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“Nay.” She came around the bed to stand in front of him. “I would simply like to have a say in a decision that will directly affect me. Is that too much to ask of ye? I am capable of making an intelligent decision.”

“I am well aware of that,” he said evenly, seeing that she was truly angered by the situation. “Jordan, we have been through this before. You must trust that I know what is best for you.”

“And I dunna?” she asked pointedly, though calmer. “William, I am not daft. I think Aloria is a fine addition to Northwood and I wish her to stay. Why do ye want her to leave so badly? Because she stands up to ye?”

“Why do you keep bringing that up? You stand up to me, yet I d-o not send you away,” he said, a bit sarcastically. “I told you from the beginning that if I did not feel the queen’s lady was a proper companion for you, then I would send her back. And from the looks you were giving her in the grand hall, I didn’t think you wanted her. Why the change of heart?”

Jordan deflated a little, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Because I have had a chance to talk to her, to get to know her,” she said. “Did ye know she’s the bastard daughter of the Earl of Devon’s wife and he sent her away when she was five years old? She has never had a home, English, or a place where she belongs. Even the queen was eager to be rid of her because she dinna fit in at court. Canna ye see? I dunna want her discarded again. Aloria just wants to find a place where she belongs, and I want her to belong here.”

William listened to her and let out a heavy sigh, his anger evaporated for the most part. Scratching his head thoughtfully, he moved over to the window.

“She will keep us apart, Jordan,” he said, gazing out over the bailey. “ ’Tis too soon to let her in on our secret, if indeed we ever feel we can. Did it ever occur to you that she told you those things simply to gain your pity, when in fact, she could be a spy from Henry?”

Jordan looked shocked. “Nay…, I mean, I dunna think she is.” She was suddenly uncertain and feeling foolish. “Why would the king have a spy here at Northwood?”

William shrugged and turned away from the window. “Henry is a greedy, shallow man. Northwood is very wealthy and powerful. ’Tis possible he is looking for an excuse to expropriate her lands and wealth to fill his own coffers.”

Jordan opened her mouth in surprise. “Do ye think so? But why?”

“I am not saying this is the case, Jordan, but it is always a possibility. That is the primary reason I am uncomfortable with Aloria around.”

“Then why did the earl send for a court lady in the first place? If it was an easy opportunity for the king to plant a spy, then why would he make himself vulnerable?”

William shrugged and sat down next to her. “A court woman, a knight, a soldier, it makes no difference,” he said quietly. “We have several spies in our midst right now and that is not unusual. But we do not have one in the heart of the family, as Aloria would be.”

Jordan looked back at her husband, frightened at his words. Yet, in her heart, she did not believe Aloria to be a spy. And she still believed everything the woman told her. Mayhap it was her naiveté, but she still wanted the lady. She just could not believe that she was there to destroy them.

“English,” she said softly and he turned to her. “I dunna believe she is a spy, but I shall do as ye ask. Yet I will ask one thing; talk to her before ye send her back. Gain a bit of insight into the woman before ye condemn her.”

He studied his wife’s beautiful face, relishing every feature but found his eyes constantly drawn to her bow-shaped lips. He leaned over and kissed her softly, lingeringly.

“If you wish it, I will do it. You are a very wise woman, Lady de Wolfe, when you are not being so blatantly impudent.”

From outside the bedchamber door they suddenly heard a loud thud. William leapt to his feet and yanked open the door with his wife on his heels.

Aloria was picking herself up off the floor from where she had tripped over a small foot stool. Her eyes were wide as William came charging at her, grabbing her by the arms, and she could read her own death in his eyes.

“You were spying!” he accused viciously.

“Nay, my lord.” she shook her head, scared out of her mind and terribly cognizant of the painful grip he had on her arms. “I would not do that, I swear.”

“Damnation, woman, do not lie to me,” he seethed. “You were spying. How long were you standing outside the door? How long?” He punctuated the last two words with a rough shake.

Aloria’s face was white and she was trembling violently. “I…I entered to seek out Lady Jordan to thank her for defending me. I had just only approached the slightly ajar bedchamber door when I heard her voice, asking someone to speak with me and gain insight. And then I heard your voice, my lord, and I hastened to leave.”

William muttered a silent curse, knowing before he asked what the answer would be. “What did you hear?” he growled.

Aloria swallowed, knowing very well she could be sealing her own death. But he knew what she had heard and it would be of no use to lie to The Wolf.

“I heard you call her ‘Lady de Wolfe,’” she whispered.

William was holding Aloria so tightly that he was cutting off the blood flow to her arms. She met his gaze, however frightened she might be, watching to see what he was intending to do to her.

Jordan stood near the antechamber door, her hand over her mouth in fright. Had William been right? Was Aloria a spy? If she was, she now knew their secret and Jordan was terrified. She didn’t know what to think.

William’s enraged face relaxed a bit as he stared back into Aloria’s terrorized blue eyes. But his jaw was ticking and the veins on his temple bulged, strongly indicating the level of emotion he was feeling.

“You have put me in an awkward position,” he said most quietly. “You are not a very good spy; it has been a long time since I have caught one.”