WolfeStrike (De Wolfe Pack Generations #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,87

the great hall, heading towards the apartment block. Isabella had been standing out in plain sight, but he hadn’t even looked at her. He’d simply continued into the apartment block, looking like a man with a good deal on his mind.

That made her more curious than ever.

Casually, she made her way around the side of the building, heading in the direction of the windows of the chamber she shared with Isalyn. The chamber was on the western side of the apartment block and there was just one set of windows that faced out to the inner wall. The last she had seen, the windows had been open, so she thought that perhaps she could crouch down below them and listen to what was being said.

It was naughty and she knew it, but there was so much excitement going on here that never went on at Castle Questing or even at Roxburgh. Those places tended to be very regimented, and very boring, so the opportunity to partake of a little bit of drama was alluring.

For a moment, she lingered at the southwest corner of the apartment block, peering around the corner and straining her ears to see if she could catch anything that was being said. She could see a couple of soldiers on the wall, but they were far enough away that they probably would not see her, or even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care. Isabella stood there a moment, listening for any strains of conversation coming from chamber. Feeling bolder, she took a step around the corner when a voice stopped her.

“Greetings, my lady.”

Startled, she very nearly tripped over her own feet as she whirled around to see Fraser standing right behind her. She’d never even heard him come up. Hand over her thumping heart, she grinned.

“Greetings,” she said breathlessly. “You startled me. I thought that I was quite alone.”

He smiled at her, flashing big, slightly crooked teeth that made his smile look absolutely charming.

“You were until I saw you over here,” he said. “What are you doing?”

What was she doing? Isabella wasn’t going to confess her naughty intentions to a knight she thought was quite handsome. He would think her a fool.

Even if she was behaving that way, just a little.

“I… I was waiting,” she said, throwing a nervous thumb in the direction of the apartment block. “Lord Gilbert asked me to leave so that he could speak with Isalyn privately.”

Fraser nodded in understanding. “Ah,” he said, but his gaze seemed to linger on her. “I hope this will not embarrass you, but I heard what you did, my lady. Standing up for Lady Isalyn, I mean, against de Wolfe’s chatelaines. That was very brave.”

Isabella felt both flattered and humbled by his praise. “It was the right thing to do,” she said. “I am just glad the situation was not worse.”

“What do you mean?”

Isabella shrugged. “That she was not injured,” she said. “That those two didn’t do more damage. They are capable of much worse. In fact, I have known them to… oh, forgive me. I should not speak so. I do not want you to think I am a gossip.”

“I do not,” he said. “But it is clear that you know something about that pair.”

“I do.”

“Yet you did not warn Isalyn.”

Isabella sighed faintly. “If you really want to know, it is an old story with Tor and those vipers,” she said. “I suppose I would rather gossip a little than have you think I withheld information from Lady Isalyn about the danger she might face. You see, I have known Barbara and Lenore since they came to live at Castle Questing, almost seventeen years ago. I was only a baby at the time, but I grew up with them. If they believe a woman is looking at Tor in an amorous way, they will do all they can to discourage her. Everyone knows that. They treat Tor as if he were their property, but Tor is the only one who refused to believe it.”

Given that Fraser had heard Tor’s confession in the great hall about that very subject, he nodded. “I have heard,” he said. “Tor has explained his position. It is understandable, I suppose, given they are his wife’s sisters.”

“Then you do not disagree with the way he has handled things?”

“I did not say that. I only said that I understood his reasons.” He sighed. “I suppose if I had a dead wife, I might treat her remaining siblings different as well. Tor is