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Denys threw up his hands in frustration.

“But that is what is happening,” he said.

Then he jabbed a finger at the closed door, in the general direction of Westminster’s north gatehouse.

“He is on his way to Westminster at this very moment to save you from Despenser, who wants to turn you into a whore for yet another warlord. Magnus is coming to try to save you from that, and the situation is about to veer out of control. It’s about to explode in a bloodbath all because of you. Do you understand that?”

Delaina was beginning to tremble all over. “I did not ask for this.”

Denys wasn’t finished with her. “Nay, you did not,” he said.

“But what did you expect would happen when you seduced Magnus de Wolfe? The man is as loyal as a dog and as fierce as a lion. Somehow, you managed to convince him that he is in love with you, but we both know that is not true. You bewitched him, and now the only way to save him is to make him subservient to Despenser, a man he greatly opposes.”

Tears were welling in Delaina’s eyes. “What do you mean by subservient?”

Denys sighed sharply, sitting back in his chair and eyeing the woman. He was feeling so much rage and disgust that he could hardly control it.

“Despenser wants to use you as a prize to bribe some warlord for his loyalty,” he said.

“I have convinced him to give you over to Magnus in exchange for his fealty. Magnus will do it to save you. He gets you, you get him, and everything is fine, except Magnus has to surrender his honor to Despenser in order to do it. But you will be safe. Isn’t that all that matters? You wanted to be safe, after all.”

Delaina blinked, and the tears spattered.

She hung her head, unable to look at the contempt in Denys’ eyes.

She was causing Magnus’ downfall, unintentional as it was.

She’d known the man just a couple of days, but in those two days, the magic of a lifetime had happened.

She had experienced things she had never experienced before, with a wonderful man.

A man who was far too fine for her.

Delaina had known that from the start.

“I do not want him to surrender his honor.” She wept softly. “I am not worth it. I know I am not worth it.”

Denys couldn’t stand looking at her cry because he was convinced it was all an act for sympathy. Therefore, he stood up and turned his back on her so he wouldn’t have to look at her.

“Nay, you are not,” he agreed cruelly. “Magnus de Wolfe is my friend, my lady. He is the best friend I have ever had. There is no one like him in the world, for if you searched your entire life for such a fine and noble man, you would not come up with anyone close. And he is losing all of this because of you.”

Delaina’s head came up, and she looked at Denys’ rigid back. “You love him,” she said, sniffling. “I can see that.”

Denys turned to look at her then. “I had three brothers,” he said.

“I lost my youngest brother ten years ago. The finest young knight you have ever seen was cut down in a Scots ambush. My family still has not recovered from that. I do not want to see another fine knight cut down, this time because of a woman. He may as well be dead with what you are going to do to him. If I can prevent it, I will. You do not matter to me, my lady. But Magnus does.”

Delaina could see in his eyes that he meant every word. This went beyond anger at the situation. It even went beyond anger toward her. There was something deep and emotional in Denys’ expression that suggested he really thought that he was saving Magnus.

There was also a message there.

He was trying to force her into a decision, as if she had some semblance of control in all of this.

Perhaps if she rejected Magnus and told him she was not fond of him, all of this would go away.

Perhaps if she told him she didn’t need or want his help, the wheels that were in motion would come to a screeching halt.

Denys had been right about one thing—she was only concerned for herself.

She had only been concerned for herself since the very beginning of all of this, when Magnus first told her that Daventry was dead.

All she could think about at that point was freedom, of escaping the life she had known for so many years.

Magnus, and Denys to a certain degree, had both stepped in to help her, only Magnus had gone a step further. He had assumed her burden.

She had allowed that to happen.

It was wrong.

“Then what do you want me to do?” she pleaded softly. “Tell me what you would have me do, and I will do it. I do not want to see Magnus destroyed any more than you do.”

Denys looked at her, his expression skeptical. “I am not sure this can be undone.”

“But if it could, what should I do?”

He lifted his eyebrows. “If it were me, I would go away,” he said.

“You tried that before, and I stopped you. I called you stupid and then took you to The Pox, but I swear that if I had known the situation was going to come to this, I would have let you run. I would let you run away and disappear, for as long as Magnus knows where you are, even if you belong to someone else, he will not give you up. You will only cause disaster and heartache for him.”

She stood up from the couch, a bit unsteadily. “But how can I run away now?” she said. “I am a prisoner here.”

Denys looked around the chamber, to the windows, the doors. There were three of them. He pointed to the one to his left, off in a shadowed corner.

“Do you see that door?” he asked.

Delaina looked at it. “The small one?”

“It is a servants’ door.”

“What about it?”

Denys drew in a long, pensive breath and turned away from her again.

“That leads to a servant stairwell,” he said.

“At the bottom, there is a corridor that leads to a larger corridor that skirts the entire north side of the palace. It is mostly used by the servants, so no one will notice you. If you want to leave through that door, I will not stop you.”

Delaina looked at the door, feeling the reality of the situation weighing heavily upon her. The actuality of her fleeing and leaving Magnus, leaving this place, was upon her, and she didn’t know what to do.

“And go where?” she said. “Where am I to go, Sir Denys? My coin is back at The Pox. I have nothing but the clothes on my back. If I run, Despenser will only find me again. Or someone will. Mayhap Magnus will find me again. What will I tell him?”

Denys thought on that for a moment. Then he reached into the purse on his belt and dug around in it, pulling forth several coins. He turned to her again, closing the distance between them. Reaching out, he took one of her hands and pressed the coins into her palm.

“There is only one place you can go that you can never be taken from,” he said, looking her in the eye.

“The corridor I speak of will take you to the abbey. Go there, give them this coin, and ask for sanctuary. Tell them that your family is dead and that you are in grave danger from men trying to kill you. Tell them you wish to become a Beguine and serve God.”

The cloister . There it was. Delaina had once spoken of it as being her first and only option, something that she’d talked herself out of, most especially when Magnus came around.

But here she was, back at the cloister again.

But Denys had given her an idea—she didn’t want to be a nun and she was too old to be a postulate, so a Beguine was her only option.

She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it before.

A Beguine was a widow who served with the nuns but could also do other charitable work.

Sometimes they didn’t even live at the cloisters—sometimes they had their own farms or homes because they weren’t sworn to God. Perhaps that was the future for her.

Perhaps God was showing her the way this time.

For an adult life filled with sin with men not her husband, it was time for penitence.

The tears were back as she realized that, in her new beginning, it would be the end of her and Magnus. The end of those new, fragile, and exciting dreams. But she nodded curtly, once, and headed for the door.

She paused when she reached the panel.

“What will you tell Despenser?” she asked hoarsely. “He will be angry that I escaped. You are risking much, de Winter.”

Denys shook his head. “I will go into the other chamber now and tell him that I have left you to rest,” he said.

“He will not bother you because he is waiting for Magnus to show himself, so he is already distracted. This will give you time to get to the abbey and to safety. But hurry—there is no time to waste.”

Delaina lifted the latch on the door, but she paused again. “Will you do something for me?”

“What is it?”

She swallowed hard. “When the time is right, will you tell Magnus… Tell him that I am sorry,” she said. “I could not let him surrender his entire career for me. But I love him for being so willing to do it.”

Denys simply nodded, and Delaina didn’t waste any time. She darted through the door then shut it behind her as she slipped down the stairwell and to the corridor below.

Denys swore he could hear her sobs as she fled, and the hard heart he’d shown in the face of her situation turned into a heavy one at the sound of her sorrow. He wasn’t cruel by nature. But he was determined to protect Magnus, even if it meant Delaina’s misery.

With a sigh, he followed.