Reluctantly, Marcus had come simply because Christopher had no one else to turn to because most of his knights were too drunk or missing to attend his wife. Marcus was still smarting from her rebuff earlier and he wanted to return to his bed. He hadn't even fully dressed, only taking the time for breeches, a shirt and heavy boots. Dustin had been asleep several hours and, a little after midnight, Dud complained of a sour stomach and left the antechamber to seek relief. Marcus played with the monkey for a while before ending up pacing listlessly in front of the windows. She was angry with him, he knew it. He felt that if he could talk to her, reason with her, then mayhap she would see things clearly. He had spent the week of her infirmary convincing himself that loving Dustin de Lohr was a waste of energy, and vowed to move forward and put her from his mind. It was growing easier bit by bit, day by day, and he knew he would eventually be successful in chasing the woman from his mind.
