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“Forgive my rotten nature, Sir Nicholas,” he said. There was no mistaking the sarcasm. “I hope I have not damaged you for life.”

Nicholas wasn’t sure what to say in the least. All he could do was shake his head. “Not at all, my lord.”

Andrew smiled thinly at him, returning his attention to Josephine. “Satisfied?”

Josephine fought the urge to smile at him because she knew he wasn’t sorry in the least. He was only doing it to appease her, which was as good a reason as any. “Completely,” she said. “Nicholas, would you allow Andrew to have your seat?”

Nicholas was flabbergasted at the whole situation, but managed to nod. Andrew sat in Nicholas’ vacated chair and immediately demanded wine and meat. Servants tripped over each other in their haste to do his bidding. When he finally had a cup of wine in hand, he turned and smiled at his betrothed.

“You are looking well this day,” he said pleasantly. “Did you sleep well?”

She turned to Andrew, her eyes roving over his handsome features. She realized that she was very glad to see him, as if his presence meant instant comfort, instant safety.

“I did,” she said. “Did you?”

Andrew didn’t know if she was aware he’d spent the night at her door, so he simply nodded. “As well as can be expected.”

His food was placed before him, cleaving any further conversation for the moment. As he was delving into his food, Sully approached with a goblet in hand and squatted between Andrew and Josephine’s chairs.

“Where is my sister?” Josephine asked him. “Did she not come to the hall to eat?”

Sully took a drink. “She is in her chamber,” he said quietly. “She said she wanted to be alone, so I left her there.”

Josephine’s eyebrows drew together. “Why?”

He shook his head. “I do not know.”

“Has she at least been pleasant since… yesterday?”

He took another drink of his wine. “It is difficult to tell.”

“What do you mean?”

“She will not speak to me.”

Josephine sighed deeply. “I am sorry, Sully,” she said. “I am sorry she is being so difficult.”

He shrugged. “She is Justine and that is her nature.”

Josephine didn’t say anything. She suddenly felt very bad for having done this to the man. Forcing him to marry her sister and forcing him to endure whatever Justine dished out. And he had done it just for her.

Damn Justine!

“Excuse me,” she rose abruptly.

Andrew bolted out of his chair and Sully stood quickly. The king, on her right, turned to watch her as she asked his permission to leave. He nodded briefly, and she swept from the hall.

The three men watched her, with Sully and Andrew knowing exactly where she was going and wondering if they should follow.

*

Josephine was more than angry.

In her opinion, her sister was not only acting in a childish, selfish manner by not coming down from her chamber, but she was also risking provoking the wrath of the king by not showing her face and assuming her role as Mistress of Torridon.

Standing outside of Justine’s door, she didn’t even bother knocking.

She stormed into the room, heading directly for the bed as she prepared to throw her sister bodily from it.

The bed was mussed, but no Justine. Slightly puzzled, Josephine looked about the room but her sister was nowhere to be found. Not even her maid was present.

Josephine was befuddled as she left her sister’s room; she had even looked under the bed. As she headed for the stairs, preparing to scour the entire keep for her errant sister, she noticed the door to her own chambers slightly ajar. Curious, she poked her head inside.

Justine was sitting at her dressing table, examining the contents of Josephine’s jewelry box.

As Josephine entered her room, she saw that Justine was dressed in her silk dress that was the color of a ripe apricot, with the square-necked bodice was embroidered with tiny seed pearls.

The full skirt was also embroidered with the seed pearls in the pattern of flowers and bees.

It was one of Josephine’s favorite surcotes and her initial reaction was one of outrage for having her privacy invaded.

But the more she looked at her sister sitting quietly, the more she began to see the whole picture.

For the first time in her life, Justine wanted to be pretty.

That had never happened before. Perhaps, one night in Sully’s arms was all that she needed to spur a side of her that had been kept buried; the side of a woman who wanted to feel beautiful and please a man.

For certain, Justine had always ignored that side of her in favor of her black garments and witch’s brews.

But now… something had changed.

Ola and Darcy, Justine’s maid, were fussing over Justine as she sat before the dressing table.

They were brushing her hair, arguing on the best way to dress it now that she was a married woman.

But the moment Josephine stepped further into the room, they looked at her with big eyes, as if fearful for the anger to come.

Josephine strongly protected her privacy against her sister.

But Josephine didn’t look at the maids. She was looking at her sister.

“Leave us,” she ordered, and the maids scampered out.

Justine looked at her sister guiltily, bracing for a fight.

“I… I am sorry that I did not ask you,” she said.

“No one seemed to know where you had gone and I did not want to go downstairs dressed like… that is to say, everything I have is dark, and I wanted to… I mean, I have seen you wear this dress before and it is so pretty, so I thought…”

Josephine cut her off. “That dress never looked so good on me,” she said. “I believe it was made with you in mind.”

Justine looked at her in surprise. “You are not angry?”

Josephine shook her head. “Why should I be?” she asked. Then she looked down at her jewels. “Here– try the pearl collar. It goes with the gown.”

She pulled forth a three-strand pearl and diamond choker and put it on her sister’s neck.

It was perfect. Justine looked at herself in the mirror, seeing a well-groomed, fashionably-dressed woman for the first time.

Josephine brushed her sister’s hair back from her face and braided it, twisting the braid elaborately at the back of her head.

Then, she selected a dozen pearl pins and placed them strategically in the coiffure.

Finally, she stood back to view her work.

Justine looked at her timidly, but Josephine could only smile. She looked absolutely lovely, and nothing like the strange pseudo-witch she had been masquerading as. It was as if a light had been lit and now burned brightly in the eyes of Justine, Lady Montgomery.

It was an astonishing transformation.

“Come,” Josephine said softly. “The king awaits.”

Justine looked down at herself. “And… and I look presentable?”

“More than presentable, darling. You are beautiful.”

Justine blushed furiously as Josephine took her by the hand and led her from the chamber.

“Where are Sully and Andrew?” Justine asked as they descended the stairs.

“I left them in the dining hall,” Josephine replied. “Andrew was being abhorrently rude to Nicholas de Londres, the king’s nephew. Have you met him?”

“Nay,” Justine said. “Why was Andrew being rude to him?”

Josephine snorted. “Who can say?” she said. “Nicholas and I were having a pleasant conversation when Andrew demanded Nicholas remove himself from the chair so that he could sit next to me. He was quite overbearing.”

Justine glanced at her sister, seeing the outrage, but perhaps also seeing an expression that suggested she might have been flattered by it. “Where you are concerned, Andrew has every right to be,” Justine said, but she was unusually soft-spoken. “You are his betrothed and I believe he loves you.”

Josephine looked at her sister with a great deal of shock. “Andrew loves Andrew,” she said matter-of-factly. “There is little room for anything else.”

Justine took on the stubborn look that Josephine knew so well. “You are so wrong,” she said. “Last night, he stood guard at your door because he was afraid the king would attempt to seduce you.”

Josephine shook her head, unwilling to give any credence to her sister’s wild idea. “He simply wanted to keep me pure so that he could claim my virginity,” she insisted. “Besides, our king is a married man.”

Justine pulled her sister to a halt. They were in the foyer of Torridon’s keep and there were servants lurking about, so Justine kept her voice low.

“Josephine,” she said seriously, “the king sent three soldiers to retrieve you last night. Andrew killed two of them, and Sully killed the other.”

Josephine was stunned. “What?”

“It is true.”

Josephine was beside herself with shock. “How do you know this?”

Justine’s expression was full of concern. “I heard the noise and peeked from my door,” she said. “I saw it all. It was a terrible, brutal fight and when they were finished, they carried the bodies away. I heard Sully say something about not wanting the king to discover what they’d done.”

Josephine was truly stunned. She’d never had a man kill for her honor before.

“God’s Bones,” she finally hissed, thinking of the far-reaching implications of Sully and Andrew killing the king’s men.

“He is absolutely right; the king must never know this. He could punish Andrew and Sully, and we would never see them again.”

Justine, surprisingly, understood that. She wasn’t a fool. “I know,” she said quietly. “But I wanted you to know what Andrew did for you last night. That is why I believe he feels more for you than you realize.”

Josephine looked at her sister, seeing some logic to what she was saying.

Was it really possible that she was right?

Did Andrew, indeed, feel something for her, or was he simply protecting what belonged to him?

It was difficult to know. But one thing was for certain– there were three dead men to prove that whatever Andrew was feeling must have been serious.