Page 72 of Historical Hotties
Rhori’s focus returned to Dacia. “She’s a beauty,” he said. “I do not blame him. But I also received the impression that de Lohr was… fond of her, shall we say.”
Bose simply lifted his eyebrows. “No man can compete with Cassius de Wolfe,” he said. “If de Lohr was fond of her, then he has waited too long to declare his interest. I suspect she is already spoken for.”
Their conversation was cleaved when someone knocked on the door. Bose opened it to reveal Darian standing in the doorway. The knight greeted Bose and Rhori with a nod.
“The duke is on his way to see Cassius,” he said. “How is he?”
All three knights looked over to the body on the bed as Bose answered. “He is feverish,” he said. “Lady Dacia is doing all she can for him. Have you managed to locate that physic you were looking for?”
Darian’s gaze was on Dacia, not Cassius. “Aye,” he said quietly. “We found his burned body in some of the rubble on the south side of the village about an hour ago. As near as we can determine, he was tending to a patient when the roof burned over his head and caved in. I’ve got my men bringing in what they could collect of his medicament bag. Mayhap Lady Dacia can use some of it.”
That changed the situation somewhat. They all knew that Dacia had been hoping for the physic to join her. Bose turned to say something to Darian, but he caught sight of the duke on the landing outside and he pulled on Darian to move the man out of the way.
“Your grace,” Bose greeted.
Doncaster moved into the doorway, his gaze immediately finding Cassius lying supine on the bed in the corner with Dacia bent over him, swabbing him with cool water.
“I came to see how Cassius is faring,” he said. “Is he better?”
Rhori answered. “He is the same, your grace,” he said. “He is still with fever.”
That wasn’t what Doncaster wanted to hear. He pushed into the chamber, heading over to the bed to gaze grimly upon Cassius. Dacia caught sight of him, looking at him but giving the man no hint of warmth.
“I am doing all I can,” she said before he even asked. “If he does not start to improve soon, I will have to reopen his wounds to see if there was something I missed when I cleaned them out.”
The duke nodded, looking at Cassius with a pained expression on his face. “I am so very sorry for this,” he said. “Edward will never forgive me if something happens to de Wolfe because of me. ’Tis a terrible thing, indeed.”
Dacia paused in her swabbing. “I would not worry about the king,” she said. “Iwill not forgive you if something happens to him, Grandfather. It was your selfishness that brought Cassius to this point. All he wanted to do was return home to see his grandmother, but you commanded him to assist you and you knew he could not refuse. It was cruel and terrible of you to do that.”
The duke opened his mouth to defend himself, but a faint voice came from the bed. “Dacia,” Cassius whispered. “It was not his fault. You will not blame him. Tell the man you are sorry for your short temper.”
They both looked at him with some surprise. Dacia leaned over him, wiping a cool cloth on his cheeks.
“You are awake, listening to a private conversation?” she teased him gently. “What a terrible thing for you to do. You should have plugged your ears.”
He peeped an eye open, looking at her. “Bold words, my girl,” he said. “Apologize to your grandfather and then you will go away and let me speak with him alone.”
She frowned. “I will not leave you.”
“You will if I tell you to or I shall rise up out of this bed and spank you soundly. Is this in any way unclear?”
She wasn’t offended in the least. In fact, she sensed some mirth, but she also sensed seriousness. Heavily, she sighed.
“It is clear,” she said unhappily. “I will go away, but only for a few moments. I shall be right outside the door.”
“Stay there until I send for you. And take that motley group with you.”
She sighed again, sharply, and cast him a long look, but she did as she was told. After kissing her grandfather on the cheek to apologize, she moved away from the bed, shooing the knights out of the chamber because Cassius had told her to. When she was gone and the door quietly shut, Cassius opened both eyes to look at the duke.
“Cassius,” Doncaster said before the man could speak. “You must know how terrible I feel about this. It never occurred to me that something like this would happen, of course. I would never deny you the opportunity to see your family. I hope you know that.”
Cassius nodded weakly. “I know, your grace,” he said. “I was honored to be of service. But now I must ask you an important question.”
“What is it?”
“I would like your permission to court Dacia with the intention of a marriage.”
Doncaster’s eyebrows lifted at the swift and shocking change of subject. “You would?”
