After spending the past few nights in secrecy in her bedchamber, he wanted to bring her elsewhere today during daylight, to walk with her by his side. To give her a chance to see what her life would be like if they wedded. Living as equals, they would enjoy the freedom of being together in his Devon home, a quiet, peaceful life on an English farm where they would want for nothing. To secure his king’s trust, his family’s future, and perhaps even his own happiness, he needed to convince her he was more than a mercenary—in fact, a man who would stand by her side. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe her when she’d uttered that she belonged to him in the throes of passion, but he had no reason to doubt her affection, despite the skirmishes they’d had in the beginning. Unfortunately, this morning she followed his directions about as well as she ever did, which was not at all, and peeked over her shoulder to see where he was taking her. He squeezed her hands.
