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Though her eyes were narrowed as she studied him, she said to Philip, “The servants will come to me eventually.”

Within minutes, she was being offered trays of meats and cheeses and cut fruits. Her face grew redder with each increase in attention.

“You need not be embarrassed,” John said, having recovered his calmness. “’Tis obvious the residents of the castle are devoted to you.”

Surprisingly, her blush worsened. “Nay, it is my lady they honor, not me. They are concerned for her. Never before has she been so removed from them.”

He was surprised that she brought up the subject after her anger with him only hours earlier. She was probably still so flustered.

“They worry about her,” Philip said.

Her voice was a murmur. “As do we all.”

John allowed her to eat for several minutes as others talked all around them. He noticed how she picked through the food, as if her appetite were lacking. He realized he would not soon tire of looking at her. He had always thought a woman’s hair was one of the most glorious parts of her, but Anne proved that true beauty went beyond that. She had long-fingered, graceful hands that held a piece of bread as if it were the wand of a magician. Her lips were delicate bows, rounded, made to fit⁠—

Philip kicked him beneath the table, but too late. Anne had already noticed that he was staring.

Why could he not remember that she was only a means to an end to him? He didn’t want to hurt her—God’s Blood, he wanted to rescue the woman who was obviously her dearest friend!

Yet when he looked on her beauty, even though she now frowned at him with suspicion, he could only think about kissing her.

To distract her, he said, “Anne, have you lived at Castle Alderley all your life?”

She slowly shook her head. He would have to ask questions that needed a deliberate answer.

“Where are you from?”

She swallowed a piece of cheese. “A prosperous farm a few hours’ journey from here.”

“And you are one of the ladies attending Lady Elizabeth?”

Her eyes widened, and her smile relaxed just a bit. “Nay, I am not of noble birth. I am her lady’s maid, not her lady in waiting. As a bailiff, you must have worked closely with noble families. How could you not know the difference?”

He heard Philip choke, and gave him a hard pat on the back. But Anne wasn’t distracted. He could hardly tell her that the women he most associated with were far too common to even be maidservants in a castle. It had been many years since he’d lived in a noble household, and even then, the memories were hazy, full of disquiet and awkwardness.

“You are so gracious and educated,” John said, “that I simply forgot your status.”

“Others haven’t,” she answered shortly, glancing over her shoulder at the soldiers.

They were drinking more than eating, and it did not bode well for the evening. He had thought it best to leave his sword in their chamber, but now he wished otherwise.

“Lady Elizabeth did have several ladies living here with us for a time,” Anne said, as her eyes seemed to focus on the past. “But all of them gradually married.”

“But not your mistress, which is why she is in such danger today.”

With a sigh, Anne nodded.

John had never paid attention to the betrothal contract between his family and Lady Elizabeth’s. He had only thirteen years at the time, and it had had nothing to do with him. Calculating quickly in his head, he knew his betrothed was twenty-two now.

“Lady Elizabeth is surely betrothed,” he said, “being the daughter of an earl.”

She was showing more interest in dessert, a custard, than she had for the meal. But she nodded.

“Why is she not married? Surely that would have solved this problem long before Lord Bannaster took an interest.”

She glanced swiftly at him, and the anger in her eyes on behalf of her mistress impressed him with her loyalty. She looked around as if to leave him because of his presumption, but the soldiers were standing in a group now, distracting the serving maids and valets who were trying to clean their tables.

He hated to see her afraid. She seemed like too strong of a woman to have experienced it much.