Maid Until Midnight. Joanne Rock

expected longevity. Another had tried to drag her behind a tapestry to dishonor her so she would be forced to wed him, an incident that had driven her to seek shelter in a favored hiding place outside the keep. The abandoned hermit’s cottage had been vacant since she was a child and had always provided a safe place to gather her thoughts.

      Until now. The knight who pinned her to the ground would have been handsome at a distance. Up close, he was thoroughly intimidating, with blue eyes that seemed out of place on a man with such a dark complexion. His hair and brows were the color of ink while his cheeks were shadowed with the rough scratch of a newly begun beard. She would have feared him as a thief or some other woodland predator except that his tunic was clean and woven of the softest lawn.

      “Sir.” She allowed her desperation to come through in her voice, hoping the man would be reminded of the chivalrous vows he would have taken as a knight. “I beg of you. Release me at once.”

      “If you have told me the truth, I will escort you safely back to Glen Rising immediately.” He lifted his right hand and pressed his palm over his heart in the sign of an oath. “I swear it on my life.”

      Saints above, help me.

      Matilda prayed for divine intercession. She needed a miracle to escape now and she vowed if she could flee now, she would never be so reckless again. Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. Her hands fisted in the grass at her sides. Even if this knight did escort her back to Glen Rising, her father would throttle her upon arrival.

      “What kind of nobleman insists that any woman—servant or lady—remove an article of clothing?” Fear pushed the words from her mouth. She did not wish to antagonize her captor, but she was too frightened to think clearly.