Elizabeth Chadwick - The Leopard Unleashed

‘Renard …?’ She touched his face, but was unable to tell what expression it held, not without the benefit of rushlight.

There was a long silence in which she waited, scarcely daring to breathe. Renard’s own breath emerged suddenly on a deep sigh and was followed by a snort of reluctant laughter. ‘Thus am I served justly for my conceit. What did I say about balanced reasoning?’

‘Are you angry with me?’

‘Angry?’ He considered the word. The mattress moved again. ‘I’m trying very hard,’ he admitted. ‘For the sake of my pride, I’m trying, but I cannot quibble with the outcome. Still,’ he added severely, ‘erring wives must know their place … which is firmly beneath their husbands.’

Elene dutifully accepted her punishment.

Some time later, Renard sat up in the bed. He was uncomfortable, he had no real desire for sleep, and besides, he was starving. Feeling around for tinder and flint, he lit the night candle and began pulling on his clothes.

Elene watched him and swallowed. ‘I won’t do it again, I promise.’

‘Was the punishment so terrible to bear then?’

‘No, I mean go making bargains behind your back. I’ve been so frightened these past few weeks in case you never trusted me again, but I had to do it, for Hugh’s sake.’ Her expression hardened.

‘And saddle him with one of Chester’s brood for a wife,’ he retorted as he pulled on his shoes, and then, on a gentler note, ‘You were right, Nell, and Ranulf and I were wrong. It is easier for a woman to back down than a man. Perhaps we’ve both learned lessons from this.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To find something to eat. I might have made an alliance with Ranulf but sitting at the same board as him still curdles my appetite, and now I’m starving.’ He picked up her shift. ‘Do you want to raid the kitchens with me?’

Smiling, she took the garment from his hand. Their fingers touched. ‘Perhaps there’ll be some pottage on the fire,’ she teased.

‘Perhaps there will,’ he said with a grin, and kissed her.