Protection

Chapter Three

What a splitting headache she had.

She kept her eyes closed for a moment. Her hand quested for the leather seat so she could pull herself up again, but did not find it. Instead, in its place, she found a thin cotton coverlet on a lumpy bed.

  What?

She opened her eyes, but everything seemed to come close then far away from her. Her heart raced in her chest. Where was she? Hadn't she been in the carriage last? All at once, the day came flooding back to her in a flash of memory and sensation. She had fainted. She huffed heavily to herself.

   Fainting was always something she had done when faced with an overwhelming situation. It irritated her so. Mama had always told her it was ladylike, and delicate, but Alayna personally thought it was a nuisance.

   Observing the room, she saw an old chair, a worn stand, and a stool. On top of the stool was a gown she did not recognize, though it was clean and dry. Her own silk gown, soiled, and molded quite immodestly over her body, was wet and rather uncomfortable. Alayna quickly unsnapped the buttons, letting the ruined travelling gown fall to the floor. She stood in her stockings, pantalets, corset, and panniers; she was considering if whether or not she should remove her corset, but the thought was, as many thoughts had been that day, interrupted by the jarring of the door.

    He waltzed right in, but stopped short of his step, eyes glued to the stunned, blushing Alayna.

"What are you- I'm- please just- get out!" she screamed, ripping the simple cotton dress up to cover her indecency. Her heart pounded in her chest when he did not move. "Are you deaf! I said, get out!"

    He blinked, then realized his intrusion, and stepped right back out again, looking very disconcerted.

    How very embarrassing! No man had ever seen her in such a state...oh, so many things had happened that day. She felt awfully overtaken with the knowledge of it all. They were after her again. They still wanted her dead. An innocent man had been killed because of her. And to top it all off, a man had just seen her in her under things.

   What would her mother have said? Alayna's cheeks flamed with shame. She should have been more careful. She should have locked the door.

   But he should have knocked before entering. Any gentleman would have knocked. It was an unwritten law, for goodness sake. Everyone knew to knock before entering. Well, she thought heatedly, it must not be something God instilled into the minds of apes.

   She promptly pulled the dress over her head, and then smoothed it down over her figure. It was modest enough, though it was made of a faded green cotton. "Apes," she laughed to herself, and then envisioned him as one of the hairy beasts.

   He might be an ape, but a handsome one at that.

Good heavens, where had such a thought came from? "No," Alayna muttered. "He's a...a swine, and a blackguard and a...scoundrel." That was right. He was no good. She instantly wondered how a good man like James had begat such an ungrateful brute.

      "Madam'selle, may I enter now?" came a muffled voice from beyond the door.

 "Yes," she called, and smiled vixenishly to herself. His deep, cultured voice was laced with the unmistakable tinge of irritation that just begged for one more provocation.

     He opened the door slowly, and entered at the same pace. Oh, yes. Her treacherous thoughts had been exactly right. He was handsome, with his cold features. They had a distinctly rugged look, something she found most attractive in men. His eyes were dark brown, and when he stared into her eyes, she thought she saw something warm and-

  "I take it the gown is to your liking?"

 "It shall do," she replied, looking away.

 "I had to leave your trunks and things behind," he stated, voice frigid and almost taunting.

"On the highway?"

 "Yes, on the highway. What was I supposed to do? Ride back out in the rain and dark to retrieve your blasted gloves?" he growled.

 "It would have been nice had you brought me something other than what I've got! I don't know who this belongs to! Imbécile! Vous, les hommes ne peuvent rien faire!"

"Actually, it is you women who cannot do anything. Instead, you bloody faint!"

 Her eyes widened in self revulsion. He understood French?

"Yes," he said, "I understand every single thing in French, Madame Sailors' Mouth. I know exactly what you said yesterday evening."

   She felt faint all of a sudden.

A woman of position never curses, Alayna. Swearing is only for the common.

"Don't you dare swoon on me again," he said harshly.

No, she wasn't going to faint. It wasn't like he mattered so much. What did it matter if he knew she wasn't perfect?

   But it did matter.

"I'm not going to," she snapped, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Good Lord, woman, the world is not coming to an end," he snorted harshly. "Everyone curses once in awhile."

 It got on his nerves the way she blanched because he knew she had uttered a few naughty words.

  Why did all women think they had to be sinless little angels? It was ridiculous. He said them. He had heard his father say them on one than more occasion. And his mother, too.

    "It's common," she grumbled, and plopped down on the bed.

 "What?"

 Her voice was thick- she was on the verge of tears. "Only common people curse."

  "Then I suppose you and I are common people."

She glared at him venomously- that beautiful, deadly glare. "I am not a common person. I am a Bordreaux. My family was among the highest in French court."

   "News to you, my dear," he said smoothly, "there is no French court any longer."

 Pain flashed in her eyes and on her face. The next thing Alex knew, she had hopped up in a flash of lightning and slapped him as hard as she could. He flexed his jaw, testing the sting.

   "Don't you ever say anything like that to me again," she said, contained sobs beginning to rack her body. "Ever!"