KIND EYES AND A LION’S HEART
Chapter Three
Part One
The next morning, Viola waited in the chilly chapel for mass to
begin. As always, the priest was late,
her aunt yawned prodigiously and the guests who chose to attend gossiped in
whispers.
She wasn’t disturbed
by these small frustrations today, however.
She was more anxious to see if Sir Melvin would attend. She had noticed him at mass before and hoped
to see him this morning, too. His
cousin, she had likewise noted, had never been to the chapel.
Unfortunately,
since her aunt always insisted on being close to the altar, she couldn’t see
the entire chapel and hesitated to turn around, lest her action cause gossip or
wonder.
Until
there was a long prayer. Then she risked
a quick survey of the building and was rewarded by the sight of Sir Melvin, his
dark head bowed, his eyes closed, his hands clasped in devotion.
Indeed, he seemed so intent on the prayer,
she felt rather ashamed of herself and resolved to pay more heed to the mass as
it progressed.
Once it was over, her aunt led the exit
from the chapel in her customary fashion, with her head lowered, her steps
slow, as if deeply moved by the ceremony.
This was, Viola knew, only a performance, as her aunt proved the moment
they were outside and before the rest of those assembled followed her.
“Viola, I can’t tell you how pleased I was
last night to see you dancing with Lord Barengar!” Lady Anne whispered, her
eyes gleaming with excitement. “I must
commend you on your display of modesty by only dancing with him once. That’s just the way to keep a fellow like him
paying attention! Too many young women
are too eager and only serve to make a man think the less of them. Your admirable gravity as you danced was
perfect, too. Simply perfect!
“Oh, good day to you, Lady Fishly!” her aunt
said more loudly as the older guest joined them. “It appears to be another fine day, does it
not?”
Viola was not sorry to have Lady Fishly
interrupt her aunt’s enthusiastic praise.
Aunt Anne would have been much less enthused or happy if she’d known
Viola had only danced with Lord Barengar because she feared there would be more
gossip if she didn’t. She also she
feared the man would continue to pester her until she did. She was sure he was the sort of vain fellow so
certain of his own attractiveness that he would never believe a woman would
truly not want to dance with him.
So she had danced with him, and spent the
rest of the evening avoiding him before retiring. If Lord Barengar interpreted her avoidance
and silence as maidenly modesty, so be it – although she sincerely hoped he
didn’t.
Then, among the people leaving the chapel and
making their way to the hall to break the morning fast, she spotted Sir Melvin. She immediately left her aunt’s side and threaded
her way through the others in the courtyard until she was near enough to say,
“Good day, Sir Melvin.”
This work is protected by copyright. See sidebar for notice.
Note: This novella is PG13. With the exception of GWYNETH AND THE THIEF
and THE WASTREL, my books are usually steamier.
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