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Alejandro had thrown his cloak down for me under the frost-spangled oak, and the fine wool was still warm from his body.
    Besides, how could I be cold in Alejandro’s company? We had been fighting, and the heat of his dark gaze was still scorching me.
    ‘Meg,’ he growled softly, then knelt beside me on the cloak, catching at my hand.
    ‘No,’ I insisted. ‘You know what I want, Alejandro. You cannot persuade me with kisses. I will not bend to your will.’
    ‘It would be a mistake to fight me on this, Meg.’
    ‘Then don’t fight
me
.’
    With painstaking care, Alejandro peeled off one of my leather gloves, then interlaced long powerful fingers with my own. His eyes darkened until they were almost black, his gaze seeming to burn into my soul.
    The snow fell softly about us in the silence, tiny white stars that melted as they landed on his dark hair and broad shoulders.
    I stared back at him, breathless.
    It was hard to believe a girl like me could ever have captured the attention of the beautiful and aristocratic Alejandro de Castillo, who might be in training to be a lowly priest but whose father was one of the most influential noblemen at the Spanish court.
    I knew his bronzed face and watchful eyes, the vital strength of his body, his lean agility on foot or on horseback, as well as I knew my own person.
    I had little beauty and less breeding, and I knew it. Slight and small-boned, unfashionably fair, my hair dishevelled under my hood, I was no match for those dark-eyed beauties who had tried to catch his eye at court.
    Yet here he was, down on his knees before me.
    ‘I will not bend to the will of your father and leave here while you still need me. Nor will I bend to your will either,’ Alejandro continued in that deliciously husky Spanish accent. ‘Do you hear me, Meg Lytton? I will not leave Lytton Park. I am still your betrothed, in case you had forgotten. Wherever you are, I must be also.’
    ‘But my father is right. The Lady Elizabeth needs you, and you promised King Philip that you would remain at Hatfield and protect her. Just because her ladyship has dismissed me from her service does not mean you cannot fulfil your duty.’
    ‘That was before I realized in what danger you stood,
mi querida
. King Philip is a Spaniard and a man of passion. He will understand my dilemma.’
    ‘Yet the King has left his wife and sailed for France,’ I pointed out, ‘abandoning Queen Mary with our country still in turmoil.’
    ‘His Majesty will no doubt return when his war against the French is won.’
    I raised my eyebrows. The last time I had seen King Philip, he had been furious with Queen Mary and determined to leave the shores of England – and his stubborn wife – far behind. That was why he had ordered Alejandro to remain with the Lady Elizabeth. Because Philip feared what the childless Mary might do to her younger sister if she grew unhappy enough. For if the elder sister could not safeguard the English throne for him by providing Philip with an heir, then perhaps the younger Elizabeth might be more able . . .
    ‘All the same, you must return to Hatfield. It has been weeks now, and her ladyship will not excuse you for ever.’ I paused. ‘My father has reminded me of your duty, and I fear you may lose your position in the Lady Elizabeth’s household – lose it because of me – if you do not leave in the next few days.’
    ‘In the next few days?’ he repeated, his voice suddenly hoarse. ‘
Dios!
Are you trying to kill me?’ Alejandro drew my hand to his mouth, then bent his head to kiss my fingertips, one by one, his lips lingering on my cold skin. ‘How can I leave you?’ he demanded, and the agony and indecision in his voice almost broke my resolve. ‘We have no way of knowing where Marcus Dent is, or what he may be planning. What if he returns after I have gone, hoping to take his revenge?’
    ‘Still in the guise of a bird, no doubt.’ I tried to tease him, recalling how my enemy had