knuckles into his mouth and bit down hard. If he couldn’t quell his lust, his tenure at Selwood would be short indeed.

“I regret giving you any offense, my lady.” He fought to keep the hoarseness from his voice.

“You regret it only because you were caught. Had you not been seen, I vow you’d have tried to take it further.” She strode onward, her skirts brushing the box plants at either side of the path until she reached the next corner. This brought her diagonally opposite him, with a complex twist of the maze between.

He willed her to look at him. “What you saw was a pretense. Would that I could say more, but I’d not betray my Mistress Aspinall’s trust.”

Now that was a piece of cunning. If he could set the two women against one another, he was likely to learn more, and at the same time, Mistress Barchard would be gulled into thinking he had integrity. Which, of course, he did.

Finally, she looked into his eyes, and he felt a shock of attraction, which intensified at her blush.

“If you have an explanation, you must share it with me. I am kin to your mistress, so her concerns are also mine. Speak! Or would you court dismissal?”

She had backbone, this woman. He was a good head taller than her and standing almost breast to breast. “What must I do? Mistress Aspinall will turn me off if I tell you. You threaten the same if I do not.”

She backed off and moved away, putting another corner of the maze between them. He sought her gaze again, determined to disconcert her.

With a toss of her head, she continued pacing the convoluted path. “If you must lose your position either way, you may as well tell me what trust my cousin has placed in you.”

He squared his shoulders and enjoyed the sight of her flushing again. Soon, she would be eating out of his hand. This spying business wasn’t as hard as he’d feared.

“That kiss was not freely given. ’Twas cajoled, nay, threatened out of me. Not that it’s my place to speak against the lady.”

“I knew it. So, you had no other thought in your head than preserving yourself?”

“Indeed. My kisses are generally given in private.”

Hah! She had reached the center of the maze, and he was cutting off her retreat. He repressed a grin as her eyes measured the breadth of his chest and snagged on the open collar of his shirt.

She waited for him to get out of her way, but he didn’t move. His eyes flickered to the smear of flour on her cheek, marring the rosy glow of her discomfort. He kept his voice soft. “Am I to be dismissed?”

“Perhaps not. As you’ve told me the truth, despite Kate adjuring you not to, I’ll not pursue the matter. You’ve conned your lesson. I must go now.” She stared pointedly past him.

“Before you do, give heed to the flour upon your face.” He hadn’t meant to touch her, to brush his thumb caressingly over her cheek. A frigid silence enveloped them, and his breathing hitched. Fool!

Before he had a chance to back away or apologize, she’d hitched up her skirts, trampled over the box hedge, and marched out of the maze.

Sighing, he surveyed the wreck of his carefully trimmed plants. And prayed to God he hadn’t given himself away.