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appeared before my face.
    ‘Take it,’ a quiet voice said, and I did, and allowed the king to help me to my feet.
    I couldn’t look at him. I hung my head in misery, appalled that I could have so embarrassed the earl before the king.
    And humiliate myself before the both of them .
    Sweet Jesu, perhaps even little John would remember this all the days of his life, and chortle over my misery to his children.
    ‘It is no indignity to save a child from harm,’ the king said, and I finally raised my eyes to his face. I did not think it remarkable and was surprised that a king could look so like an ordinary man. He was olive-skinned, with dark wiry hair cropped close to his skull over a strong face. His eyes were brown, and surprisingly warm, and his sensual mouth curved in a soft smile. I supposed he was of an age with the earl, and from my youthful perspective, that seemed very old indeed.
    ‘Your name?’ he said.
    ‘Mistress Maeb Langtofte,’ the earl said in a flat voice, coming to stand at the king’s shoulder. ‘Recently joined my house to serve Adelie.’
    ‘Then allow me to apologise for having upset your day, Mistress Maeb,’ Edmond said. ‘It has been most discourteous of me.’
    I thought he must be laughing at me, but there was no malice in his eyes, only that shining, compelling warmth.
    I could not speak, still too awed and humiliated. I realised Edmond continued to hold my hand and I tried to pull it away.
    He held on to it a moment too long. It would not have been noticeable to anyone else, but both he and I knew it. Something in his eyes changed, just briefly, and then Edmond gave a small nod and he and the earl turned away and walked into the solar.
    Evelyn, John still in her arms, and I stepped back into the chamber. Evelyn closed the door and I burst into tears.
    I think my tears humiliated me almost as much as my foolishness before the king and earl. I hated to weep and show weakness, but at that moment everything was too overwhelming for me to do anything else.
    I would not ever be able to show my face again within the household. The earl would despise me, and Lady Adelie too, and it was her contempt that I feared the most. Maybe life in a nunnery might not be so bad after all … surely I would be better suited to it than a noble household. I could not ever show my face again. I …
    Evelyn, having handed John to the nurse, wrapped her arms about me and hugged me close.
    ‘Come, come,’ she teased, ‘did you really need to throw yourself at the king’s feet in such a fashion?’
    I began to laugh, even as I was crying, and after a few moments Evelyn dried my tears, and I straightened my back and determined that I would stay out of sight of the king lest my treacherous legs threaten to wobble me to the floor again.

Chapter Five
    N aturally, fate and Lady Adelie conspired to make me break my promise within the hour.
    Mistress Yvette arrived in the chamber, all bustle and busyness, and said that the countess wished Evelyn and myself to bring the children to greet their father and the king. I sent one frantic look to Evelyn, but she was no help, having turned away to speak with Alice and Emmette, so I swallowed my nerves, settled John on one hip — Sweet Jesu let me not drop him — and took Rosamund by the hand.
    She was a sweet girl and gave me a happy smile, and I reminded myself that all I needed to do was escort the children into the solar, perhaps hand John to his mother, then step back and wait silently in the shadows.
    Ancel and Robert were back with us by this stage, and Evelyn took them in hand, straightening their tunics and hair, and positioning them on either side of her, one hand on each boy’s shoulder as if that might actually restrain them.
    So, with Mistress Yvette leading the way, we progressed toward the solar.
    Two men-at-arms stood either side of the closed door. They were weaponed and wary, and as good an indication, if any were needed, that they protected someone of