Her Christmas Knight. Nicole Locke

With all this rain it makes everything slippery and dangerous. It is a wonder more children do not drown when they fall.’

      ‘You and John have done so much to clean this town, you would think they would listen to this.’

      Elizabeth shook her head. ‘That is the penalty of working with the bureaucracy of officials and magistrates. Great for regulating guards to watch the ramparts and patrol the streets by night, but if they have to actually do something, like clean their own homes, they argue and fight.’

      ‘What will you do?’

      Elizabeth winked. ‘I have some ideas—but John says they could land me locked in irons.’

      ‘Doesn’t that make them good ideas?’

      ‘Oh, I have missed you!’ Elizabeth grabbed Alice’s hands and a frown marred the smoothness of her brow. ‘You are freezing!’

      She pulled Alice’s hands away from her body and looked in earnest at her gown.

      ‘And you are soaking wet. Where have you been?’

      Alice looked around at the house. The servants were trying to be discreet, but they were everywhere.

      ‘Is there anywhere we could go that’s private?’

      ‘Of course—my bedroom has already been cleaned and—’

      She didn’t wait until her sister had finished answering, but immediately set out for the second and more narrow flight of stairs towards the family’s private rooms.

      These rooms were warmer, filled with thick rugs, bright embroidered linens and cushions. It was her sister’s touch, but Alice didn’t take any comfort in the softness of the room, and she didn’t wait for the click of the door before she started talking.

      ‘I walked from the town’s gates—’ Alice started.

      ‘Why would you do such a thing? It is winter. Is there something wrong with the coach or the footmen? Is it the horses? Father did not order the leaking roof repaired and they are terribly sick! What do you need me to do?’

      Used to her sister’s rapid-fire questioning, Alice walked to the hearth and poked at the fire to increase its heat. ‘No, no, it’s none of those things. I merely needed to talk to you in private and didn’t want my presence to be noted.’

      ‘Something happened to you in London?’ Elizabeth pulled a red and green woven blanket from a chair and draped it over Alice’s shoulders. ‘You should not have gone there alone.’

      She had always been glad that Elizabeth had stayed in Swaffham. She couldn’t imagine confessing about going to dances to their oldest sister, Mary, who married into a family with even more land, and who only liked to talk about sheep. Not that she liked confessing anything. She’d rather depend on herself and not communicate any of her worries.

      Which was probably why, now that she was here, she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t lie and she couldn’t tell the truth. Her sister was cunning and knew her too well. She would have to talk in half-truths in order not to raise her sister’s suspicion. And she would have to find a reason to get invitations into everyone’s homes.

      As a wealthy merchant’s daughter, she used to receive such invitations, but she had been refusing them for so long she was no longer offered any.

      Now, not only did she need to be invited, she needed a reason that she wanted to be invited. Unfortunately, the only thing she could think of would force her to swallow her pride. But what was pride compared to a king’s order?

      ‘I think it’s time...’ she began.

      ‘Time for what? Do not be coy with me. You know I cannot stand it.’

      She had expected Elizabeth to interrupt. In fact she needed her sister to interrupt so she would have time to prepare each sentence.

      ‘You know how you are always saying that one day I’ll be over Hugh?’

      Elizabeth’s hands flew to her chest. ‘You are not making some cruel joke?’

      ‘I’m not.’

      Or at least a part of her was telling the truth. And her anger at him made the lie easier.

      ‘I think that day has come.’

      Elizabeth sat down hard on the edge of her bed. ‘I am speechless. I never thought I would hear you say those words. Even if you felt that way, I never thought you would actually say it. How did it happen? You have met someone? Were you introduced?’

      Oh, she’d met someone. She met the man she had foolishly fallen in love with, and he’d thought her a whore. Simply the memory of him tightened her guts and coiled her innards with irritation.

      ‘Nothing like that!’

      Her sister’s brows rose and she gave her a knowing look.

      Needing to be calm, Alice forced her mind to erase Hugh. She wouldn’t tell her sister of seeing Hugh again. There would be no point. It wasn’t as if he would ever return to Swaffham. He hadn’t returned to the town in years. Here, she was safe from his presence.

      If only her thoughts were safe from thinking of him.

      ‘I have met many men,’ she amended. ‘It was difficult not to at Court. There was eating, dancing and games. I could hardly go to London and not meet someone.’

      ‘Well, then, who was it that took your eye? Please tell me. Do I know him? You know I always thought Mitchell would be a fine match for you—especially now he’s returned from his travels.’

      Mitchell was close to her age, and as sensible as her sister’s husband. He was indeed a perfect match for her. If only she could force her heart to agree to such a bargain.

      She’d have to tell a truth.

      ‘No one in particular took my eye.’

      Elizabeth frowned. ‘None ever do. You have always been this way. Ever since that ridiculous incident when you were six.’

      ‘It wasn’t ridiculous!’

      ‘You defend him again?’

      ‘I can hardly not defend him. I broke his nose!’

      Elizabeth shook her head. ‘You did not break Hugh’s nose; Allen broke his nose.’

      ‘I’m the one who swung my fist.’

      ‘But Allen and his friends lowered you into that empty well.’

      ‘I hate the dark to this day. And if not for Hugh, where would I be?’

      ‘Happily married to a suitable man instead of pining away for years in vain hope. I thought you were over him?’

      Alice slipped out of her shoes and placed them closer to the fire. ‘I am.’

      ‘Then why are you defending him?’

      She raised one foot to the fire and revelled in the warmth seeping into her toes. ‘Because, despite what he has done, and despite the fact I’m no longer in love with him, he does deserve some bit of kindness.’

      ‘Truly?’

      It was all lies—lies, lies. She was in love with him and he didn’t deserve kindness, but she had to continue her story.

      ‘I was scared witless after being left in that well. When Hugh came and fought them off—’

      ‘Getting his nose broken in the process,’ Elizabeth interrupted.

      ‘I was so relieved.’

      ‘And that relief manifested itself into some strange infatuation until you thought yourself in love with him.’ Elizabeth stood and paced the room. ‘It was childish, making that vow to marry him.’

      ‘I was six!’

      ‘But