He could think of fifty places he would rather be. But since he had returned to the citadel he’d had no choice but to attend. He had placed himself as far from Stephen as his status would allow without questions being asked and tongues wagging. He ignored the laughter around him while he reflected that he would have stayed away another day if he had known this was planned. He could not truly say that he’d sensed Aline’s arrival. There had been a slight shift in the atmosphere, a whisper of curiosity that rippled round the room. He’d glanced up from his plate, wondering what this new source of interest was, and she’d been there on the arm of the chamberlain. Since their first meeting Hugh had seen Aline asleep, unconscious, wet and half dressed. He could have described every contour of her face, the precise colour of the hair at the nape of her neck, the arch of her back as she stretched awake. Now a stranger stood before him. She stood poised and elegant in the light of the braziers.
