politely listening. His jaw was set hard, and he seemed only a breath away from venting his fury at being kept waiting.
Ma's yellow-green eyes widened in alarm as Elena, grabbing a flagon from the nearest table, gave a low curtsy.
'May I refill your goblet, sir?' Without waiting to be asked, she bent forward, deliberately letting the front of her gown fall open inches from his face. She'd no idea if this would please him, but she'd seen the other girls do it often enough to know it seemed to excite most men.
She straightened up. She could see at once that Hugh was not as easily witched as the village lads, but all the same she had caught his attention. He was eyeing her with the same puzzled curiosity as that night when she dressed Finch. Ma must have seen the look too for as Talbot approached, she quietly signalled to him to stay back.
'Well, now. If it isn't the feisty little black-haired maid . . . Holly. Isn't that what the lad called you? If I remember rightly you challenged me. Told me I was frightening the boy.'
Elena swallowed hard. 'He was afraid, sir.'
'And you? Are you afraid of me? I think you are not, or you wouldn't come marching up to me, flaunting yourself.'
He ran his fingers lightly over her breasts and Elena gave an involuntary shudder, flinching away. She recovered herself, but she knew Hugh had felt it.
His mouth curled in a slow smile. 'Or could it be that you enjoy a little fear? You get a thrill out of poking the stick in the lion's cage to rile it, see if it's really as dangerous as they say.'
He stood up so abruptly that Elena almost spilt the flagon of wine over them both. He inclined his head towards Ma Margot.
'I've changed my mind, mistress. Forget the boy. What's the pleasure in the hunt, if the quarry cowers in a corner waiting for the spear? A she-bear who turns and fights is far more challenging. There's good sport to be had in bringing her down.'
You, man,' he called to Talbot, who still hovered in the corner. Hugh tossed a small bag of coins at him. 'Take us to a room and see to it we are not disturbed.'
Even before Hugh had flung her into the chamber, Elena knew instinctively that all the arts of seduction that Luce and the other women had explained to her would only anger him: the playful words, the slow teasing strip, the slide on to his knee and soft caresses would have no effect on him.
Elena was terrified, but she knew the one thing she must not do was show it. She had to keep him occupied long enough for Finch to get away. She had to stand up to Hugh, that was what he wanted, and if she was to get out of here alive, she must give him what he wanted. Wasn't that the one thing Ma had taught her, give them what they want and survive? Nothing else matters but to survive.
Hugh stood on the other side of the chamber watching her, his arms folded. Between them was a bed that almost filled the chamber. It had been carved to look like a boat, with a high dragon prow. Ropes hung from its sides and sacks of raw wool were piled in a heap inside, layered so deep that you could dive in head first and come to no harm. The whole chamber smelled of sheep's fat and damp wool, like Athan always did when he returned from the shearing in Gastmere. Elena tried to swallow the hard lump rising in her throat.
Hugh prowled around her, looking at her from every angle. 'You know, I'm sure I've seen you before. I was certain the other night, but I just can't place ...'
'I used to work in the market place in Norwich,' Elena said quickly, falling back on the lie Ma had invented.
'So that other wench said, but I am not in the habit of buying either fish or women in market places. I have servants to fetch the one and I would not dream of soiling myself on the other.'
He pulled off his shirt. A band of sleek black fur was fastened around his waist. He stroked it and for a moment his expression became glazed as if he was listening to something in the far distance. The pupils of his eyes dilated so wide they looked like huge black